Poco

Poco is an Southern California country rock band originally formed by Richie Furay and Jim Messina following the demise of Buffalo Springfield in 1968.^[1] The title of their first album, Pickin' Up the Pieces, is a reference to the break-up of Buffalo Springfield. Highly influential and creative, they were pioneers of the Country Rock Genre. Throughout the years Poco has performed in various groupings, and is still active today.

History

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.^[2] When Buffalo Springfield then split up, Furay, Messina and Rusty 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 from Atlantic Records (the Springfield's label) in return for the rights to Graham Nash from the Hollies (who was moving to Atlantic as part of Crosby, Stills & Nash).^[2] 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 and threatened to sue. "Poco" in Spanish and Italian means "little" or "un-", as "poco importante", and is also a musical term meaning "a little" or "by small measures".

Their first album, Pickin' Up the Pieces (1969), is considered a seminal album of the country rock genre.^[3] Reviewer Charley Walters awarded the release with 5 stars in the 1979 Rolling Stone Record Guide edited by Dave Marsh and John Swenson , although it was subsequently reduced to 4 stars in the 1983 revised and updated edition of the book. However, the album performed weakly, peaking at #63 on Billboard album chart.^[1]

The band's lineup proved to be a problem throughout its career. During the recording of the debut album, 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).^[4] 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.^[1]

Furay era (1970 to 1974)

The studio album Poco (1970) again resulted in low sales, peaking at #58. The band's next album, Deliverin', picked up moderate airplay, Furay's "C'mon" hitting #69. Deliverin’ became Poco's first album to reach the Top 40 on the Billboard 200, peaking at #26. Messina chose to leave the band in October 1970, feeling Furay exhibited too much control over the group's sound and left the band to return to studio production. At the recommendation of Peter Cetera of Chicago, Messina selected guitarist/singer Paul Cotton, a one-time member of the Illinois Speed Press to replace him.^[1]

The realigned Poco, now on its third lineup on just its fourth album, hired Steve Cropper as producer and released From the Inside (1971). Again, poor sales were the result as the release landed at #52. The band and its management were dissatisfied with Cropper's production and hired Jack Richardson, who oversaw the next three albums, beginning with A Good Feelin’ to Know (1972). The band built the LP around the title track, a popular concert tune, but the single failed to chart. The album itself peaked at #69. 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. In an April 26, 1973 Rolling Stone magazine interview with Cameron Crowe he vented that Poco was still a second-billed act and had not increased its audience. The next album, Crazy Eyes (1973), reached #38 but Furay departed at its release 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.^[1]

Post-Furay era (1974 to 1977)

After Furay's departure, the band released their last two albums with Epic; Seven (1974) and Cantamos (1974). The albums charted at #68 and #76 respectively. Poco left Epic after Cantamos and signed with ABC-Dunhill Records. Head Over Heels was their first ABC release, featuring Schmit's acoustic "Keep On Tryin'", which became the group's most successful single to date, charting at #50 on the Billboard Hot 100. Around the time of the release of Head Over Heels, The Very Best of Poco was released as a compilation album that documented the group's years with Epic. Epic's release fought with Head Over Heels for attention though neither charted very well, hitting #43 and #90, respectively.^[1]

The group's next ABC-Dunhill album was Rose Of Cimarron which also failed to generate much enthusiasm and peaked at #89. Another Epic release also came out in 1976, the live album Live.

Indian Summer was released the following spring, reaching #57.^[1]

Success (1977 to 1980)

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. As a result, a fully produced live album was shelved by ABC. After languishing in storage for many years, 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. They selected the Britons Steve Chapman (drums) and Charlie Harrison (bass) (former Judas Jump), both of whom had played together with Leo Sayer and Al Stewart, 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. He subsequently landed a job as drummer for Ricky Skaggs.

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, "Crazy Love" written and sung by Rusty Young (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 in original distribution. 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.

1980 to 2005

During the first half of 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). Poco failed to duplicate the success achieved by Legend, with each album performing more poorly than its predecessor.^[1] Furay, Schmit and Grantham had, since their departures, each guested with Poco at various times. Inamorata in 1984 included contributions by all three former members. Poco contributed the song "I'll Leave it Up to You" to the Fast Times at Ridgemont High soundtrack.

The group lost its recording contract with Atlantic due to 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. Grantham's reunion was brief though, in 1986 Ricky Skaggs asked him to rejoin his band. Chapman came back to take over drums again. After a few scattered dates for Poco in 1987 Paul Cotton did not perform with Poco again until 1992.

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 20 years after Poco's debut. The album produced a Top 20 hit, "Call It Love" and a Top 40 hit, "Nothing to Hide" earning Poco its second gold album (in its 19th album).^[1] The group (having added a keyboardist, Dave Vanecore) toured in early 1990 opening for Marx. Furay bowed out early on and 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, Rusty Young was the sole owner of the Poco name and, though they had not officially disbanded, the band seemed to be quietly fading away. 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, although at a very limited schedule. Young and Cotton occasionally also appeared as Poco as an acoustic duo.

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. The CD was released through the bands website. 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 a sold out show in Nashville in May 2004, resulting in the CD–DVD release Keeping the Legend Alive (2004). In July of the same year, Grantham suffered a stroke during a live performance. Nashville and Muscle Shoals, Alabama recording session drummer George Lawrence, who had subbed for Tim Smith on drums in 1999, subbed on drums for Grantham for the rest of 2004 and then was asked to join Poco full time in 2005. Grantham's recovery was slow and expensive, and the group created a donor fund on its official website, Poconut.org, to offset some of his considerable medical expenses. Starting in 2009 Grantham began occasionally appearing with the band again but limited his contributions to vocals only.

2005 to 2010

Poco continued to write and record while performing at festivals, performing arts centers, theaters and clubs. In 2005, they played a short tour in Europe, but Cotton was hospitalized in Norway with health issues and missed the last two shows of the tour. Guitarist and singer Bill Lloyd substituted for Cotton for several shows in the US. Cotton returned in 2006, stabilizing the lineup of Young, Cotton, Sundrud, and drummer George Lawrence. Cotton and Sundrud released solo albums. Young has authored an autobiographical history of the band. Poco alumni continued to periodically reunite in concert with this lineup. Richie Furay and Jim Messina returned for several 2008 Poco performances at the Wildwood Lodge in Steelville, Missouri, a tour of California in 2009 ending at the Stagecoach Festival in Indio where they were joined by Timothy B. Schmit and George Grantham, and several dates opening for Loggins and Messina featuring Furay, Messina, and 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 40+ year career.

2010 to present

In early 2010, Cotton left Poco abruptly, publicly citing a contractual dispute. Nashville veteran Michael Webb joined the band on vocals, stringed instruments, keys and accordion. In late 2010 the band, in its 20th lineup, was still touring and announced plans for a new studio album to be recorded in Nashville in early 2011.

Since 2004 Rusty Young has been the only original member in the band, and he remains the leader and front man on stage. The band's performances showcase his talents as a instrumental soloist, singer, songwriter and story teller. Out of all the members of Poco, past and present, Young is the only person who performed at every Poco gig since the beginning and played on every Poco recording. According to their management, dates have been booked for 2011.

In January 2011 Poco started work on a new studio album in Nashville at Sixteen Ton Studio. Tentatively titled Long in the Tooth but Short in the Hair, the album is scheduled to be released in mid-2011.

Discography

Lineups

References