Poco
is an American country rock band originally formed by Richie Furay and Jim Messina following the demise of Buffalo Springfield in 1968. The title of their first album, Pickin' Up The Pieces
, is a reference to the break-up of the Springfield and is the only debut album ever to receive a perfect rating from Rolling Stone Magazine. A favorite of AOR FM stations in the early 1970s, Poco was considered to be a highly innovative and pioneering band. Although the band charted a handful of Top 20 hits, overall their Top 40 success was uneven, and many of their most innovative records were commercially unsuccessful. Throughout the years Poco has performed in various groupings, with the latest version still active today. With 24 original albums and 26 "Best of" and anthology collections, the band boasts a total catalog of 50 releases.
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POCO TICKETS
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Inception
During recording of the third Buffalo Springfield album (
Last Time Around
), each of the three lead singers (
Stephen Stills,
Neil Young and
Richie Furay) recorded songs without the other members present. One of Furay's solo songs was the country-influenced ballad "Kind Woman", which he recorded with the help of producer/engineer/bassist
Jim Messina and
pedal steel guitarist
Rusty Young.
[1] When Buffalo Springfield then split up, Furay, Messina and Young decided to start their own group oriented toward such songs.
The original lineup of this new group was Furay (vocals and
rhythm guitar), Messina (
lead guitar, vocals, producer), Young (
pedal steel guitar,
banjo,
Dobro, guitar, mandolin and vocals), George Grantham (
drums and vocals) and
Randy Meisner (
bass and vocals). The group was signed to a recording contract with
Epic Records, which acquired the rights to Furay and Messina from
Atlantic Records (the Springfield's label) in return for the rights to
David Crosby from the
Byrds and
Graham Nash from the
Hollies (who were moving to Atlantic as part of
Crosby, Stills & Nash).
Originally, the new group was named "
Pogo" after the famous comic strip character, but it had to change its name when Pogo creator
Walt Kelly objected to their use of the name. "Poco" is a Spanish term meaning "little" or "un", as "poco importante", which means unimportant in Spanish and a musical term meaning "to diminish by small measures".
Their first album,
Pickin' Up the Pieces
(1969), is considered to be the best and most important album of a new musical genre that united country with rock music.
[2] However, the album was not a commercial success, falling short of the top 50 on the
Billboard
album charts.
Prior to its release, Meisner left the group as a result of a conflict with Furay (reportedly, Meisner had objected after Furay barred all but himself and Messina from the first album's final mix playback sessions). After a stint playing with
Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band, Meisner later became a founding member of The
Eagles. Messina assumed the bass chores until
Timothy B. Schmit joined Poco in September 1969.
The "Furay Era"
The studio album
Poco
(1970) and the live album
Deliverin'
(1971) followed. Guided by the vision of Furay and Messina, these became touchstones of country rock music making Poco the yardstick by which all country rock bands are measured. Poco's unique blending country music with energetic rock translated well to live performances, and the band developed a loyal following on the road. Each album picked up moderate airplay with songs like Messina's "You Better Think Twice" and Furay's "C'mon". Critical acclaim did not yield commercial success, however. Even though ''Deliverin
became Poco's first album to reach the top 30 on the
Billboard'' album charts (peaking at #26), Messina, more accustomed to studio life, chose to leave the band in October 1970. He became a studio producer for
Columbia Records, and, eventually, half of
Loggins and Messina. At the suggestion of
Peter Cetera of
Chicago,
Paul Cotton, guitarist and vocalist from The
Illinois Speed Press, replaced Messina.
The realigned Poco, now on its third lineup on just its fourth album, hired blues legend
Steve Cropper as producer and released
From The Inside
(1971), featuring Cotton's "Bad Weather", which became a signature song for the band. The band and its management was dissatisfied with Cropper's production and hired star producer
Jack Richardson, who oversaw the next three albums, beginning with
A Good Feelin’ To Know
(1972). Although the Furay title track became the most recognizable Poco song of their early years, it completely failed to chart despite more critical acclaim. As a result, Furay became increasingly discouraged with Poco's prospects, especially since ex-bandmates Stills, Young, Meisner and Messina were so successful with their respective groups. The next album,
Crazy Eyes
(1973), was another strong effort that ultimately proved to be Furay's last as a member of the group. The album employed extensive overdubbing of horns and strings for a lush, heavily produced kind of sound, strikingly different from the blend of Bakersfield country and rock that characterised Poco's albums previously. The title track was a Furay song written about fellow country-rock pioneer and close friend
Gram Parsons of
Flying Burrito Brothers fame, who had died of a drug overdose at the Joshua Tree Inn just prior to the recording of the album; Furay also sang Parsons' song "Brass Buttons" on the album.
