Search - Buffalo Springfield :: Retrospective

Sandra N. from LOS ANGELES, CA
Reviewed on 8/9/2009...

I saw Buffalo Springfield live at the Aquarius Theater in Hollywood on Dick Clark's "Where the Action Is". This is a wonderful cd.

TOO MUCH TALENT FOR ONE BAND

Patrick Earley | Edmond, Oklahoma USA | 04/23/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Buffalo Springfield was a band more known for what it's members did after they left, than the great music they made as this short lived group. Although only together 18 months, they were the blueprint for some of the most successful country rock bands to come, such as CSN, Poco, and the Eagles, along with about every other west coast rock group. The songs on this retrospective, which originally came out in 1969, just after their breakup, were written by either Steven Stills or Neil Young. The lone exception being "Kind Woman", which was penned by Richie Furay, who later recorded it again with his band Poco. The first song here, and probably their most famous single "For What It's Worth", established Steven Stills as a great songwriter. It also had that catchphrase in it, "There's something happening here/what it is ain't exactly clear", which was a popular line in 60's counterculture at the time. Another great Stills song is "Bluebird", which features some nice guitar work. It starts out as an all out rock song, then comes that famous guitar interlude, and then switches gears and becomes a banjo driven country song. Absolutely brilliant! Not to be outdone is Neil Young. He pens 3 great tunes in a row, starting with "On The Way Home". I love this song. With it's horn arrangements, it's different than any other Buffalo song. "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing" is a beautiful folk rock song with CSN type harmonies. His masterpiece here is "Broken Arrow". A unique song that has a bit of everything in it, from full orchestration with a bolero type of drumbeat, mixed with a countryrock sound with numerous rhythm changes. This song rivals anything those boys from Liverpool were doing at the time. There may not have been a better songwriter around than Neil Young during the Springfield period leading up to his first 2 brilliant albums "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere", and "After The Goldrush". Although this is a relatively small retrospective, every song here is a gem. Buffalo Springfield was one of the most creative bands of the 60's, but because of their strong individual writing and performing talents, this was also the reason for their breakup. This is an excellent historical document of the band that started the whole folk, country rock movement. Highly recommended!"

If you get only one Buffalo Springfield album, this is it

Douglas A. Greenberg | Berkeley, CA USA | 01/13/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Now that we've stopped guffawing over the Limp Bizkit remark, let's get serious :-). Buffalo Springfield was a great mid-sixties band from Los Angeles that embodied the tendency of talented rock groups to provide listeners with a taste of greatness, only to end up splitting apart into offspring bands that in most cases are not as musically satisfying. Buffalo Springfield included some of the truly creative artists of sixties rock: Steven Stills, Neil Young, Richie Furay, and Jim Messina. The tension between their distinctive talents and styles led the band to achieve a fresh, original sound that today, over thirty years later, is still incredible to hear. The progeny of this highly original group, which included Poco, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and Neil Young With Crazy Horse, all produced great recordings in their time, but I still wonder longingly what Buffalo Springfield might have achieved musically had the band been able to stay together longer.Fortunately, Buffalo Springfield did leave us with three terrific albums, which provide the basis for this "best of" collection, which includes twelve selected tracks. It's likely that most Buffalo Springfield fans will have at least one objection to the track selection here. That's nearly always the case with "best of" albums. However, I think that whoever made the choices did about as well as anyone could do. Any album that includes sixties political classic "For What It's Worth," hot rockers like "Mr. Soul" and "Rock and Roll Woman," gorgeous pop compositions like "On the Way Home," and the short Neil Young composition that is nearly perfect in its heartfelt simplicity, "I Am A Child," has got to be considered a winner."