Last Time Around

This final Springfield album was a jumping off point into the solo careers of Steve Stills and Neil Young. It also marked the debut of what was to become the country-rock group Poco. Though generally an average album overall, a few of the songs are outstanding. 'On The Way Home' and 'I Am A Child' are Neil Young masterpieces. Driven by Richie Furay's delectible lead vocal and a perfect horn arrangement, 'On The Way Home' has a great pop feel. 'I Am A Child' is just plain elegant - a simple arrangement, a lovely acoustic guitar and Neil's understated voice make you want to keep hitting the repeat button on your CD player. Still's 'Pretty Girl Why' is an example of his mastery of musical styles - a pretty song with excellent harmonies and a nice trade off of guitar licks from Neil and Steve. When you listen to 'Questions' you'll swear you've heard the song before. Well, you have - if you bought 'Deja Vu', Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's first collaboration, Stills used the song as the second part of 'Carry On'. 'Kind Woman', a Richie Furay penned tune was actually the first Poco song. The song was performed by Furay, Jim Messina (the Springfield's new bass player)and Rusty Young (a pedal steel guitar player who was shipped in from Colorado for the session), these three went on to become the core of Poco - Stills and Young weren't even in the recording studio when the song was cut. The Springfield had already broken up prior to this album's release. As witnessed by this album, Furay, Stills and Young were already discovering their future musical directions.