Artist

Poco

Los Angeles, United States

Poco is a music group from Los Angeles, United States. Their discography on Gatefold includes 24 records.

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Albums tracked

120

In collections

—

Since

Biography

Poco, founded in 1968 by Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Richie Furay and Jim Messina (both inducted 1997 with Buffalo Springfield), was one of the earliest in the "Country rock" genre that was later commercially popularized by bands such as the Eagles. The band was completed by Rusty Young (pedal steel guitar, dobro, banjo and mandolin) Randy Meisner on bass and George Grantham on drums. Poco's 1969 debut, "Pickin' Up the Pieces" (the title being a reference to the break-up of Buffalo Springfield)

The Arc of Poco

The pivots — what forced Poco to reinvent.

The Post-Springfield Shakedown
After the Springfield collapsed, Furay and Messina recruited Rusty Young and Randy Meisner to create a tight, technical brand of country-rock that lacked the cynical edge of the Byrds. Meisner’s abrupt departure during the first album’s mixing sessions forced the band to scrub his lead vocals and re-record his parts, leaving a skeletal but high-energy debut that felt like a bridge between eras. You hear it in the frantic pacing and the way Rusty Young's pedal steel competes with the electric guitars for space. It was a chaotic start that established their signature high-lonesome harmony sound before the industry figured out how to market it.
The Paul Cotton Shift
When Jim Messina left in '70 to produce and eventually join Loggins, the band brought in Paul Cotton from the Illinois Speed Press to beef up the guitar work. This era moved away from the pure bluegrass-meets-Beatles vibe of the first two records and toward a heavier, more muscular rock sound seen on albums like From the Inside. Steve Cropper produced that record at Ardent Studios, trying to inject some Memphis soul into their country-fried arrangements. The result was a band that finally sounded like they could hold their own on a stadium stage, even if the charts weren't reflecting it yet.
The Legend of the Duo
By 1978, Richie Furay and Timothy B. Schmit were long gone, leaving Rusty Young and Paul Cotton to salvage a band that ABC Records was ready to drop. They recorded Legend as a last-ditch effort, utilizing a cleaner, more commercial production style that leaned into the emerging yacht rock aesthetic. Against all odds, the single 'Crazy Love' blew up, giving the band their first real commercial success a decade after they started. It changed their identity from country-rock architects to soft-rock mainstays, trading the pedal steel pyrotechnics for polished, mid-tempo radio ballads.

Influences

The Byrds — The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo is the direct ancestor of Poco's entire mission statement. Richie Furay frequently cited Chris Hillman’s shift toward traditional country as the permission slip Poco needed to bring a pedal steel into a rock club. You hear it in the earnest, high-register vocal stacks that became Poco’s calling card.
The Beatles — Jim Messina explicitly stated he wanted the band to sound like 'The Beatles if they were from the country.' The melodic structure of early Poco tracks like 'Short Changed' pulls directly from the Rubber Soul era of Lennon and McCartney. It’s that specific marriage of pop hooks and acoustic textures that separated them from the harder-edged rock bands of '69.
Buck Owens — Rusty Young grew up playing in country bars and was obsessed with the Bakersfield sound of Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. The snap and twang of the Telecaster-led arrangements in Owens' band provided the template for Poco's instrumental interplay. They weren't trying to be Nashville; they were trying to be Bakersfield with more gain.
Buffalo Springfield — Since Furay and Messina were in the band, the Springfield's 'Kind Woman' is essentially the first Poco song. The internal friction and genre-hopping of that group taught them exactly how to blend folk, country, and psych-rock into a single set. It was the training ground where they learned that the song mattered more than the solo.
The Louvin Brothers — The band’s vocal arrangements were built on the foundation of the Louvin Brothers' tight, close-knit 'brother harmonies.' Richie Furay has noted that they studied those old country duos to figure out how to stack three and four parts without them sounding like a choir. You can hear that blood-harmony influence on every chorus on the first three records.