Sir Douglas Quintet - The Tribe Recordings 1964-77

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In case Westside's single CD Best of the Sir Douglas Quintet wasn't good or full enough for you, the label has issued this two-hour-long, double-disc 41-song compilation, drawn from their 1964-66 output on Tribe Records, with sides dating from the 1977 catalog-spanning album Tracker. The convergence of influences is fascinating, a meld of some derivative (but entertaining) British Invasion-based sounds and Doug Sahm's more diverse, bluesy/country-ish solo sides. Considering the high quality of the sound and the excellent essay by John Lomax III, it's surprising that the makers didn't include more release and discography information, especially since the material isn't in recording or release order. Still, it's an excellent overview of Sahm's output and the range of his music, and transcends the hits for those who care to make that leap.

Biography
Arguably the greatest and most influential Tex-Mex group ever, the Sir Douglas Quintet epitomized Texas' reputation as a fertile roots music melting pot and established the career of Tex-Mex cult legend Doug Sahm. The Quintet mixed country, blues, jazz, R&B, Mexican conjunto/norteño music, Cajun dances, British Invasion rock & roll, garage rock, and even psychedelia into a heady stew that could only have come from Texas. Although they went largely underappreciated during their existence (mostly in the '60s), their influence was far-reaching and continues to be felt in Texas (particularly the similarly eclectic Austin scene) and beyond; afterward, Sahm embarked on a frequently fascinating solo career and reunited with the Quintet or its individual members several times over the years.

According to legend, the Sir Douglas Quintet was the brainchild of Houston producer Huey P. Meaux, who at the height of the British Invasion took a stack of Beatles records into a hotel room and studied them while getting drunk on wine. He found that the beats often resembled those of Cajun dance songs and hit upon the idea of a group that could blend the two sounds well enough to fool Beatles fans into giving a local band a chance. Doug Sahm, meanwhile, had been something of a childhood prodigy as a country artist -- he turned down a spot on the Grand Ole Opry in order to finish junior high and performed on-stage with Hank Williams. Sahm had made Meaux's acquaintance while leading a series of bands around San Antonio in high school and wanted to work with him. Meaux told Sahm his idea and Sahm quickly formed a band featuring childhood friend Augie Meyers on organ, bassist Jack Barber, drummer Johnny Perez, and percussionist Leon Beatty (who didn't stick around for too long); saxophonist Frank Morin was added after a short time. Meaux gave them the deceptively British-sounding name the Sir Douglas Quintet and released their debut single, "Sugar Bee," on his Pacemaker label in 1964; it flopped. 

However, their next single, the British Invasion/garage-flavored "She's About a Mover" (on a different Meaux label, Tribe), became a classic of Tex-Mex rock and an international hit, climbing into the U.S. Top 20 in 1965. Later that year, "The Rains Came" hit the Top 40 and Meaux assembled an LP from their singles sessions with the misleading title The Best of the Sir Douglas Quintet. The group toured the United States and Europe, but upon returning, they were arrested at the Corpus Christi airport for possessing a tiny amount of marijuana. Feeling targeted for his long hair and hippie image, Sahm decided to break up the band upon his release from jail, and moved to San Francisco in early 1966; Morin tagged along.

Once in San Francisco, Sahm formed a new version of the Sir Douglas Quintet featuring Morin, keyboardist Peter Ferst (who was quickly replaced by Wayne Talbert), bassist John York (later of the Byrds, soon replaced by Whitney Freeman), and drummer George Rains; most of them were Texas expatriates as well. The new Sir Douglas Quintet gigged regularly around the Bay Area and signed with the Mercury subsidiary Smash. Their first album, Sir Douglas Quintet + 2 = Honkey Blues, was recorded with several extra horn players as the Sir Douglas Quintet + 2 and released in 1968; however, it lacked Augie Meyers' signature organ sound. Rains and Talbert soon left to concentrate on other projects and Sahm convinced Meyers and Johnny Perez to move up from Texas; they brought Meyers' old bandmate Harvey Kagan with to be the bassist.

With almost all of their original members, the Sir Douglas Quintet recorded one of their finest albums, 1969's Mendocino; the title track became a Top 40 hit and a Tex-Mex rock staple and the whole record fit in very well with the emerging country-rock hybrid. Moreover, it made the group extremely popular in Europe, where they would retain a fan base for many years to come. Together After Five followed in 1970, after which the group switched to a different Mercury affiliate, Philips. Also released in 1970, 1+1+1=4 featured members of both the Texas and California lineups of the Quintet, plus new bassist Jim Stallings. It was perhaps a sign that much of the group was beginning to drift into other projects again. Without Sahm, the remainder of the Quintet recorded an album for United Artists called Future Tense; several members also backed Gene Vincent as the Amigos de Musica. A homesick Sahm finally returned to Texas in 1971 and the Sir Douglas Quintet officially disbanded in late 1972, though some of its members -- Meyers in particular -- would continue to work with Sahm frequently during his solo career.

