Bluebird (Buffalo Springfield song)
"Bluebird" | ||||
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Single by Buffalo Springfield | ||||
B-side | "Mr. Soul" | |||
Released | June 15, 1967 | |||
Recorded | April 4, 1967 | |||
Studio | Sunset Sound, Hollywood, California[a] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | ||||
Label | Atco | |||
Songwriter(s) | Stephen Stills | |||
Producer(s) |
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Buffalo Springfield singles chronology | ||||
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"Bluebird" is a song recorded by the American rock group Buffalo Springfield. It was written and produced by Stephen Stills, with co-production by Ahmet Ertegun. In June 1967, Atco Records released it as a single to follow-up their hit "For What It's Worth" (1966).
"Bluebird" reflects various influences and musical approaches. Stills conceived of it as a multi-part song, which developed over time. A key feature is the contrasting solos, which alternate between Stills's fingerpicked acoustic and Neil Young's distorted electric guitars. Three different studio versions have been released: a two-minute folk rock single focused on the intro vocal verses; a four and a half minute album version (featured on Buffalo Springfield Again) incorporating hard rock and country elements; and an extended nine-minute jam version, released on the band's self-titled compilation in 1973.
The song was a feature of Buffalo Springfield performances, usually as their closing number. Shortly after its release, they played the song at the
Although the single reached number 58 on the Billboard chart, some critics see the song as their most accomplished piece. They usually comment on Stills' and Young's guitar interplay and the stylistic shifts undertaken on the different arrangements. The lyrics reveal "a slightly psychedelia-tinged array of emotions and revelations of nature and perception", according to AllMusic critic Matthew Greenwald.
Background
By the end of 1966, Buffalo Springfield was still a relatively new band. Formed in April, their self-titled debut album was released in November 1966.[2] Two singles and the LP had not generated much interest on the record charts[3] and the group's performances were largely confined to the Los Angeles area.[4] A crackdown by police on crowds of young music club goers along the Sunset Strip inspired group singer and guitarist Stephen Stills to write "For What It's Worth".[5] Encouraged by their managers, the song was quickly recorded and released in December 1966.[6] Local radio picked up the single and soon it became Buffalo Springfield's first hit on the charts, eventually reaching number seven on the Billboard Hot 100.[7]
Eager to capitalize on the success of "For What It's Worth", Atco Records was pushing for a follow-up album featuring the song.[8] The label began printing album jackets with the title Stampede, but the group did not have enough songs for a new LP.[9] Instead, Atco reissued their debut album, with Still's song added as the opening track.[10] Meanwhile, Buffalo Springfield began to fracture, with the three main singers and songwriters (Stills, Neil Young, and Richie Furay) each pursuing his own compositions.[11][12] Young, who wrote the first two Buffalo Springfield singles, was hoping for success with his new rocker, "Mr. Soul".[13] However, with the popularity of "For What It's Worth", Stills was seen as the new voice of the group by some, including Atco.[14][15][16] "Bluebird" became Buffalo Springfield's fourth single, with "Mr.Soul" as the B-side.[13][16][17] There was always a rivalry between Stills and Young; although the latter contributed the electric lead guitar parts to "Bluebird", he left the group soon after.[18]
Composition and recording
Stills developed "Bluebird" from a song titled "The Ballad of the Bluebird".[19] The lyrics reflect on a melancholy figure:
Listen to my bluebird laugh, she can't tell you why
Deep within her heart, you see, she knows only crying ...
Soon she's going to fly away, sadness is her own
Give herself a bath of tears, and go home, and go home
Music writer
"Bluebird" was recorded at
Stephen's roots music came out in "Bluebird", that Appalachian thing ... That song was so derivative of an old mountain song with the banjo and melody. It was something you didn't hear [in a rock song].
