Jim Messina left, Richie Furay jumped ship for momentary success with J.D. Souther and Chris Hillman, and Messina and Furay’s replacements, Timothy B. Schmit and Paul Cotton, carried on with original members Rusty Young and George Grantham to a new label, never to have success until Timothy B. jumped ship too and a band that was barely Poco finally started getting radio traction.<\/p>\n
I love "Heart Of The Night".<\/p>\n
Not as much as the debut, one of those perfect albums that was a bit too twangy for a nation that embraced the sanitized country of Crosby, Stills & Nash.<\/p>\n
But I’ve got a secret place in my heart for Timothy B.’s shining moment, before he left for the greener pastures of the Eagles.<\/p>\n
Most acts can’t sing live as well as they do on record.\u00c2\u00a0 This is not only the curse of the auto-tuned mafia, but even the vaunted CSN had a hard time nailing those perfect harmonies live, just check out that Woodstock performance. But Timothy B., with his long hair from the seventies, the man presently in the background who used to be in the foreground, still has the pipes, which he demonstrated so well last week in the desert, at the Stagecoach festival.<\/p>\n
We live in a networked society.\u00c2\u00a0 Information passes from individual to individual, not top down from gatekeepers to the hoi polloi.\u00c2\u00a0 And when I got the below message about Poco’s performance last weekend, I had to click through.<\/p>\n
Dial up this video.\u00c2\u00a0 Click the HQ button, yes, this video was shot in hi-def.\u00c2\u00a0 And click the button to the right of HQ, to blow the image up full screen.<\/p>\n
This performance was not made for fame, not even that much cash.\u00c2\u00a0 But in it beats the heart of rock and roll.\u00c2\u00a0 An aged band reunites for the DVD, they bury old hurts for the revenue.\u00c2\u00a0 But watching this performance, you think Poco just did it for the joy.<\/p>\n
I’ve been thinkin’ ’bout<\/span> That’s what bands do, they keep on tryin’.\u00c2\u00a0 Sometimes for decades.\u00c2\u00a0 If you come, they’ll play.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re the reason they do it, they can’t give up.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, they need the bread, but even more the rush, the energy coming from their fans up over the lip of the stage to them.<\/p>\n It’s got little to do with magazine covers, the trappings are the goal of the wannabes, who want the big record deal and the TV exposure, who need fame more than musical satiation.<\/p>\n But the real bands do it for the music.\u00c2\u00a0 It doesn’t make sense without the music.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not about hair and makeup, it’s about picking one note after another.<\/p>\n And I feel so satisfied when<\/span> That’s what the members of Poco did last weekend.\u00c2\u00a0 They got home to their audience.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a long strange trip, but when you’re in it for the music, it’s worth it.<\/p>\n "Keep On Tryin’"<\/a> begins about a minute in<\/p>\n Do you really care about this stuff?\u00c2\u00a0 As a fan of real music, as I believe you to be, how can you stand to spend so much time paying attention to this crap?<\/p>\n I saw something last weekend at Stagecoach that I thought I would never see, and it was beautiful.\u00c2\u00a0 It was the reunion of a very important, but inexplicably not massively successful band–Poco.\u00c2\u00a0 Forty-one years after they began, the current band members got together with most of the former members and celebrated their history.\u00c2\u00a0 The reunion included Timothy B. Schmit, who hadn’t performed with Poco in 32 years.\u00c2\u00a0 But the highlight of the reunion was the performance of the band’s original drummer, George Grantham, who suffered a massive stroke on stage five years ago.\u00c2\u00a0 He was able to sing with his old bandmates again.\u00c2\u00a0 Something most people, including perhaps himself, never thought would happen.\u00c2\u00a0 Among those loyal fans there who knew the story, there was not a dry eye.<\/p>\n The participation of Schmit and Grantham at this event was only announced about three weeks beforehand, and yet many fans flew across the country to see it.\u00c2\u00a0 The performance was not perfect, since there was not a lot of rehearsal time.\u00c2\u00a0 But the music was still great.\u00c2\u00a0 As a fan who only found Poco about eight years ago, I consider myself incredibly lucky to have had the chance to see this reunion.<\/p>\n Yet for all they have accomplished, this band still cannot seem to gain the attention and respect they deserve from either the public or some in the industry.\u00c2\u00a0 Jan Wenner wants Madonna in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but not Poco?\u00c2\u00a0 That’s why I stopped paying attention to the RRHOF a few years ago.\u00c2\u00a0 But it still rankles that there is such an institution and Poco is not part of it and probably never will be.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s a story there, and I think it is a lot more interesting than whatever the American Idol flavor of the minute is.\u00c2\u00a0 Now here are some YouTube videos worth watching:<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-Y-fnSFdl1Q<\/a> http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4giaSIVLMuM<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Th7b9rrpJ_U<\/a><\/p>\n
All the times you told me<\/span>
You’re so full of doubt<\/span>
You just can’t let it be<\/span>
But I know<\/span>
If you keep on comin’ back for more<\/span>
Then I’ll keep on tryin’<\/span>
I’ll keep on tryin’<\/span><\/p>\n
I can see you smile<\/span>
I want to confide in<\/span>
All that is true<\/span>
So I’ll keep on tryin’<\/span>
I’m through with lyin’<\/span>
Just like the sun above<\/span>
I’ll come shinin’ through<\/span>
Yes I will<\/span>
Keep on tryin’<\/span>
I’m tired of cryin’<\/span>
I got to find a way<\/span>
To get on home to you<\/span><\/p>\n\n
Re: The Idolmaker<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-VQelAO0Uf8<\/a><\/p>\n