After being ignored by Mercury, Sahm signed with Atlantic as a solo artist; in the wake of Atlantic's promotional push, Mercury issued an album of unreleased Sir Douglas Quintet tracks, called Rough Edges, in 1973. This was the last new Quintet album for some time, until Sahm, Meyers, and Perez re-formed the group at the dawn of the '80s, along with new guitarist Alvin Crow and new bassist Speedy Sparks. 

They signed with the Chrysalis subsidiary Takoma and released the album Border Wave in 1981, which fused their eclectic Tex-Mex rock & roll with the concise pop sound of new wave (as Joe "King" Carrasco had been doing).

Crow left prior to the supporting tour to work with his own band and was replaced by Louie Ortega; once again, the Quintet proved more popular in Europe, especially Scandinavia, than in their own country. They recorded for the European Sonet label during the '80s and Takoma occasionally released Quintet material as well. 

They scored an enormous Swedish hit with "Meet Me in Stockholm," though the accompanying album wasn't released in the U.S.; by 1985, the group had broken up again. Sahm and Meyers formed the Tex-Mex supergroup the Texas Tornados with Freddy Fender and Flaco Jimenez at the end of the decade and in 1994 presided over a one-off version of the Sir Douglas Quintet that featured Sahm's sons Shandon (drums) and Shawn (guitar). In November 1999, Sahm died of a heart attack.

Disc One
01. She's About a Mover 2:23
02. The Rains Came 2:15
03. T-Bone Shuffle 3:06
04. Oh What a Mistake 2:10
05. The Tracker 2:35
06. Nuevo Laredo 2:43
07. Image of Me 3:03
08. In the Pines 2:25
09. Ain't Nothing Wrong With You Baby 3:19
10. When I Sing the Blues 2:30
11. In the Jailhouse Now 2:25
12. One Way Out (It's a Man Down There) 3:16
13. We'll Take Our Last Walk Tonight 2:46
14. Wolverton Mountain 4:01
15. Son of Bill Baety 4:48
16. In Time 2:16
17. Please Just Say No 2:26
18. She Digs My Love 2:46
19. You Got Me Hurtin' 2:14
20. You've Got Your Good Thing Down 1:33
21. Philadelphia Lawyer 2:15
22. Sugar Bee 2:20
23. Seguin 2:46

Disc Two
01. Hot Tomato Man 2:18
02. Bacon Fat 2:25
03. Blue Norther 2:17
04. Dallas Alice 3:13
05. Just a Teeny Bit of Your Love 2:05
06. Quarter to Three 1:46
07. She's Gotta Be Boss 2:11
08. Isabella 2:33
09. You're Out Walking the Streets Tonight 2:17
10. Medley: Linda Lu / Country Girl 7:03
11. Medley: One Too Many Mornings / Sing a Happy Song 5:07
12. Beginning of the End 2:59
13. Revolutionary Ways 2:30
14. The Change Is in the City 3:07
15. Time Changes Everything 2:00
16. You're Mine Tonight 5:49
17. Blues Pass Me By 2:54
18. Funky Side of Your Mind 8:36

Bonus:
01. Roll Over Beethoven (Buffalo NY 1990)  02:06
02. You´re Gonna Miss Me (Buffalo NY 1990)  06:18
03. Just Like Tom Thumb´s Blues (Buffalo NY 1990)  04:48
04. Doug Sahm - Bad Boy (Gypsy Tea Room, Dallas 1988)  06:14
05. Doug Sahm - Lucille (Gypsy Tea Room, Dallas 1988)  03:47
06. Doug Sahm - Golly Gee (Gypsy Tea Room, Dallas 1988)  03:25

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Doctor Cyclops - Local Dogs (Retro-Hardrock, Italy 2017)

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Recorded in the UK and produced by James Atkinson, with the fair featuring of the Lord of Riffs Mr Bill Steer (Carcass, Firebird, Gentlemans Pistols), Local Dogs is an explosive mixture of seventies heavy rock, New Wave of British Heavy Metal and obscure doomy sabbath-style stuff ready to take you back to the spirit of a different era. 

Groovy riffs and gloomy paths coming straight from the woods give you the impression that the epic saga of the Seventies ended up in something different than a fleeting reflection of the past. If you like the early Deep Purple groove, try to imagine it mixed with the bluesy Graveyard mood played by Cathedral jamming on Budgie's tunes in Witchfinder General's practice room: then you should be close to realize the spirit and the power of this record. In this contest the featuring of Bill Steer (Carcass, Firebird, Gentlemans Pistols) on lead guitar just tastes like the cherry on top of a tempting cake.

Doctor Cyclops is a seventies-styled power trio playing heavy rock music

inspired by a vintage sound, eldest son of glorious Balck Sabbath and of other more underground heroes from the 70ies and early 80ies such as Sir Lord Baltimore, Captain Beyond or Witchfinder General. Even more modern references are warm-vintage styled ones: Witchcraft, Cathedral, Spiritual Beggars just to say some. 

