Richie Furay Rides Again

If there are any forefathers of country rock, Richie Furay would certainly be one of them. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee helped launch Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young and Bruce Palmer back in 1965.

"'In Springfield, Richie was a key singer and key writer,' said Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke, who attended a show in Oakland. 'In a sense, Richie was the anchor. He was the center as well as a central figure. I thought he was one of the highlights of the show.'"*

"'Richie's voice was great texture along with Stephen's voice and the angst that was going on at that time," Jim Messina [Poco, Loggins and Messina] said. "When he (Richie) sang, he wasn't only singing, he was bolting out electricity.' But creative tensions and personality conflicts caused the band to implode."*

Furay's  pop music career also helped birth the group Poco and then later, the Souther, Hillman, Furay Band. During the heyday, a crisis in his marriage started Richie on a journey of faith.  In 1983, Furay decided to focus his energies on ministry, and ever since has been pastor of Calvary Chapel in Broomfield, Colorado.

As a pastor, Furay still plays and sings with the Richie Furay Band, made up of multi-generational members from his church worship band and youngest daughter, Jesse Furay Lynch.

Last year, Neil Young called on Furay and Stills to join him as Buffalo Springfield for a charity event, and then for a set at the 2011 Bannaroo festival in Tennessee. Because of the positive vibe in the group and egos of the past staying in the past, it looks like the Buffalo Springfield will ride again--at least for a tour scheduled in 2012.

After the 30-date tour, Richie Furay will return to his humble status as pastor of the local Calvary Chapel in Broomfield, Colorado, but the world will have been reminded that he also was, and is, a rock and roll pioneer.

* Quotes taken from a July 16, 2011 Denver Post article by Jeremy P. Meyer