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

Poco - 1975-07-30 - Central Park, NY

Poco
1975-07-30
Central Park, Wollman Skating Rink,
New York, NY
Audience recording, good quality
mp3 @ 256 kbps


More Poco from this middle period, about a year later than the previous post. In addition to the previous repertoire, this one adds songs from their 2 most recent albums at the time, Contamos (1974) and Head Over Heels (1975), featuring among others, Tim Schmit's superb harmony anthem 'Keep On Tryin'. As noted previously, this solid quartet format lasted for a couple more albums and tours, until Tim B. Schmit left to join the Eagles at the end of 1977 (ironically, to replace Randy Meisner, again, as Schmit also originally joined Poco to replace Randy Meisner). After that, things got a bit strange for Poco. Stunned by the departure of Schmit and facing the cancellation of the release of their next album by their record company (a planned live album), the group decided to take a break. In that time Paul Cotton and Rusty Young formed a new band, tentatively called the Cotton-Young Band, adding Brits Charlie Harrison (bass, backing vocals) and Steve Chapman (drums), and focusing their music on a more pop-oriented sound. As they began to record tracks for an album, their record company liked what they heard, but wanted to release the album under the Poco name, so they did. Unfortunately, this left George Grantham out of the group, without him ever quitting or the band firing him, as the new lineup was formed and continued without him. Perhaps not surprisingly, with the more pop, and less country sound, the 'new' Poco became much more successful than ever before, with the new album Legend (1978), producing the group's first 2 legitimate hit singles ('Crazy Love' and 'Heart of the Night') and a top 20 hit album. Poco has continued with various lineups (including reunions of the original lineup and various other guest appearances by Furay, Meisner, and Messina) over the years and is still active today (although Rusty Young is the only original member in the current incarnation, longtime member Paul Cotton remained in the band until 2010). Even with all the lineup changes over the years, Rusty Young has played on every Poco album, and has played in every Poco gig, from the beginning. 

Tracklist:
01. Keep On Tryin'
02. Sagebrush Serenade
03. Blue Water ->
04. Fools Gold
05. Bad Weather
06. Hoedown
07. Ride The Country
08. Makin' Love
09. Georgia Bind My Ties
10. Restrain
11. Railroad Days
12. Siitin' On a Fence
13. High and Dry
14. Good Feelin' To Know
15. A Right Along

Band Members:
Paul Cotton – guitars, vocals
Rusty Young – pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
Timothy B. Schmit – bass, harmonica, vocals
George Grantham – drums, vocals

New Link! updated 06/25/23
Poco - 1975-07-30 - NYC link here

Poco - 1974-06-01 - Seattle

Poco
1974-06-01
Seattle, WA
Paramount Theater
Audience recording (JEMS Master), very good quality
mp3 @ 320 kbps

Here's more Poco, from the next stage of their career. Following Ritchie Furay's departure in late 1973, Poco continued as a quartet, deciding not to add anyone to replace Furay. This meant that the rest of the band members had to really step-up to fill the shoes of someone who lead the band, was their strongest vocalist, and was one of the main songwriters. Fortunately, that's exactly what happened, with Rusty Young and Timothy B. Schmit taking on much larger roles, partnering with Paul Cotton as a triumvirate of singing, songwriting, and performing talent. Rusty, in particular, had primarily only been the multi-dimensional guitarist (pedal steel, banjo, Dobro, mandolin, etc.) up to that point, and not actively involved in singing or songwriting. Fortunately, he has a fine singing voice (which allowed them to continue to feature their 3- and 4-part harmony vocals without missing a beat), and also was an accomplished songwriter, too, contributing many fine songs to their repertoire. This quartet lineup also gave the group some much-needed stability. After 4 lineup changes in their first 3 years, this core quartet group remained intact for several more years (from 1973-1977, until Schmit left to join the Eagles). This period became the most stable and arguably most productive period of the band, as well as produced some of their best albums [5 solid albums in 4 years: Seven (1974), Contamos (1974), Head Over Heels (1975), Indian Summer (1976), and Rose of Cimarron (1977)], alas, still without much mainstream commercial success. The show featured here is from the 1974 tour in support of Seven, and it has very good sound quality, and is a fine example of how well Poco carried on without Ritchie Furay.   

Tracklist:
01. Blue Water ->
02. Fools Gold
03. Bad Weather
04. Drivin' Wheel ->
05. I Can See Everything
06. Ride The Country
07. Here We Go Again
08. Faith In Families
09. Angel
10. I Guess You Made It ->
11. Restrain
12. A Right Along
13. Hoe Down ->
14. Railroad Days (cut in middle due to tape flip)
15. Good Feelin' To Know
16. C'mon

Band Members:
Paul Cotton – guitars, vocals
Rusty Young – pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals
Timothy B. Schmit – bass, harmonica, vocals
George Grantham – drums, vocals

New Link! Updated 10/8/21
Poco - 1974-06-01 - Seattle here

Poco - 1972-02-13 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Poco
February 13, 1972
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Soundboard recording, Very good quality
mp3 @ 256 kbps

