Retrospective: The Best of Buffalo Springfield (CD - 1969)

Buffalo Springfield: Steve Stills (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Richie Furay, Neil Young (vocals, guitar); Jim Messina (vocals, bass); Bruce Palmer, Jim Fielder (bass); Dewey Martin (drums).

Producers include: Charles Green, Brian Stone, Steve Stills, Neil Young, Jim Messina.

Personnel: Neil Young (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Stephen Stills (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Richie Furay (vocals, guitar); Jim Messina (vocals); Dewey Martin (drums).

Illustrator: Eve Babitz.

Retrospective: The Best of Buffalo Springfield may not be definitive, but it's a good, basic overview of the group's career, containing most of the group's biggest hits and signature songs. Yes, several worthy album cuts are missing, but as a sampler, this works quite well, offering a nice introduction to the group. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Buffalo Springfield's brief lifespan (essentially 1966-1968) was rich with promise but fraught with creative tensions. This friction ultimately fractured the band's core foundation of Stephen Stills and Neil Young. However, those same tensions--along with the formidable talents of Richie Furay and Jim Messina (replacing original bass player Bruce Palmer but assuming a broader production role)--created some truly enduring music.

With only three albums from which to draw, RETROSPECTIVE includes the entirety of the band's hits and many well-known album tracks. Looking back, Buffalo Springfield can be seen as the wellspring for much of what happened in popular music in the half-dozen years after the band's demise. From the country rock of Poco (which begat the Eagles) to Crosby, Stills & Nash--not to mention every turn in the ever-twisting road of Neil Young's career--it can all be traced right back to these tracks. minimize