Buffalo Springfield: Back in action

After their reunion at the annual Bridge School Benefit concerts, Buffalo Springfield has left us wondering about a reunion tour. The concerts, played Oct. 23 and 24 in Mountain View, Calif. included the surviving band members Neil Young, Stephen Stills, and Richie Furay. In an interview with Rolling Stone it was said that the remaining band members would substitute bassist, Rick Rosas for the late Bruce Palmer and Joe Vitale, Crosby, Stills & Nash drummer. Reminiscing upon the band's old days Furay says of late Palmer and Vitale, "Those guys made the sound. For as many people as were in and out of the Springfield, it was the five of us that really created a sound that people really remember the most."  

Oct. 23 was the first time Furay, Stills and Young had played together in 42 years. After performing together the band seemed to think it was like old times. In fact, "It almost felt like going back in time" Furay said. "We just picked up where we left many, many years ago."  As for the possibility of doing more shows…  Furay said, "I'm never going to say never again. After we digest what happened and let a couple of weeks go by we'll touch bases again and see how everybody feels and what they want to do. We've certainly proved we can do this if we want to."

Although the band's tour is only a rumor so far, fans are hopeful that the short-lived band will live on for another year and possibly another tour. With this exciting prospect, let's remember Buffalo Springfield's notoriously short, dysfunctional, and glorious career. 

The founding members of Buffalo Springfield were Neil Young and Stephen Stills, both known for work with Crosby, Stills, Nash and (sometimes) Young, Richie Furay, and Jim Messina.

The band got its name from the side of a steamroller, made by the Buffalo-Springfield Roller Company.

 The band released only three albums but left behind various outtakes of songs and demo recordings. The albums were 1966's Buffalo Springfield, 1967's Buffalo Springfield Again, and 1968's Last Time Around.

The hits from each album include "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing" and "Burned" from Buffalo Springfield, "For What it's Worth (Stop Hey What's That Sound)," Bluebird," "Rock n' Roll Woman" and "Expecting to Fly" from Buffalo Springfield Again. The hit releases from Last Time Around include, "Special Care" and "Un-Mundo."

Altogether, the band was together for only 25 months (just over two years).

The band was known for dysfunction between having band members arrested for pot, disputes with the labels, and band members in and out. With all of these occurrences, it's not surprising that Buffalo Springfield was no more so quickly.

Some of the band's most popular songs had political references. The most popular, perhaps, "For What it's Worth," was written after witnessing civil unrest and police action on a group of protestors outside the closing of the club, Pandora's Box.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and Young didn't show up.