These days it’s the Byrds that get most of the credit for fusing elements of folk and country music to the electrified rock genre – indeed the term “folk rock” was coined by a music journalist to describe their first album – but the release of the West Coast band’s debut occurred barely a month prior to Bob Dylan’s famous performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, at which he plugged in his electric guitar and scandalized the purists in attendance (imagine, the great Dylan, at the peak of his career, being all but booed off the stage!), becoming a huge influence on the new style. As today’s selections attest, Buffalo Springfield, appearing on the scene in 1966, was also at the forefront of the movement.
It’s remarkable that these two sublime country music compositions were produced by the same group that cranked out the hard rock of Mr. Soul, the gorgeously wistful pop of On The Way Home, and the genuine art rock of Expecting to Fly and Broken Arrow, not to mention acoustic masterpieces like Bluebird and For What It’s Worth; in all of popular music, only the Beatles synthesized more influences while mastering a greater range of musical styles.
Kind Woman is Richie Furay’s gentle ode to his wife Nancy, and, I’d contend, stands with the greatest country music ever produced. As a pure love song, it’s arguably the equal of contemporary classics like Here There and Everywhere and God Only Knows, and is in its own understated way comparably beautiful, graceful, and sophisticated, especially in its delicate interplay between guitar and piano. Kind Woman is the sort of song that the superstars of the modern Country genre stopped writing ages ago, and represented, for Furay, a creative peak he’d rarely equal in his subsequent years with groups like Poco (though he came close with the late 1970s hit Crazy Love).
Sit Down I Think I love You is Stephen Stills at his most happily accessible, characterized by a certain innocent optimism which in general tone reminds these ears of the early Fab Four, and in its specific sound recalls the best output of the Everly Brothers (who, come to think of it, were producing what could have been called “folk rock” over a decade earlier). The expert guitar work throughout barely draws attention to itself, everyone playing in peak form in service of the song, nobody showing off. It’s some of the best ensemble work you’re ever going to hear.
Here’s another Stills composition in the same vein, Go and Say Goodbye, just for fun, featuring more of the same expert ensemble playing.
The greatest rock group ever to come out of North America? Discuss.
the needlefish 