O grupo era formado por v�rios jovens m�sicos que tinham viajado por grande parte da Am�rica do Norte para tentar abrir caminho no mundo da ind�stria discogr�fica, at� que no ano de 1966 se encontraram na cidade de Los Angeles.

O guitarrista e vocalista canadiano Neil Young (ex Mynah Birds), o cantor e guitarrista texano Stephen Stills (ex Au Go-Go Singers), o vocalista e guitarrista Richie Furay (ex Au Go-Go Singers), o baixista Bruce Palmer (ex Mynah Birds) e o baterista Dewey Martin (ex Dillards e Modern Folk Quartet) foram os primeros nomes que formaram o novo grupo baptizado como Buffalo Springfield.

Depois de chamar a aten��o de Ahmet Ertegun com as a suas vibrantes actua��es ao vivo nos clubes de Los Angeles assinaram com a Atco Records, onde publicaram o soberbo �lbum hom�nimo "Buffalo Springfield" (1967), excepcional trabalho que continha temas como o hino geracional "For what it's worth" (composto por Stephen Stills como protesto pelos violentos m�todos policiais depois de uma pac�fica manifesta��o) e belos temas pop de inspiradas melodias e conseguidas harmonias como "Flying on the ground is wrong".

As composi��es do �lbum eram divididas por Young e Stills. "For what it's worth" foi o seu terceiro single do �lbum (lado B "Do I have to come right out and say it"), alcan�ando o n� 7 no Billboard. Previamente tinham publicado os igualmente excelentes "Nowadays clancy can't even sing" (lado B "Go and say goodbye") e "Everybody's wrong" (lado B "Burned"), temas com elementos country e folk que passaram despercebidos apesar da a sua grande qualidade como pe�as musicais.

A r�pida sequela a este disco foi "Buffalo Springfield Again" (1967), uma obra prima intemporal que inclu�a uma maior dose de experimenta��o.

Os singles editados foram "Bluebird" (can��o para Judy Collins que tinha como lado B a stoniana "Mr. Soul"), o tema dedicado a Grace Slick "Rock & Roll Woman" (Lado B: "A child's claim to fame") e a maravilhosa "Expecting to fly" (lado B: "Everydays"). Furay dedicou-se a compor boas can��es como a citada "A child's claim to fame" e "Sad memory".

O grande problema dos Buffalo Springfield foi a sua falta de coes�o interna, pois os choques entre Young e Stills come�aram a criar tens�es, enquanto que problemas de drogas provocavam a ausencia regular de Bruce Palmer nos estudios de grava��o, que foi sustituido frequentemente por Jim Fielder. Finalmente Palmer abandonou o grupo sendo substitu�do por Jim Messina.

Em 1968 separaram-se, depois de terem publicado o igualmente magn�fico e sub-valorizado "Last Time Around" (1968). Neil Young foi sustituido em algumas das faixas por Doug Hastings.

Depois da ruptura, Stephen Stills juntou-se a David Crosby (ex Byrds) e Graham Nash (ex Hollies) para formar o super-trio Crosby, Stills & Nash, que contou ainda com a colabora�� de Neil Young. Stills teve tamb�m uma carreira a solo e um projecto denominado Manassas.

Neil Young desenvolveria uma led�ria, prestigiosa e ecl�ctica carreira como solista, Richie Furay e Jim Messina criariam o merit�rio grupo de country-rock Poco, Bruce Palmer o tentou tamb�m uma carreira a solo enquanto que o baterista Dewey Martin tentou a sua sorte com o New Buffalo Springfield (posteriormente New Buffalo), mas sem grande sucesso.

Raramente se encontra uma banda incluindo originalmente tantos talentos como os Buffalo Springfield. Formada em 1966, dela faziam parte Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Jim Messina, Richie Furay, Dewey Martin e Bruce Palmer, ou seja, quatro grandes cantores, tr�s inspirados compositores (al�m de muito diferentes entre si) e tr�s distintos guitarristas. N�o � de surpreender que, desde o in�cio, as suas fortes personalidades - particularmente as de Stills e Young - criassem condi��es para uma curta vida da banda. Contudo, em menos de dois anos, os Springfield compuseram can��es e tornaram popular um som que serviu de marca a um par de gera��es da m�sica americana.

Stills, natural do Texas, tentou uma carreira no ambiente folk de Nova Iorque, onde conheceu Furay. Atra�do pelo rock, Stills mudou-se para Los Angeles onde, entre outras coisas, foi recusado quando concorreu � forma��o dos Monkees. Furay em breve se juntou a ele. O canadiano Neil Young, pelo seu lado, era um "rock 'n' roller" que tinha descoberto a cena folk de Toronto. Young e Palmer (que tinham tocado juntos com Rick James nos Mynah Birds) conheceram Stills e Furay em Los Angeles.

O �nico "hit," da banda, "For What It's Worth", um coment�rio acerca das confronta��es entre a pol�cia e os hippies na Sunset Strip, continua a ser un hino dos anos 60 frequentemente tocado. A can��o, lan�ada depois do disco original da banda j� estar � venda, foi rapidamente incorporada nele quando se tornou evidente que estava a receber audi�ncia (os raros exemplares da prensagem original, que incluem "Baby Don't Scold Me", s�o hoje muito valiosos).

De inspira��o claramente pacifista, � uma das mais directas can��es a posicionar-se contra o conflito no Vietname, deixando isso evidente em estrofes como:

H� algo errado por aqui
O que �, n�o se percebe bem
H� um tipo com uma arma ali
A dizer-me para ficar atento...

