Poco - 1969-07-05 - Eagles Auditorium, Seattle WA

Poco

1969-07-05 

Eagles Auditorium

Seattle, WA

Audience recording, good quality

Mp3 @ 192 kbps

OK, to wrap up this brief look at Poco and mini-tribute to Poco's guiding force for over 50 years, Rusty Young, here we go way back to the very early touring days of the band, 1969, sortly after the release of their very first album, Pickin' Up the Pieces (1969). This is the earliest Poco show recording that I know of (unfortunately it is an audience recording that I only have in a lesser quality 192 kbps Mp3 format). But even at this stage, they were already having lineup issues, as bassist Randy Meisner left during the mixing of the first album (reportedly due to disputes with Richie Furay), leaving them short-handed for their upcoming debut album tour. So Jim Messina covered bass where needed for the live shows (in addition to some guitar) and the band temporarily continued the tour as a foursome. Later that year, Timothy B. Schmit would be brought in to replace Randy, and would be an important member of the band until 1977 (when he joined the Eagles, to replace Randy Meisner yet again). But here, we have the young band playing an impressive couple of sets, playing all the songs from their first album, as well as several songs that would later be on their second and third albums, Poco (1970) and Deliverin' (1971), as well as some that remained unreleased for decades. Hear what the early excitement regarding Poco was all about in this show from their earliest days. As usual, its the pedal steel guitar of Rusty Young and the vocals of Richie Furay that really stand out, as well as their unique sound and style.  

Tracklist:
Set 1 early show
01. Pickin' Up The Pieces
02. Hurry Up
03. My Kind of Love
04. Nothin's Still the Same
05. Just In Case It Happens, Yes Indeed
06. Grand Junction
07. A Child's Claim To Fame
08. Make Me A Smile
09. Nobody's Fool
10. El Tonto De Nadie Regresa

Set 2 late show
11. What A Day
12. Do You Feel It Too?
13. Calico Lady
14. Anyway Bye Bye
15. I Guess You Made It
16. Just In Case It Happens, Yes Indeed
17. Grand Junction
18. Consequently, So Long
19. Pickin' Up The Pieces
20. Short Changed
21. Nobody's Fool
22. El Tonto De Nadie Regresa

Lineup:
Richie Furay - guitars, vocals
Jim Messina - guitars, bass, vocals
Rusty Young - pedal steel guitar, Dobro
George Grantham - drums, vocals

Poco_1969-07-05_SeattleWA.rar

Poco - 1970-11-01 - Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA

Poco

1970-11-01
Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA
FM Broadcast recording, good quality
Mp3 @ 320 kbps

Here's more Poco, going back again to their earlier days, in 1970 after release of their second album, the self-titled Poco (1970). This show was apparently the debut of Paul Cotton as guitarist for the band. Jim Messina left the band after that second album, but not before he hand-picked his successor and made sure he was ready to join the band on stage. Paul Cotton was formerly in the Chicago band Illinois Speed Press and was recommended to Messina by Chicago's Peter Cetera. For this 3-night run at Fillmore West, where Poco opened for Procol Harum (which was a rather odd pairing), Messina played with the band for the first two nights (with Cotton watching from the wings), then let Cotton take over on the third night (and watched from the audience). So, here's that solid opening set with their new guitarist, Paul Cotton. Cotton would shortly be more prominent in both singing and songwriting with the band, but here at the start he was primarily just a guitarist, with Richie Furay still handling all the lead vocals. Tim Schmit was also relatively new to the band, having joined the band in September 1969 to replace Randy Meisner who left before the first album was even finished. Regardless, Here was Poco in 1970. 

