Your view on: Buffalo Springfield - BS Again

[fange]

I was spinning this one over the weekend, luxuriating in its variety and crip brilliance, but what do YOU think of the Springfield's 2nd album, released in '67?





What did you think when you first heard it or heard about it, and how about now?







Where does it stand for you in terms of the Springfield catalogue, and in the wider rock genre?







What are your fave songs? Pick the ones you like in the poll and tell us why (if you feel like it).







What do you think of the cover art?

[Charlie O.]

What did you think when you first heard it or heard about it, and how about now?

For once, I have no strong memories of exactly when I heard or heard about a classic album! I would have heard various songs first, on the radio or on Decade.



Where does it stand for you in terms of the Springfield catalogue, and in the wider rock genre?

It's their "masterpiece," although it's somewhat disorderly. I always thought it maybe could have been sequenced better... but then again, maybe it couldn't have been. Stills and Young were pumping out so much strong material at the time, I kinda wish it had been a double! It would almost have been the "White Album" before the "White Album" was.



What are your fave songs? Pick the ones you like in the poll and tell us why (if you feel like it).

I checked everything except "Sad Memory" (which is really pretty nice) and "Good Time Boy", which is the sore thumb of the album, but then, I kinda like that the album has a sore thumb. "Expecting To Fly" and "Hung Upside Down" are probably my very favorites.



What do you think of the cover art?

Has a nice homemade feel to it - you can tell there's a lot of love behind it. Created by Eve Babitz, who I've since learned is a rather fascinating figure in her own right (I recommend her book Eve's Hollywood).

[fange]

Jan 8, 2024 3:01:24 GMT Charlie O. said:

 Stills and Young were pumping out so much strong material at the time, I kinda wish it had been a double! It would almost have been the "White Album" before the "White Album" was.

Oof, i'd never thought of that but, yeah, imagine a 2LP set from the group from that time! Mouth-watering.

[fange]

Jan 8, 2024 3:01:24 GMT Charlie O. said:

What do you think of the cover art?

Has a nice homemade feel to it - you can tell there's a lot of love behind it. Created by Eve Babitz, who I've since learned is a rather fascinating figure in her own right (I recommend her book Eve's Hollywood).

I find it really beautiful; somehow innocent and knowing and funny all at the same time.

Cheers for the pointer, Charlie, I don't think i've come across her name before.

[Charlie O.]

Oh, and I love that they namechecked The Monkees on the back cover!

[fange]

Jan 8, 2024 5:34:55 GMT Charlie O. said:

Oh, and I love that they namechecked The Monkees on the back cover!

To be fair though, they namecheck about half the US population circa. 1967.

[loveless]

What did you think when you first heard it or heard about it, and how about now?


I knew a number of the songs from Decade and Retrospective. When I finally started buying these albums, I was a little underwhelmed. A LOT underwhelmed? Still - I do regard it as their masterpiece (or as close as they'd get to one). I played my mono LP this morning, and...the highlights are undeniable.


Where does it stand for you in terms of the Springfield catalogue, and in the wider rock genre?

It's fine. Nowhere near as significant as I wish it were.


What are your fave songs? Pick the ones you like in the poll and tell us why (if you feel like it).

I'm a Neil Young fan, so...his biggies here are pretty crucial to me. ("Arrow" slightly less than "Mr. Soul" and "Expecting..")

But, I voted for most of Side A, and I LOVE "Rock and Roll Woman" (those amazing compressed acoustic guitar sounds of that and "Bluebird" are as crucial as the songs themselves).



What do you think of the cover art?

Difficult to love, for me. Somehow on brand with their whole "could have been, should have been" series of missteps and misfires. Neil Young is correct to have reflected that "Buffalo Springfield was a mirage."

They might very well be my favorite band had I been going down to the Whisky on the reg ca. 66-67.

[fange]

'Everydays' is such a low-key killer track, love the way it changes from tense to rollicking. The tone on that guitar, nasty.

[fearlessfreap]

What did you think when you first heard it or heard about it, and how about now?

I bought a double album compilation of them in the mid 1970's. It had a 9 minute version of Bluebird on it, that supposedly featured a legendary guitar duel between Stills and Young, which I found and still find underwhelming. Much of it sounds like they are trading farts. This album featured the vast majority of Again and quite a lot of the first album. The third wasn't as well represented, but the Third was inferior to the first two, so that was fine by me. I liked the first two quite a bit, I don't think Stills nor Furay came anywhere near where they were on those two albums. Manassas blah blah blah - it's ok, but it's not Exile On Main Street which its proponents always compare it to. 2 minute 30 second songs - that's what I want to hear.







Where does it stand for you in terms of the Springfield catalogue, and in the wider rock genre?

I rate the first two about equally. The first has some good shit-kicking solos that don't overstay their welcome, the second is more confident.


Rating them in the mid 60's rock genre - As far as American bands go, I prefer the Velvets, the Mothers, The Rascals, and Love, I like them a little less than the Doors and the first 5 Byrds albums, about the same as the Turtles and Monkees which is to say, I like them a lot.




What are your fave songs? Pick the ones you like in the poll and tell us why (if you feel like it).

My favorite is Mr Soul, obviously -- it's one of the greatest rock songs of all time. I also like Go And Say Goodbye (the solo rules.) I prefer the edited Bluebird to the 9 minute one. Expecting To Fly is great and Hung Upside Down is worth a play.








What do you think of the cover art?

