Pickin' Up the Pieces (song)

"Pickin' Up the Pieces" is the first song recorded by pioneer country rock band Poco. Written by founding member Richie Furay, the song was the title track of Poco's first album.

History

After Buffalo Springfield broke up, members Richie Furay and Jim Messina decided to make a band with pedal steel guitar player Rusty Young, with whom they had recorded the Furay-penned Springfield song "Kind Woman". This was Furay's first Poco-intended song. According to Young, "Richie played 'Pickin' Up The Pieces' for us back in 1967. ... It was obviously a comment on leaving one thing behind and carrying on," referring to the breakup of Buffalo Springfield and the new beginnings with Poco.

Attitude and Impact

The single, though not commercially successful, was nonetheless undoubtedly instrumental in the creation of the then new genre country rock. Richie Furay said of "Pickin' Up the Pieces": "To me it summarized the attitude we wanted to convey in our music: good, wholesome & positive. There was so much negativity going on in the world in the early 70s and it needed a refreshing sound. The country rock sound we were creating, would be it. We were innovators, pioneering the way for a whole new 'Southern California sound' that many groups who followed would capitalize on."

Picking Up the Pieces

Picking Up the Pieces or Pickin' Up the Pieces may refer to:

Film and television

Music

See also

Pickin' Up the Pieces (Fitz and The Tantrums album)

Pickin' Up the Pieces is the debut studio album by American band Fitz and The Tantrums, released on August 24, 2010, by Dangerbird Records. After the success of their home-recorded debut EP, Songs for a Breakup, Vol. 1 and touring, Dangerbird signed the group, who immediately began work on Pieces.

The band drew inspiration from various musical tastes, including Motown records and soul music, and recorded the album in vocalist Michael Fitzpatrick's living room, which he dubbed Dillon Street Studios. It was produced by Fitzpatrick and Chris Seefried.

Upon its release, Pickin' Up the Pieces charted at number one on Billboard's Top Heatseekers and received generally positive reviews from music critics.

Background

Pickin' Up the Pieces (Poco album)

Pickin' Up the Pieces is the debut album by country rock pioneers Poco, released in 1969. It was one of the earliest examples of the emerging genre of country rock. Several of the songs here date back to Richie Furay's days in Buffalo Springfield. An early version of "What a Day" was included on the Springfield's eponymous box set in 2001.

Randy Meisner appears on this album but was asked to leave the band shortly before the record was released. Meisner's exit was a result of his anger from being excluded (at Furay's insistence) from participation in the final mix playback sessions for the record, as only Messina and Furay were to complete the production. His image was removed from the painting on the album's cover, and replaced with the dog seen at the far left. His bass parts and backing vocals were left in the mix, but his lead vocals were removed, and new versions were sung by George Grantham.

Track listing