That wasn't the case with their next single, "For What It's Worth." Written by Stills after he witnessed a riot on the Sunset Strip, the group quickly cut and released the tune as a single, and it swiftly spread across the U.S. This stint led to new managers Charlie Greene and Brian Stone, who also worked with Sonny & Cher, who helped secure a contract with Atco, a subsidiary of Ahmet Ertegun's Atlantic Records.Ītco released Young's "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing" as Buffalo Springfield's first single in August 1966, but it only found airplay in Los Angeles. Swiping their name from a steamroller company, Buffalo Springfield debuted at the Troubadour on Ap- they had rehearsed no longer than a week - then launched a six-week residency at the Whisky A Go Go on the Sunset Strip a month later. Soon, the quartet formed a group, adding Dewey Martin - who had previously played with garage rockers the Standells and progressive country pioneers the Dillards - as their drummer. Once that group split, the pair decided to make a go of it in California, and they were struggling until they happened upon Stills and Furay. Neil Young moved to Los Angeles with Bruce Palmer, who played bass with Young in a group called the Mynah Birds, which also featured future funk-rocker Rick James as their lead singer. Stills recruited Richie Furay, who he had previously played with in the Au Go-Go Singers, and this pair, along with Friedman, were driving down Sunset when they noticed a hearse that they swore belonged to Young. There, he became friendly with producer Barry Friedman, who encouraged the singer/songwriter to develop his own band.
Once that tour ended, Stills headed out to Los Angeles, California, where he began to grind out a living on the session circuit. The roots of Buffalo Springfield stretch back to Thunder Bay, Ontario, where Neil Young's rock & roll combo the Squires were opening for the Company, a satellite group of the folk revue the Au Go-Go Singers featuring Stephen Stills.
#AM I WORTH IT SONG CRACKED#
Buffalo Springfield Again, their 1967 masterwork, in particular showcased the group's expansive reach, and if that musicality didn't result in hits - they never again cracked the Top 40 after "For What It's Worth" - it certainly laid the groundwork for many aspects of the album rock of the 1970s. Nominally a folk-rock band, Buffalo Springfield also showed a facility with country-rock, psychedelia, soul, and hard rock, all the while embracing the possibilities of the recording studios of Los Angeles. So popular was "For What It's Worth," it threatened to obscure how instrumental Buffalo Springfield's original run of three albums were in reshaping the sound of rock & roll in the late '60s. Some of their legend was cultivated in the ensuing decades, after founding members Richie Furay, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young went on to fame either on their own or with such groups as Poco and Manassas, but much of it rested upon "For What It's Worth," a protest song written and sung by Stills, that not only became their Top Ten breakthrough in 1967 but their enduring anthem, eventually serving as shorthand for all the political turmoil of the 1960s.
īuffalo Springfield's time was short - they formed in 1966 and split in 1968 - but their legacy was vast. Nominally a folk-rock band, Buffalo Springfield also showed a facility with country-rock.
Buffalo Springfield's time was short - they formed in 1966 and split in 1968 - but their legacy was vast.