This has to be some sort of rock and roll record: Forty-two years after breaking up in acrimony and bitterness, the band known as Buffalo Springfield reunited for Neil Young's annual Bridge School Concert in Mountain View, this weekend.
They headlined the seven-hour, eight-band concert, and, remarkably, lived up to the billing, outshining excellent perfs by the likes of Pearl Jam, Elvis Costello, and Grizzly Bear. Although in retrospect some of the iconic band's songs — especially those by Richie Furay, who according to Rolling Stone is now a born-again pastor at a Colorado church — sound sugary, the band compensated by bringing new depth and balance to their better songs.
Especially good was a heartfelt new version of their first ever recording, Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing, with its characteristically Youngian blend of lyrical obscurity and compelling musicality. (Amazingly, according to Wikipedia, this was the first single they released…even though the all-knowing record producers wouldn't let Young sing his own song, declaring his voice too "weird.")
One odd note: although the band sounded tight, they appeared to have arrived from different universes. Young came from a 60's planet where men still wear enormous leather jackets with long fringe. Furay came from a clean-cut country planet, where men wear cowboy shirts. And Stills wore chinos, sports jacket, and silk tie, dressed as if he were about to pitch something to investment bankers. Bizarre.
[pic from San Jose Mercury News story]
Kit Stolz 