Any number of bands make boogie rock records every day. You want to commit? Get frickin’ Bill Steer to play on the thing. Yeah, I know he’s been grinding out the last few years in the reunited Carcass, and that’s awesome, but when he was in Firebird, that band was absolutely incredible, and one imagines it’s that kind of I’m-just-gonna-softshoe-while-I-play-this-awesome-’70s-lead vibe that he brings to Doctor Cyclops‘ upcoming third album, Local Dogs.

Local Dogs follows 2014’s Oscuropasso and will be the Italian outfit’s first full-length on Heavy Psych Sounds. The label posted copious details on the record — and of course it will have more to offer than the Steer guest appearance; though he gets a showing per side — as well as the striking cover art, ahead of the preorders for the CD and LP, which start next month.

Northern Italy’s cold woods are set to unleash their fieriest beast, with ’70s power trio DOCTOR CYCLOPS returning with their blistering third album “Local Dogs” this March on Heavy Psych Sounds.

DOCTOR CYCLOPS haven’t stood idle since their latest album “Oscuropasso” (World In Sound 2014), slowly but surely rustling up their heaviest and most accomplished project to date. This new full-length entitled “Local Dogs” is an explosive mixture of ’70s heavy rock, NWOBHM and doomier Sabbath-style riffage, ready to take you back to a different era. Groovy riffs and gloomy paths coming straight from the woods feel like the epic saga of the ’70s is truly likely to continue its course. In this context, the appearance of Bill Steer (Carcass, Firebird, Gentlemans Pistols) on lead guitar tastes like the icing on top of a tempting cake.

DOCTOR CYCLOPS is a power trio delivering a blistering heavy rock rejuvenating the legacy of the ’70s and early ’80s. The band formed in 2007 in a small village in the middle of Appennino mountains, Northern Italy. Their common passion for brilliant outfits such as Truth and Janey, Sir Lord Baltimore, Captain Beyond or Witchfinder General lead them to record and self-produce their first EP “The Doctor Cyclops” (2010), which is quickly followed by two full-lengths: “Borgofondo” (2012) and “Oscuropasso” (2014), both released on German heavy psychedelic label World in Sound.

Since 2008, the trio has had the chance to tour Europe several times, sharing the stages with Firebird, Blood Ceremony, Siena Root, Colour Haze, Stoned Jesus, The Grand Astoria and many other bands. DOCTOR CYCLOPS also took part to important festivals such as Freak Valley in Germany (2012) and Red Smoke Festival in Spain (2016).

The Band:
♦ Christian Draghi - guitars and vocals 
♦ Francesco Filippini - bass 
♦ Alessandro Dallera - drums 

01. Lonely Devil 03:48
02. D.I.A. 04:14
03. Stardust (feat. Bill Steer) 04:40
04. Epicurus 05:13
05. Wall Of Misery 05:39
06. King Midas 06:23
07. Stanley The Owl 01:32
08. Druid Samhain (feat. Bill Steer) 05:20
09. Witch's Tale 06:44
10. Witchfinder General (cover) 04:06

Doctor Cyclops - Oscuoropasso (Retro-Hardrock, Italy 2013) 

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"Oscuropasso" is the second album of Italian hard rock trio Doctor Cyclops. In a genre where as it seems since Black Sabbath most everything has had been said, these folks come up with a very intense and exciting album. Their actual output has pure 1973 retro feeling, where epic heavy riffs and rhythms melt with psychedelic, progressive breaks and make you dive into their euphoric guitar soundscapes. The atmospherically well balanced vocals create an important reference point in the five arrangement-extensive songs from 6 to 16 min lengths. The well produced and exciting spectrum of complexity and catchiness makes this album grow more and more after each listen and leads all those who like it HEAVY toward deep satisfaction!

Second full lenght album for the Italian power trio Doctor Cyclops. Released through the german label World in Sound in february 2014, this album's mostly doom, prog and heavy rock orientated. 5 long tracks with psychedelic environments, 70s rock and heavy metal influences. Also some jazz and melodic taste come to add this lp a huge groovy and appeal. 

In a genre where as it seems since Black Sabbath most everything has had been said, these folks come up with a very intense and exciting album.

Their actual output has pure 1973 retro feeling, where epic heavy riffs and rhythms melt with psychedelic, progressive breaks and make you dive into their euphoric guitar soundscapes. 

The atmospherically well balanced vocals create an important reference point in the five arrangement-extensive songs from 6 to 16 min lengths.

The well produced and exciting spectrum of complexity and catchiness makes this album grow more and more after each listen and leads all those who like it HEAVY toward deep satisfaction!

Doctor Cyclops is a seventies-styled power trio playing heavy rock music inspired by a vintage sound, eldest son of glorious Balck Sabbath and of other more underground heroes from the 70ies and early 80ies such as Sir Lord Baltimore, Captain Beyond or Witchfinder General. Even more modern references are warm-vintage styled ones: Witchcraft, Cathedral, Spiritual Beggars just to say some. 

