First Timer/beginner/Byrds/Poco

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 28 Aug 2003 2:31 am

I suppose this could turn into another "POCO" thread..

I'll start it off..

there would be no Eagles if their wasn't POCO..and Richie's dream...

Glen Fry used to hang out at Richie's during the early POCO rehearsals..then he started his own band...and here we are 35 years later...

Are we all around 55 or so ?

Where's my teeth ?

tp

Larry Miller · Post by **Larry Miller** » 28 Aug 2003 2:35 am

Ah yes....The Buffalo Springfield Tree

Chuck McGill · Post by **Chuck McGill** » 28 Aug 2003 11:47 am

Theresa did you catch Poco at 12th and Porter a few months ago? It was good to see Rusty and the gang.

Rich Weiss · Post by **Rich Weiss** » 28 Aug 2003 3:18 pm

I saw Poco the first night they ever played in public. It was a Monday night Hootenanny at the Troubador, about 12:00 at night. They were called Pogo back then but they had to change their name becasue their was a comic strip named Pogo. That night changed my life.

Rick McDuffie · Post by **Rick McDuffie** » 28 Aug 2003 3:46 pm

We guys need to get together and start our own sub-forum!

Their first gig in public... man, wish I'd been there.

There are a WHOLE bunch of people on this forum who wouldn't be playing steel if it weren't for Rusty Young, Sneaky Pete, Dan Dugmore, Red Rhodes, Bernie Leadon, Jerry Garcia, et. al.

This isn't to diminish the huge contributions of the Nashville guys. I'm just sayin'...

Rick

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 28 Aug 2003 5:41 pm

AMEN, REV. RICK!!!

Rich Paton · Post by **Rich Paton** » 29 Aug 2003 2:29 pm

I saw Poco live for the first time when they were opening for Dave Mason at Winterland, S.F. in '73. Steve Miller & Canned head were also on the bill but failed to show. It was awesome anyway. Mason (& his top-notch band) was at his peak at the time and of course POCO was my favorite group. Caught about five or six more shows mostly in Santa Barbara and one at Universal Ampitheatre in L.A., when it was open-air. One memorable Pocoshow took place at a dive in S.B., which featured bad furniture, well seasoned pool tables, great food & dynamite entertainment (The Chili Factory). We got there very early and sat at the bar, eating burgers & chili and BS'ing with "the boys", all of whom were very cordial. The place was so small we had our feet kicked up on the (non) stage monitors! This was also the first gig they played with Grantham (after the "Legend" + later band lineups). This made for some obvious inter-player magic...THEN, Jim Messina popped in for two tunes at the end, which put the audience in a frenzy & turned POCO up several notches. One tune was "Act Naturally", the "cheat sheet" for I snagged off the floor during their load-out. Jim (which surprised me a lot) seem to have seriously bad stage fright, shaking in his boots. Once the boots hit the (non) stage though, he nailed it 100%. TheChili Factory and the chance to catch top acts in such an intimate setting was :>( later lost in the 90's in the Painted Cave fire, which raged from the mountains to the sea, leaving only ashes in its wake. POCO also played the post-renovation re-opening benefit show at the prestigeous Lobero Theatre http://www.lobero.com/boxoffice/calaug.htm
(California's oldest, continously operating theatre) in Santa Barbara, quite an honor. Quite a show, too! Segovia or The Three Tenors etc. etc. would have been more typical of artists playing at the venue.
*Lobero Theatre Production Files / Displaying records 1 through 1 of 1 records found*
Production Number: 2853
Title: POCO
Producer: Tidal Wave Productions
Dates: December 12
Years: 1982
Notes:

[This message was edited by Rich Paton on 29 August 2003 at 03:43 PM.][This message was edited by Rich Paton on 29 August 2003 at 04:02 PM.]

