A Dream That’s Worthwhile: Randy Meisner and Pickin’ Up The Pieces

“Poco had Randy Meisner in the band and they were just killer.” ¹

Poco’s first album, Pickin’ Up The Pieces, is considered a cornerstone of the country-rock movement of the late 1960s. It was also the first major album on which Randy appeared.² Pickin’ Up The Pieces tends to get overlooked in the Randy Meisner discography because he quit the band during its final stages of production. However, if you listen closely to it, Randy’s contributions to the album are unmistakable. As George Grantham once said, “Randy was all over Pickin’ Up The Pieces.”³

_{Poco, 1969
L-R: Jim Messina, George Grantham, Rusty Young, Randy Meisner and Richie Furay}

Poco was formed in the Summer of 1968 by former Buffalo Springfield members, Richie Furay and Jim Messina, who wanted to start a new band with a new sound that blended rock and country. As Furay put it, “We wanted to take the rock form over to the country side, and have them dig us.”⁴ Pedal steel virtuoso, Rusty Young, was the first band member to be recruited. He was already familiar with Richie and Jim because he had played the beautiful steel part on Furay’s classic “Kind Woman” from the Springfield’s final album, Last Time Around. It was also Rusty who had suggested his former bandmate, George Grantham, for drums. George and Rusty had both been members of the Denver psych band, Boenzee Cryque (pronounced Ben-zee Crick). The final addition to the band was Randy Meisner. In 1968, he was still a member of The Poor. Originally called the Soul Survivors, Randy joined the Denver band in 1966 when they were looking for a new bass player. Soon after, they moved to Los Angeles and changed their name to The Poor. The band, though talented, didn’t really get anywhere. Randy had heard about auditions for Furay’s new band from Miles Thomas, who had been a roadie for both The Poor and Buffalo Springfield. Thomas had also been a classmate of Rusty Young and Patrick Shanahan, the drummer for The Poor, at Lincoln High School in Denver.

Randy recalled how the audition came about:

“[I heard about Poco] through our road manager (Miles Thomas), who came out with us from Denver. After we were in LA for a while, he quit because we didn’t have any money and there was nothing for him to do. So, he joined the Buffalo Springfield. When they broke up, he knew the guys (Richie Furay & Jim Messina) and he knew that we weren’t doing much, so he asked me to audition for Poco. I auditioned and got the job.” (BBC Radio 1 interview, 1977) 

He felt that part of his appeal was his high voice:

“I played about three songs with them (at the audition), and it was my voice — which was real high and strong, and meshed with Richie’s — that worked. We didn’t use any falsetto in those days, just full out blasting.” (Desperados: The Roots Of Country Rock, 2000)

Also at the audition that day was bassist Timothy B. Schmit, who would later replace Randy in both Poco and the Eagles. ⁵

With the rest of the band in place, Messina felt confident that he and Richie had found the right mix of musicians. “Each one of those guys, Rusty, George and Randy, was just perfect for what we wanted to accomplish,” recalled Messina. “It just felt right.”^{6 7} Randy agreed: “All this talent, all sharing with each other.”⁸

They also settled on a name: Pogo, the character from the Walt Kelly comic strip.⁹ Except for one or two gigs early on, the band played under this name during Randy’s initial tenure with the group. The name-change to Poco occurred in April 1969 after Walt Kelly threatened to sue the band. Randy, who had quit around February, was already playing for Rick Nelson by that time.¹⁰

_{Pogo visits the offices of Teen Screen magazine, c. January 1969}

“One Of The Most Talked-About Groups In L.A.”

Following two months of nonstop rehearsals. Pogo made their live debut on October 14th, 1968 at a “hoot night” at the Troubadour. ¹¹ This was the first of several appearances at the West Hollywood venue.

Recalled Randy:

“Every time we played the Troubadour it was packed, people hanging out of the rafters…By the time we’d hit the stage the whole audience would be yelling. We’d have ‘em cranked before we even started playing. When you know the audience is with you, it gives you that extra boost of natural energy. It was just so much fun.” (Desperados, 2000)

Pogo was on their way. Rolling Stone called them “fun and exciting,” and one of the four “most talked-about groups in L.A.” (the other three were Delaney & Bonnie, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Dillard & Clark).¹²

By January 1969, record executives were clamoring to sign the band to a record deal. Clive Davis of Columbia won out, signing them to a nine-album deal with Columbia’s subsidiary, Epic. By mid-January, the band was in the studio recording their debut.

Pickin’ Up The Pieces

Pickin’ Up The Pieces was recorded at CBS Studios in Los Angeles. It was produced by Jim Messina. As Randy later recalled, “Everything was working fairly smooth until we got into the studio.” ¹³ During the final mix of the album, Randy, who had always had an interest in producing, called the studio and asked if he could come down and listen to the mixes. Randy explains what happened next:

“Jimmy Messina and Richie were in the studio. We’d finished the recording and had started the mix. I called down and said, ‘Yeah, I’d like to listen to it.’ Richie said, ‘No, just Jimmy and I are gonna do it.’ I said, “Wait a minute, I made the music too, I’d like to listen to the mixes.’ Richie said, ‘No, you just can’t’ so I said, ‘If you’re not gonna let me down there I’m just gonna quit.’ And it was simple as that.” (Ken Sharp interview, 2006)

Richie Furay provided his version of the incident in his 2006 memoir, Pickin’ Up The Pieces. He felt it was just as well that Randy quit because he “didn’t fit into the Pogo family.” Whatever that meant.

