This We Dug: Buffalo Springfield

(Graphic artist extraordinaire and “Then and Now” documentarian Kristen Tobiason describes how Buffalo Springfield pushed us beyond the fringe.)

Buffalo Springfield portraitIn the early ’80s, American hardcore punk rock was at its peak. New Wave was also flourishing amidst Studio 9 dance crowds. Bi-curious, lipstick boys. Giant shelves of sprayed hair in several shades of Clairol color.

What better way to rebel against your peers than to emulate a ’60s folk-rock band …

Buffalo Springfield. seriously?

Since all I had heard of them up to that point was “For What it’s Worth,” I could have summed this band up as Canadian fluff (except that Neil Young was in the band, and in my opinion, there is something very grandfather punk about Neil Young).

Upon investigation, their sound was not folk-fluff at all, but surprisingly edgy. Poetic. Interesting. The hook, line and sinker was “Mr. Soul,” which has some of the sickest guitar lines I’ve ever heard, intertwined with incredible lyrics like:

“In a while will the smile on my face turn to plaster?
Stick around while the clown who is sick
Does the trick of disaster”

Amidst ’80s angst & narcissism, bands of the ’60s Sunset Strip era like Love, The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield were like taking a deep breath of air.

“I am a Child”; “Broken Arrow”; “Four Days”; “Pretty Girl Why”; and my favorite, “Expecting to Fly,” are examples of master songwriting skills that have stood the test of time. I have rarely taken their material out of rotation, and when I have, have come back to it with fresh appreciation.

— Kristen Tobiason

More “This We Dug”!

San Diego then and now, featuring Kristen Tobiason:

4 thoughts on “This We Dug: Buffalo Springfield

  1. thanx matt for posting this
    didnt noise 292 cover
    for what its worth?

    anyways as i recall a few
    of us did wear fringe suede jackets

    a bit of hippie in
    the punkcion

    0
  2. >>thanx matt for posting this
    didnt noise 292 cover
    for what its worth?

    Lou: Very badly, one time, at our final gig. We shoulda done “Mr. Soul” … More our speed! 🙂

    >>anyways as i recall a few
    of us did wear fringe suede jackets

    I had one … Knee-high fringe suede moccasins, too …

    Did you see them in the river?
    They were there to wave to you …
    Could you tell that the empty-quivered,
    Brown-skinned Indian on the banks
    That were crowded and narrow
    Held a broken arrow?

    0
  3. Mr. Soul would have been the better choice either way,Matt.Thanks to my dad I was a Neil Young fan at a pretty young age and became aware of the Buffalo Springfield while exploring his record collection.I believe those records are now mine,but I bought him a cd anthology box set a few birthdays back.

    0

Comments are closed.

The Che Underground