The only song Buffalo Springfield recorded by chance
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During those golden years of rock, when new genres were emerging and there was a real excitement and change in the air, many musicians struggled to find their footing, playing in several different bands before settling on one. In some cases, bands would break up, only for some members to move on to bigger and better projects, turning their previous project into a legendary relic.
This happened a few times, such as when The Yardbirds had great success, but in the years that followed, their members split off from the band and became musical icons. Jimmy Page joined Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton formed Cream, and Jeff Beck led the Jeff Beck Group. The same thing happened with Buffalo Springfield, the pioneers of folk rock.
The band was formed by Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Dewey Martin, Bruce Palmer and Richie Furay. Of course, Stills and Young went on to form the legendary group Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, while Young also went on to have an incredibly successful solo career as one of the most popular folk singers of all time. In addition, Furay performed in Poco with Jim Messina, who also played for a short time in Buffalo Springfield.
Obviously, the band was a perfect springboard for these musicians who would soon become some of the most revered names in rock music. Somehow they released three albums in two years and disbanded in 1968 due to complications such as lineup problems and drug abuse. During those two fruitful years, the band helped popularize folk rock with songs like “For What It’s Worth,” a protest song.
The band was really a chance for the members to experiment with music, and it wasn’t until their second album that Furay found the courage to write songs himself. He contributed three tracks, “A Child’s Claim to Fame,” “Good Time Boy,” and “Sad Memory,” but it wasn’t until the latter that his contributions were taken seriously. For Furay, the fact that the album ended up containing three of his own compositions was a coincidence.
In conversation with UncutThe guitarist explained: “I was waiting for the rest of the band to come into the studio because we always came when we woke up. So I got there first and was out in the studio and just played the song (‘Sad Memory’).”
He continued, “Neil comes in, suddenly presses the talk button and says, ‘Hey man, we need to record this song!’ I said, ‘Sounds good to me.'”
Clearly, Young could hear something in these pieces that Furay might not have wanted to reveal, but the approval of Young – already a songwriting genius at the time – was enough for Furay. “There wasn’t much like it back then. It’s very sparse. I think Neil’s guitar is the only other instrument on it,” Furay added.
The song appears on the second side of the creatively titled Buffalo Springfield again, which only gained significant recognition in the years following its publication.
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