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Richie Furay

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Richie Furay
Background information
Birth namePaul Richard Furay
Born (1944-05-09) May 9, 1944 (age 80)
Yellow Springs, Ohio
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter, Christian minister
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar
Years active1961–present
LabelsAtco, Asylum, Epic, RCA, Roulette, Myrrh, Calvary Chapel, FridayMusic
Websiterichiefuray.com

Paul Richard Furay (born May 9, 1944) is an American musician and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member (with Buffalo Springfield). He is best known for forming the bands Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin, and Poco with Jim Messina, Timothy B. Schmit, Rusty Young, George Grantham and Randy Meisner.[1] His best known song (originally written during his tenure in Buffalo Springfield, but eventually performed by Poco as well) was "Kind Woman," which he wrote for his wife, Nancy.[2]

Life and career

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Richie Furay was born in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He had an early interest in music, sparked by his father listening to country music. Once rock and roll emerged in the early 1950s, he was smitten. When he was eight years old, he got a guitar and began taking lessons. After a short visit to New York City, he quickly returned for a longer stay, singing in folk clubs. There, he met Stephen Stills.[3]

Early career

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2015

Before joining Buffalo Springfield, Furay performed with Stills in the nine-member group, the Au Go Go Singers (Furay, Roy Michaels, Rick Geiger, Jean Gurney, Michael Scott, Kathy King, Nels Gustafson, Bob Harmelink, and Stills), the house band of the Cafe Au Go Go in New York City.

In the late 1960s, he formed the country rock band Poco with Jim Messina (who produced albums and occasionally played bass for Buffalo Springfield) and Rusty Young. The band, while influential to many future country rock acts, experienced uneven commercial success. Furay's best-known songs, "Kind Woman", "Pickin' Up The Pieces", and "Good Feelin' To Know", however, have reached classic status and appear on many country rock compilations.

Furay left Poco in 1974 to form the Souther Hillman Furay Band. During that time Al Perkins, the band's pedal steel guitar player, introduced Furay to Christianity. His newfound faith helped him rebuild his troubled marriage.[4]

Although Souther Hillman Furay Band's self-titled first album was certified Gold and yielded the top thirty hit with "Fallin' in Love" in 1974, the group could not follow up on that success, and poor record sales eventually led to its demise.

After moving from Los Angeles to Sugarloaf Mountain near Boulder, Colorado, Furay formed The Richie Furay Band with Jay Truax, John Mehler, and Tom Stipe, releasing the album I've Got a Reason in 1976, which reflected Furay's newfound beliefs. In support of the release of the album, Furay formed an alliance with David Geffen and Asylum Records. Furay assured Geffen that his album would be Christian influenced but would not be an attempt to preach about his newfound beliefs. I've Got a Reason did however, establish Furay as a pioneer in Christian rock.

Overall, his albums charted unsatisfactorily, and, compounded with the strain of touring wearing on him and his family, he retired as a performer to join the ministry. In 1983, Furay became senior pastor of the Calvary Chapel in Broomfield, Colorado, a non-sectarian Christian church in the Denver area.

In 1989, Furay reunited with Poco to release an album entitled Legacy.

Later career

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In 2006 he released his album The Heartbeat of Love, and also toured as an opening act for America and Linda Ronstadt. In 2007, he toured with a new formation of the Richie Furay Band. At the Boulder and Bluebird Theatres in Colorado, they recorded a double live album ALIVE. The ALIVE set covers 29 songs of Furay's career. The Richie Furay band continued to tour through 2008 and 2009.

Furay appeared with Poco for several shows in early 2009. At the Stagecoach Festival in Indio, California in 2009, Furay and the current Poco lineup were joined onstage by original members Jim Messina and George Grantham and former bass player Timothy B. Schmit.

On October 23, 2010, he reunited with former Buffalo Springfield bandmates Stephen Stills and Neil Young for a set at the 24th annual Bridge School Benefit at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. The reunion continued in 2011 for a one-month tour of California, headlining 2011 Bonnaroo. In July 2011, Furay announced on his Facebook page that he would be touring with Buffalo Springfield in early 2012, ending speculation there would be a 2011 fall tour with them.[5] In 2011, Furay collaborated with the Piedmont Brothers Band as an occasional back-up vocalist on the album PBB III (2011). He appeared on the 2013 Carla Olson album, Have Harmony, Will Travel. In 2015, he released the new album Hand in Hand to positive critical reviews.

Furay retired as Pastor of Calvary Chapel in December 2017.

On June 13, 2018, the Richie Furay Band began the Deliverin' Tour at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) in New Jersey. The first set consisted of Buffalo Springfield, Poco, Souther, Hillman & Furay Band and solo material, followed by a second set with the classic 1971 Poco live album "DeLIVErin'" being performed in its entirety. A single, “I Guess You Made It”, was released on Furay's website (richiefuray.com).