Tracklist:
01. I Guess You Made It (partial) 01:18
02. C'mon 03:20
03. Hear That Music 03:25
04. Anyway Bye Bye 08:45
05. Hurry Up 5:51
06. Hard Luck / A Child's Claim To Fame / Picking Up The Pieces 05:07
07. Make Me Smile 03:37
08. You Better Think Twice 04:47
09. Just In Case It Happens, Yes Indeed / Grand Junction / Consequently, So Long 09:49

Lineup:
Richie Furay - guitar, lead vocals
Paul Cotton - guitar, vocals
Rusty Young - steel guitar, guitar, vocals
Timothy B. Schmit - bass, vocals
George Grantham - drums, vocals

New Link! Updated 06/25/23
Poco_1970-11-01_San FranciscoCA.rar

 

Poco - 1986-08-16 - Chestnut Cabaret, Philadelphia, PA

Poco

1986-08-16
Chestnut Cabaret, Philadelphia, PA
Soundboard recording, very good quality
Mp3 @ 320 kbps

Here's some more from Poco, this one a bit later in their career, in the mid-eighties. So this was after Tim Schmit left and Rusty Young and Paul Cotton had re-formed a new version of Poco in 1978 (originally intended to be the Cotton-Young band, but was persuaded to keep the Poco name), with Britons Charlie Harrison (bass-vocals) and drummer Steve Chapman. This version of the band developed a bit more mainstream pop/rock, less country sound, and their first album with the re-tooled band, Legend (1978) finally struck gold, with two hit singles, 'Crazy Love' and 'Heart of the Night' (Poco's first singles to crack the top 40), and #14 on the album charts. However, they were not able to maintain this momentum, as their subsequent string of  '80's albums, Under the Gun (1980), Blue and Gray (1981), Cowboys and Englishmen (1982), and Ghost Town (1982), suffered diminishing returns. By the time of Inamorata (1984), the band tried to update to a more '80's sound, but it didn't work for them. After poor sales for Inamorata, they lost their record contract and were struggling to keep the band together. After some more lineup changes at bass and drums, Jack Sundrud (bass-vocals joined the band and Steve Chapman came back in 1986 after a brief departure. And that is where the band was at the time of this show. An uncertain future, but a great catalog of songs to play at shows. This is a show from Philadelphia, a good quality soundboard with the band playing a mixture of older and more recent songs. Not long after these series of shows Paul Cotton left the band, but fans of the band know that by 1989, a reunion of the original 5 members (Rusty Young, Richie Furay, Jim Messina, Randy Meisner, and George Grantham was arranged, and their subsequent album, Legacy (1989) did well, producing a couple hit singles, 'Call It Love' and 'Nothing to Hide'. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a single recording from that 1990 reunion tour. But the reunion was short-lived, with the bigger name players going back to their respective careers, leaving Rusty Young and Poco uncertain again. But Rusty teamed back up with Paul Cotton in 1992 and kept the band going, with various backing players, even sometimes just performing as a duo. Eventually, Sundrud and Grantham returned to the lineup and the band began recording and more regularly touring again. And later, even when he was the only one still going, Rusty Young continued the Poco tradition, right up until his recent death. Here's that glimpse of Poco during the '80's.

Tracklist:
01. Intro 0:11
02. A Good Feelin’ to Know 4:20
03. Crazy Love 3:58
04. Bad Weather 4:23
05. Ride The Country 5:07
06. Under the Gun 3:24
07. Ghost Town 6:36
08. Heart Of The Night 5:44
09. Rhythm Of Love 4:51
10. Barbados (tape flip) 5:09
11. Boomerang 4:08
12. Trouble With Love 4:03
13. banter 1:38
14. Medley (Keep On Trying/Child’s Claim To Fame/Pickin’ Up The Pieces/Instrumental)  6:17
15. Magnolia 7:18
16. Rose Of Cimarron/Legend 13:13
17. Too Old To Die Young 3:02
18. On The Way Home 4:04
88 mins

Lineup:
Rusty Young - guitars, vocals
Paul Cotton - guitars, vocals
Jack Sundrud - guitar, bass, vocals
Steve Chapman - drums

Poco_1986-8-16_Philadelphia.rar

Note: Before anyone points out that the picture used is not quite correct for this lineup, let me just say that I could not find any pictures of this band lineup, and this was the closest I could find for this era (after TB Schmit left but before they all got old). 