Brendan Mitchell · Post by **Brendan Mitchell** » 29 Aug 2003 7:48 pm

I am one who wouldn't be here if not for those great bands. Put Al Perkins in there somewhere near the top. Living in Australia I rarely got to see them live apart from Mannassas at a Woodstock like festival that I'll never forget.And I saw the Eagles open for Neil Young when I think they were at their best just when they were doing the Desperado album.Great topic
Regards Brendan

Donald Davis · Post by **Donald Davis** » 2 Sep 2003 9:01 pm

Out of curiosity, I just dug out my old vinyl copies of Poco 2, From the Inside, and Rose of Cimarron. The most obvious comment about From the Inside is how grumpy they all look on the cover. Cotton's song- Railroad Day's is an obvious swipe at Messina leaving and it comes off pretty foolish. From the Inside has some great songs, but the production is IMHO pretty bad, and some of the arrangements are questionable. It is amazing to me how much better Poco 2 sounds than FTI. Maybe that's why they look grumpy?

Paul Wade · Post by **Paul Wade** » 4 Sep 2003 2:57 pm

hi,
i rember when i pickup a shobud mavrick 3+1

i jump right in !! . have somebody teach you the basic's . then listen like i did to everyone!!

paul wade

msa d-10 8=5
evans amp

GaryL · Post by **GaryL** » 5 Sep 2003 4:02 pm

Don,

I sat about 6ft. away from Rusty during a Poco gig at Kent State back in the Early '70's and I ain't been right since. Anyway, there is a book "Desparados, The Roots of Country Rock" (please forgive me for not knowing the author, but I'm in the midst of moving and my copy is packed away.)This is a must-read for the country-rock fan and gives the inside stories of a lot bands, especially Poco. The author quotes Rusty Young from interviews and he is quite candid in his remarks. Aside from that I always loved the funky Leslie-steel opening to "Hurry Up" on the second LP. PERFECTION.I am glad to see that someone else enjoyed the "Two Sides To Every Story" CD. I had the LP and was lucky enough to snag a copy of the CD while on vaction a few years back. Best of luck with the steel!

Pat Burns · Post by **Pat Burns** » 6 Sep 2003 10:32 am

..the author is John Einarson, and here's a link to a topic from him about his book...I have a copy, and it is a great source for information, and is just plain well-written entertainment as well...

http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum10/HTML/001032.html

There are a WHOLE bunch of people on this forum who wouldn't be playing steel if it weren't for Rusty Young, Sneaky Pete, Dan Dugmore, Red Rhodes, Bernie Leadon, Jerry Garcia, et. al.

..that should be et. Al., as in the great Al Perkins...

Kevin Reckmo · Post by **Kevin Reckmo** » 6 Sep 2003 3:08 pm

What the heck. I saw Pogo in the late 60's at the Terrace Ballroom, a 3000 person venue (since torn down), opening for a band called A.B.Sky. There were 4 of them because Randy Meisner had quit (or was fired, I can't recall) because he wanted to help mix Pickin' Up The Pieces & Jim & Richie said no. They rawked the place & stole AB's thunder.

Messina played bass that night & Rusty played lead. They played My Kind of Love twice & won me totally over to country rock. The high harmonies of the vocals & Richie's stage presence (saw him with the Springfield) just blew me away!

Messina was featured in Guitar Player & appeared on the cover in the 70's. He says he'd developed a "light callous (sp?)" on his picking hand. Having played bass & now fingerstyle slide, I can attest to how the development of that will allow us to attack the strings with more gusto & hence create more volume. But as we all know, we have to keep at it everyday to keep those pads on our fingertips.

Yeah, the way Messina plays influenced my own playing tremendously. In particular, his choice of phrasing has stuck with me because he did so much with so little. Too bad (get ready for a flame war) he used a Tele to get all that sound, LOL.

As for not using picks, if you're willing to go through the pain of developing the callous, then rawk on. As for the value of "From The Inside", Poco got screwed around by management (no Irving Azoff for them) & recorded that album with Steve Cropper producing. They may have been displeased with the album, but I still have it on vinyl & think some of the work to be as good as anything I've ever heard in the genre.

Oh, well, off the soapbox, however, it's good to know that there are other folks who loved that sound at that time as much as I do now.

The Bluez
www.mencanfakeittoo.com Home of The Blue Karena Band & Men Can Fake It Too. Check out our MP3's for where country rock is today.