The tour continued throughout the year, culminating with a Poco 50th Anniversary Celebration on November 16, 2018, at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, where Poco first performed in 1969. Randy Meisner and Peter Asher were in the audience (Poco bandmate and longtime friend, Timothy B. Schmit performed with Furay.) Furay's Troubadour show was recorded and, in April, 2021, was released in both CD and DVD as DeLIVErin' Again (50th Anniversary: Return to the Troubadour). In the same year, Furay released the single, "America, America" through his website.

Recent years

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In mid-2019, Furay announced he would be retiring from touring as a headliner. He embarked on a tour of the west coast in the fall of 2019, sharing the bill with Dave Mason. Furay's “Farewell/76th Birthday Celebration” was originally scheduled to take place at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) in New Jersey in 2020, however due to the COVID-19 pandemic and storm damage to the SOPAC building, the show was postponed until 2022, so he performed a "Farewell Show" at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey on November 14, 2021 (the date of the originally scheduled SOPAC show.) He scheduled a few one-off shows in Colorado and California in the spring of 2022, with the SOPAC "Farewell Show" rescheduled for June 2022 at SOPAC, under the direction of his manager, David Stone. He included "Crazy Love" and "Bad Weather" in the shows, as a tribute to Poco bandmates Rusty Young and Paul Cotton, respectively; they both died in 2021.[6]

In June and July 2022, Furay kicked off a mini-tour, beginning in New Jersey, as well as the City Winery in Nashville, New York City, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Boston. The shows were billed as Furay's farewell tour in support of his album In the Country which has cover versions of Furay's favorite country songs.[7] In the Country features a cover of Keith Urban's "Someone Like You", released as a single. The recording also contains songs by John Denver, Garth Brooks, George Strait, Marc Cohn, and Ricky Nelson, as well as a remake of the Poco song "Pickin' Up the Pieces".

A documentary, Through It All: The Life and Influence of Richie Furay is currently in post-production. It is narrated by Cameron Crowe.[8] In a 7/18/2024 radio interview with Daniel Jones (guitarist with 7th Order) on his "The Volcano Chronicles" radio show (KNKR 96.1FM on the Big Island of Hawaii) - Furay stated that the documentary may be released as soon as early 2025. [9]

Discography

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Solo

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Studio albums

  • I've Got a Reason (1976) (Asylum) (US Billboard # 130)[10]
  • Dance a Little Light (1978) (Asylum)
  • I Still Have Dreams (1979) (Asylum)
  • Seasons of Change (1982) (Myrrh Records)
  • In My Father's House (1997) (Calvary Chapel Records)
  • I Am Sure (2005) (FridayMusic)
  • The Heartbeat of Love (2006) (Richie Furay and John Macy)
  • Hand in Hand (2015) (Entertainment One)
  • In the Country (2022)

Live albums

  • ALIVE (2007) (FridayMusic)
  • DeLIVErin' Again (Return to the Troubadour: 50th Anniversary) (2021) (DSDK Productions)

Compilation albums

Singles

  • Richie Furay: "This Magic Moment" / "Bittersweet Love" (1978) (Asylum) (US Billboard #101)
  • Richie Furay: "I Still Have Dreams" / "Headin' South" (1979) (Asylum) (US Billboard #39)

Band projects

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As a member of the Au Go-Go Singers:

As a member of Buffalo Springfield:

As a member of Poco:

As a member of Souther–Hillman–Furay Band

References

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  1. ^ Edmunds, Mike. "Biography: Richie Furay". Allmusic. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
  2. ^ Furay, P. Richard, mentioned live after performing the song, October 24, 2010, Bridge School Benefit Concert, Mountain View, California.
  3. ^ "Biography".
  4. ^ "The 700 Club – Richie Furay: What It's Worth". Cbn.com. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  5. ^ "That 2012 tour never materialized as Neil Young called it off before it even got started". Spinner. July 1, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  6. ^ Lustig, Jay (August 21, 2020) Richie Furay's streaming concert will benefit SOPAC and other organizations, NJArts.net; retrieved October 7, 2020.
  7. ^ "Richie Furay - In the Country | Holler". holler.country. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  8. ^ "Buffalo Springfield co-founder Richie Furay releases new album of country music duets". WTOP News. July 7, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  9. ^ ""the Volcano Chronicles" with special guest Richie Furay". 7th Order on Facebook. August 18, 2024. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
  10. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2018). Top Pop Albums 1955-2016. Prometheus Global Media. ISBN 978-0-89820-226-7.
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