104.3, broadcasting from Radio Free Elsewhere. Your glitch in the airwaves.
The Night Owl EditionExtra
Buffalo Springfield
Canadian-American rock band
Buffalo Springfield was a Canadian-American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1966 by Canadians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin and Americans Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song "For What It's Worth", released three albums and several singles from 1966 to 1968.
Their music combined elements of folk music and country music with influences from the British Invasion and psychedelic rock. Like the contemporary band the Byrds, they were key to the early development of folk rock.
The band took their name from a steamroller parked outside their house.
members: Richie Furay, Stephen Stills, Dewey Martin, Bruce Palmer, Neil Young, Jim Messina, Ken Koblun, Jim Fielder
formed in: Los Angeles
labels: Atco Records
genres: folk rock
awards: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Facts from Wikidata and Discogs, free to use.
folk rockrockcountry rockpsychedelic rockpsychedelic folkamerican
The Broken RecordExtra
Origins
Neil Young and Stephen Stills met in 1965 at the Fourth Dimension in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Young was there with the Squires, a Winnipeg group he had been leading since February 1963, and Stills was on tour with the Company, a spin-off from the Au Go Go Singers. When Stills' band broke up at the end of that tour, he moved to the West Coast, where he worked as a session musician and auditioned unsuccessfully for, among other bands, the Monkees. Told by record producer Barry Friedman that work would be available if he could assemble a band, Stills invited fellow Au Go Go Singers alumnus Richie Furay and former Squires bass player Ken Koblun to come join him in California. Both agreed, although Koblun chose to leave before very long and joined...
In 1968, Stills went on to form Crosby, Stills and Nash with David Crosby of the Byrds and Graham Nash of the Hollies. Meanwhile, Furay and Messina formed Poco and Young launched his solo career. In 1969, Young reunited with Stills in Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. After this, Stills joined with another former Byrd, Chris Hillman (after his stint with the Flying Burrito Brothers), and others to form the group Manassas (1971–1973). Later, Furay joined JD Souther and Chris Hillman to form the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, and Messina teamed with Kenny Loggins in Loggins & Messina.
American folk rock band founded in 1966 in Los Angeles and formally disbanded in 1968 after releasing three studio albums. Prominent members included Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. Inducted into Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 (Performer).
Also known as: Buffalo Springfield (Revisited), Buffalo Springfield, The, Buffolo Springfield, Spring 2022, The Buffalo Springfield
From Discogs (free to use). Their entry
Liner notes
Buffalo Springfield, the records, oldest first
Buffalo Springfield
1966 album
wanted
Buffalo Springfield Again
1967 album
Last Time Around
1968 album
Sell Out
2002 album
Records from MusicBrainz; covers from the Cover Art Archive.
"For What It's Worth ", often referred to as simply "For What It's Worth", is a song written by Stephen Stills, first recorded by Buffalo Springfield on December 5, 1966, and released as a single on Atco Records in December 1966; it peaked at no. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the spring of 1967. The song is often associated with the Vietnam War because students, "flower children" and other young people often clashed with police at anti-war protests and other demonstrations during the counterculture era.
Background
Although "For What It's Worth" is often considered an anti-war song, Stephen Stills was inspired to write the song because of the Sunset Strip curfew riots in Los Angeles in November 1966, a series of early counterculture-era clashes that took place between police and young people on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, California, the same year Buffalo Springfield had become the house band at the Whisky a Go Go. Local residents and businesses had become annoyed by how crowds of young people going to clubs and music venues along the Strip had caused late-night traffic congestion. In response, they lobbied Los Angeles County to pass local ordinances stopping loitering, and enforced a strict curfew on the Strip after 10 p.m. The young music fans,...
Production
Stills said in an interview that the name of the song came about when he presented it to the record company executive Ahmet Ertegun (who signed Buffalo Springfield to the Atlantic Records-owned ATCO label). Stills said "I have this song here, for what it's worth, if you want it." Another producer, Charlie Greene, claims that Stills first said the above line to him, but credits Ahmet Ertegun with giving the single the parenthetical subtitle "Stop, Hey What's That Sound" so that the song would be more easily recognized.
Releases and charts
While memories of the November riots were still fresh, the group and Ertegun pushed for a rush-release of "For What It's Worth". On December 10, 1966, five days after the song was recorded, local Top 40 radio station KHJ began playing the single. It first appeared on the station's "Boss 30" chart on December 28, 1966, at number 26, and was followed by rival KRLA on January 14, 1967, where the single entered its "Top 40 Requests" at number eight. Also on January 14, Billboard magazine identified it as a "regional breakout" and the single appeared on its Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart. Two weeks later, it debuted at number 90 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number seven on March 25 and remained on the chart for a total of...
Critical commentary and legacy
Cash Box said the single is a "throbbing, infectious protester circling 'round the current happenings in Cal."