Poco - 1972-73 Radio Shows - Eindhoven Netherlands & Madison, NJ (R.I.P. Rusty Young 1946-2021)

Poco
R.I.P. Rusty Young 1946-2021
1972-02-10
VPRO-Muziek, Nederland-1 Radio show
Eindhoven, Netherlands
&
1973-11-02
Orrie De Nooyer Auditorium,   
Fairleigh Dickerson University, Madison, NJ
FM Broadcast recordings, very good quality
Available in both Lossless (FLAC-1972 show only) and Mp3 (320 kbps)

Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, and founding member of the pioneering country-rock band Poco, Rusty Young died last week of a heart attack in his home in Missouri. He was 75. Young was known for his virtuoso pedal steel guitar-playing, in addition to banjo, dobro, and guitar. Poco has been performing as a band for over 50 years, and although there have been many lineup changes over the years, Rusty was the heart and soul of the band, and the only member to be a part of the band from the beginning right up to the present day, and on every album and every gig the band ever played. Rusty started playing the steel guitar at age 6 and became a master, teaching many others. In 1968, when Buffalo Springfield and Richie Furay needed to add pedal steel to a song for their last album, they hired Rusty Young, already known for his abilities, and when Buffalo Springfield broke up shortly after that, Richie Furay and Jim Messina took Rusty with them to form Poco and Young has been with Poco ever since, through all the ups and downs and years albums and shows. In the early years of the band, Rusty was primarily just an instrumentalist, but after Richie Furay left in 1973, Young stepped to the front, as a vocalist and songwriter as well as ace guitarist. Young was credited with bringing the pedal steel to rock music, and showing how it could be an integral part of a rock band. I have already written and posted much about Poco as a long under-appreciated country-rock legendary band, and Young was always at its heart. Although the last studio album by Poco was in 2013, Young and the band were still active and touring, right until the start of the pandemic last year, and plans were in place for shows to start up again later this year, when this sad news came through last week. Rusty Young released his only solo album, Waitin' For The Sun in 2017. Heartfelt condolences to Rusty's fans, friends, and family. But the best way to honor a musicians is through their music. Here today, we go back to those early days of Poco with two short radio shows from 1972 and 1973. The 1972 show is from the Netherlands and when Richie Furay was still in the band. This show includes the same songs as the previously posted Amsterdam show from a few days later, but this is in very good quality, and is available in lossless. The second show comes from Fairleigh Dickinsion University in New Jersey in 1973 and is one of the first series of shows after Furay left the band, and features songs from Crazy Eyes (1973). Adding these shows because there are very few quality recordings from these early days of the band.  I'll add on some other Poco shows from later in their career as well soon. Be sure to check out my previous posts featuring Poco (if you haven't already) here. 

Tracklist:
1972-02-10 - Eindhoven, Netherlands
01. Hoedown (missing beginning, fades in)
02. Just For You and Me
03. You Are The One
04. Bad Weather (small gap [3 sec] at 4:19)
05. Hard Luck - Pickin Up the Pieces
06. Railroad Days

1973-11-02 - Fairleigh Dickinson U., Madison, NJ
07. Keeper Of The Fire (7:43)
08. Here We Go Again (3:46)
09. Blue Water (3:02)
10 Fool's Gold (1:27)
11. Driving Wheel (4:45)
12. C'mon (9:36)

FLAC (1972 show only) - Poco_1972-10-02_Netherlands_FLAC.rar

Mp3 - Poco_1972-73 Radio Shows_Eindhoven&MadisonNJ_mp3.rar
Links Updated: 06/25/23

R.I.P. Rusty Young 1946-2021

Triskaideka-bloggia - 13 Years of BB

Don't Fear Number Thirteen

Triskaidekaphobia refers to the quite real fear of the number 13, whereas triskaidekabloggia refers to the celebration of the 13th anniversary of a favorite web blog (I decided).

