Poco

Poco - A Good Feeling To Know - 1972 - Epic

This is a classic album, not to be missed. Poco were overshadowed by groups like The Eagles, but they made some great country rock albums. Great songs, great playing, and superb vocals. This is probably the best album released by Poco.

TRACKS

And Settlin' Down
Ride The Country
I Can See Everything
Go And Say Goodbye
Keeper Of The Fire
Early Times
A Good Feelin' To Know
Restrain
Sweet Lovin'

CREDITS

Paul Cotton - Guitar, Vocals
Barry Flast - Piano
Richie Furay - Guitar, Vocals
George Grantham - Drums, Vocals
Timothy B Schmit - Bass, Vocals
Rusty Young - Pedal Steel Guitar, Banjo
Producer: Jim Mason, Jack Richardson

REVIEW

I've just come home from seeing Poco play. They were terrific, significantly better than the last few times I heard them in concert. On those occasions I was impressed by the effortless way the group reconciled the seemingly antithetical virtues of high spiritedness and discipline. But Poco has now added still another dimension to its performance: The group is playing rock & roll now, and doing it in a broad, sweeping style that's new for them. When they finish the verses and chorus of each tune, distinguished as always by the traditional high, pure harmonies, they roll into high gear instrumentally, developing the song dynamically with three guitars (Richie Furay is really playing his guitar now, rather than just wearing it), bass and drums. In these moments, they wind out with the torque of a country-tuned Derek and the Dominos. I've always enjoyed Poco, but I didn't think they were capable of putting out this kind of power or intensity.
The group has been able to capture this new dimension during the best moments of A Good Feelin' to Know, although, as is traditional with Poco, the recorded sound only approximates the live experience. From the noticeably modified style the band displays here, it would seem that Poco has finally made a definite commitment to achieving a hit-record sound. The group has always considered the hit single the ultimate form of tangible recognition, but in four years of trying, they've never even come close; they're confident enough to feel they'd have a bunch of them by now if justice was served. It's not hard to guess how they felt when the Eagles and Doobie Brothers, groups with similar musical values but much shorter life-spans than Poco, cracked the elusive Top 40 with ease. Here's their answer; it's as full of self-confidence as ever, and it's also full of steam, some of it generated no doubt by frustration but quite effective nevertheless.
Style has never been Poco's problem—substance has. They've managed to make good albums without the benefit of much distinguished material, and on A Good Feelin' to Know, as on its four predecessors, the least remarkable aspect is the music itself. Poco's songs have always had a way of running together in the mind, even to the zealous listener, with titles, phrases and riffs all bouncing around in an appealing but vague heap. Since there's been a change of direction on the new album, these tunes won't be so easily mistaken for songs from the country-oriented period, but there are still some problems. Newest member Paul Cotton supplied Poco with two of its best songs on the group's last album, but none of his three tunes here does much for the album or for the group's new style. Two of them try to be ominous in much the same way as the Eagles hit "Witchy Woman" does, but they seem rather forced and silly (so does "Witchy Woman," for that matter, but it still sounds good on the radio).
But this time, there are also some real self-contained songs, with melodies and phrases that are hard to forget rather than being hard to remember. Tim Schmit tries for a darker, hotter tone in "Restrain," and he succeeds where Cotton fails. Schmit's affectingly anguished singing over snarling guitars and piercing harmonies push the song to a temper verging on rage. This track is the most obvious example of Poco's shift of mood—it smolders.
The group hasn't traveled far afield for the one non-original—it's Stephen Stills' "Go and Say Goodbye," a bright tune from the first Buffalo Springfield album. While it doesn't actually improve on the original, the Poco rendition is a sensitive, brisk and high-powered treatment (developed by those standard high harmonies and newly adopted ringing guitar chords again) that adds a feeling of substantiality to the album and makes me wish they'd recorded a couple more songs from outside sources.
But it's Furay who makes the biggest plays and gives the album its primary reference points as well with his "And Settlin' Down" and the exhilarating title song. These two tracks beautifully integrate all the traditional Poco elements—the charm, the innocence, the spirit and the track is the most obvious underlying yearning—with the tougher, denser and more worldly approach the group has developed. These two songs are incredible live, and on record, with the volume up, they get closer to that live feeling than even the music on the group's fine live LP, Deliverin'. "Good Feelin' to Know" sounds right now like the best Furay song since he formed this band, and I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes eventually the song most closely identified with Poco. © BUD SCOPPA (Posted: Dec 21, 1972) © Copyright 2007 Rolling Stone

BIO (Wikipedia)

