ROCKY MOUNTAIN BREAKDOWN (BY POCO)

In the mid-1960s, the most popular rock band in Colorado was the Boenzee Cryque (pronounced BEN-ZEE CRICK), which was formed in 1964 by Sam Bush, who later started the new Grass Revival, and several of his friends.  The personnel changed from time to time as members were drafted, married, moved and pursued other interests.  Still, they remained a working band, playing clubs, high school dances, fraternity parties – maybe a bar mitzvah or two, though I can’t say for sure.  For awhile, they had a #1 single in the regional market.

Their greatest popularity was between 1966 and 1968 when their lineup included a pedal steel guitarist named Rusty Young.  Young had played in country bands since he was in elementary school, and his work with Boenzee Cryque was an important step in the development of country rock.

Autumn in Nederland

Autumn in Nederland

Boenzee Cryque disbanded in 1968 as a direct result of the breakup of a much more famous group, the Buffalo Springfield, whose most famous members – Steven Stills and Neil Young – had decided to strike out on their own during the recording of their final album, Last Time Around.  Other musicians came and went during those months, but by the time they were ready to record the last song, “Kind Woman,” the group was essentially just Richie Furay and Jim Messina.  For that last track, Furay invited Rusty Young, whom he had known in Colorado, to come to California to play pedal steel.  The result was one of the best songs ever done by Buffalo Springfield, and Young stayed in California to form a new group with Furay and Messina.

That new group was Poco, which included Young, Furay and Messina, as well as George Grantham, who was the Boenzee Cryque’s drummer, and Randy Meisner, who was a vocalist/bass player for a band called the Poor, which was made up of former members of another Denver band, the Soul Survivors.  Continue reading