The Band: 
• Christian Draghi - vocals and guitars 
• Francesco Filippini - bass 
• Alessandro Dallera - drums, percussions

01. Waterfalls 06:09
02. The Monk 09:59
03. Angel Saviour In The C.H. 06:50
04. Cobweb Hands 07:18

05. Rotten Trolls 15:49 

Doctor Cyclops - Borgofondo (Retro-Hardrock, Italy 2012) 

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Italian power trio Doctor Cyclops puts down with its debut an extraordinarily authentic and fulminant marching 70s hardrock album with “New Wave OF British Heavy Metal” but also US-Westcoast blues influences. 

It captivates with raw energy and its wealth of intelligent psychedelic and progressive facets, powerful rhythm and mystical concept with a few flute/organ flashes, but is mainly guitar driven. 

Chris Draghi (vocals/guitar) knows in special kind how to melt his epic guitar riffs and wailing solos with his sensitive and catchy singing and provides a huge emotional intensity, on the one hand very mighty, but also haunted and desperately, completely in the style of groups like Black Sabbath, Grand Funk Railroad, Blue Öystercult or today's like Graveyard, Witchcraft, Cathedral. 

Seven songs between 4 and 8 min in total 48 mins are produced very well, rather unusually for a debut album, and create hunger to let these guys blow your mind Live-On-Stage with a genuine thunderstorm. 

This album takes you back to those days when music still was music, and was celebrated to kick out the jams!

Doctor Cyclops is a seventies-styled power trio playing heavy rock music inspired by a vintage sound, eldest son of glorious Balck Sabbath and of other more underground heroes from the 70ies and early 80ies such as Sir Lord Baltimore, Captain Beyond or Witchfinder General. 

Even more modern references are warm-vintage styled ones: Witchcraft, Cathedral, Spiritual Beggars just to say some.

The Band:

• Christian Draghi - vocals and guitars 

• Francesco Filippini - bass 

• Alessandro Dallera - drums 

01. Night Flyer 04:22

02. Cyclop's Claim 07:11

03. Giants of the Mountain (feat. Alia O'Brien) 09:57

04. Madness Show 07:07

05. Eileen O'Flaherty 03:26

06. My Revolution 06:54

07. The Unquiet Garden 09:23

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Tear Gas - Selftitled (One of The Best Hardrock Ever, UK 1971)

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Bitrate: 320
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A Glasgow, Scotland progressive rock band formed in the late 60s, Tear Gas initially comprised Eddie Campbell (keyboards), Zal Cleminson (guitar), Chris Glen (bass, vocals), Gilson Lavis (drums) and Andi Mulvey (vocals). Mulvey had previously sung with local beat group the Poets. 

After changing from their original name, Mustard, they chose Tear Gas as a variation on the same theme. However, Mulvey was soon replaced by keyboard player and vocalist David Batchelor, and Lavis (who later played with Squeeze) by Richard Monro from Ritchie Blackmore’s Mandrake Root. 

It was this line-up who made their recorded debut with 1970’s Piggy Go Getter, an album typical of the time with its extended guitar and keyboard passages. However, they were more playful than some - ‘We were a really loud band. In fact we used to open with Jethro Tull’s ‘Love Story’, which started very softly and the crowd would drift towards the front. 

Then we’d turn the volume up and blow everyone out of the hall.’ Later in 1970 Hugh McKenna replaced Batchelor while his cousin Ted McKenna (ex-Dream Police) took over from Monro on drums. Itinerant musician Ronnie Leahy also contributed keyboards in Batchelor’s absence, though the group were by now living in penury six to a room in Shepherd’s Bush, London. A second album was recorded for release on Regal Zonophone Records but again met with a lacklustre response from the critics. Despite regular touring in an effort to establish themselves, it was not until they teamed up with Alex Harvey in August 1972 to become the Sensational Alex Harvey Band that they saw any real success.

Originally known as Mustard. Their first vocalist Andy Mulvey had previously been with The Poets. However, he was soon replaced by David Batchelor and around the same time Gilson Lavis (their original drummer, who later played with Squeeze) was replaced by Richard Monro from Ritchie Blackmore's Mandrake Root. This line-up recorded Piggy Go Getter, which made little impact. In 1970 Hugh McKenna took over Batchelor's vocal role and Ted McKenna (ex-Dream Police) relieved Monro on drums. 

They recorded a second album and tried to establish themselves on the underground scene but were going nowhere with their brand of tired boogie heavy rock, until they teamed up with Alex Harvey in August 1972 to become The Sensational Alex Harvey Band.

Formed in Glasgow at the close of the 1960s, the band featured Eddie Campbell (keyboards), Zal Cleminson (guitar), Chris Glen (bass, vocals), Gilson Lavis (drums) and Andi Mulvey (vocals).

Mulvey and Lavis were soon replaced respectively by keyboard player and vocalist David Batchelor, and Richard Monro. This line- up recorded the album “Piggy Go Getter”, in 1970. Some months later Hugh McKenna replaced Batchelor while his cousin Ted McKenna (ex-Dream Police) took over from Monro on drums.