—Chris Hillman, quoted in For What It's Worth: The Story of Buffalo Springfield (2004)[1]
According to Doggett, Stills prepared a ten-minute "jam" edit "with feral howls, random dialogue and all".[29] Biographer John Einarson describes an extended version "featuring an eastern flavored raga middle electric guitar passage with Stephen and Neil at their most ferocious."[1] However, Stills continued to refine the arrangement;[29] he abandoned the third section jam and replaced it with the vocal coda "Soon she's going to fly away, Sadness is her own" verses over a simple banjo and acoustic guitar accompaniment.[29] Charlie Chin, a musician from Stills' folk music days in New York City's Greenwich Village, performed the bluegrass-style banjo part.[32] Stills later explained, "I wanted it to start as a rock & roll song and slowly develop into what it really is, which it does in the third verse when the banjo comes in. That's the kind of music I started out doing in the Village in little coffee houses".[27][d] With the second section and the banjo ending, it more than doubled the length of the single version to 4:28.[1][34]
Releases and charts
Atco issued the two-minute version of "Bluebird" on June 15, 1967, on the then-standard 7-inch
I was sure that we had the follow-up [to "For What It's Worth"] ... I thought 'Bluebird' was the song that was going to make our mark and take us to the top ... 'Bluebird' was a Top Ten hit in Los Angeles but it couldn't get out of town. But that was always a problem with the band ... Had maybe a hit single appeared, it might have been a different story.[27][38]
In November 1967, the four and a half minute version was released on the group's second album, Buffalo Springfield Again.[39] It is also included on Retrospective: The Best of Buffalo Springfield (1969),[16] the Buffalo Springfield box set (2001),[40] and What's That Sound? Complete Albums Collection (2018).[41]
In 1967, an extended version, variously identified as being nine, ten, and twelve minutes in length, began to be regularly aired on so-called "underground"
Critical reception
Two weeks after its release, "Bluebird" received brief reviews in American music industry trade magazines.
In a retrospective song review for AllMusic, Matthew Greenwald writes "'Bluebird's sense of forward momentum is, in a word, devastating. Lyrically, it appears to be a slightly psychedelia-tinged array of emotions and revelations of nature and perception."[19] Unterberger commented "Stills's 'Bluebird' might have been a smoky hard rock tune, but the arc of its harmonies and the sparkle of its acoustic guitar runs were folk-fried, and the drumless banjo-led section that ends the track is pure bluegrass ... The rich acoustic-electric guitar textures ... had little parallel in previous rock music in their sheer density."[24] In a separate review of Buffalo Springfield Again, he added "'Bluebird' and 'Rock & Roll Woman' are Stills' toughest rock songs ... masterpieces of economic, intelligent Californian 60s rock."[49]
While Young biographer James McDonough writes of "layers of virtuoso acoustic/electric guitar" and a "meticulously crafted studio creation", he is critical of the extended version: "An overwrought nine-minute version, complete with Stills's moaning-groaning bluesman posturings, mercifully went unreleased until 1973, but it hardly constitutes any kind of real jam—Young's intermittently berserk guitar was overdubbed."[18]
Live performances
Three days after the single release, Buffalo Springfield performed "Bluebird" at the
In late June, Crosby again performed with group members and added harmony vocals (normally sung by Furay alone) in a Sunset Strip club.
"Bluebird" was usually played as their last number
At that point we were playing some very wild shows and the band was starting to stretch out on Steve's classic song "Bluebird", pushing and pulling it to its limit with psychedelic, string-bending, distortion-ridden, molten, and crashing jams ... That was the Buffalo Springfield that was never heard on record.[56]
During Stills's and Young's guitar solo excursions, there were changes in tempo and rhythm, including touches of
Other versions
Over the years, both Stephen Stills and Neil Young revisited "Bluebird". While preparing a follow-up to his first solo album, Stills recorded an
In the mid-1980s, Young wrote a country music-influenced song titled "Beautiful Bluebird". Biographer Martin Halliwell calls it "a revival ... in a more lyrical mode [as] Young reaches for a similar metaphor to Stills when the song turns from a musing on home to reflect on a lost love that has flown away."[23] "Beautiful Bluebird" was originally intended for Young's Old Ways (1985) album, but finally released as the opening track on Chrome Dreams II (2007).[23]
The American hard rock group James Gang recorded the song for their 1969 debut album, Yer' Album.[60] Music writers have described their 6:02 version as an "extended workout"[60] and an "inspired reading".[61]
Footnotes
- ^ a b According to biographer John Einarson, the banjo part played by Charlie Chin was added in New York City, but no date was indicated.[1]
- ^ Both songs contain some similar references: eyes – "You sit there mesmerized, by the depth of her eyes" ("Bluebird") and "Judy blue eyes" ("Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"); birds – "Listen to my bluebird laugh" ("Bluebird") and "Chestnut-brown canary, ruby-throated sparrow" ("Suite"); and flying away – "Soon she going to fly away" ("Bluebird") and "I'm going to fly away" ("Suite").[23]
- ^ The liner notes to Buffalo Springfield Again credits the guitars to Young, Stills, and Furay, "all 11,386 of 'em".[24]
- ^ Guitarist Doug Hastings, who filled in during Neil Young's absence, claims that he suggested to Stills that the song did not benefit from the long ending.[33]
- ^ The group's performance of their opening number "For What It's Worth" is included on disc three "The Outtake Performances" of The Complete Monterey Pop Festival DVD box set released in 2002.[52]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Einarson & Furay 2004, p. 179.