Richie Furay formed Poco in 1968 during the collapse of Buffalo Springfiield (taking along Jim Messina and ace pedal steel session musician Rusty Young), and although Furay lead Poco for about five years and through their first 6 albums (leaving in late 1973), there are relatively few available live recordings from Furay's years with the band. This is one of the few I know of, from 1972. Fortunately, it is very good quality, but frustratingly short (probably an opening set for another headlining band). Although Poco is now acknowledged as one of the premier and seminal country-rock bands, they never became very popular in their day (no hit singles, weak album sales, not headlining tours). One of the primary reasons Furay left the band was his frustration with their lack of commercial success and inability to build up bigger audiences. In 1972 & 1973, even after critical acclaim and 6 albums, they were still primarily an opening act for other, bigger bands (This was especially crushing for Furay because of the much greater successes of his former bandmates, i.e. Neil Young, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Loggins& Messina, etc). Surely, one of the great neglected and underappreciated bands, Poco produced much classic and quality music, but it seemed the general public was not quite ready for their hard mixture of country and rock at the time. Although the band did see some greater success (a couple hit singles, at least) a few years after Furay left, they still never quite broke through to the extent they deserved. Furay, as we know, left to join what seemed to be a 'Can't Miss' opportunity, forming the new country-rock 'supergroup' the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, which ironically, didn't fare much better than Poco did (and were much more short-lived), but that's another story (which we have covered here previously). If we just concentrate on the music, however, Poco was, and is, a great band, and this is a fine show from those earlier Furay days of the band. 

1. What If I Should Say I Love You
2. Hoe Down
3. Just For Me And You
4. You Are The One
5. Bad Weather
6. Hard Luck/A Child Claim's To Fame/Pickin' Up The Pieces
7. Railroad Days
8. C'mon
9. What A Day

Ritchie Furay - guitars, vocals
Paul Cotton - guitars, vocals
Timothy B. Schmit – bass, harmonica, vocals
Rusty Young - pedal steel guitar, banjo, Dobro 
George Grantham – drums, vocals

Thanks to Infinite Fool (infinitefool.blogspot.com) for providing this show!

New Link! Updated 06/25/23
Poco - 1972 - Amsterdam here

Poco - 1976-07-07 - Providence, RI

Poco

1976-07-07

Providence Civic Center, Providence, RI

Master audience recording (Dan Lampinski), very good quality

mp3 @ 320 kbps

Artwork included

In going back through the blog, I noticed that it has been over a year since I posted any Neil Young, which was quite surprising, and that needed to be corrected. So, I decided to post a show from the brief tour of the Stills-Young Band in 1976, and of the available shows, the show from Providence, which has only recently become available as a high quality master recording from renowned taper Dan Lampinski, was by far the best quality. And with that show came a bonus, the complete set of the opening act, Poco. And as anyone who enjoys this band knows, there seem to be very few available recorded shows from this fine band. In addition, Poco happens to fit in well with last month's theme of great, underappreciated bands (as well as being the third band in row I've posted that starts with the letter 'P'). So, this is the first of a 2-part post from the concert on July 7, 1976, featuring Poco as opening act, and then the main set from the Stills-Young Band. Poco, is another great band that never really seemed to get over that hump that separates a fine critically-successful band with a strong cult following from the widespread acclaim and commercial sales of the most successful bands. There's no question that Poco was one of the pioneers and originators of the country-rock sound and style that became popular in the seventies, mixing a driving rock sound with the more traditional instrumentation and quality pickin' (pedal steel guitar, dobro, banjo, etc.) and harmony vocals of bluegrass and country, and throughout the years they remained one of the very best. Originally formed in 1968 by Richie Furay, Jim Messina, and pedal steel guitarist Rusty Young following the demise of Buffalo Springfield, they never achieved the success of their former bandmates, Stills and Young, nor that of later bands they inspired, such as the Eagles. Perhaps, they were a bit too country for most rockers in those days ("Too country for rock radio, too rock for country radio" it seemed). Whereas most of the more successful bands turned to a more pop sound, Poco retained more of that countrified feel throughout the '70's. One problem Poco had was the lineup seemed to be constantly changing. Original bassist Randy Meisner left after 1 album (later to become a founding member of the Eagles). Messina left after the 2nd album, and Furay himself also left in 1973 (after 5 albums). However the primary core of the group through those '70's years was fairly constant, with Rusty Young (guitar, dobro, banjo, pedal steel, mandolin, etc), Paul Cotton (guitar), Timothy B. Schmit (bass), and George Grantham (drums) all being with the band from 1970-1977. Tim Schmit then left the band in 1978 to replace Meisner in the Eagles (Ironically, Schmit had originally replaced Meisner in Poco, then left Poco to replace Meisner in the Eagles, and only then becoming 'famous'). Poco always seemed to be the minor leagues relative to the 'major league' acts of the Eagles, CSN, etc.). However, their music was just as good (or better) than any of those other acts for most of those years. Anyway, so here they are opening for Stills-Young in 1976. This was after Furay had left, but still with the core lineup of Young, Cotton, Schmit, and Grantham, and during a particularly productive period. BTW, the band continued (in a somewhat different form) through the '80's, and has gotten back together at various times (and in various forms). There is still a version of the band touring today. This band also is one of those that seems to have gotten much more respect in retrospect than they ever got when they were around the first time, being the subject of numerous compilations, re-issues, and 'best of' collections.

Tracklist

01. Sagebrush Serenade

02. Rocky Mt Breakdown

03. Faith In The Families

04. Starin' At The Sky

05. Too Many Nights Too Long

06. Magnolia

07. Steal Away

08. Keep On Tryin'

09. Rose Of Cimarron

10. Georgia Bind My Ties

11. Sittin' on a Fence

12. Good Feelin To Know

13. Hoedown

Opening for the Stills - Young Band

New Link! (Update 06/25/23)

Poco_1976-07-07_-_Providence.rar