If I Could Only Take One

Happy Wednesday! Are you ready for another imaginary desert island trip? To me that sounds like an attractive proposition, except once again, I have the near-impossible decision to make which one song to take with me – not an album, just one tune!

For first-time visitors of this weekly feature, there are some additional rules to the madness. And they don’t make picking a song any easier. At the same time, going through this exercise is kind of fun, since I usually end up highlighting music I haven’t covered before or only noted in passing.

My pick must be by an artist or band I’ve only rarely written about or not covered at all. Additionally, I’m making the selections in alphabetical order, and I’m up to “p.” This means eligible artists (last name) and bands must start with that letter.

Looking at my music library revealed artists and bands like Tom Petty, Pink Floyd, The Pointer Sisters, The Police, Elvis Presley, Pretenders, Prince and Procul Harum. And my pick is Barbados by Poco.

Admittedly, I’m bending my own rules a bit this time, since I covered Poco before (though rarely), unlike Plain White T’s who also showed up in my search, and I do like Hey There Delilah. But the desert island theme and a tune titled Barbados just looked like a perfect fit. And I think it’s a great song!

Barbados was written by Paul Cotton, Poco’s lead guitarist and one of the band’s vocalists, who first joined the group in 1970. The tune appears on their 11th studio album Legend, released in November 1978. My former German band mate and longtime music buddy gave me this great record on vinyl in the late ’80s. I still own that copy!

I loved Barbados and the entire Legend LP from the get-go, and it was actually my introduction to Poco. It’s puzzling to me why Barbados was never released as a single. Three other tunes were, including the title track, Heart of the Night and Crazy Love. The last tune became Poco’s biggest hit. In the U.S., it topped Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart and reached no. 17 on the mainstream Hot 100. In Canada, the tune peaked at no. 4 on the adult contemporary chart and climbed to no. 15 on the main pop chart.

Interestingly, I couldn’t find any more information on Barbados. Songfacts instead features a song of the same title from 1975 by a British duo called Typically Tropical. Apparently, “their” Barbados, the duo’s debut single, became a no. 1 in the UK. Since they obviously don’t own the name “Barbados”, I really can’t imagine this had anything to do with the decision not to release Poco’s song as a single.

Poco were one of two bands that emerged in 1968 following the break-up of Buffalo Springfield. The group’s former guitarists Richie Furay and Jim Messina formed Poco, together with Rusty Young (pedal steel guitar, banjo, dobro, guitar, mandolin, vocals), Randy Meisner (bass, vocals) and George Grantham (drums, vocals).

Poco in 1971

Meanwhile, Stephen Stills, David Crosby  and Graham Nash founded Crosby, Stills & Nash. Neil Young launched his solo career and, of course, later joined CSN on various occasions, resulting in the mighty Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Buffalo Springfield might as well have been called “Buffalo Springboard”!

Poco are considered to be one of the pioneers of country rock, years before the Eagles popularized the genre. Their debut album Pickin’ Up the Pieces came out in May 1969. By the time it appeared Meisner already had left the group, angered by Furay’s insistence to be excluded from the final mix playback sessions for the album – egos in music! Meisner went on to join the Stone Canyon Band and became a founding member of the Eagles in September 1971.

Meisner was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit who later joined the Eagles as well. Messina left Poco in 1970 and was replaced by Cotton. The group’s line-up kept changing. It took Poco until their third release, a live album, to enjoy some chart success: No. 26 and no. 42 on the U.S. and Canadian charts, respectively. Appropriately, the album was titled Deliverin’.

Poco were active until April 2021 when Rusty Young passed away at the age of 75. Technically, he had retired in late 2013 but participated in reunion concerts thereafter. Paul Cotton died in August that year. He was 78. Altogether, Poco released 19 studio albums, nine live records and multiple compilations. In January 2015, Poco were inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. Unlike the Eagles, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, Poco has yet to receive that recognition.