That sort of cod - psych collage thing was fugly as can be - I don't like Disraeli Gears' cover either, but it's better than the Buffalo Springfield one. I thought Elektra had some nice covers, and Cal Schenkel's Mothers ones were great, Again looked like a junior high art project.

[rayge]

Jan 8, 2024 2:05:42 GMT fange said:

I was spinning this one over the weekend, luxuriating in its variety and crisp brilliance, but what do YOU think of the Springfield's 2nd album, released in '67?

I think this is the first time ever one of these threads has featured an album I actually own(ed) and played a far bit, but I probably haven't listened to it more than once or twice in the last half century, and have no way of listening to it now, so this is essentially an exercise in memory

What did you think when you first heard it or heard about it, and how about now?
Where does it stand for you in terms of the Springfield catalogue, and in the wider rock genre?

I bought all the Springfield albums in the late 1960s, probably based on what I'd read in American music mags (mainly Rolling Stone). At this time, more than 90% of my record collection was by US acts. I liked all three albums, but none of them were huge favourites. I think Again was probably the best of the three. I didn't really see them as a 'rock' band btw, although what that actually meant to me has changed down through the years

I think that it's instructive how few of the solo/new band albums I bought by any of the alumnni. I didn't really get into Neil (Man) until the mid to late 70s - Zuma was the conversion point - and Poco I dismissed as crappy pop from the start. I did by SS's eponymous first album, but was underwhelmed: I suspect, though, that my early uptake of CS&N probably had more to do with him than either of the others (I was very much nimpressed with the Hollies back then, while Cros was, to my younger self, an unimportant member of the Byrds. The Springfield were essentially a footnote - a long and voluminous one, definitely, but basically about what came after - in 'rock'

What are your fave songs? Pick the ones you like in the poll and tell us why (if you feel like it).

I voted for the ones I remember fondly - which are basically the ones I remember - namely the whole of side one except Everydays, And Rock & Roll Woman and Broken Arrow from side 2.

What do you think of the cover art?

It's crap, really. Thought so at the time. The third album had half-decent cover art, but the first two were thrown-together nonsense.

[Sneelock]

yay! views! I have views!

What did you think when you first heard it or heard about it, and how about now?
Hippy Dad had "Retrospective" and I loved it. I had "...again" when I was competing with the world to see who could buy the most records. I'll be honest - I never listened to it a fraction as often.

Where does it stand for you in terms of the Springfield catalogue, and in the wider rock genre?
what I say here won't be very constructive. I think there is a special category of Rock that contains only the Byrds & Buffalo Springfield. (sorry Beachwood Sparks!) I won't pick one over the other but I think those two were competing with each other and pretty much nobody else. I don't think it was sales or singles they were after. I think it was more like a gunslinger reputation sort of thing. I think if it went down that way that BS won at Monterey Pop when Crosby made an ass of himself. yeah, the Byrds recovered and sold more records but I like the gunslinger angle and I'm sticking to it.

What are your fave songs? Pick the ones you like in the poll and tell us why (if you feel like it).
the ones that I know from Retrospective especially the big 3: bluebird, r&r woman, mr. soul. rarely does a month go by when I don't enjoy at least one of those three.

I must say that "expecting to fly" impressed me back then more than it does now. this could be due to me being reliably impressed by Neil's efforts over the years. I think what Jack Nitzsche wanted Neil to be was different from what he actually was. EXHIBIT A: Neil Young's Debut album.

as for Broken Arrow: I'm a sucker for all that "overproduction" stuff. Honorable mention.

What do you think of the cover art?

i think it's plumb purdy.

[toomanyhatz]

What did you think when you first heard it or heard about it, and how about now?

I was but a child, so full of wonder. I thought it was at least pretty close to the greatest thing I'd ever heard in my life.

I now realize that it's compromised by the fact that the world hadn't yet realized what incredible, dynamic talents Stills and Young were, so the actual direction of the band seems rather democratic. But there's no way you can tell me any of the other three were anywhere close to that level, and great as they were as musicians. I voted for "Child's Claim" 'cause it's loverly, but it's without question the third weakest song on the record. Leave off those three tracks and you've got the greatest 'too short' LP since A Hard Day's Night, similarly all about two great songwriters at the peak of their powers.

Stills is an interesting case. I think he was (and probably still is to some level) an absolutely dynamic talent - one of the best we've ever seen. But he quickly started to put his amazing skills into some rather lackluster material. Don't know if it's because his need to be the chief musical architect took over and he spent less time on them, or that he kinda became a hippie simp, but I think this record catches them at the exact moment they pass each other in songwriting ability, and they're moving in decidedly different directions. Not that Stills didn't have some great songs in CSN(Y), but there were ever more simpy ones mixed in from this point on.


Where does it stand for you in terms of the Springfield catalogue, and in the wider rock genre?

I still think it's pretty great. All three Springfield records are, in fact, and the scattershot nature was inevitable considering the talents involved. Too many great ideas bursting forth, with exploding egos negating any editing skills. Young's attempts to reframe the story to the contrary, there's no way to manage that.

What are your fave songs? Pick the ones you like in the poll and tell us why (if you feel like it).

You probably can give a lot of the credit to Nitzsche, but "Expecting to Fly" is a freaking masterpiece as far as I'm concerned. This is the start of Neil's place in the stratosphere. But every Neil song and every Stills song is great. So I voted for all of 'em. And "Child's Claim," as I said. The 'obligatory George song' if you will.

What do you think of the cover art?

Never thought about it much one way or another - it's probably not iconic enough to match the status of the record in my estimation - but I really dig the million thank you's on the back.