BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD’S BRIDGE SCHOOL REUNION
Exclusive photos provided to Australian Musician by Neil Young’s bass player Rick Rosas and Stephen Stills’ daughter Eleanor
December 2010
Gather ’round kids while I give you a little history lesson. For many music fans, Neil Young has always been viewed as an iconic singer-songwriter and one of the most unique and influential artists in contemporary music. Others may have experienced Neil’s music for the first time at 2009’s Big Day Out shows. But before Young became a legendary solo artist, he was also one integral part of supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. CSNY gave us sweet country-rock harmonies and helped to define a generation with songs such as ‘Woodstock’, ‘Carry On’, ‘Marrakesh Express’, ‘Ohio’ and ‘Teach Your Children’. If we were to follow the lineage back even further, you’d find Buffalo Springfield as a starting point, a band which included Young, Stills, and Richie Furay as the main members. So it was with much historical significance that Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay (these days a pastor in a ministry in Bloomfield) took to the stage together for the first time in 42 years at this year’s Bridge School benefit concert in Mountain View California on October 23rd.
The Bridge School Benefit has become one of America’s most anticipated annual musical events. Promoted by Peggy and Neil Young, to assist children with severe physical impairments and complex communication needs, this year’s two day benefit included Pearl Jam, Elvis Costello, Elton John, Leon Russell, Kris Kristofferson, Jeff Bridges, Modest Mouse, Grizzly Bear, T-Bone Burnett, Emmylou Harris, Neko Case, Marc Ribot, Billy Idol, Jackson Browne, David Lindley, Lucinda Williams, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Ralph Stanley, Pegi Young, Buffalo Springfield and of course Neil Young.
While two members of Buffalo Springfield have passed away, at the Bridge gig, drummer Dewey Martin was replaced by Joe Vitale and stepping in for the late Bruce Palmer was longtime Neil Young band member and friend to Australian Musician magazine Rick Rosas. In fact, Rick kindly provided these exclusive photos from the event, taken with his own camera, as well as one shot taken by Stephen Stills’ daughter Eleanor. We’re truly chuffed to have received them.
Buffalo Springfield’s set included such benchmark numbers as ‘Mr. Soul’, ‘Rock and Roll Woman’, ‘For What It’s Worth (Stop, Hey, What’s That Sound)’ and ‘Kind Woman’. For the remaining songs, see the set list provided by Rick. The band had so much fun at the concert, that there is even talk of a 2011 American tour. We can only cross our fingers that it not only happens, but snowballs its way down here.
On another note, fans will know that Neil kept a collection of vintage cars in a garage on his property. Images of it can be seen on the sleeve of his Chrome Dreams II album. Sadly, damage was caused to the garage by a fire. The garage housed a couple of Rick’s fine basses too. Let’s hope they survived!