- ^ McDonough 2010, pp. 158, 182.
- ^ Einarson & Furay 2004, pp. 118, 138–139.
- ^ Einarson & Furay 2004, p. 141.
- ^ Einarson & Furay 2004, pp. 125–126.
- ^ Einarson & Furay 2004, pp. 127–128.
- ^ Einarson & Furay 2004, p. 124.
- ^ Einarson & Furay 2004, pp. 167–168.
- ^ Einarson & Furay 2004, p. 176.
- ^ Einarson & Furay 2004, p. 167.
- ^ a b Roberts & Gedge 2016, eBook.
- ^ Einarson & Furay 2004, pp. 154–155.
- ^ a b McDonough 2010, p. 209.
- ^ Einarson & Furay 2004, p. 154.
- ^ McDonough 2010, p. 208.
- ^ a b c d e Kubernik 2015, eBook.
- ^ Einarson & Furay 2004, p. 168.
- ^ a b c d e McDonough 2010, p. 215.
- ^ a b c d e f Greenwald, Matthew. "Buffalo Springfield: Bluebird – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
- ^ Moon 2008, p. 130.
- ^ Collins 2012, pp. 7–8.
- ^ a b Doggett 2019, p. 62.
- ^ a b c d Halliwell 2015, eBook.
- ^ a b Unterberger 2003a, p. 45.
- ^ a b c d BMI (April 21, 2006). "Tips from the Top: The Making of Buffalo Springfield Again". BMI. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
- ^ Zimmer 2000, p. 57.
- ^ a b c Einarson 2001, p. 70.
- ^ Prown & Newquist 1997, p. 45.
- ^ a b c d e f g Doggett 2019, p. 63.
- ^ Pollock 2014, eBook.
- ^
"Bluebird" (Single notes). Buffalo Springfield. New York City: Atco Records. 1967. Record label (side). 45-6499.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Einarson & Furay 2004, p. 178.
- ^ Einarson & Furay 2004, p. 191.
- ^
OCLC 880064247. 33-225.)
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link - ^ Billboard 1967b, p. 22.
- ^ a b "The Buffalo Springfield: Chart History – "Bluebird"". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
- ^ Billboard 1967c, p. 20.
- ^ a b c Einarson & Furay 2004, p. 228.
- ^ Einarson & Furay 2004, p. 227.
- ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Buffalo Springfield [Box Set] – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Buffalo Springfield: What's That Sound? Complete Albums Collection – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
- ^ a b Unterberger 2003b, p. 79.
- ^ a b Unterberger 2003b, p. 63.
- ^
OCLC 4590861. SD 2-806.)
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link - ^ Einarson & Furay 2004, p. 309.
- ^ Billboard 1967a, p. 16.
- ^ Cash Box 1967, p. 16.
- ^ Record World 1967, p. 6.
- ^ Unterberger 2003b, p. 147.
- ^ a b c d e Einarson & Furay 2004, p. 197.
- ^ Einarson & Furay 2004, p. 196.
- ^
"The Outtake Performances". The Complete Monterey Pop Festival (DVD liner notes). Various artists. OCLC 1054374212. MON320.)
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link - ^ a b c Browne 2019, eBook.
- ^ a b Dugo 2023, eBook.
- ^ McDonough 2010, p. 226.
- ^ Young 2014, eBook.
- ^ Einarson 2001, p. 95.
- ^ Zimmer 2000, p. 186.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Crosby, Stills & Nash: CSN 2010 – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ a b Ruhlmann, William. "James Gang: Yer' Album – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
- ^ Coine 2003, p. 532.
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