Buffalo Springfield
A seminal band in the development of American country/rock and folk/rock, though short-lived, the monumental influence of Buffalo Springfield rivals that of the Byrds. Although the line-up constantly changed, the main members throughout their three turbulent years comprised: Stephen Stills (b. 3 January 1945, Dallas, Texas, USA), Neil Young (b. 12 November 1945, Toronto, Canada), Richie Furay (b. 9 May 1944, Yellow Springs, Ohio, USA), Dewey Martin (b. 30 September 1942, Chesterville, Canada), Bruce Palmer (b. 1947, Liverpool, Canada) and Jim Messina (b. 5 December 1947, Maywood, California, USA). Furay and Stills worked together in the Au Go-Go Singers in the mid-'60s, where they met Young, who at that time was a solo singer having previously worked with Palmer in the Mynah Birds. They eventually congregated in Los Angeles in 1966 and following a series of gigs at the prestigious Whiskey A Go-Go, together with verbal endorsements from the Byrds' Chris Hillman and David Crosby the band were signed by Ahmet Ertegun to his Atco label. Any group containing three main songwriters who could all play lead guitar was heading for trouble, and soon their egos clashed. Their problems were compounded by the continual immigration and drug problems of Palmer. At one point, their manager, Dick Davis masqueraded as bassist on the television. Eventually, Young's former associate Ken Koblin was recruited as a replacement. He, in turn, was replaced by Jim Fielder from the Mothers Of Invention. Their only major hit was in 1967; For What It's Worth (Hey Whats That Sound) remains one of the finest '60s pop songs. This composition was an example of being the right song at the right time. Stills's plaintive yet wry and lethargic plea for tolerance was written after the police used heavy-handed methods to stop an anti-Vietnam student demonstration on Sunset Strip in 1966. The opening lyric ‘There's something happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear, there's a man with a gun over there, telling me I've got to beware’, innocently sets the scene. The chorus of ‘Stop children, what's that sound everybody knows what's going down’ became an anthem for west coast students who were unhappy with the Nixon government. Two albums were released although STAMPEDE was recorded and only appeared in different form as a bootleg. LAST TIME AROUND was patched together by producer and latter day bassist Messina, after the band had broken up for the final time. BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD AGAIN remains their finest work and is still highly favoured by the cogniscenti. The album demonstrated the developing talents of Stills and Young as major songwriters. Young, with his superb surreal mini-epics Expecting To Fly and Broken Arrow was equalled by Stills's immaculate Everdays and the lengthy Bluebird (Bluebird was Judy Collins). Furay also contributed, among others, the heavily countrified A Child's Claim To Fame. Both the band and the album's essence however was encapsulated in one short track, Rock And Roll Woman co-written by an uncredited David Crosby, who briefly appeared with the group as Young's substitute at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. The three lead guitars duelled together and the three lead vocals enmeshed brilliantly—all seemingly without ego, to produce for a brief moment what could have been America's greatest rival to the Beatles. 
Further reading: Neil Young: Here We Are In The Years, Johnny Rogan. Crosby, Stills And Nash : The Authorized Biography, Dave Zimmer.