Poco is an American country rock band. It was formed by Richie Furay and Jim Messina following the demise of their band Buffalo Springfield in 1968. The original lineup was Richie Furay (vocals, rhythm guitar), Jim Messina (lead guitar, vocals), Rusty Young (pedal steel guitar, banjo, dobro, guitar, and vocals), George Grantham (drums and vocals) and Randy Meisner (bass and vocals).
Their first album, Pickin' Up the Pieces (1969) is widely considered one of the best and most important albums of a new musical genre that united country with rock music. Prior to its release, Meisner left the group as a result of conflict over the group's direction. After a stint playing with Rick Nelson, he later became a founding member of The Eagles. Timothy B. Schmit subsequently replaced Meisner on both bass and vocals. Their next albums Poco (1970) and Deliverin' (1971) followed. Guided by the vision of Furay and Messina, these albums became touchstones of country rock music. Poco's unique blending of the Bakersfield country music movement with an energetic rock sound translated well to live performances, and the band developed a loyal following on the road. Critical acclaim did not yield commercial success, however, and Messina chose to leave the band, being replaced by Paul Cotton (guitar and vocals) from Illinois Speed Press. Messina experienced considerable subsequent success with Kenny Loggins as Loggins & Messina. Cotton proved to be a strong addition, and the band released From The Inside (1971). The album featured Cotton's "Bad Weather", which became a signature song for the band.
A Good Feelin’ To Know (1972) followed, and the title track became by far the most recognizable Poco song of their early years. Despite critical acclaim, the album did not achieve the commercial success the band had expected, and Furay became increasingly discouraged with the band's prospects. The next album, "Crazy Eyes" (1973), was another strong effort that ultimately proved to be Furay's last as a member of the group. The title track was a Furay song written about fellow country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons of Flying Burrito Brothers fame, who died of a drug overdose just prior to the release of the album. At the urging of Asylum Records President David Geffen, Furay joined with J. D. Souther and Chris Hillman to create the Souther Hillman Furay Band. Furay's departure was not a complete tragedy, though. Previously known largely for his multi-instrumental talents, Young stepped up to become one of the band's primary songwriters and singers on subsequent albums. Seven (1974) and Cantamos (1974), arguably their best album to date, established the group as a strong quartet without Furay Live (1974) proved that they were still a strong performing force being a foursome, and they sought further success with a move to ABC Records. Head Over Heels (1975), Rose Of Cimarron (1976), and Indian Summer (1977) found the group augmenting their country rock sound with a more mainstream approach. Head Over Heels featured Schmit's acoustic "Keep On Tryin'", which became an AOR favorite and the group's most successful single to date. With Rose Of Cimarron, Young and Cotton began to write the lion's share of the group's songs as the band continued to seek larger commercial success. In 1977, both Schmit and Grantham left the band. Schmit joined the Eagles, coincidentally replacing former Poco member Meisner yet again.
Undaunted, Young and Cotton redoubled their efforts, deciding to continue the group and selecting Britons Steve Chapman (drums) and Charlie Harrison (bass) to round out their new quartet. Legend (1978), with cover art by comedian Phil Hartman, subsequently became the group's most commercially successful album, yielding a gold album and two Top Twenty hits, Young's 'Crazy Love' (which also had a seven-week run at Number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1979, the biggest hit on the AC chart that year) and Cotton's "Heart of the Night". Kim Bullard (keyboards) joined the band later that same year. While 'Crazy Love' was riding up the charts, ABC Records was sold to MCA Records. Poco was retained by MCA and the Legend album was reissued on the MCA label. This quintet released four more albums: Under The Gun (1980), Blue And Gray (1981), Cowboys & Englishmen (1982) and (moving over to Atlantic Records) Ghost Town (1982). Despite creating music that often lived up to the quality of earlier efforts, this lineup ultimately failed to sustain the success achieved by "Legend." In the wake of changing musical tastes and a fickle marketplace in the early 1980s, the group increasingly faded from the forefront of the popular music scene. Furay, Schmit, and Grantham have, since their departures, each appeared at various times with Poco. Inamorata (1984) featured contributions on vocals by all three former members, but the album did not result in a lasting reunion. After a lengthy recording hiatus, Poco reemerged with the successful Legacy (1989), reuniting original members Young, Furay, Messina, Grantham, and Meisner twenty years after Poco's debut. The album featured two top forty hits, 'Call it Love' and 'Nothing to Hide', and earned a gold album. Internal conflict disrupted the brief success of this lineup, and they splintered and then disbanded in 1991.
Although Young and Cotton continued to tour with a variety of members as Poco in subsequent years, Running Horse (2002) returned the band to the studio for the first time in thirteen years. This lineup consisted of Young, Cotton, Grantham, and Jack Sundrud (bass and vocals), who had toured with the band intermittently since the 1980s. Furay reunited with this lineup for one show in Nashville in May 2004, resulting in the spirited CD/DVD release Keeping The Legend Alive (2004). Later that year Grantham tragically suffered a stroke during a live performance. His recovery has been slow and expensive, and the group has created a donor fund on its official website, Poconut.com, to offset some of his considerable medical expenses. The site offers a variety of ways of donating money. Poco is still writing and recording a substantial volume of music, touring festivals and top rock venues in the United States, Canada and Europe, and doing solo projects. Young, Cotton, Sundrud, and newcomer veteran drummer George Lawrence comprise the current lineup. Bareback At Big Sky (2005) and The Wildwood Sessions (2006) are their most recent original releases, capturing live acoustic versions of songs both new and familiar from their almost forty year career. The current lineup of Poco is being reunited with Richie Furay for a concert at the Wildwood Lodge in Steelville, Missouri, in May, 2007.