Richie Furay
(born Paul Richard Furay
, 9 May 1944, Yellow Springs, Ohio) is an American singer, songwriter, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member who is best known for forming the 1960s band, Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin. His best known song with that band was "Kind Woman," which he wrote for his wife, Nancy.
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RICHIE FURAY TICKETS
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Career
Before Buffalo Springfield, Furay performed with Stills in the nine-member group, the Au Go Go Singers (Roy Michaels, Rick Geiger, Jean Gurney, Michael Scott, Kathy King, Nels Gustafson, Bob Harmelink, and Furay & Stills), the house band for the famous
Cafe Au Go Go in
New York.
In the late 1960s he formed the
country-
rock band
Poco, with
Jim Messina and
Rusty Young. This band, while influential to many future country-rock acts, never achieved its potential success. Furay's best known songs, "Pickin' Up The Pieces" and "Good Feelin' To Know", however, have reached classic status and appear on many country
compilations. He left Poco in 1974 to join the
Souther Hillman Furay Band.
Al Perkins, the group's
pedal steel guitar player, introduced Furay to
Christianity, before poor
record sales led to the band's demise.
Furay then formed The Richie Furay Band, with
Jay Truax,
John Mehler, and Tom Stipe, releasing the album
I've Got a Reason
in 1976, which reflected Furay's newfound beliefs. To support the release of this album Furay formed an alliance with
David Geffen and
Asylum Records. Furay assured Geffen that his album would be Christian influenced but would not be an attempt to preach his newfound beliefs. The album, along with subsequent releases failed to
chart. After two tours during the late 1970s, he hung up his
rock and roll shoes in favor of a call to the ministry.
Since the early 1980s, Furay has been senior
pastor of the
Calvary Chapel in
Broomfield,
Colorado, a Christian church in the
Denver area. He continues to perform as a
solo artist, and very occasionally with Poco. He most recently toured as an opening act for
America and
Linda Ronstadt during the
Summer of 2006. The 2006 release of his latest
CD The Heartbeat of Love
returns Furay to his early country-rock roots with a contemporary flair.
In 2007 he toured with a new formation of the Richie Furay Band.At the Boulder and Bluebird Theatres in Colorado they recorded a double live CD ALIVE.The ALIVE set covers 29 songs of Furay's career.The Richie Furay band continued to tour through 2008 and 2009.However,Furay got back together with Poco for a few shows earlier in 2009.One such show was at the Stagecoach Festival in Indio California where Richie and Poco were joined onstage by original member Jim Messina and second bass player Timothy B. Schmidt.
Partial discography
Albums
As a member of the Au Go-Go Singers:
- Au Go-Go Singers
(With Stills) (1964) (Roulette Records)
As a member of the Buffalo Springfield:
- Buffalo Springfield
(1966) (Atco)
- Buffalo Springfield Again
(1967) (Atco)
- Last Time Around
(1968) (Atco)
As a member of Poco:
- Pickin' Up the Pieces
(1969) (Epic)
- Poco
(1970) (Epic)
- Deliverin'
(1971) (Epic)
- From The Inside
(1971) (Epic)
- A Good Feelin’ To Know
(1972) (Epic)
- Crazy Eyes
(1973) (Epic)
- Legacy
(1989) (RCA)
As a member of Souther-Hillman-Furay Band:
- The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band
(1974) (Asylum)
- Trouble in Paradise
(1975) (Asylum)
Solo:
- I've Got a Reason
(1976) (Asylum)
- Dance a Little Light
(1978) (Asylum)
- I Still Have Dreams
(1979) (Asylum)
- Seasons of Change
(1982) (Myrrh Records)
- In My Father's House
(1997) ([Calvary Chapel Records)
- I am Sure
(2005) (FridayMusic)
- ''The Heartbeat of Love (2006) (Richie Furay and John Macy)
Compilations
- Songs of Richie Furay
(1980) (Epic Records)
The Richie Furay Band
- ALIVE
(2007) (FridayMusic)
Singles
- "Souther Hillman Furay" (1974) (Asylum)
- Souther Hillman Furay: "Safe at Home" / "Border Town".