This line-up of Tear Gas soon earned a reputation as a fine live act and the band’s self-titled second album was much stronger work than its predecessor, released in the UK on the Regal Zonophone label in 1971. Despite its excellence, the album failed to sell in significant quantities.

In August 1972 Zal Cleminson, Ted McKenna, Hugh McKenna and Chris Glen joined forces with vocalist Alex Harvey to form The Sensational Alex Harvey Band who would meet with success and record a series of inventive albums throughout the 1970s.

The Glasgow-based prog/heavy/rockers Tear Gas (originally known as Mustard) released their second album in 1971 establishing themselves on the underground scene.

Wullie Monro and Eddie Campbell left the band. Wullie joined Berserk Crocodiles (see Dream Police) and Ted McKenna from the freshly collapsed Dream Police replaced him. Eddie Campbell quit for whatever reason – perhaps just tired of touring – and was not instantly replaced. ‘Tear Gas’ released on the Regal Zonaphone label by this revised line up though Campbell appears on the ‘live in the studio’ medley of ‘All Shook Up & Jailhouse Rock’.

An un-credited Ronnie Leahy provides the keyboards elsewhere on the album. Leahy played with Glen, McKenna and Cleminson again in the early ’90s under the name of the ‘Sensational Party Boys’ – promoters mistook the name for a group of male strippers! ‘ Saw them in London in the Charing Cross Road Marquee (now a Weatherspoons) – a right good night..

Tear Gas’ has an odd front cover pic. Is it meant to signify anything? If so it was lost on us. All tracks are ‘hard ‘n heavy rock’ . Again not terribly memorable apart from ‘Love Story’, a highlight of the stage act, whose arrangement was visited again by SAHB on the ‘Penthouse Tapes’. One is left with the feeling that the band was a couple of years behind the times in their material and the union with Alex Harvey was the shot in the arm of originality they needed. ‘Tear Gas’ was reissued on CD by Renaissance, a US label, in the mid ’90s as RCD1005.

After the comercial failure of the ‘Tear Gas’ LP, Ted McKenna’s cousin, Hugh McKenna, was drafted in on keyboards and backing vocals but Davie Batchelor soon left to go into production – he produced the SAHB stuff – they all sound pretty good – but was famously dropped by Noel Gallagher during the making of Oasis’ first album.

A rumour persisted for a while that he had to quit Tear Gas because he was going deaf! Hugh took over the lead vocals and this is the line-up that returned to Glasgow to join up with Alex Harvey after an unsuccessful stint in London . The rest of that story is well-documented history.

★ Davey Batchelor - Vocals, Guitar
★ Zal Cleminson - Lead Guitar
★ Chris Glen - Bass, Vocals
★ Ted McKenna - Drums

Guest Musicians
★ Hugh McKenna - Keyboards
★ Alex Harvey - Vocals

01. That's What's Real 06:02
02. Love Story 07:01
03. Lay It on Me 03:44
04. Woman for Sale 04:24
05. I'm Glad 05:49
06. Where Is My Answer 05:59
07. Jailhouse Rock & All Shook Up 05:49
08. The First Time 04:53

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Buffalo Springfield - Again (Remastered Mono/Stereo Album US 1967)

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The entire Buffalo Springfield saga lasted just a little over 24 months. It began with a chance encounter in early 1966 when Stephen Stills and Richie Furay were driving down the Sunset Strip and happened to see Neil Young and Bruce Palmer driving a hearse headed down the street in the opposite direction.

Stills, who briefly met Young the prior year at a Canadian folk club, waved at them to pull over. Within a matter of weeks, they recruited drummer Dewey Martin and were gigging at clubs up and down the Strip as Buffalo Springfield.

By the time of their farewell show at the Sports Arena in Long Beach, California, on May 5th, 1968, they’d recorded three albums, gone through an absurd number of lineup changes and suffered through more drama than bands that lasted decades longer. 

Neil Young has maintained for years that the group sounded far better in concert than on record, even though they never had the foresight to professionally tape any of the shows. A 2001 box set overseen by Young and Stills attempted to present the band’s recorded output in the best possible light, but this year Young and engineer John Hanlon gave it another shot for the new collection 

What’s That Sound? The set contains all three albums with dramatically improved full bass sound (the first two LPs are presented in stereo and mono) and will be available via streaming services and five-LP or five-CD packages. It arrives on June 29th, 2018.

“It’s the Greatest Buffalo Springfield collection ever,” Young wrote on his website. “Remastered from the original analog tapes, it’s guaranteed to sound better than any earlier edition of this great and influential music. NYA [Neil Young Archives] was overseeing the remastering process. I have heard it and this is the best it can be! It sounds amazing! If you love Buffalo Springfield, this is the ultimate collection to have.”

While on a short break from his co-headlining tour with Judy Collins, Stephen Stills called us up to look back on his time in the band.

What do you think about this new set?
I gotta say that I think they did it when they were free and I was off with Judy the last time. They forgot to to tell me. The first I heard of it was when I got the notice that you were going to interview me last night.

