Richie Furay knows a little something about miracles in his new career as a preacher.
A Buffalo Springfield reunion may not strictly qualify as a one. But like most folks he'd written off the possibility when the band famously flamed out in 1968, ending a short but incandescent run that would ripple through music for decades to come.
"People have asked me did I think The Buffalo Springfield would ever get back together again, and my answer was a short, 'Never, it's not gonna happen,'" Furay said in a phone interview last Saturday before the band's soundcheck in Los Angeles. "That old saying, 'Never say never,' is true."
The surviving members of the California quintet — Furay, Stephen Stills and Neil Young — will make their only festival appearance this year on Saturday at Bonnaroo, serving as a focal point for an event heavy on bands influenced by the folk- and country-rock pioneers.
Young first broached the idea of a reunion in a song, "Buffalo Springfield Again" from 2000's "Silver & Gold," and finally reached out personally last year to invite Furay and Stills to join him at his annual Bridge School benefit concert in October.
Fans cheered the reunion and, more importantly, the band enjoyed it. Over the years their relationships sometimes bore the lingering strain of that 1960s breakup. But not this time. Things were so much fun, they made plans for a six-date mini-tour in California to warm up for Bonnaroo and have since announced a fall tour.
There's a harmony these days that didn't exist during the band's revolving-door run from 1966-68.
"Nobody's looking for a career move or anything," Furay said. "This isn't a career move. This is just a bunch of guys who played music together 40 years ago having fun, readdressing the music that we played, and there's no agendas. ... Man, it's so much more relaxed and I am going to speak for Neil and for Stephen, we're just having fun. There's no reason to be doing this if everyone isn't having fun and everyone's having fun. We knew that back at the Bridge School. It was like stepping back in time."
And it's an exciting time to revisit. Buffalo Springfield held together just long enough to record one album together, one album apart and enough leftovers for a third.
In these few dozen tracks is a large portion of the DNA for today's thriving folk- and country-rock scenes. Buffalo Springfield alongside groups like The Byrds helped meld sounds no one really thought belonged together at the time. Folk purists felt rock 'n' roll was abusive, and rock purists didn't want to fluff up their music. And the country guys had no idea what to make of it all.
Buffalo Springfield — which originally included bassist Bruce Palmer and drummer Dewey Martin, who have both passed away — had just one big hit in its short run, but its commercial success was inverse to its influence. Tension in the band between Young and Stills and legal problems for Palmer led to the band's split. Young and Stills went on to success as solo artists and together in Crosby, Stills, Nash & (sometimes) Young. Furay formed the influential country-rock band Poco with latter-day Springfield member Jim Messina before forming the nondenominational Calvary Chapel in Bloomfield, Colo.
A Buffalo Springfield reunion may not strictly qualify as a one. But like most folks he'd written off the possibility when the band famously flamed out in 1968, ending a short but incandescent run that would ripple through music for decades to come.
"People have asked me did I think The Buffalo Springfield would ever get back together again, and my answer was a short, 'Never, it's not gonna happen,'" Furay said in a phone interview last Saturday before the band's soundcheck in Los Angeles. "That old saying, 'Never say never,' is true."
The surviving members of the California quintet — Furay, Stephen Stills and Neil Young — will make their only festival appearance this year on Saturday at Bonnaroo, serving as a focal point for an event heavy on bands influenced by the folk- and country-rock pioneers.
Young first broached the idea of a reunion in a song, "Buffalo Springfield Again" from 2000's "Silver & Gold," and finally reached out personally last year to invite Furay and Stills to join him at his annual Bridge School benefit concert in October.
There's a harmony these days that didn't exist during the band's revolving-door run from 1966-68.
"Nobody's looking for a career move or anything," Furay said. "This isn't a career move. This is just a bunch of guys who played music together 40 years ago having fun, readdressing the music that we played, and there's no agendas. ... Man, it's so much more relaxed and I am going to speak for Neil and for Stephen, we're just having fun. There's no reason to be doing this if everyone isn't having fun and everyone's having fun. We knew that back at the Bridge School. It was like stepping back in time."
And it's an exciting time to revisit. Buffalo Springfield held together just long enough to record one album together, one album apart and enough leftovers for a third.
In these few dozen tracks is a large portion of the DNA for today's thriving folk- and country-rock scenes. Buffalo Springfield alongside groups like The Byrds helped meld sounds no one really thought belonged together at the time. Folk purists felt rock 'n' roll was abusive, and rock purists didn't want to fluff up their music. And the country guys had no idea what to make of it all.
Buffalo Springfield — which originally included bassist Bruce Palmer and drummer Dewey Martin, who have both passed away — had just one big hit in its short run, but its commercial success was inverse to its influence. Tension in the band between Young and Stills and legal problems for Palmer led to the band's split. Young and Stills went on to success as solo artists and together in Crosby, Stills, Nash & (sometimes) Young. Furay formed the influential country-rock band Poco with latter-day Springfield member Jim Messina before forming the nondenominational Calvary Chapel in Bloomfield, Colo.
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