For What It's Worth: The Story of Buffalo Springfield

by John Einarson

For What It's Worth is a revealing insiders look at an influential and groundbreaking rock group whose remendous talents have gone on to achieve legendary status in the annals of rock music history. Besides chronicling Buffalo Springfield's roots and career, the book offers rare and personal glimpses into several seminal music scenes, notably the Greenwich Village folk movement, the embryonic San Francisco scene, and LA's Sunset Strip, along with a lesson in the pitfalls of the music industry. Written with founding member Richie Furay and including the insights, recollections, and reflections of band members, managers, close friends, associates, and contemporaries, the book paints a unique portrait of one of rock music's most beloved groups. Updated edition includes new epilogue.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Steven Walle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a faboulas read. For those who enjoy Buffalo Springfield, CSNY, POGO, and the Eagles this is a must read. The author goes in depth on the lives and music of the Buffalo Springfield who sponed these other bands. The primary members of the band are Stephen Stills, Neal Young, and Richy Furay. The other two main members are Bruice and the drummer who's name elludes me for the moment.
Enjoy and Be Blessed.
Diamond

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tragic bio about the legendary, inventive band who pioneered the country-folk rock sound which influenced everyone from The Band, The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Eagles, Beck, etc. Buffalo Springfield were spoiled rotten by having everything happen to them so quickly that when the immediate response to everything slowed down they fought like maniacs, i.e., swinging guitars at each other backstage like crazed gladiators.

Band morale was so low that they were ready to break up during the recording of their first album, which wasn't produced by a seasoned professional but by their highly invasive managers. There wasn't any group loyalty either, so members' drug arrests, deportations and firings were met with cold-shouldered indifference. Surprisingly, the member bearing the most abusive brunt of BS hostility was Neil Young, so it was somewhat ironic to read about his subsequent success and eventual vindictive cruelty to the band much later.

This is the kind of book you want to show to someone who thinks they're going to slam into Hollywood and assume they're going to take the music world by storm.

[Mark Hartzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great background on a seminal band. The combination of terrible management and Neil Young's selfishness torpedoed the group. Fast moving narrative also includes a good amount of detail. Worthwhile book despite some grammatical miscues.

[PennsyLady (Bev) · Rating 4 out of 5]

soft cover
4 ★

Buffalo Springfield was formed in 1966 and disbanded in 1968.
Coming up behind a "Buffalo Springfield" steamroller on Fountain St., Barry Friedman says "we took the sign off the back of the steam roller and took it into the house, stuck it to the wall and that was that."

As an American-Canadian rock band they were known for their music and being a springboard for the careers of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, and Richie Furay.
They can be seen as a fusion of acoustic-electric folk-country-rock .
Whiskey-A-Gogo was an instrumental venue as Buffalo Springfield "came of age."
Harboring 3 innovative singer-songwriters, their unique musical expression was like nothing heard before.

However,some feel their translation to vinyl was less effective than their vivacious live performances.

Regardless, For What It's Worth (Stephen Stills---Dec 1966) is s political anthem capturing the spirit of the turbulent late 1960s.
You may not recognize the title but you probably recognize the words.
"There's something happening here.............What it is ain't exactly clear"

The authors of "Rock Of Ages: A History Of Rock n Roll" claim "this song was the first explicit document of an unbridgeable
generation chasm, helping to consolidate the youth movement of the late 1960s." (John Einarson)

Written by John Einarson (respected Canadian rock musician historian) with Richie Furay..founding member of Buffalo Springfield, this snapshot will satisfy both the rock historian and those enthusiastic about that era.

And finally, it's worth a trip to Richie Furay's website to peruse his musical career, experience his Christian witness and read his personal testimony.

[Charlie Eckhaus]

Following up the Furay autobio, taking up this earlier book.

Fading folk days motivate changes in direction, Neil Young's group more folk-rock pioneers than I'd realized.

Dewey Martin's background impresses.

Lengthy coverage of Neil's quest for Steve and Richie.

Quick development into a professional band, poor choices for first single, then big success with For What It's Worth.

Friendship with Moby Grape news to me.

Personal agendas and rivalries ensue, band morale virtually nonexistent. Stills and Young do not come off well. Continued problems breaking out in popularity outside of LA.

Busy but getting nowhere, coming unraveled, calling it quits, blowing to the winds, some finally achieving mega-fame, others frustrated. Bruce and Dewey milking their contributions with tribute bands. Neil never shaking his flakiness.

In the end, depressing reading.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very readable, compellingly crafted biography of the band that launched CSN(Y) and Neil Young (among others). I enjoyed a lot of the early stuff the most, particularly how Stills and Furay met and then subsequently met Young. As a longtime Neil fan, I knew most of it from his side, but it was cool to see where Steve and Richie were coming from in those early moments.