At the urging of Poco manager (and later
Asylum Records president)
David Geffen, Furay left Poco in September 1973 and joined with
J. D. Souther and
Chris Hillman to create the
Souther-Hillman-Furay Band on Asylum. Poco decided not to replace Furay and continued as a quartet.
The "Post-Furay Era"
Furay's departure provided an opportunity for Rusty Young. Previously known largely for his multi-instrumental talents, especially on pedal steel guitar, Young stepped up to become one of the band's primary songwriters and singers on subsequent albums.
Seven
(1974) and
Cantamos
(1974), their last two albums for
Epic Records, established the group as a strong quartet without Furay. After
Cantamos
, Poco left Epic for
ABC Records.
Head Over Heels
was their first ABC release, featuring Schmit's acoustic "Keep On Tryin'", which became an AOR favorite and the group's most successful single to date. The success of the single was a surprise for the group after leaving Epic. Around the time of the release of
Head Over Heels
, Epic released
The Very Best of Poco
, a compilation that documented the group's years with Epic. Epic's release fought with
Head Over Heels
for the attention of fans, arguably causing reduced sales for both albums.
The following album was
Rose Of Cimarron
. Though the album was generally considered one of the group's finest, featuring Cotton's
Outlaw Country-inspired "Too Many Nights Too Long" and Young's classic
title track, its sales were poor due to competition with another poorly-timed Epic release, the live album
Live
.
Indian Summer
was released the following spring. Despite the fact that it received little promotion, it ended up charting higher than its predecessor, driven by Cotton's title track. The band recorded a new live album in a second attempt to break through with the
Indian Summer
and
Rose of Cimarron
songs, featuring Furay's first guest appearance with the band since his departure some four years before.
Success
In August 1977, with the support of the rest of Poco, Schmit quit to join the Eagles, coincidentally replacing former Poco member Meisner yet again. Unfortunately, as a result, the live album's release was cancelled by ABC. The album was eventually released as
The Last Roundup
in 2004.
After Schmit's departure, Poco decided to take a break. Grantham took some time off, while Young and Cotton decided to continue as the "Cotton-Young Band" and redoubled their efforts to succeed, selecting Britons
Steve Chapman (
drums) and
Charlie Harrison (
bass) (both of whom had played together with
Leo Sayer,
Al Stewart and many others) to round out their new quartet. However, ABC decided to pick up the Cotton-Young album — as long as they continued under the "Poco" name. Thus, although Grantham had never quit Poco, he found himself bought out of the group.
Legend
(1978), the Cotton-Young album with cover art by graphic artist (and later comedy actor)
Phil Hartman, subsequently became the group's most commercially successful album, containing two Top Twenty hits, Young's "Crazy Love" (which also had a seven-week run at Number 1 on the
Adult Contemporary chart in early 1979, the biggest hit on the AC chart that year) and Cotton's "Heart of the Night". The album was
certified gold, Poco's first album to achieve this distinction. Kim Bullard (
keyboards) joined the band in December 1978 just as
Legend
was being released. While "Crazy Love" was riding up the charts, ABC Records was sold to
MCA Records. Poco was retained by MCA and the
Legend
album was reissued on the MCA label. With the momentum built up from ''Legend
s success, Poco played their new hit "Heart of the Night" on the live album
No Nukes'' in support of nuclear-free energy, which featured several other big artists such as
Bruce Springsteen and
Jackson Browne.
