Buffalo Springfield

Buffalo Springfield, Canadian-American band that combined inventive songwriting, skillful instrumental interplay, and harmony vocals into a stunning folk rock signature sound, which laid the groundwork for southern California country rock. The original members were Stephen Stills (b. January 3, 1945, Dallas, Texas, U.S.), Neil Young (b. November 12, 1945, Toronto, Ontario, Canada), Richie Furay (b. May 9, 1944, Yellow Springs, Ohio, U.S.), Dewey Martin (b. September 30, 1942, Chesterville, Ontario, Canada—found dead February 1, 2009, Van Nuys, California, U.S.), and Bruce Palmer (b. 1946, Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Canada—d. October 1, 2004, Belleville, Ontario). Later members included Jim Messina (b. December 5, 1947, Maywood, California, U.S.).

Bursting with talent, Buffalo Springfield formed in 1966 following a fortuitous encounter in a Los Angeles traffic jam between Stills and Furay (veterans of the Greenwich Village folk scene) and Young and Palmer (Canadians drawn to the “hip” epicentre of the burgeoning folk rock movement). Furay, Stills, and Young all wrote songs, provided lead vocals, and played guitar. Palmer played bass; drummer Martin had played with country rock pioneers the Dillards. In a six-week gig at the Whisky-A-Go-Go club on Sunset Strip, the band polished their sound and refined their image, later gaining a record label—Atlantic subsidiary Atco. Their biggest hit, “For What It’s Worth” (1967), about clashes between youth and police on Sunset Strip, remains evocative of the era’s spirit and its tensions.

The group broke up in 1968, but post-breakup success came to Furay and Messina in Poco, to Messina in Loggins and Messina, to Young in a prodigious solo career, and to Stills in Crosby, Stills and Nash, which at times also included Young. Buffalo Springfield was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.