You haven’t heard it?
No. I have not. They will have it in my hands shortly. I heard they fought with the first album a lot because, basically, we had four tracks and four knobs. Engineers back then at Gold Star and places like that were very conservative and they wouldn’t push the equipment. The Beatles did OK with four tracks and we were trying, but we found our best mixes back then to be the mono. When Neil and [producer/engineer] John Hanlon tried to spread it out they ran into some very strange separations.

Do you think the first album sounds better in mono or stereo?
I’ll be able to tell you in a couple of days when I hear it. The thing was, I went up to the rehearsal of the Buffalo Springfield get-together [in 2010] and they were playing the record. I walked in and it was appallingly fast. I couldn’t believe it. I said, “I can’t listen to that!” Pro Tools has a thing in it where you can feed the record into and slow it down without changing the record a bit, plus it does really wonderful things to the bass. I hope they employed that because songs like “Go and Say Goodbye” and the shuffle called “Leave” got really heavy and Stones-y because that’s the way we played it live, but we went into the studio and [drummer] Dewey [Martin] counted everything off and Dewey was from Nashville, so you do the math. [Laughs]

Were you aware of the problems with the record when you were making it?
We were so excited to actually be in a studio that we didn’t really notice until the record was on the way out. Then we were like, “Oh, my God, everything is so fast. This doesn’t sound like us.” It sounded really fast and perky. Neil got his ballads right, but “Mr. Soul” when you take it down a little bit, oh, my God. You hear Bruce [Palmer]’s bass part and it just thunders; it’s like Steppenwolf.

Was part of the problem that the record was produced by your two managers and they didn’t know what they were doing?
Yes. We had Charles Green and Brian Stone, who basically were hustlers. They kind of got people in the studio and let them do their thing and if it happened to be a hit, they’d take all the a credit even though it was really Sonny Bono. [Green and Stone also managed Sonny & Cher.] They just stood around and made phone calls. It led to such things as Tom Petty cutting the telephone wire in that great documentary. I felt like doing that so many times.

Right, they weren’t really producers.
Right. Thank god Ahmet [Ertegun] came in to a session and saw us warming up to do our thing and heard something and he was the first one to spot it. He came back and said, “What happened to that wonderful thing I heard in the studio? Where is it? I hear the same song, but did you get different guys?” It was hilarious and a good lesson, too.

Tell me the main lesson you learned from making the first record.
[Engineer] Bruce Botnick, who Neil found through Jack Nitzsche, taught us all about echo and tuning the chambers. You could make up for a world of stuff with that. It was L.A. in the mid-1960s and everything was perky. They hadn’t gotten the heaviness of a laid-back groove like the Stones or even some Beatles stuff, which never really rushed. We were all rushed. The good news is there’s an easy fix where you slow everything down five beats per minute. I just covered it. It was an idea that popped into my head and it was amazing. That’s why I play “For What It’s Worth” slower now and “Mr. Soul” just thunders if you don’t count it off too fast.

How different did the band sound in concert than on record?
We were more relaxed and there was people [in the audience] and we found the pocket. Bruce and I would lead us to the pocket. Richie [Furay] is a country guy, so he was automatically a little on top of it. We had a little Keith Richards–Charlie Watts thing where he’s a little on top of it and I’m a little behind. That’s why it worked so well. My style was something I picked up in Latin America and Bruce just had it the minute we started playing together. It was really tragic that nobody had the foresight to take care of the immigration details. [Palmer, a Canadian citizen, was deported in January of 1967, and even though he eventually returned it hobbled the group at a crucial juncture.] It was very easy. It didn’t cost much. You got this cash cow and you’ve got them out on the road, why don’t you go to the State Department and arrange for the H-1 [visa] before everyone got in trouble?

Do you regret that you didn’t tape some of the concerts?
Yeah. The best sound we ever got was when we did this stupid TV show where we played just a little bit of a song and we were like, “Oh, my God, that’s the sound we’ve been looking for.” [In October 1967, the group played “Bluebird” and “For What It’s Worth” on the CBS detective show Mannix.] It was the only place we could get that sound right.

Do you see the band as something that didn’t reach its potential?
I never figured that Neil was going to stay there. He was a frontman when I met him, but we got together better than I ever expected. It was very hard. I just so totally understood it. I can’t regret it. I have no regrets. It took me a long time to even get close to him lyrically, but there are a few pieces there and we love playing together so much that it’s funny. It’s just getting a rhythm section that fits our groove. I almost want to go to Mick [Jagger] and say, “Can we borrow Charlie?” [Laughs]

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I actually had Bill [Wyman] on a Manassas record. He was actually tired of the travel, really. It was hilarious. We got [bassist] Fuzzy [Calvin Samuels] back into the country, but Bill was already there. He came down and played a couple of things. And then Fuzzy walked in and Bill said, “Am I fired?” in that dry wit that he had. I said, “No, you’re already in a band. I’m just lucky enough to have you come and sit in.” But there were so many miscues and misinterpretations back then. We were all young and energetic and talking through our asses. I can say something that was totally friendly and somehow by the time it reached the other side of the room, it was immensely cruel. It was probably something I inherited from my sarcastic father.