“Maybe Randy caught us at a moment when we weren’t as patient or understanding as we should have been. But it still seems strange that an incident as seemingly minor as this would have caused him to leave the band. As I’ve pointed out, he was a bit aloof compared to the rest of us and didn’t fit into the Pogo family as well as we would have liked.” 

Sole producer Jim Messina said that there were no hard and fast rules about who could be in the studio. His only request was that the guys didn’t bring friends along, which Randy didn’t. So Jim never understood why Richie didn’t let him in.

“Why Richie wouldn’t let him in, I have no idea. Why not? That was not…an appropriate thing to do, to not let one of your own guys in.” (John Beaudin interview with Jim Messina, 2018)

When Poco reunited twenty years later, Jim told Randy that he would have let him in had he known what had happened. But it was twenty years too late, in Randy’s opinion:

“Later on when we had the Poco reunion Jimmy said, ‘Randy, I didn’t care if you came down, Richie did. If I’d have known I would have let you come down.’ This is twenty years later. (laughs)” (Ken Sharp interview, 2006)

In his memoir, Furay described a rock band as a “family”:

“I sometimes think of a rock band as if it’s a family, where each member looks out for the others and you operate in a way that helps everyone succeed— not just one or two members.”

One might wonder why Richie, who was not involved in the production of the album, was allowed to come to the studio, but Randy was not. His response:

“I’m going to be there because it was my band.” (Beaudin interview, 2020)

So much for “family feeling.”

Randy’s sudden departure left the band in shock. Pogo’s manager at the time, Dickie Davis, was “devastated”:

Davis:

“I remember being totally blindsided by Randy’s leaving. Totally blindsided. I can remember the whole night after that happened, where I was and what I was thinking. I was devastated.”  (Keep On Believin’, Thomas Kitts, 2023)

Despite being devastated, not one person tried to convince Randy to stay. “Nobody tried to talk me out of it,” he remembered, “that was the funny part.” ¹⁴

But Randy’s leaving left an indelible mark on the group. Perhaps Rusty Young summed it up best:

“I don’t think Poco or the Eagles were the same without him.“ (Desperados, Einarson, 2000)

_{Pogo on the roof of the Troubadour, 1969}

Aftermath

The painting for the front cover of the album had already been finished when Randy quit Pogo. To avoid any confusion, his image was removed from the painting on the front cover…and replaced with a dog.

“I think there’s a dog [on the cover] now. The dog might have been there anyway but I always say they replaced me with a dog . . . I love dogs, so I like it.” (Richard Randall interview, January 1995)

Some say the dog was Jim Messina’s dog, Jasper, who sometimes joined the band onstage. But Jasper was all black.

Below: The original package for Pickin’ Up The Pieces, released in June 1969. The cover was a gatefold unipak, which means the album entered the sleeve from inside the gatefold.

The inner cover features photos of the band with their name, birthplace, etc. Although Randy was not given one of these photos. I made one for him. There was no matching color photo of Randy to use, so I chose a Pogo-era, b&w photo that fan club president, Cindy Dakin, said she sent to fans who asked for photos. It may have also been taken at the same time as the other individual photos for the album by photographer Frank Bez.

Randy’s lead vocal on “Calico Lady” was replaced with that of George Grantham. But, as Randy always maintained, his bass and harmony parts were left on the album. (“All my background harmonies and bass parts are on there.”¹⁵) The liner notes of the album back this up since he is the only bass credit listed and he is credited for supporting vocals. However, Jim Messina felt Randy deserved more than the passing mention he received on the cover:

“Supporting vocals and bass by Randy Meisner is really downplaying his contribution.” (Keep On Believin’, Thomas Kitts, 2023)

Ad for Pickin’ Up The Pieces
(B.S. = Buffalo Springfield)

The Pogo Sound

There are a number of tracks on Pickin’ Up The Pieces where Randy’s high harmonies stand out: “Nobody’s Fool” (especially on “to you” at 2:38), “Just In Case It Happens, Yes Indeed” (the oohs and aahs, plus harmonizing with Richie. You really hear him at :56 “except for your teasin'” & 2:00 “new beginnings”), plus, “Oh Yeah,” and the the title track to name a few. People are always asking if there are any live recordings of the original band. As far as I know none exist, although Randy said in 1980 that he relearned the Richie Furay song “Anyway Bye Bye” for his second solo album from a recording that was made with Poco at the Troubadour in 1968.¹⁶ Even with no live recordings, there are certain songs on Pickin Up The Pieces that give you an idea of their sound. It’s important to note that Richie and Randy were the main singers in Pogo. In the photo below, note that they are standing out front with the rest of the band behind them. As Pete Johnson from the Los Angeles Times recalled: “The singing combination of Furay and Meisner is terrific. Both have high, flexible voices which melt together in delightful harmonies and separate for strong solos.” Just listen to “Short Changed” from Pickin’ Up The Pieces. That’s Richie and Randy in the lead blasting away. This wild rocker was the closer at their live shows. Randy comes in at :06 on “bloodstained,” then at :21 on “lonely.” Note his high voice on the bridge at 1:45. His bass line is hot throughout as well. Earbuds or headphones recommended to get the full effect:

