Buffalo Springfield "LAST TIME AROUND"

The first time I heard it I was really bored with it and was yawning the whole drive home, until I put on some Fats Domino.

Listened to it recently and enjoyed it. The first track is amazing.

 

I remember getting "Last Time Around" in 1968 (having also been on the Springfield bandwagon since 1966) and seeing that cover with Neil facing away. I wasn't into teen mags for Neil's in-and-out of the band stuff , so that was never really on my radar then. We just saw that Neil was solidly on every album, so it was "on with the show"...with each album.

Of course the title to their last was obvious, but still... I and my friends were in denial. We didn't want to believe it really was the LAST TIME AROUND"! Maybe it was just an album title, like, to one of the song lyrics. Eventually we "got" it, but loved the album. Saw it as a strong effort as usual, and with all the individual personalities coming across with each track...no more disjointed than any, but with each track showcasing the songwriters, it was a joy to identify who wrote what song.

Got my 1968 vinyl signed by Jim Messina at his show here this summer, so yeah..obviously for me, Jim was in the band....officially (it's in writing!)....and solidly. Love every track on their last time around. (AND love every Poco LP with Messina...my faves...just listen to Grand Junction to hear what a talent Jim was on guitar! And Rusty...wow!).

 

And Furay too--Kind Woman has to be one of his all time best...foretelling his strong lead in forming Poco.

I also love "The Hour Of Not Quite Rain". The only track in all the Buffalo Springfield catalog that was not completely written by a band member. For those who are unfamiliar, a radio station was running a contest for fans to write a poem/lyrics that the Springfield would set to music for inclusion on their next album. Kind of one of those hokey silly things that they did to promote bands back then. When a winner was announced, with Springfield in disarray, no one came forward to write the music to the winner's lyrics. All except Richie...he was an honorable guy and felt it was his duty to live up to the promise, whether it was actually agreed to by all the band or not.

Though the lyrics seem a bit etherial for Springfield, Richie's music creates a beautiful, atmospheric masterpiece to my ears, and I loved it from the start. And those co-songwriting credits earned fan Miki Callen $1000 plus royalies for life, and a claim to part of the wonderful legacy & legend of Buffalo Springfield. Pretty cool actually!

And Bruce Palmer actually played bass on 6 of the 12 tracks. Messina played guitar & bass on some, but is uncredited on guitar. It is his, Stills and Furay's masterful production in bringing all the disparate members together (there is not a single track where the full band was assembled) for a unified effort!

 

Do you enjoy the album, Steve?

 

Yeah! I think there was the hope that it would be a temporary thing, but when Richie Furey and Jim Messina formed POCO renamed from the original name POGO, we kind of knew that the party was over. In reality, Buffalo Springfield was kind of dysfunctional for at least a year before the end with the deportation of Bruce Palmer and sporadic no shows with Neil Young, you never knew what you were going to get. I was however very lucky to see Buffalo Springfield twice during the summer and fall of 1967 with all the original members there. They were a great experience.

 

Teen Set magazine:

 

^^^The centerfold of Teen Set magazine Christmas 1967 1st row, Neil Young and Val Garay… L/R Emitt Rhodes, Nancy Furay, Ritchie Furay, far right Dewey Martin (Buffalo Springfield) Patty Fischer, Joel Larson (Grass Roots/Merry Go Round), Lee Michaels , Steven Stills (cowboy hat).

 

Wikipedia entry for the album says:
Released 30 July 1968
Recorded February 1967-April 1968
I always assumed, incorrectly it turns out, that most of this album was "leftovers" that hadn't found their way home onto one of the first two albums.
From my count...
1967: 5
1968: 7.

 

Loved Teen Set! I remember that photo. What a great magazine. I think Judith Sims the editor is between Stills & Dewey in that photo. Great times.

 

Steve, the Joe Gastwirt mastered CD?

 

I don't agree with any of this.

 

Love the version of "Questions" on here--Stills was on fire songwriting-wise in this era.

 

Yes! I always focus on the drums in "Merry Go Round"; not just the sound, but the playing. Who is it?

 

So you don't agree that:

1 - Pretty Girl Why was recorded during the 'Again' sessions?
2 - Stills 5 songs on the album range from good to excellent?
3 - Neil's 2 songs are excellent?
4 - Merry Go Round and Kind Woman are good songs?

 

We had KPPC in 1968.

 

Me either, B.BuPo.

The critique about it being a throwaway album are just hooey...an opinion without any real substance or basis in fact. And in no way is it left over material. And Messina's song only adds to the greatness of it all. A kind of sunny country respite before Stills' wonderfully biting social commentary tune, "Special Care".

Just my opinion also. I'm just sayin'...

 

1. Don't know.
2. Agree, but I don't like "Uno Mundo" very much.
3. "On The Way Home" very good - excellent; "I Am A Child" good, but a bit slight.
4. "Merry Go Round": a fantastic recording and performance of a very good song; "Kind Woman": good.

 

Parents' console, yes, and a clock radio in my bedroom where I'd listen late at night.

 

Me too

 

Kind Woman is easily my favorite BS song. LTA may be my favorite of three but I will concede that it sounds more like a(n early) Poco record. As for Care Free Country Day, I think it's a neat little track. The bass is monstrous on the ATCO CD for such a sleepy track. And, didn't the band make some money off of it when it was in those tea commercials?

 

I got my little GE AM/FM radio in 1968 for my birthday. Kept me up on all the new music, especially deep album cuts, on our local University student FM radio station.

Something like this itty bitty console radio...for late nights listening in my bedroom: music made high school bearable.