Buffalo Springfield@Santa Barbara Bowl 06.07.11
By George W. Harris

“Hello! We’re from your past!”
43 years is a long time between performances, but the iconic
country/folk/rock group Buffalo Springfield finally put egos and
schedules aside and are giving it a go, )as Neil Young reminded us in
his humorous greeting) hitting a bunch of US cities to remind people
why they were popular in the first place. Yes, Jimmy Messina didn’t
show up, but the front line of Neil Young, Richie Furay and Stephen
Stills (backed by CSN drummer Joe Vitale) more than made up for the
loss with songs that have stood the test of time, and are able to teach
the present generation a thing or two about popular music.

A priceless workshop on vocal harmonies was delivered on tunes such as
“On The Way Home” and “Rock and Roll Woman” while Richie Furay, in
amazingly excellent vocal form, showed how to write a love song (he has
been married 44 years, after all, so he must know SOMETHING) on the
lovely “Kind Woman.” Young, in raucous form, showed a trick or two on
the guitar, with a rowdy take of “Mr. Soul” as well as a plaintive and
countrified delivery of “I Am A Child.” Stills, the vocal weak link in
the chain, was still able to must up some of the gravel from his throat
to produce an energetic reading of the anthematic “For What It’s
Worth,” while Young gave the lion’s share of the guitar soloing
throughout. Reflecting a time when there were no categories of music,
except, as Ellington once said, “good and the other kind” Buffalo
Springfield didn’t delve into nostalgia as much as lessons from the
past.