_{Pogo at the Troubadour, 1968. (Photo by Jim Loppnow)}

“Make Me A Smile”

But there is one song on Pickin’ Up The Pieces that I feel showcases the original Pogo sound. Plus, it has always been my personal favorite song from the album. “Make Me A Smile” was co-written by Richie Furay and Jim Messina. Richie sings lead vocal with Randy in the harmony part. But, it could even be called a co-lead vocal because it’s just Richie and Randy throughout. We first hear Randy at :21 at “a dream that’s worthwhi-i-ile.” His voice is clear at :45 on the line “stream through your hair.”. They harmonize beautifully at 1:16 on “lover come on, I can see suddenly, changes in you you’re smilin’ at me.” No one says “smilin'” like Randy. Don’t miss his high harmony at the end of the song also, in particular at 2:39 (“Maybe someday I can trade you a smile.”) “Make Me A Smile” is a fantastic, overlooked song that demonstrates how Pogo sounded with Randy Meisner. Rusty is phenomenal on pedal steel. Again, earbuds or headphones recommended:

Following Randy’s departure from Poco. He was recruited by Rick Nelson to form a new band that would be called Rick Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band. He would be remain with Rick until 1971, when he left to help found the Eagles. Both the Stone Canyon Band and the Eagles were influenced by Poco. But as Randy once said about the latter: “I think Poco started country rock and the Eagles legitimized it.”¹⁷

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Notes

1. Music journalist Jim Bickhart, Hot Burritos: : The True Story Of The Flying Burrito Brothers, John Einarson, 2008 ↩︎
2. The Poor appeared on one track on the Hells Angels On Wheels soundtrack in 1967. ↩︎
3. Desperados: The Roots Of Country Rock, John Einarson, 2000 ↩︎
4. Keep On Believin’: The Life And Music Of Richie Furay, Thomas M. Kitts, 2023 ↩︎
5. Richie Furay later regretted giving Randy the job in Poco and wished they had chosen Timothy instead:
   “Timothy had a great audition back when we were first putting the group together. Of course, Randy had too, and we wound up choosing him because we initially thought he’d be a better fit for the band. As Randy’s sudden departure shows, we were wrong. It made me think that maybe we should have selected Timothy in the first place.” (Furay, Pickin’ Up the Pieces, 2006)
   ↩︎
6. Desperados: The Roots Of Country Rock, John Einarson, 2000 ↩︎
7. Gram Parsons had also auditioned for Pogo, but both Jim Messina and Richie Furay felt his self-destructive nature would cause problems within the band. “I felt he would have been a disruptive element,” recalled Messina, “and Richie naturally sensed that.” (Kitts, 2023) ↩︎
8. Interview with Randy from May 2020 via Keep On Believin’: The Life And Music Of Richie Furay, Thomas M. Kitts, 2023 ↩︎
9. Other names they considered were R.F.D. and Buttermilk. The band performed as R.F.D. at the Troubadour on October 24th, 1968. ↩︎
10. Right before a show at the Univ. of California Santa Barbara on April 10th,1969, Pogo was served with a threat from Walt Kelly to change their name: Richie Furay explains: “In the spring of 1969, right before we were slated to take the stage at the University of California in Santa Barbara, we were served with a stack of documents from none other than Walt Kelly. The papers contained thousands of words that added up to one big threat: If we continued performing as Pogo, he would sue us.” Instead of going to court to try to get legal permission to use the name, the band decided to change the g to a c and call themselves Poco. ↩︎
11. The Hoot night appearance is mentioned in a Los Angeles Herald-Examiner article from November 1968, as well as Richie Furay’s memoir, Pickin’ Up The Pieces (2006). Hoot nights were every Monday at the Troubadour. The date of this hoot night was most likely October 14th. The Troubadour was closed September 30-October 8 due to remodeling. ↩︎
12. Jerry Hopkins, “Hollywood Hillbillies: What’s Old Is New,” Rolling Stone, March 1, 1969 ↩︎
13. BBC Radio One interview, April 1977 ↩︎
14. Interview with Randy Meisner by Ken Sharp, Discoveries magazine, September 2006 ↩︎
15. Ken Sharp interview, 2006 ↩︎
16. BAM magazine interview, November 7, 1980 ↩︎
17. Ken Sharp interview, 2006 ↩︎

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