"Buffalo Springfield Box Set" by BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD (October 2013 Atco/Rhino Card-Slipcase Reissue Of The 2001 4CD Box Set of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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Like so many lavish box sets with artist involvement - they end up being a mixture of delight and frustration for fans - and "Buffalo Springfield Box Set" is no different. Stereo versions from the first two seminal albums are missing, 22 tracks are duplicated on the bonus Disc 4 with songs on Discs 1 to 3 and some songs from the later albums aren't here at all. But what you do get is a healthy wad of 36 excellent Previously Unreleased tracks and the HDCD sound quality culled from the best Analogue source tapes is exceptional.

There's a lot of here as you can imagine - so let's get to some kind of track-by-track breakdown first... 

A reissue of the July 2001 12" x 7" 'long box' "Buffalo Springfield Box Set" by BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD - this October 2013 4-CD jewel case version on Atco/Rhino 8122797321 gives us the full 88-song HDCD compliment of the 2001 original - the fantastic info-packed 68-page booklet and all of it wrapped up in a handy card slipcase on the outside. 

For What It's Worth - here are the details...

Disc 1 (61:06 minutes):

1. There Goes My Babe [Neil Young song] - Previously Unreleased Demo for Sonny & Cher

2. Come On [Stephen Stills song] -Previously Unreleased Demo

3. Hello, I've Returned [Stephen Stills/Van Dyke Parks song] Previously Unreleased Demo]

4. Out Of My Mind [Neil Young song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

5. Flying On The Ground Is Wrong [Neil Young song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

6. I'm Your Kind Of Guy [Neil Young song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

7. Baby Don't Scold Me [Stephen Stills song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

8. Neighbor Don't You Worry [Stephen Stills song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

9. We'll See [Stephen Stills song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

10. Sad Memory [Richie Furay song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

11. Can't Keep Me Down [Richie Furay song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

12. Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing [Neil Young song]

13. Go And Say Goodbye [Stephen Stills song]

14. Sit Down I Think I Love You [Stephen Stills song]

15. Leave [Stephen Stills song]

16. Hot Dusty Roads [Stephen Stills song]

17. Everybody's Wrong [Stephen Stills song]

18. Burned [Neil Young song]

19. Do I Have To Come Right Out And Say It [Neil Young song]

20. Out Of My Mind [Neil Young song]

21. Pay The Price [Stephen Stills song]

22. Down Down Down [Neil Young song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

23. Flying On The Ground Is Wrong  [Neil Young song] - as per 12 to 21

24. Neighbor Don't You Worry [Stephen Stills song] - Previously Unreleased

[Notes: All 24 Tracks on Disc 1 are in MONO.

In order to line-up their debut album "Buffalo Springfield" in its original December 1966 MONO configuration on Atco 33-200 - you sequence the tracks as follows from two discs:

Side 1: 13, 14,15, 12, 16  [all from CD 1]

Side 2: 23, 18, 19, 13, 20 and 21 [all from CD1 except 13 from CD4].

The album was remixed into MONO by the band and released again in March 1967 as Atco 33-200A - that mix is available in its entirety on Disc 4 (Tracks 1 to 13]

Disc 2 (61:27 minutes):

1. Down Down Down [Neil Young song] - Previously Unreleased

2. Kahuna Sunset [Stephen Stills & Neil Young song] - Previously Unreleased Instrumental

3. Buffalo Stomp (Raga) -[Richie Furay, Bruce Kunkel, Dewey Martin, Stephen Stills & Neil Young song] - Previously Unreleased Instrumental

4. Baby Don't Scold Me [Stephen Stills song] - Previously Unreleased Version

5. For What It's Worth [Stephen Stills song] - from "Buffalo Springfield" 1967 second version Mono LP on Atco 33-200A

6. Mr. Soul [Neil Young song] - Previously Unreleased Version

7. We'll See [Stephen Stills song] - Previously Unreleased

8. My Kind Of Love [Richie Furay song] - Previously Unreleased

9. Pretty Girl Why [Stephen Stills song] - Previously Unreleased Mix

10. Words I Must say [Richie Furay song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

11. Nobody's Fool [Richie Fury song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

12. So You've Got A Lover [Stephen Stills song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

13. My Angel [Stephen Stills song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

14. No Sun Today [Eric Eisner song] - Previously Unreleased

15. Everydays [Stephen Stills song] - from the Mono mix of the "Buffalo Springfield Again" album released October 1967 on Atco 33-226. The Stereo version of the entire LP on SD 33-226 is on Disc 4.

