Poco

Their Hits:
“Crazy Love”, “Rose Of Cimarron”, “Heart Of The Night”, “A Good Feelin’ To Know”, “Call It Love”

Rusty Young – lead vocalist, guitar, pedal steel
Jack Sundrud – bass, vocals
Michael Webb – vocals, stringed instruments, keys and accordion.
George Lawrence – drums and vocals

Poco was one of the first groups to pioneer Country­Rock music. The harmonies and instruments of Country mixed with Rock’n’Roll rhythms, paved the way for supergroups like the Eagles and while hits for Poco were few, their influence runs deep in both Country and Pop music. Richie Furay and Jim Messina formed Poco after Buffalo Springfield broke up in 1968 when Stephen Stills and Neil Young left the group.

Rusty Young had come from Colorado to play pedal steel guitar on the last Buffalo Springfield album. Furay loved what Rusty played on his song, Kind Woman and invited Young to join Poco. Auditions were held for the other band members and among the hopeful was Gram Parsons. He played with Poco for a few weeks but things didn’t work out and he left the band. Eventually Rusty Young suggested bringing in two of his friends from Colorado to join the band. Drummer George Grantham and bass player Randy Meisner moved to California and signed on as Poco’s rhythm section.

Poco originally called themselves Pogo but changed their name when cartoonist Walt Kelly, creator of the “Pogo” syndicated strip, instigated legal proceedings to prevent the use of the name.  Poco began performing in Hollywood at clubs like The Troubadour and gained the attention of several record companies. They signed with Epic in the fall of 1968 and released their debut album Pickin’ Up The Pieces, in 1969. Randy Meisner left the band after the first album to play with Rick Nelson & the Stone Canyon Band. A few years later, he became a founding member of the Eagles and wrote and sang lead on their hit, Take It To The Limit.