The later years
In the 1980s, the group released five more albums:
Under The Gun
(1980),
Blue And Gray
(1981),
Cowboys & Englishmen
(1982) on MCA and, moving over to
Atlantic Records,
Ghost Town
(1982) and
Inamorata
(1984). Despite creating music that often lived up to the quality of the band's earlier efforts, Poco ultimately failed to duplicate the success achieved by
Legend
, although their song "Shoot For the Moon" did receive a lot of air play. In the wake of changing musical tastes and a fickle marketplace in the early 1980s, Poco increasingly faded from the forefront of the popular music scene as the decade went on.
Furay, Schmit and Grantham had, since their departures, each guested with Poco at various times.
Inamorata
included contributions by all three former members, but the album did not result in a lasting reunion, in part due to its lack of success.
The group lost its recording contract with Atlantic after the slow sales of
Inamorata
but continued to tour, mostly in small clubs. Bullard left to rejoin
Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1983 and Harrison (who had not played on
Inamorata
) departed in mid-1984. New members
Jeff Steele (bass) and
Rick Seratte (keyboards, backing vocals) came in for Poco's 1984 tour dates, only to be replaced in 1985 by
Jack Sundrud and the returning Grantham. But in 1986, Chapman came back to take over drums again from Grantham.
After a lengthy recording hiatus, at the urging of
Richard Marx, Poco re-emerged on the
RCA label with the successful
Legacy
(1989), reuniting original members Young, Furay, Messina, Grantham, and Meisner twenty years after Poco's debut. The album featured two top forty hits, "Call it Love" and "Nothing to Hide", and earned Poco its second gold album (in its 19th album). The group (having added a keyboardist,
Dave Vanecore) toured in early 1990 opening for Marx. Then Furay had to bow out due to conflicts in his schedule (he was now a minister at a Colorado church). Poco toured as a headliner in the summer of 1990 with Sundrud returning to take over rhythm guitar from Furay. In 1991, Poco toured as an acoustic trio with Young, Messina and Meisner (drummer
Gary Mallaber joined them for dates in Japan that July). But by the end of 1991, Messina and Meisner had returned to their individual careers.
By early 1992, Poco was once again without a record deal. But despite this, Young once again teamed with Cotton, brought in new members
Richard Neville (vocals, bass) and Tim Smith (drums) and toured through the end of the decade. Young and Cotton occasionally also appeared as Poco as an acoustic duo. Concurrently during this period, Young worked in another group, Four Wheel Drive, with
Patrick Simmons of the
Doobie Brothers,
Bill Lloyd of
Foster & Lloyd and
John Cowan (ex-
New Grass Revival). This group reorganized under the name
Sky Kings in 1995. Two albums were recorded under the "Sky Kings" name but, Warner Bros. chose not to release either waiting for a Radio Hit from a single. "That Just about Says it All" and "Picture Perfect" both broke the Hot 100 but didn't rise far on the charts. Rhino Records released both of the Sky Kings albums with additional material in 2000 under the title; "Out of the Blue".
In 2000, Grantham and Sundrud once again returned to Poco, reuniting the group's 1985 lineup, and
Running Horse
(2002) found the band in the studio for the first time in thirteen years. Furay (who had continued to make guest appearances at their shows over the years when they played in his native Colorado) reunited with the band again for one show in Nashville in May 2004, resulting in the spirited CD–DVD release
Keeping The Legend Alive
(2004). In July of the same year, Grantham tragically suffered a stroke during a live performance. His recovery has been slow and expensive and the group has created a donor fund on its official website, Poconut.com, to offset some of his considerable medical expenses. The site offers a variety of ways of donating money.
George Lawrence (who had subbed for Tim Smith on drums in 1999) rejoined Poco at this point.
The Present
Poco continues to write and record a substantial volume of music while performing at festivals and top rock venues in the
United States,
Canada and Europe. Young, Cotton, Sundrud, and veteran drummer George Lawrence comprise the current lineup. Cotton and Sundrud recently released solo albums, and Young is the author of an upcoming autobiographical history of the band. Poco alumni continue to periodically reunite in concert with the current lineup. Richie Furay and Jim Messina returned for several 2008 Poco performances at the Wildwood Lodge in
Steelville, Missouri and at Stagecoach in 2009 with Timothy B. Schmit and George Grantham.
