Richie Furay

2015

Before Buffalo Springfield, Furay performed with Stills in the nine-member group, the Au Go Go Singers (Roy Michaels, Rick Geiger, Jean Gurney, Michael Scott, Kathy King, Nels Gustafson, Bob Harmelink, and Furay & Stills), the house band of the famous 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. This 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. It was during this time that Al Perkins, the band's pedal steel guitar player, introduced Furay to Christianity. His newfound faith helped him rebuild his troubled marriage.[3]

Although the 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. To support the release of this 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 his newfound beliefs. I've Got a Reason did, however, establish Furay as a pioneer in Christian Rock. The title track of his third album, the secular I Still Have Dreams, became a mild radio hit in 1979.

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. He continues to perform as a solo artist, and very occasionally with Poco. He toured as an opening act for America and Linda Ronstadt during the Summer of 2006. The 2006 release of his CD The Heartbeat of Love returned Furay to his early country rock roots with a contemporary flair.

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 CD 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 the Spring of 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 reuniting the Poco lineup that achieved the most critical acclaim.

On October 23, 2010, he reunited with surviving 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.

Richie regrouped with Buffalo Springfield for a 2011 tour, headlining 2011 Bonnaroo with them. 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.[4]

In 2011, Furay collaborated with The Piedmont Brothers Band as an occasional back-up vocalist on the album PBB III (2011).

Furay appears on the April 2013 Carla Olson album Have Harmony, Will Travel. They sing the Gene Clark Byrds song "She Don't Care About Time" with Richard Podolor (producer of Souther Hillman & Furay) on mandolin and latter day Byrd John York on guitar.

In 2015, he released his latest CD Hand in Hand.

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 in which the classic 1971 Poco live album "DeLIVErin'" was performed in its entirety. A single “I Guess You Made It” was released on richiefuray.com. The tour continued throughout the year, culminating with a Poco 50th Anniversary Celebration on November 16, 2018 at the Troubador in Los Angeles, where Poco first performed in 1969. Timothy B. Schmit made a guest appearance. Randy Meisner and Peter Asher were in the audience. Furay’s Troubador show was recorded and will be released in 2020.

In the summer of 2019, Furay announced that he would be retiring from touring. 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 the show was postposed until May of 2021.[5]

A documentary, Through It All: The Life and Influence of Richie Furay is currently in post-production. It is narrated by Cameron Crowe.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Richie Furay.

• Official website
• Interview with Richie Furay (part 1 and part 2) on KDRT-LP 95.7 FM (Davis, Calif.) August 2015