Do you think if Buffalo Springfield had kept going you could have been a huge commercial force in the Seventies?
We would have maybe slugged it out, but we had a couple of built-in problems that may not have survived. But we were tough. Bruce warned me about Steppenwolf. He told me they were coming to town and he said, “Now this bass player is b-a-d. Wait until you hear them play. You want to hear how much further we can go?” Then they broke into their song and I went, “Holy Toledo!” We were that tough when we were on and Dewey was calm and Richie’s guitar was in the right place. We could get there, but we would get too excited or have a bunch of business BS right before the show and we’d go out there and literally run through everything.

But there were nights like at Ondine’s New York and the Fillmore … I actually credit Ralph Gleason for breaking us. He understood exactly what we were trying to do and he nailed it bit-by-bit and was completely unimpressed with the star-star bullshit. He treated me like a musician and Neil like a musician and he heard us for a couple of nights. When Bill [Graham] finally had us up [at the Fillmore in November of 1966], Ralph wrote a half-page article about us in the entertainment section of the Chronicle before Rolling Stone existed. My mom was just over the moon. And so was my sister who was a big jazz freak and so I was because at least someone somewhere understood what I was trying to do.

It’s incredible the band lasted just a little over two years.
This is show business. People gather around you like flies and they’ve all got opinions. I saw this so many times where there were schisms within the posse and the posse would actually break up the group! This one hung out with this one and you had to be really strong and a little insensitive to keep that away from you. In show business all these guys are on the make. It’s like TV. In the beginnings when people realize how much money could be made, the strip was crawling with posers. “Oh, I’m a manager!”

How do you feel when you listen to the music now?
When I play it, I don’t want to hear it anymore. I want to go hear what it sounds like live. The whole business of learning the song in the studio, by the time I was 30 I learned that was absurd. I was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars making records. Only the Rolling Stones could pull that off. They could just play forever and then find the bit that was great, like “Start Me Up.”

That first Buffalo Springfield album, if I remember, there was a lot of vocal harmonizing in the background that was too loud. It was a bit reminiscent of the Turtles. It needed air. When I play them now I leave them as much air as I can possibly manage, but before we learned how to play there was strumming and tapping.

The band reunited for a brief tour in 2011. Might that ever happen again?
I have no idea. I have no idea. Neil has his agenda and I have mine. I’m really enjoying making friends with Judy [Collins] again. She’s the best partner I ever had since she’s such a good sport and she very gentle and lets me know when I’m getting a little far. The guys [in the band] are such pros; they all read [music] and everything, so when you ask to try something they get it with two run-throughs and it’s perfect. It’s an incredibly refreshing way to go.

Are you still working on your memoir?
Yes. I am. I’m trying to figure out how to skip and get me … the circumstances that lead me to California were so myriad. It had to do with the Modern Folk Quartet and [music manager] Herb Cohen, Lenny Bruce and Peter Tork. … I’m starting out in a linear fashion. It has been good therapy, but the pressure is on. I’m not getting any younger. I really need to get [the story] to New York and get into the whole MFQ [Modern Folk Quartet] situation and the [college vocal group the Augmented Seven of Yale] that took me from New Orleans to New York.

Then my mother won the lottery and so I went back to New Orleans and me and my little sister found out that the Beatles were playing at [San Francisco’s] the Cow Palace [on August 31st, 1965] and so we waited for everyone to go to sleep and then it was a 100 miles per house across the western United States. And we made it! I got tickets. They weren’t that good, but I got tickets and we went and it was a life-changer. Paul McCartney was on fire that night. He’s so much more than anything. He’s one of my gods. It took me a long time to get relaxed enough around him to open up and we became quite friendly. He’s so gracious that it’s disarming sometimes. But tough enough. Boy, nothing will toughen you up like playing in Germany.

But getting back to Buffalo Springfield, I’m glad the music is getting out. Flawed as it is, it’s really genuine. There’s no posing. There was a lot of ambition and we were really young. We were surrounded by a lot of very ambitious people. I do miss Bruce though, God. He was so wise and such a great player. Also, “For What It’s Worth” is still pertinent, shamefully so. I thought it should be forgotten by now. OK, I’ve about talked myself out to the point where I’m about to step into a cow pie. I’ll stop. 

Buffalo Springfield's discography received the complete box set treatment in 2001, with a four-disc set filled with previously unreleased demos, alternate takes, and other rarities. In contrast, What's That Sound: The Complete Albums Collection attempts to restore the discography to how it was heard upon its original release. Whether in its vinyl or CD incarnation, it serves up both the stereo and mono versions of 1966's Buffalo Springfield and 1967's Buffalo Springfield Again, along with the stereo version of 1968's Last Time Around. Neil Young supervised the remastering, so the audio is on par with his acclaimed Original Release Series, and the packaging has been replicated, resulting in the rare complete box set that offers a considerable bang for the buck.

