In 1969 Poco was offered a chance to perform at the Woodstock Music Festival but the group's manager turned down the gig.
"When they called and said 'we want you for Woodstock' our manager said, "I'm sorry we can't do it we have a better offer,'" recalls Rusty Young, a founding member of Poco and the group's longtime pedal steel guitar player and vocalist. That "better offer" turned out to be a small school gig in California.
"We played a gymnasium in Los Angeles instead of Woodstock," Young says.
That same manger told them Poco was a great name because it was only four letters long and that meant that the group's name would appear larger on theater marquees than other bands with longer names like Jefferson Airplane. There was only one problem with this logic says Young, "They only have one size letter!"
Young adds, "One of our issues in the beginning is that we had really poor judgment as far as picking managers."
Despite that poor judgment, the group helped pioneer country rock in the 1970s and has remained a force in the music industry ever since. The group will perform at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, Mass., on Friday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m.
Young says the Iron Horse concert will include performances of Poco's biggest hits as well as new material.
"When I go to a concert I want to hear the songs that I'm familiar with from the band. I think it's our obligation to do "Crazy Love," which was our biggest hit and to do "Roads of Cimarron" and "Good Feelin' to Know" and songs that people expect to hear when they came to a Poco concert," he says. "We do as many of those hits as we can along with new stuff. We need to do new stuff just to keep ourselves in the game."
Poco was formed in the late 1960s by Young, Richie Furay and Jim Messina. Furay and Messina were members of Buffalo Springfield and Young was brought in to play on the group's third album "Last Time Around." After the recording of that album, Buffalo Springfield broke up and Furay, Messina and Young decided to form a new group; ultimately that group would be called Poco.
"The three of us just bonded," says Young. "We thought, what if we had a band that used country music instruments? like steel guitar and dobro and mandolin?as the color, but yet the lyrics and the music would be rock 'n' roll. Wouldn't that be cool? So that was the premise that we started with."
Over the years Poco has gone through many line-up changes. Messina and Furay drifted to other projects, Randy Meisner and Paul Cotton came on board and ultimately left. However, unlike most bands, Poco was able to survive these line-up changes with its musical integrity intact and often enhanced.
"I liken it to a tree that you prune and it makes it healthier," Young says, of the band's ability to endure through different line-ups of musicians. "The reason the band's lasted so long and done so well is that we've always had great players and great songwriters in our band."
Poco recently recorded a new album and Young hopes to have it available for digital download by Christmas and to have the physical CD out in early 2013. He says the group's newest member, Michael Webb, brought a new angle of songwriting and musicianship to the album.
The album is named "All Fired UP" and Young says the album features the signature Poco sound as well as new sonic explorations for the band.
"The title track is a nod to classic Poco, it could have been on any Poco record, it's a real definitive country rock song," he says. "The album has probably the most rocking song we've ever recorded, it's called 'Rocking Horse. So the album really covers a lot, there's stuff there for the Poco fans who like the classic sound of Poco and then we're also stretching and reaching and trying new things."
Young currently lives in Missouri. In addition to the pedal steel guitar he plays the banjo and mandolin. He began playing pedal steel guitar at a very young age.
"My parents were big country music fans. From the time I was old enough to sit up on the bar they would take me with them on their Saturday night Honky Tonking," he says. "My dad's favorite player in this country band that they used to go see was the steel guitar player and my dad always wanted me to learn steel guitar and so I started lessons when I was six years old."
Today Young, who is in his mid-60s, still loves playing and is still passionate about Poco's music.
"I'm at that point in life where I don't really have to do it anymore unless I'm having fun and unless it's great. I pledged to all the guys who have been in the band over the years that we wouldn't do it anymore if it stopped being fun and it stopped being great and it's still great and it's still fun."
POCO performs on Friday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. at the Iron Horse Music Hall at 20 Center Street in Northampton, Mass. Tickets are $35 in advance or $40 at the door. Details: visit http://www.iheg.com, or 413-586-8686.
Source: http://www.courant.com/entertainment/music/hc-poco-1116-20121116,0,6451213.story?track=rss
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