November 13, 1972 The Retriever Page 9 Music Poco: Variety is the secret·

Somewhere between their hotel in Glen Burnie and UMBC, Poco got lost. When they finally arrived they were two hours late for an interview involving reporters from three state colleges. Their excuse - a wrong turn. Maybe. Poco evolved from the ashes of the now legendary group, Buf­ falo Springfield. (This same group also gave the rock world Neil Young and Stephen Stills). From the Springfield came Richie Furay and Jim Messina. They acquired other musicians including Rusty Young on pedal steel guitar. The result was a combination of rock and country music - Poco. Messina recently left and was replaced by Paul Cotton, but the group itself is very together. Their albums offer a variety of sounds and arrangements and it is hard to place Poco in one category of the rock spectrum. Probably their best album has to be Deliverin', a live set that captures the group's real thrust. Photos by Mike Cohn Much of their concert last Saturday consisted of numbers from their just released album, Early 'Toe tapping, foot-stomping, knee slapping, Times. The new album has a mellow . side along with a side of hard . wide grinning, shit kicking, driving, country rock. During the concert one could also hear many Poco classics: Pickin' up the Pieces. down-home rock and roll. ' Hoe Down. Consequently So Long. and Hard Luck. Grand Junction, a rocking Grand Junction, is indeed a grinning, shit-kicking, down-home fast paced instrumental, didn't musical accomplishment. A New rock and roll." Just by looking in the come thru because of sound York DJ in describing Poco's music aisles last Saturday night, you could problems with the steel guitar. said, "It's happy music. It's toe­ tell that Poco had done something to Personally, I feel this is one of their tapping, foot-stomping, knee­ everyone. better cuts, and because of its slapping, blood-pumping, wide- --Joe Clocker failure a disservice was done to the whole concert. However, a ten minute jam of C'mon brought out the real Poco. It w~s clearly a remarkable effort of five men pulling their musical abilities into one. At this point something has to be said about Poco's style of music. First, it's different from any kind of rock music you've ever ex- perienced. Oddly enough, it differs "from Buffalo Springfield, the group from which it stems. Its difference lies in the driving sound that is genera ted by the group (something that is lacking in many groups today). Secondly, Poco's music is a blend of rock with that down home country sound. Perhaps that is what makes them different. I can remember the first time I heard them. "They're different, they sound different," I thought. So, when you're different are you liked and enjoyed? All over the East coast, Poco and their music have found acceptance. They've per­ formed at Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall, and have recently finished touring the South. Last summer they were part of a free concert at the Washington Monument. The scene on the west coast is a bit dimmer, however. The album Deliverin', selling like cra zy in the East, was a disastrous flop out West. According to Richie Furay of Poco, concerts in the West have gone along a similar trend. Perhaps the secret of Poco's success has been their music and their variety of musical arrangements. But, it's more than all that. Their true talent lies in the ability to progress from a mellow sound to a driving performance. To produce soft songs as Kind Woman and come right ... ~ack with the