Bareback At Big Sky
(2005) and
The Wildwood Sessions
(2006) are Poco's most recent original releases, capturing live acoustic versions of songs both new and familiar from their forty-year plus career.
Discography
Poco Member History
1968–1969
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- Richie Furay
– guitars, vocals
- Jim Messina
– guitars, bass, vocals
- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Randy Meisner
– bass, vocals
- George Grantham
– drums, vocals
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1969
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- Richie Furay
– guitars, vocals
- Jim Messina
– guitars, bass, vocals
- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- George Grantham
– drums, vocals
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1969–1970
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- Richie Furay
– guitars, vocals
- Jim Messina
– guitars, vocals
- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Timothy B. Schmit
– bass, harmonica, vocals
- George Grantham
– drums, vocals
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1970–1973
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- Richie Furay
– guitars, vocals
- Paul Cotton
– guitars, vocals
- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Timothy B. Schmit
– bass, harmonica, vocals
- George Grantham
– drums, vocals
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1973–1976
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- Paul Cotton
– guitars, vocals
- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Timothy B. Schmit
– bass, harmonica, vocals
- George Grantham
– drums, vocals
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1976
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- Paul Cotton
– guitars, vocals
- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Timothy B. Schmit
– bass, harmonica, vocals
- George Grantham
– drums, vocals
- Al Garth
– saxophone, violin
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1976–1977
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- Paul Cotton
– guitars, vocals
- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Timothy B. Schmit
– bass, harmonica, vocals
- George Grantham
– drums, vocals
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1978
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- Paul Cotton
– guitars, vocals
- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Charlie Harrison
– bass, backing vocals
- Steve Chapman
– drums
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1978–1983
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- Paul Cotton
– guitars, vocals
- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Charlie Harrison
– bass, backing vocals
- Steve Chapman
– drums
- Kim Bullard
– keyboards, backing vocals
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1984
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- Paul Cotton
– guitars, vocals
- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Steve Chapman
– drums
- Rick Seratte
– keyboards, backing vocals
- Charlie Harrison/Jeff Steele
– bass
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1985
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- Paul Cotton
– guitars, vocals
- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Jack Sundrud
– bass, guitar, vocals
- George Grantham
– drums, vocals
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1986–1987
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- Paul Cotton
– guitars, vocals
- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Jack Sundrud
– bass, guitar, vocals
- Steve Chapman
– drums
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1988–1989
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- Richie Furay
– guitars, vocals
- Jim Messina
– guitars, bass, vocals
- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Randy Meisner
– bass, guitar, vocals
- George Grantham
– drums, vocals
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1989–1990
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- Richie Furay
– guitars, vocals
- Jim Messina
– guitars, bass, vocals
- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Randy Meisner
– bass, guitar, vocals
- George Grantham
– drums, vocals
- Dave Vanecore
– keyboards
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1990
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- Jim Messina
– guitars, bass, vocals
- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Randy Meisner
– bass, guitar, vocals
- George Grantham
– drums, vocals
- Jack Sundrud
– guitar, vocals
- Dave Vanecore
– keyboards
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1991
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- Jim Messina
– guitars, bass, vocals
- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Randy Meisner
– bass, guitar, vocals
- Gary Mallaber
was added on drums for a July 1991 Japanese tour'''
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1992–1999
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- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Paul Cotton
– guitars, vocals
- Richard Neville
– bass, vocals
- Tim Smith
– drums, backing vocals
- Young
and Cotton
also appeared as a duo during this era playing acoustic sets
- George Lawrence
filled in on drums for Smith for some shows in 1999
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2000–2004
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- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Paul Cotton
– guitars, vocals
- Jack Sundrud
– bass, guitar, vocals
- George Grantham
– drums, vocals
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2004–present
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- Rusty Young
– pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
- Paul Cotton
– guitars, vocals
- Jack Sundrud
– bass, guitar, vocals
- George Lawrence
– drums
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Notes
References
- Eder, Bruce. 'Poco'; ''Allmusic''.
- Eder, Bruce. ''Pickin' Up the Pieces'' review, ''Allmusic''.