During our recent, multiple power outages I had nothing better to do than find some interesting reading materials, other than National Geographic, Westways and the Travel and Leisure magazines I’ve subscribed to for years.
Searching the bookshelf behind my desk, I discovered a long-forgotten book called There’s Something Happening Here The Story Of Buffalo Springfield: for What It’s Worth that I started reading back in the early 70s. Turning the cover, I also discovered that it had been autographed and given to me by the author, noted rock historian John Einerson, who, along with Buffalo Springfield member Richie Furay, wrote and published this 310-page book in 1997.
I know what you’re thinking – this sounds like a book report. Good grief, I haven’t written one since The Catcher in the Rye in my senior English class at Tustin High School, back in ‘64. It has since been banned at school libraries everywhere for its tawdry focus on teenage rebellion.
The focus on The Story of Buffalo Springfield is on a band lineup that includes, at various intervals, Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Rusty Young, Jim Messina, Bruce Palmer and Randy Meisner. Most folks will recall their big hit For What It’s Worth, penned by Stephen Stills.
There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear. There’s a man with a gun over there telling me I got to beware. It’s time we stop, children, what’s that sound? Everybody look what’s going down. What a field day for the heat, a thousand people in the street, singing songs and carrying signs, mostly say “Hooray for our side.” Paranoia strikes deep, into your life it will creep. It starts when you’re always afraid, step out of line, the men come and take you away.
I was there in November of 1966 when all of this was going down, hundreds of young folks were there protesting the closure of Pandora’s Box, a popular nightclub at the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Crescent Heights Drive in the heart of Hollywood. Youthful protesters with long hair who didn’t obey orders to leave the area were getting whacked upside the head by over-zealous cops, while cop cars were burning in the street. I was there recording a documentary for my college radio station. As such, I stayed on the sidewalk and interviewed both protesters and cops with my portable, reel-to-reel tape recorder. I didn’t get whacked, and I left the area in a timely manner.
Steven Stills, who was performing in San Francisco, caught wind of this event from others who witnessed it, such as Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda, who was handcuffed and hauled away. Upon returning to L.A., Stills created the song, rejoined the band and recorded For What It’s Worth, which became a counterculture anthem of the 60s. A 1967 film, Riot on Sunset Strip, documents the entire event. My documentary, music and dialog included, was played more than once on Radio Chapman College.
I found the book, published by Rogan House in 1997, an excellent read because it highlights dozens of legendary rock and country rock bands that sprang forth from Buffalo Springfield, such as Crosby, Stills & Nash, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Loggins and Messina, the Byrds the Eagles and Poco.
Keep it flyin’,
Uncle Mott
0 Comments