16. Down To The Wire [Neil Young song] Previously Unreleased Version

17. Bluebird [Stephen Stills song] - as per 15

18. Expecting To Fly [Neil Young song] - as per 15

19. Hung Upside Down [Stephen Stills song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

20. A Child's Claim To Fame [Richie Furay song] - as per 15

21. Rock & Roll Woman [Stephen Stills song] - as per 15

[Note: all tracks on Disc 2 are MONO except 1, 15, 17, 18, 20 an 21 - which are STEREO]

Disc 3 (61:33 minutes):

1. Hung Upside Down [Stephen Stills song] as per 15 on Disc 2

2. Good Time Boy [Richie Furay song] - as per 15 on Disc 2

3. One More Sign [Neil Young song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

4. The Rent Is Always Due [Neil Young song] Previously Unreleased Demo

5. Round And Round And Round [Neil Young song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

6. Old Laughing Lady [Neil Young song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

7. Broken Arrow [Neil Young song] as per 15 on Disc 2

8. Sad Memory [Richie Furay song] - as per 15 on Disc 2

9. On The Way Home [Neil Young song] Previously Unreleased Mix

10. Whatever Happened To Saturday Night? [Neil Young song] - Previously Unreleased

11. Special Care [Stephen Stills song] - from their 3rd album "Last Time Around" released July 1968 on Atco SD 33-256 in Stereo

12. Falcon Lake (Ash On The Floor) [Neil Young] - Previously Unreleased

13. What A Day [Richie Furay song] - Previously Unreleased

14. I Am A Child [Neil Young song] as per 11

15. Questions [Stephen Stills song] - as per 11

16. Merry-Go-Round [Richie Furay song] - as per 11

17. Uno Mundo [Stephen Stills song] - as per 11

18. Kind Woman [Richie Furay song] - as per 11

19. It's So Hard To Wait [Richie Furay & Neil Young song] - as per 11

20. Four Days Gone [Stephen Stills song] - Previously Unreleased Demo

Disc 4 (70:44 minutes)

Tracks 1 to 13 are the remixed MONO version of their debut album "Buffalo Springfield" on Atco 33-200A with its 'rearranged' track list (see Disc 1 for the original '66 mix)

Tracks 14 to 23 are the STEREO mix of their second album "Buffalo Springfield Again" released

Using 24-bit/88.2khz transfers - a team of no less than four did the tape research, transfers and remastering to HDCD - JOHN NOWLAND, TIM MULLIGAN, JOHN HAUSMANN and JOEL BERNSTEIN and they've done a superlative job. You can 'hear' real care has been taken with this release and given that almost half of Discs 1 to 3 are merely 'Demos' - the audio quality is shockingly good (while the album tracks proper are sparkling). The booklet is a work of art with a whopping 62 text and photograph acknowledgments on the rear pages - badges, posters, newspaper clippings, press adverts, 1966 charts, single sleeves, publicity photos and a 'Brief History' of the band by noted musicologist PETE LONG. It's exemplary stuff and even though this is a budget-priced reissue - it's cool to see that all the original artwork has been retained.

The long-version of "Bluebird" is infuriatingly still AWOL and best tape sources or not the alternate version of "Mr. Soul" sounds crap - but the Previously Unreleased version of "Baby Don't Scold Me" and the new Stills/Furay songs "We'll See" and "My Kind Of Love" are genuine nuggets from a golden age. Of the two new instrumentals - "Kahuna Sunset" is pretty dismissible but the band boogie of "Buffalo Stomp (Raga)" is excellent and there's real tenderness and ache on the Stills Demos of "So You've Got A Lover" and "My Angel".  Amongst the Neil Young unreleased goodies are the superb "Down To The Wire", "Whatever Happened To Saturday Night?" and the instrumental "Falcon Lake (Ash On The Floor)" with Buddy Miles on Drums. Eric Eisner's lone moment "No Sun Today" is also superb as is The Association feel to "What A Day". But best of all the unreleased stuff for me is a gorgeous piano-intimate Demo of "Four Days Gone" with just Stills and the keys - it's truly lovely - eerily special (lyrics from it title this review).

Impossibly cool and musical (like The Byrds) - Buffalo Springfield burned brightly for a short time before they took the world by storm as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in 1969 and 1970. OK - there's stuff missing and way too many duplications - but I'd still argue that this is a solid five-star release.

"...Pretty baby I'm your guy..." they sang on the irrepressibly catchy "Sit Down I Think I Love You"...they were right. 

A fabulous release now available without the original's hefty price tag. Buy, buy, buy...