Paul Cotton - lead guitar, vocals
Rusty Young - pedal steel, banjo, vocals
Timothy B. Schmit - bass, acoustic guitar, vocals
George Grantham - drums, vocals
When the Buffalo Springfield fell apart so Neil Young and Stephen Stills could eventually re-group as Crosby Stills Nash & Young, the two other major musical entities from that groundbreaking 1960s band to resurface were guitarist Richie Furay and bassist Jim Messina. Both were writers and singers, but loomed in the giant shadow of Stills and Young while in Buffalo Springfield.
Furay and Messina had been nurturing a growing interest in country music and formed a new group called Poco. In what was unheard of at the time, they asked a friend, Rusty Young to join. Young was an accomplished pedal steel guitarist who had planned a career as a country musician, when Furay recruited him for a band that would effectively blend modern country music with upbeat acoustic driven rock ’n’ roll. Signed to Epic Records, under the watchful eye of CBS Music, Furay and Messina assembled a strong band of mostly California players, all of whom were interested in the merging of folk-rock and country. Also in the initial lineup was drummer George Grantham and bassist Randy Meisner.
This show was done while the band was promoting their third studio album, Good Feeling To Know and before they were about to start recording their commercial breakthrough album Crazy Eyes. It was one of the early King Biscuit Flower Hour recordings. The band had recently gone through a transformation from their 1969 original lineup and brought in new players Paul Cotton on guitar and vocals; and Timothy B. Schmit on bass and vocals. Messina had left to start a duo called Loggins & Messina (who would become a superstar act in its own right) and Meisner left to join Glen Frey and Don Henley (fresh out of Linda Ronstadt’s band) to form a group called The Eagles.
When they started recording after this tour, Poco brought in guests Chris Hillman (ex-Byrds, Flying Burrito Bros. and current member of Stephen Stills & Manassas) on mandolin; and two other Manassas members, Paul Harris on piano and Joe Lala on percussion; to help record Crazy Eyes. After the next tour, Furay would leave Poco to form Souther-Hillman-Furay Band with Chris Hillman and JD Souther. Poco would carry on (and continues to this day) with Paul Cotton at the helm. Schmit left in 1976 to ironically once again replace Meisner, this time in The Eagles.
Decades from now, rock historians will come to view Poco as one of the very first country rock bands that eventually developed what is now known as the Southern California sound that allowed for acts like The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, and others to emerge.
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