 "Photo: Courtesy Photo")
As rock 'n' roll has gone through time, there are some acts that, today, get unfairly remembered for one song they did, despite the fact that they had rather lucrative careers outside that song and would never be referred to as one-hit wonders. Procol Harum is remembered for "A Whiter Shade of Pale," Don McLean has "American Pie," Deep Purple has "Smoke on the Water," and so on. But there might not be a more egregious case then Buffalo Springfield. Their single, "For What It's Worth" is one of the most well known rock songs ever made. Everyone knows the song; it's a staple of the era.
And while most bands could only dream of having a "For What It's Worth" in its repertoire, the song also gets so much attention that it unfairly overshadows the brilliant "Buffalo Springfield Again. Buffalo Springfield Again" is a completely disjointed masterpiece, the sequencing is completely random, each song is distinct and diverse, yet at the same time, the album holds together brilliantly. There's something there throughout the entire album that gives it a great feel. It's tough to explain, but there are some albums that just have it, and this is one of them.
The patch work style of this album is very much in contrast of their self-titled debut album released only eight months prior to "Again". On their debut, guitarists Richie Furay, Neil Young, and Stephen Stills, bassist Bruce Palmer, and drummer Dewey Martin have a great group dynamic going throughout the album. The group is very tight; it's clear throughout the album that these were five musicians that really played well together. Furay, Stills, and Young blend their guitars perfectly and there is a very uniform folk-rock sound consistent throughout the entire album. As a result, they came out with a very strong freshman effort. The album has some real standout tracks like "Go and Say Goodbye," "Sit Down, I Think I Love You," "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing," as well as the aforementioned "For What It's Worth."
The songs on "Again", on the otherhand, rarely consist of all five of the group's members playing together. One big reason for this was that Palmer, a Canadian, was arrested on marijuana charges in the States and sent back up north. Thus, Palmer appears on only a few of the songs on "Again". Another factor that was the souring the relationship between Stills and Young, for the first of what would be many times over the course of the next forty years, forging a bond not too far off from Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" except they never invited any young couples to dinner. Young grew tired of Stills and the scene in general, left Buffalo Springfield, and then returned during the "Again" sessions.
Yet the fact that this album has some songs that are more a solo effort then a Buffalo Springfield song is what provides such a great deal of diversity on this album. One of the problems of their debut was that even though the songs were solid, it is somewhat tiresome to give the album a full listen-through just because it is too consistent of a sound throughout the entire album and doesn't stray away from it too far. But with the fractured sessions of their second album, it allows each of the 10 songs to take on a very distinct direction. At the base there's no real rhyme or reason going from song to song, they all come from different directions. But in the context of the album as a whole, they all work together; it's very similar to the way The Beatles' "Revolver" comes off.
What really puts "Buffalo Springfield Again" into the pantheon of great albums is the songwriting that is on display throughout it. If you just look solely at the songwriting, this album is one of the best in rock history; it is truly a songwriting gem. Of course, this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise considering Buffalo Springfield consisted of three tremendous songwriters in Furay, Stills, and Young.
For Furay, "Again" serves as a springboard for the songwriting career he would embark on from this point forward. Furay sang quite a bit on the group's debut, including lead on three of Neil Young's five songs because the record execs that "produced" the album felt Young's voice was too "weird" (nice call there by the suits), so Furay had already established himself as a very good singer, but he hadn't contributed anything of his own.
Despite his lack of experience in songwriting, Furay really comes through and adds a great deal to "Again". Two of his songs, "Sad Memory" and "Good Time Boy" might be the two weakest tracks on the entire album, yet even these two songs are great to listen to. "Good Time Boy" is a tongue-in-cheek James Brown/soul style send-up sung by Dewey Martin. It's an odd song for sure, but it really is a fun song and adds to the diversity and spontaneous nature of the album. "Sad Memory," meanwhile is a tender ballad that sounds like a Jefferson Airplane song as Furay channels Marty Balin's singing on "Comin' Back to Me." Neil Young adds a cool lounge-style guitar and the lyrics are great, but the song is a little too sleepy and drags a bit; it's my least favorite song on the album, which tells you something because it really is a decent song.
The third of Furay's contributions, "A Child's Claim To Fame," is a real standout and one of the high marks on "Buffalo Springfield Again". The whole country-rock genre really didn't take off until mid-1968, but the seeds certainly were sowed by Buffalo Springfield, along with The Byrds and Bob Dylan and the Band's bootlegged work in 1967, and "A Child's Claim To Fame" certainly was one of the strongest songs in the progression of the movement. Furay uses his voice perfectly for a country song; it sounds wonderfully smooth yet down home, and the way he sustains his voice allows the lyrics to flow perfectly for a country song. James Burton, who played guitar for Ricky Nelson and later for Elvis Presley, adds a great dobro part, and the lead guitar gives the song a nice '60s rock twist. This song opened the door for Furay to discover the country-rock genre even further in the group he fronted after Buffalo Springfield broke up: Poco.
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