Poco

Poco
Name	Poco
Origin	Los Angeles, California
Genres	Country rock, Southern rock, Folk rock
Years active	1968–present
Labels	Epic Records, ABC Records, MCA Records, Atlantic Records
Associated acts	Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, Eagles, Great Speckled Bird

Poco is an American country rock band formed in the late 1960s in Los Angeles, California. Emerging from the dissolution of Buffalo Springfield, the group helped codify a hybrid sound that blended country music instrumentation with rock music songcraft and harmonies drawn from folk rock traditions. Across multiple lineups and decades the ensemble recorded for major labels such as Epic Records and ABC Records, toured with contemporaries like The Byrds and Eagles, and influenced generations of musicians in Nashville and Los Angeles.

History

The band's origins trace to the post-Buffalo Springfield period when former members collaborated with musicians from The Byrds and session players in Los Angeles, laying groundwork for a distinct country rock movement. Early personnel included veterans of Nashville sessions and alumni of regional acts who had played alongside figures from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Stephen Stills' circles. Poco's debut emerged amid parallel releases by The Byrds and Gram Parsons-associated projects, positioning the band within a broader shift that also involved acts such as The Flying Burrito Brothers and Rick Nelson.

Throughout the 1970s Poco underwent numerous personnel changes that reflected interconnections with Eagles members and session musicians from Los Angeles and Nashville. Tours brought the band into bills with Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, and The Doobie Brothers, demonstrating the porous boundaries between regional scenes. Labels including Epic Records and MCA Records navigated the band's commercial arc, from early cult acclaim to charting singles in the mid-1970s as the industry shifted around landmark releases by Fleetwood Mac and Bob Dylan. Periodic reunions in later decades coincided with anniversaries and festival circuits featuring peers like Emmylou Harris and Neil Young.

Musical Style and Influence

Poco's sound combined instrumentation emblematic of country music—notably pedal steel guitar and acoustic dobro—with rhythm sections and production techniques common to rock music recordings of the late 1960s and 1970s. Vocal harmonies recalled arrangements associated with The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, while songwriting drew on narrative traditions similar to those of Gram Parsons and Kris Kristofferson. Production collaborators and session players often hailed from studios frequented by Rick Rubin-era veterans and Los Angeles arrangers, linking Poco's records to a lineage shared with Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt.

Critics and musicians cite the band as a formative influence on subsequent country rock and americana performers, with lineage traced to artists such as Eagles, Dwight Yoakam, Wilco, and Uncle Tupelo. The group's approach to blending electric guitar textures with country instrumentation presaged stylistic directions taken by The Jayhawks and Uncle Tupelo alumni who later populated the alternative country scene. Poco songs were revisited by artists in Nashville and on the West Coast; several members collaborated with singer-songwriters from Asylum Records and other contemporaneous labels.

Band Members

The ensemble's rotating roster included musicians who had been associated with several prominent acts. Founding players and later contributors emerged from and later joined groups such as Buffalo Springfield and The Byrds. Notable figures include players who worked with Gram Parsons, session veterans from Nashville studios, and sidemen linked to Eagles tours. Over time the lineup featured performers who recorded on labels like Epic Records and ABC Records and participated in reunions alongside peers from Los Angeles and Nashville scenes.

Several members maintained solo careers and collaborations with artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Eagles members, and Neil Young. Guest musicians on Poco albums have included instrumentalists associated with studio scene luminaries and producers who also worked with Fleetwood Mac and Bob Dylan. These cross-connections underscore Poco's integration into a network of performers central to late-20th-century American popular music.

Discography

Poco's recorded output spans studio albums, live albums, and compilations released on labels including Epic Records, ABC Records, MCA Records, and Atlantic Records. Early releases arrived alongside seminal records by The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, while mid-1970s LPs reached wider audiences during an era dominated by Fleetwood Mac and Eagles. Catalog highlights include several albums that produced charting singles and songs later covered by artists from Nashville and Los Angeles.

The band issued live documents from tours that paired them with acts such as Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt, and retrospective collections assembling material from sessions involving session players linked to Rick Rubin-era and Asylum Records projects. The discography reflects shifts in production aesthetics over decades, from late-1960s analog approaches to later recordings shaped by technologies used across Los Angeles and Nashville studios.

Legacy and Impact

Poco is widely credited with helping to define a commercially viable country rock template that influenced the success of Eagles and informed the developments leading to alternative country in the 1990s. Their integration of pedal steel textures and rock arrangements provided a model adopted by performers in Nashville and on the West Coast, while alumni collaborations spread their aesthetic into projects by Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young, and Jackson Browne. Music historians place the band in narratives alongside Gram Parsons, The Byrds, and Buffalo Springfield when charting the evolution of American roots-inflected popular music.

The ensemble's songs and arrangements have been cited by later generations, including artists affiliated with Wilco, The Jayhawks, and Uncle Tupelo, as formative influences. Poco's sustained touring and periodic reunions connected multiple generations of audiences and musicians across scenes in Los Angeles, Nashville, and festival circuits, ensuring a continuing presence in discussions of 20th-century American popular music.

Category:American country rock musical groups