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; YouTube

The Sunday Six

This is the third installment I’m posting on the third Sunday in a row. Whether I’ll be able to make The Sunday Six a weekly recurring feature remains to be seen. But there’s one thing I already can say for sure: I’m having lots of fun putting together these posts featuring six random tracks. This should be a good motivation to keep it going on a regular basis.

Pete Townshend/Content

When I came across this tune the other day, I thought it would be perfect to kick off a Sunday Six installment. Content is from Pete Townshend’s debut solo album Who Came First released in October 1972. The record featured demos Townshend had recorded for Lifehouse, a science fiction rock opera concept album that was supposed to become the follow-on to Tommy. But Lifehouse was abandoned, and The Who ended up recording what I’d consider their best album: Who’s Next. In addition to Who Came First, songs for Lifehouse ended up as Who singles and on various of their albums, as well as other Townshend solo efforts. Content was co-written by him and Maud Kennedy.

Poco/Barbados

I’ve always loved this tune since my dear longtime music friend from Germany introduced me to it many moons ago. With my area being on snow storm watch, having a dream I was on my way to Bridgetown also sounds like a pretty good proposition! Barbados is a track by Poco from their 11th studio album Legend that appeared in November 1978. If I see this correctly, it became the country rock band’s most successful record to date, climbing to no. 14 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200, and reaching Gold status in both the U.S. and Canada where it peaked at no. 12 in the charts. Barbados was written by Poco guitarist and vocalist Paul Cotton. I also love the album’s cover art.

Dave Mason/Sad and Deep as You

Sad and Deep as You is a beautiful song written by Dave Mason. In addition to Steve Winwood with whom he co-founded Traffic, Mason has worked with the likes of Paul McCartney, George Harrison, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Fleetwood Mac over his 55-year-and-ongoing career. Sad and Deep as You is a track from his solo debut album Alone Together that came out in July 1970 – almost 51 years ago!

The Rainmakers/Small Circles

This is another tune falling in the love-at-first-sight category, or perhaps it should rather be love-at-first-listen. Whatever you wanna call it, I dig this song with its jingle-jangle Byrds-like guitar sound and catchy melody. Small Circles is by The Rainmakers, a rock band formed in 1983 in Kansas City, Mo.. They are active to this day, though it looks like they had a couple of off-periods along the way. Written by front man Bob Walkenhorst, who remains a member of the band’s current line-up, Small Circles appeared on their third studio album Tornado from 1987. I could only find the official music video, which is a bit awkward. But, hey, the song is cool!

Tears For Fears/Sowing the Seeds of Love

As a huge Beatles fan, I’ve asked myself more than once how The Fab Four might have sounded post their April 1970 breakup. In the late ’80s, it may have been similar to this amazing tune by Tears For Fears. Sowing the Seeds of Love, co-written by co-founders Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, is from their third studio album Seeds of Love released in September 1989. According to Songfacts, the tune is a throwback to ’60s nostalgia (big in the late ’80s) with a nod to The Beatles and a kind of Flower Power philosophy to it, including political lyrics starting with “High time we made a stand and shook up the views of the common man” and ending with “An end to need and the politics of greed.” Remarkably, these lyrics still ring true today. Next to Shout and Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Sowing the Seeds of Love became one of Tears For Fears’ biggest hits. This is one catchy tune that I think holds up pretty well to this day.

The Animals/I’m Crying

A Sunday Six just doesn’t feel complete without an actual ’60s tune. So let’s wrap things up with The Animals and I’m Crying. Already the first few bars of this great rocker with Eric Burdon’s long ‘ahhhh’ and the signature sound of Alan Price’s Vox Continental give me the chills. Even though it’s a simple blues progression, this track just rocks! Co-written by Burdon and Price, I’m Crying first appeared as a single in September 1964. It “only” peaked at no. 8 in the UK and barely made the top 20 in the U.S. (no. 19), compared to The House of the Rising Sun that topped the charts in both countries. The song was also included on The Animals’ second studio album somewhat misleadingly titled The Animals on Tour.

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; YouTube