Well, here we are again. Another April, and another anniversary for this blog. It's now been 13 years since I started this folly. Think about that, 13 years, through the good years and bad years, I'm still here. So, it's really been one messed-up year since the last anniversary, but things are looking up. My family and I have made it through the pandemic relatively unscathed. I have now been vaccinated, as are increasing numbers of people every day. Soon. live music venues and concerts should be coming back.  

So, anyway, Yes, this little outpost of a music blog has now been going for 13 full years, and although I readily acknowledge that it is not the most prolific or comprehensive blog around, a whole lot of great music has been talked about and presented here over the years, of many different styles, all from artists that I personally enjoy very much, and hope that others will also enjoy. I try to present a variety of music that may be hard to find or not readily available elsewhere. I also try to provide some background and context to the music and artists, as well as my own commentary, rather than just unadorned music files, to give those new to these artists some perspective and history, to explore the music further. And I also have tried to keep these posts available as much as possible over time, thus pretty much everything that has been posted previously should still be available (with the exception of things that ran into copyright issues). I hope that what I have provided here has been useful and worthwhile, as well as musically satisfying, and I hope it has been something that you come back to often and have been introduced to some new music here that you really enjoy, to expand your musical horizons and enjoyment, and be a positive addition to your musical experience as well as your music collection. And so I thank all of you out there who take the time to peruse this blog, download (and perhaps even read the comentary), and possibly provide comments or feedback, for making this endeavor worthwhile for me to continue.  

And once again, as I have each year at this time, I also want to take this time to thank and celebrate all the others out there who have made so much of this great music, which is not available for purchase anywhere, freely available to all who wish to download and enjoy it. I am only able to offer these downloads because others before me have made them available. So, to all the other bloggers, tapers, forum posters, and music fans that have collected these recordings and made them available over the internet, and most importantly, to all the great artists and musicians out there that have created and performed this wonderful music and allow these recordings to be freely exchanged, I offer a huge and heartfelt Thank You. And again, I implore everyone to purchase all the official releases of your favorite artists, as well as, wherever possible, go see them live in concert (as soon concerts are allowed again). The music here serves to supplement, not replace, all of their officially released music. They are supported by fans like us.

Moving Forward, I expect things to continue here along the same lines as previously (but maybe some improvements). I've been trying to post things a bit more consistently in recent months, and hopefully that will continue (or even improve) as the year goes on. I've introduced a new feature column of artist album rankings (so far only one done, but more coming). The next one up will be thoughts and ranking of another of my favorite artists, Genesis (will post that as soon as I get it written up). Other than that, I will always try to feature music and artists I think are worth hearing, with occasional tributes to recently fallen musical heroes. As always, I encourage feedback and discussion of anything mentioned or presented here. I know that there are alot of issues with Zippyshare for file storage (unavailable in many countries, and obnoxious, aggressive pop-ups throughout), but I have not been able to find a suitable substitute to transfer the bulk of what is currently on zippyshare. For most of the new stuff I am now using Solidfiles, but that has had problems too (regarding unavailability, unreliability at times, and a low storage maximum), such that I cannot use it to transfer large numbers of files. And my Mega accounts are also maxxed out, so to add anything added to them, something else has to be deleted. Anyway, again, if you know of other file storage options that are reliable, free, allow multiple simultaneous uploads/downloads, and have large storage capacity maximums, let me know. Anyway, Thanks to all, and let's try to stay safe, secure, and happy out there, and no matter what, be sure to appreciate and fully enjoy your music, whatever it may be.  