The band members are pretty open about their grudges and complaints toward each other. Can't say it comes as much of a surprise they lasted barely over two years - Steve and Neil both clearly need to be leaders. Steve seemed to land that role in Springfield, and given their subsequent careers, I can't blame Neil for feeling he had more to offer than "sideman." Bruce doesn't seem ... entirely reliable either. Plenty of axes ground in this one by the other members (notably Bruce and Dewey, the two left with the least after the band's breakup), but also a lot of affection and appreciation for the music they created together. I appreciated Richie's reflections - often frustrated, but not so bitter.

(Einarson and Furay don't touch on it, but I've often wondered if inducting CSN and Buffalo Springfield in the same Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame class was Jann Wenner trying to manipulate an on-stage CSNY reunion. Ticket prices seems like an excuse more than a real reason. Neil's certainly played more than a few HoF shows as an inductee and inductor - McCartney, Pretenders, Tom Waits, Zeppelin - so I always thought there was something more to his recusal in '97.)

(If Einarson wants to revise it again, it would be interesting to see what thoughts they had on the mostly-reunion when it FINALLY occurred - and quickly fell apart again! - in 2012.)

[Jeff Crompton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buffalo Springfield, the Canadian/American rock band, had a great origin story - and they were pretty much doomed to break apart from the beginning. This book covers the ups and downs, successes and failures pretty well.

The origin story, for those whe don't know it: Stephen Stills met Neil Young while on tour in Ontario; they instantly hit it off, personally and musically. Later Young tried to find Stills in New York, then Los Angeles, without really knowing where he was or having any contact info. Young, with Canadian bassist Bruce Palmer, was about to give up and leave LA when Young's distinctive car - a hearse with Ontario plates - was spotted on Sunset Boulevard by Stills and singer Richie Furay. Stills did a U-turn, yelled at Young to pull over, and Buffalo Springfield was born.

The band was groundbreaking and influential, but never really had much success outside of LA, where they were revered. Yeah, they had one Top 40 hit, "For What It's Worth," but even that record's reputation reached new heights long after the band broke up. And that breakup was probably inevitable, given the strong personalities of Stills and Young, the less-than-inspired management of the band, and the youth of everyone involved.

In any case, this is a clear-eyed, non-judgemental account of the band's history. Highly recommended for fans.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure how I came across this book but I feel like it was a lucky find. I grew up in this era and followed Buffalo Springfield and their offshoot artists and bands as a young musician in So. California. The book is about the band, it's role in the development of Rock & Roll and the band members that went on to become even more well known including David Crosby, Steve Stills, Graham Nash, Neal Young, Jim Fielder (Blood Sweat & Tears), Jim Messina (Loggins and Messina) and Richey Furey (Poco). I saw Poco perform many times when I was young and played in a band called Sparrow which we modeled after them and covered a lot of their music. Jim Fielder, who played briefly with Buffalo Springfield before moving to Blood Sweat & Tears went to my high school and I knew his family and met him once. I also met Jim Messina and Richie Furay once at a Poco concert. Buffalo Springfield was deservedly inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. I skimmed over some parts of the book (I didn't really want to read so many detailed conversations between band members) but was glad to discover such a resource about this musical era and the artists that meant a lot to my early musical experience.

[John Savory · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent. as good a book on the 'Springfield as we are likely to get

[Jeff Whitestone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating in terms of the history of this important band and late '60's Rock and Roll but the writing itself could have been better.

[floyd moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

again, if you love buffalo springfield then you will love reading about them.

[Mark Nenadov · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating account of the history of Buffalo Springfield, and well worth purchasing.

I must say that Richie Furay and John Einarson do an excellent job of portraying the ups, downs, turbulence, success, and rivalries that are wound into this narrative. I really get the sense that they treat the characters involved with a great deal of sensitivity and respect. The account has a great deal of objectivity while still capturing subjective perspectives to give it a very personal feel.

It is very apparent that a great deal of care has been taken and a lot of careful research carried out in order to compile this book. Parts of it are rather repetitive, but it remains a very valuable resource in the history of popular music in the 1960s, 1970s, and onward. Buffalo Springfield would only last a couple of years, but they would have a great impact on popular music to this very day, especially in light of what would come out of the careers of Young, Stills, Crosby, and Furay. Along with being a fine book, this title also covers a band that is very critical in understanding the history of rock, folk rock, and other popular musical currents.

[Chris Leib · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a mild fan of Buffalo Springfield since I was in high school. While I've always appreciated Neil Young and Stephen Stills, over the last couple years I have fallen madly in love with Neil Young's music. I decided to go back to where it all started and found this book full of wonderful insights into this overlooked and underappreciated band.

Though it started off slow, once it got the background down, I found I couldn't put it down. The story of the Springfield just goes to show that no matter how much talent a band has (and this one was overflowing with talent), there's no guarantee for success. Talent, business smarts, and massive amount of luck all go hand-in-hand.

Anyone that's interested in music and music history should read this book - I am now a HUGE Springfield fan, and I know this will spill over into all of the offshoots from this fantastic band. I wouldn't be surprised if you become a fan of one of the best American bands there ever were.

[Tom Nolan]

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