It was on this day in 1966 that Canadian and American talents combined in Los Angeles. The result was a band that would enjoy a Top Ten song and give us two Classic Rock Legends.

The Buffalo Springfield brought Canadians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Palmer together with Americans Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. They were signed to the Atlantic Record label and their debut single was “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing.” The song was a hit in Los Angeles, but didn’t go too far elsewhere in the country. It was their next single that would shoot right into the Top 10.

For What It’s Worth written by Buffalo Springfield guitarist Stephen Stills. According to songfacts.com:

“this song was not about anti-war gatherings, but rather youth gatherings protesting anti-loitering laws, and the closing of the West Hollywood nightclub Pandora’s Box. Stills was not there when they closed the club, but had heard about it from his bandmates.“

This song helped launch the band to stardom and has remained one of the era’s most enduring protest songs, but Stephen Stills, who authored the tune, had very different feelings than many might expect. He said, “We didn’t want to do another song like ‘For What It’s Worth.’ We didn’t want to be a protest group. That’s really a cop-out and I hate that. To sit there and say, ‘I don’t like this and I don’t like that’ is just stupid.”

The band released three albums and several singles from 1966 to 1968. It went through quite a few personnel changes and a few reunion attempts and in 2012 Furay announced that the band was on indefinite hiatus.

I have always loved the opening intro to this song. The combination of the drums and guitar is so cool.