H� linhas de batalha sendo tra�adas
E ningu�m est� certo se todos n�o estar�o errados
Os jovens exprimem as suas mentes
Aguentando a resist�ncia dos que v�m atr�s

Penso que � altura de pararmos.
(...)
Mil pessoas nas ruas.
Cantando e transportando cartazes
Dizendo: Viva o nosso lado!

Ao descrever situa��es t�picas da guerra, os Buffalo Springfield foram a primeira banda a alertar o grande p�blico jovem dos EUA para o desastre do Vietname, directamente a partir do topo das tabelas, apelando � sua consciencializa��o.

Na altura em que lan�aram a obra-prima "Buffalo Springfield Again" (orignalmente designada "Stampede"), Palmer tinha sido deportado para o Canad�. Young ajudou a piorar o ambiente quando faltou � performance da banda no Monterey Pop Festival de 1968 (David Crosby, dos Byrds, prencheu a vaga). Young ainda se juntou ao grupo para gravarem "Last Time Around", mas quando a p�s-produ��o do disco ficou pronta, a banda j� n�o existia.

Os Buffalo Springfield conseguiram uma s�ntese que integrava as texturas el�ctricas e ac�sticas do folk, do country e do rock. Stills e Young tentariam isto de novo na banda "Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young"; Furay e Messina formaram uma outra banda, os "Poco".

Buffalo Springfield

A seminal band in the development of American country rock and folk rock, although short-lived, the monumental influence of Buffalo Springfield rivals that of the Byrds. Despite the line-up constantly changing, the main members throughout the band's three turbulent years were Stephen Stills (b. 3 January 1945, Dallas, Texas, USA; guitar, vocals), Neil Young (b. 12 November 1945, Toronto, Canada; guitar, vocals), Richie Furay (b. 9 May 1944, Yellow Springs, Ohio, USA; guitar, vocals), Dewey Martin (b. 30 September 1942, Chesterville, Canada; drums), Bruce Palmer (b. 1947, Liverpool, Canada) and Jim Messina (b. 5 December 1947, Maywood, California, USA). Furay and Stills worked together in the Au Go-Go Singers in the mid-60s, where they met Young, who at that time was a solo singer, having previously worked with Palmer in the Mynah Birds.

Furay and Stills had moved to Los Angeles to start a band, and decided to seek out the enigmatic Young, eventually spotting his distinctive funeral hearse while driving along Sunset Strip. They formed a band in 1966 and, following a series of successful gigs at the prestigious Whisky A Go-Go, and boosted by verbal endorsements from the Byrds' Chris Hillman and David Crosby, were signed by Ahmet Ertegun to his Atco Records label. Any band containing three main songwriters who could all play lead guitar was heading for trouble, and soon their egos and fists clashed. The main antagonists were Stills and Young, but their problems were compounded by the continual immigration and drug problems of Palmer, with their road manager Dick Davis even having to masquerade as the bass player for a television appearance. Eventually, Young's former associate, Ken Koblun, was recruited as a replacement. He, in turn, was replaced by Jim Fielder (b. 4 October 1947, Denton, Texas, USA) from the Mothers Of Invention, but Fielder only lasted a couple of months.

The band's only major hit was 1967's "For What It's Worth". The song remains one of the finest protest anthems of the 60s, and exemplified the phenomenon of the "right song at the right time'. Stills" plaintive yet wry and lethargic plea for tolerance was written after the police used heavy-handed methods to stop a demonstration outside a club, Pandora's Box, on Sunset Strip in 1966. They were protesting about the curfew times imposed. The chorus of "Stop children, what's that sound everybody look what's going down" became an anthem for west coast students in their protests against the government.

The band always seemed doomed throughout their brief time together. Neil Young's unpredictability also meant that he sometimes did not arrive for gigs, or quite simply left the band for long periods. His main replacement was ex-Daily Flash guitarist Doug Hastings (b. 21 June 1946, Seattle, Washington, USA). Two official albums were released (a third, Stampede, was planned but only appeared later as a compilation bootleg). Last Time Around was patched together by producer and latter-day bass player Jim Messina, after the band had broken up for the final time. Buffalo Springfield Again remains their finest work and is still highly favoured by the cognoscenti. The album demonstrated the developing talents of Stills and Young as major songwriters. Young's superb, surreal mini-epics "Expecting To Fly" and "Broken Arrow' were equalled by Stills" immaculate "Everydays" and the lengthy "Bluebird" (about Judy Collins). Furay also contributed strong material, including the heavily countrified "A Child's Claim To Fame" and "Sad Memory".

Both the band's and the album's essence, however, was encapsulated in one short track, "Rock And Roll Woman", a brilliant Stills song written about the Jefferson Airplane's stunning Grace Slick, and co-written by an uncredited David Crosby, who briefly appeared with the band as Young's substitute at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. The three lead guitars duelled together and the three lead vocals enmeshed brilliantly to enshrine, for a brief moment, the brilliance of a band who could have been America's greatest rivals to the Beatles.

Following the band's split, Furay formed the highly respected Poco, continuing down the road to country rock. Messina joined with Furay and later with Kenny Loggins as Loggins And Messina. Fielder became highly respected as part of Blood, Sweat And Tears, while Hastings joined Rhinoceros. Dewey Martin formed the ill-fated New Buffalo Springfield only to be forced to change the name to New Buffalo. Together with Bruce Palmer, they continued on the nostalgia circuit under the banner of Buffalo Springfield Again. Young and Stills went on to mega-stardom as members of Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young and high profile solo careers. More than thirty years later, the massive contribution and importance of the band is recognized as having been the most fertile training school of the era. The magnificent box set issued in 2001 is a fitting tribute to their influence.

P�gina Principal