| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 31/05/2016 : 17:35:20
So fine...i remember driving around in my 1963 VW Bug and singing harmony with my friend and bandmate...the first POCO album was truly a masterpiece and groundbreaker!
Bluegrass n' Country Rock!
Pickin' Up the Pieces
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8oK0fbNWm8
And from their seminal classic...self titled POCO...
Anyway Bye Bye!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQDr368BU1o
And this 18+ minute tour de force!
Nobody's Fool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbHDvTgkxpo
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The actual writing of a song usually comes in the form of a realisation.
I can't contrive a song. Ð GENE CLARK |
| 5 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 31/05/2016 : 18:44:42
POCO
Picking' Up The Pieces 1969
Fill album play...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqr-hgX2c1Q&list=PL7mBMyisLhT_e64_ZptiqYxHmcocLo9N3
AllMusic Review by Bruce Eder
Poco dealt with a lot during the recording of their debut album -- the sudden departure of bassist Randy Meisner, the frustration of working with an engineer who didn't quite get what they were trying for, and a lot of pressure to deliver a solid collection of country-rock songs -- and came up with this startlingly great record, as accomplished as any of Buffalo Springfield's releases, and also reminiscent of the Beatles and the Byrds. Pickin' Up the Pieces is all the more amazing when one considers that Jim Messina and George Grantham were both covering for the departed Meisner in hastily learned capacities on bass and vocals, respectively.
The title track is practically an anthem for the virtues of country-rock, with the kind of sweet harmonizing and tight interplay between the guitars that the Byrds, the Burritos, and others had to work awhile to achieve. The mix of good-time songs ("Consequently So Long," "Calico Lady"), fast-paced instrumentals ("Grand Junction"), and overall rosy feelings makes this a great introduction to the band, as well as a landmark in country-rock only slightly less important (but arguably more enjoyable than) Sweetheart of the Rodeo.
A Stepping Stone To Modern Country
When Neil Young and Stephen Stills decided to call it quits and leave Buffalo Springfield all was not lost. From the ashes arose not only CSN and CSN&Y but also Poco, one of the first and most accomplished practioners of what would become known as Country-Rock.
Pickin' Up the Pieces, released in 1969, is Poco's debut album.
From Buffalo Springfield came the talented duo of Jim Messina and Richie Furay. The other original members were steel guitarist Rusty Young (whose playing is a standout feature of this recording), singer-drummer George Grantham and bass player-singer Randy Meisner. A rift developed between Meisner and the band during the completion of the album and his bass parts and backing vocals were left in the mix, but his lead vocals were erased and sung by Grantham leaving the remaining members as a quartet.
Furay and Messina literally picked-up the pieces of their former band and created a landmark in the history of music for prior to Pickin' Up the Pieces others had ventured into similar territory, but nobody had ever really created a full-length album of rock music infused with the elements of country music.
More than any other Poco album, Furay took center stage as the #1 songwriter, contributing to almost all of the tunes. The classic title track is an anthem for the virtues of country-rock, with the kind of sweet harmonizing and tight interplay between the guitars, "Just In Case It Happens, Yes Indeed," "Grand Junction" and "Consequently, So Long" are all Poco classics.
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The actual writing of a song usually comes in the form of a realisation.
I can't contrive a song. Ð GENE CLARK |
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 31/05/2016 : 18:34:39
Crazy Eyes...1973
AllMusic Review by Bruce Eder
The third biggest-selling album in the group's history, Crazy Eyes is also the group's liveliest and most bracing work and contains some of their most soulful music. In short, it's the fruition of everything they'd been working toward for four years. Curiously, it's also one of a handful of examples of their use of outside help, including Chris Hillman on mandolin. The resulting sound is richer than anything found on any other Poco album, and the only tragedy is that the band reportedly cut enough tracks for two whole albums -- one longs to hear the material that remained in the can. As it is, there's not a weak song, or even a wasted note anywhere on this album, and most bands would kill for a closing track as perfect as "Let's Dance Tonight."
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The actual writing of a song usually comes in the form of a realisation.
I can't contrive a song. Ð GENE CLARK
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| lemonade kid |
Posted - 31/05/2016 : 18:31:37
POCO-1970
Hurry Up, and all the album...so fine!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v71yv8DHuQ&list=PL7mBMyisLhT-0P52tY5jqfo_QLpatM4Jn
AllMusic Review by Jim Newsom
The first two-thirds of Poco's second album is 25 minutes of some of their best music. These songs represent the group's blend of country and rock at its finest and brightest, with the happy harmonies of "Hurry Up" and "Keep on Believin'" totally irresistible. Jim Messina's "You Better Think Twice" is a perfectly constructed and arranged song, one that should have been a huge hit but mysteriously never found its place in the Top 40 pantheon. Listening to this recording, though, it's easy to see why unimaginative radio programmers and much of the record-buying public couldn't find a niche for Poco. The knock was "too country for rock, too rock for country," but in fact, they were just ahead of their time, a tough spot to be in the world of popular entertainment.
What about the last 15 minutes of this disc? It's a lengthy instrumental called "El Tonto de Nadie, Regressa." A cynic would say it's filler, but given the trend at the time toward side-long cuts, it's probably simply Poco's attempt at hipness. In retrospect, it can be seen as the forerunner to Messina's lengthy jams with Loggins & Messina a few years later; the sound is remarkably similar. While overshadowed by Pickin' Up the Pieces, which preceded it, and Deliverin', which followed, Poco is well worth owning by anyone interested in the early days of this particular band, and of country-rock in general. The trademark sweet, high harmonies belying the heartbreak expressed in Richie Furay's lyrics, Messina's distinctive lead guitar, and Rusty Young's amazing ability to get an organ sound out of his pedal steel guitar are all here in full blossom.
.....................................
In my opinion, the "lengthy 15 final track has some of the finest solo work of its day--and Rusty's dobro is in top form, with sounds that are hard to imagine came out of one instrument! -LK
________________________________________________
The actual writing of a song usually comes in the form of a realisation.
I can't contrive a song. Ð GENE CLARK
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| lemonade kid |
Posted - 31/05/2016 : 18:24:56
quote:
Originally posted by markk
County fair in the country sun
and everything is cool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tCc--3xw10
Chad and Jeremy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvD0_aeAf2E
Great stuff, mk, but my mistake--I meant to say, "Your favorite POCO"!
________________________________________________
The actual writing of a song usually comes in the form of a realisation.
I can't contrive a song. Ð GENE CLARK
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| lemonade kid |
Posted - 31/05/2016 : 17:38:22
God i love this song!
Rose Of Cimarron!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiDNlCyHp0I
________________________________________________
The actual writing of a song usually comes in the form of a realisation.
I can't contrive a song. Ð GENE CLARK
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