In 1968, nearing the end of his tenure with pop heroes Buffalo Springfield, guitarist Richie Furay enlisted the help of bassist and producer Jim Messina and pedal steel guitarist Rusty Young in recording a tune for Springfield's final album. After the band officially folded later that year, Furay, Messina (now on guitar), and Young combined with drummer George Grantham and bassist Randy Meisner to form Poco, the first — and some say the best — of the many country-based pop bands that ruled the airwaves during the '70s.
With Buffalo Springfield, Furay was overshadowed by bandmates Neil Young and Steve Stills. With Poco he quickly rose to the fore, authoring many of the group's early staples, such as “Pickin' Up the Pieces,” “C'mon,” and the perennial favorite, “A Good Feelin' to Know.”
Like Springfield, however, Poco soon became known for the commercial exploits of its former members. Messina went on to become one-half of Loggins and Messina. Meisner left in 1969, joining the Eagles a year later.
Furay himself left Poco in 1973. Rusty Young and guitarist Paul Cotton (Messina's replacement) moved the band in a more pop-oriented direction; their efforts eventually resulted in a Top 20 hit, “Crazy Love,” from the 1978 album Legend. The band was mostly dormant during the '80s, but in 1988, their 20th anniversary, the original 1968 crew reformed and recorded a third Top 20 hit, “Call It Love.”
These days Messina leads his own California-based songwriting workshop and finds time for the occasional production gig. Furay found religion after leaving the group and is the pastor of the Calvary Chapel of Boulder, Colorado. Cotton recently released a solo CD, Firebird (available from his Web site, www.angelfire.com/ok2/musiclink/paulcotton.html). Poco lives, however, thanks to the continued fortitude of Cotton and Young (with drummer Grantham back in the fold after a long stint as a Nashville session player). After three decades, the band still tears up the concert trail. “Rusty and I have outlasted four marriages [and] all those band members, wonderful players that they are, for 30 years,” says Cotton. “It's really meant something.”
