We continue our look at the music of 50 years ago….
Live concert albums were all the rage in the 1970’s and in 1971 there were some good ones. In January Poco released their 3rd album…a live offering recorded at the Boston Music Hall and the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in September of 1970.
Poco was a talented and interesting group that, if they didn’t invent the musical genre of “country-rock”, they certainly advanced the form using great playing and fantastic harmonies led by Richie Furay, Jim Messina and Tim Schmidt. Add in Rusty Young’s pedal steel and drummer George Grantham and you have a tasty stew.
Furay formed Poco after the demise of Buffalo Springfield and includes a couple of Springfield tunes in these concerts including the beautiful “Kind Woman”.
This proved to be the last Poco album for Jim Messina who left and went on to stardom with Kenny Loggins. Furay soldiered on despite lack of record company support and released some really good albums until he left in the mid 70’s to pursue other opportunities.
This album is a high energy look at a Poco show which includes tracks from their first two LPs along with two newly released songs and a couple of medleys.
My only complaint would be the thin sound of the album. The playing is good, the singing is great but the production could use some help. If you’re just discovering the band, I wouldnt start here, but for hard core fans who didnt get to see them live early in their careers, this will have to do.
Here is the entire LP for you enjoyment…l.
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