Due in part to personnel problems which saw Bruce Palmer and Neil Young in and out of the group, Buffalo Springfield's second album did not have as unified an approach as their debut. Yet it doesn't suffer for that in the least -- indeed, the group continued to make major strides in both their songwriting and arranging, and this record stands as their greatest triumph. Stephen Stills' "Bluebird" and "Rock & Roll Woman" were masterful folk-rockers that should have been big hits (although they did manage to become small ones); his lesser-known contributions "Hung Upside Down" and the jazz-flavored "Everydays" were also first-rate. Young contributed the Rolling Stones-derived "Mr. Soul," as well as the brilliant "Expecting to Fly" and "Broken Arrow," both of which employed lush psychedelic textures and brooding, surrealistic lyrics that stretched rock conventions to their breaking point. 

Richie Furay (who had not written any of the songs on the debut) takes tentative songwriting steps with three compositions, although only "A Child's Claim to Fame," with its memorable dobro hooks by James Burton, meets the standards of the material by Stills and Young; the cut also anticipates the country-rock direction of Furay's post-Springfield band, Poco. Although a slightly uneven record that did not feature the entire band on several cuts, the high points were so high and plentiful that its classic status cannot be denied.

Buffalo Springfield Again (Mono) & (Stereo)

★ Stephen Stills — vocals, guitars, keyboards
★ Neil Young — vocals, guitars
★ Richie Furay — vocals, rhythm guitar
★ Bruce Palmer — bass guitar
★ Dewey Martin — vocals, drums

01. Mr. Soul     02:35
Lead Guitar – Neil Young
Lead Vocals – Neil Young
Rhythm Guitar – Richie Furay, Stephen Stills
Vocals – Richie Furay, Stephen Stills
Written-By – Neil Young

02. A Child's Claim To Fame     02:09
Bass – Bruce Palmer
Dobro – James Burton
Drums – Dewey Martin
Engineer [Engineering] – Ross Myering*
Guitar – Neil Young, Richie Furay, Stephen Stills
Lead Vocals – Richie Furay
Producer [Production] – Richie Furay
Vocals – Neil Young, Stephen Stills
Written-By – Richie Furay

03. Everydays     02:38
Bass – Jim Fielder
Drums – Dewey Martin
Guitar [(humm)] – Neil Young
Lead Vocals – Stephen Stills
Piano – Stephen Stills
Producer [Production] – Ahmet Ertegun, Neil Young, Stephen Stills
Rhythm Guitar – Richie Furay
Vocals – Richie Furay
Written-By – Stephen Stills

04. Expecting To Fly     03:39
Electric Piano – Jack Nitzsche
Engineer [Engineering] – Bruce Botnick
Grand Piano – Don Randi
Producer, Arranged By – Jack Nitzsche, Neil Young
Vocals – Neil Young, Richie Furay
Written-By – Neil Young

05. Bluebird     04:28
Banjo – Charlie Chin
Bass – Bobby West
Co-producer – Ahmet Ertegun
Drums – Dewey Martin
Engineer – Bruce Botnick
Guitar – Neil Young, Richie Furay, Stephen Stills
Producer – Stephen Stills
Vocals – Richie Furay, Stephen Stills
Written-By – Stephen Stills

06. Hung Upside Down     03:24
Bass – Bruce Palmer
Drums – Dewey Martin
Engineer [Engineering] – Jim Messina
Guitar – Neil Young, Richie Furay
Guitar [fuzz] – Stephen Stills
Lead Vocals – Stephen Stills
Lead Vocals, Vocals – Richie Furay
Organ – Stephen Stills
Producer [Production] – Stephen Stills
Vocals – Neil Young
Written-By – Stephen Stills

07. Sad Memory     03:00
Engineer – William Brittan
Engineer [lead guitar] – Bill Lazarus
Guitar – Richie Furay
Lead Guitar – Neil Young
Producer [Production] – Richie Furay
Written-By – Richie Furay

08. Good Time Boy     02:11
Arranged By – The Horn Section Of The American Soul Train
Bass – Bruce Palmer
Drums – Dewey Martin
Executive-Producer – Richie Furay
Guitar – Stephen Stills
Vocals – Dewey Martin
Written-By – Richie Furay

09. Rock & Roll Woman     02:44
Bass – Bruce Palmer
Drums – Dewey Martin
Electric Piano – Stephen Stills
Guitar – Neil Young, Richie Furay, Stephen Stills
Lead Vocals – Stephen Stills
Organ – Stephen Stills
Producer [Production] – Neil Young, Stephen Stills
Vocals – Neil Young, Richie Furay
Written-By – Stephen Stills

10. Broken Arrow     06:13
Bass – Bruce Palmer
Drums – Dewey Martin
Engineer – Jim Messina
Guitar – Chris Sarns, Richie Furay, Stephen Stills
Piano – Don Randi
Producer [Production] – Neil Young
Vocals – Neil Young, Richie Furay
Written-By – Neil Young

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 Enjoy the brand new remastering w. full bass etc. for the first time. (Neil Young)