 

Atlanta Rhythm Section - 1979-10-26- Western Carolina University, Cullawhee, NC

Atlanta Rhythm Section

1979-10-26
Western Carolina University,
Cullawhee, NC
(Plus tracks from 1978-09-03, Atlanta, GA)
Soundboard recordings, very good quality
Available in both Lossless (FLAC) and Mp3 (320 kbps) versions

Here's another good '70's rock band that had great regional success but  struggled to breakthrough to more widespread fame. Here is the The Atlanta Rhythm Section, a fun rockin' band, saddled with the 'Southern Rock' label when they were capable of a much broader mainstream success.Although they had a short string of hit singles, they were never quite able to make it big  ARS was formed in 1971 in Doraville, GA, originally as a Session band at a local recording studio. They signed with Decca records, but their first 2 albums (Atlanta Rhythm Section-1972 and Back Up Against the Wall-1973) failed to garner much attention and they were dropped by Decca. After being picked up by Polydor, their next album, Third Annual Pipe Dream (1974) featured a smoother, more accessible pop-rock style that resulted in some success and their first single, 'Doraville', to crack the top 40. Although their next 2 albums, Dog Days (1975) and Red Tape (1976) still floundered, they toured extensively during that period, building their reputation and receiving acclaim in the South and Midwest. They also secured opening act spots with the Who and The Rolling Stones that year. Bolstered by this increased exposure, their next album, A Rock and Roll Alternative (1976) would finally break through as an album success, on the strength of the hit single 'So Into You'. And their next album, Champagne Jam (1978), would be their biggest hit, reaching #7 on the US album charts (and platinum sales), and more hit singles with 'Imaginary Lover' and 'I'm Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight'. In 1979, with a couple more hits, 'Do It or Die' and 'Spooky' (which was a remake of a hit song a couple of the band members had way back in 1967 with the Classics IV), their next album, Underdog, was also successful. But that was about it for the glory days, for as the calendar and musical styles moved into the '80's, they were no longer able to get their songs on the radio, and fan interest waned. Although their next 2 albums, Boys From Doraville (1980 and Quinella (1981) were  were still quite good, sales plummeted. Although they worked on another album in 1982, before finishing the album, disputes with their record company (now Columbia) resulted in shelving the album and the band. After that, some members split to go their own way, leaving the band in disarray. Although the band never actually split-up, as different makeshift lineups continued to play some gigs, they were essentially done at that point. Some years later, in 1989, lead singer Ronnie Hammond returned and rejuvenated the band, resulting in some new recordings in later years, with various members and lineups. The band does even still exist and continues to play shows, but with an almost completely different lineup from the old days. The only original member that has been a part of every ARS band over the years is keyboards-vocalist Dean Daughtry. Here is a fine show from their hey-day (1978-79). The fine soundboard recording of the Cullawhee show was missing the first few songs from the set, so I substituted in the probable opening songs from an earlier show (with a very enthusiastic Georgia Tech crowd) in Atlanta. This features all of their hits as well as many other quite memorable songs. Relive these simpler days with the boys from Doarville. 

Tracklist:
1978-09-03 - Atlanta, GA
01. Back Up Against The Wall
02. Angel
03. Champagne Jam
1979-10-26 - Cullowhee,NC
04. I'm Not Gonna Let it Bother Me Tonight
05. Born Ready
06. Do it or Die
07. Large Time
08. Imaginary Lover
09. Spooky
10. Another Man's Woman
Encores:
11. Rocky Raccoon
12. Georgia Rhythm
13. So Into You
14. Long Tall Sally (fades out)

The Atlanta Rhythm Section:
Ronnie Hammond - vocals
Barry Bailey - lead guitar
James B. Cobb - guitar, backing vocals
Paul Goddard - bass
Dean Daughtry - keyboards, vocals
Robert Nix - drums, percussion, backing vocals

FLAC - Atlanta Rhythm Section_1979-10-29_CullawheeNC_FLAC.rar

Mp3 - Atlanta Rhythm Section_1979-10-26_CullawheeNC_mp3.rar