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As is true for many in his generation, the '60s are a bit of a blur for Richie Furay, pastor of the Calvary Chapel of Boulder, Colo. He was a musician then and only vaguely recalls singing and playing guitar with his band at house parties for Steve McQueen and Dean Martin. And when unearthing tapes for a new boxed set devoted to that group -- Buffalo Springfield -- Furay heard songs he had forgotten they had even recorded.
Memory can be cruel indeed: These days, Springfield are best known for other members -- Neil Young and Stephen Stills -- and for Stills' ''For What It's Worth,'' a protest anthem sampled by Public Enemy and resurrected in Forrest Gump. But Springfield were one of the era's most significant, eclectic outfits. Rhino's four-disc Box Set integrates cuts from their three albums with a heap of unreleased material. Fans will hear early Springfield versions of songs fleshed out post-breakup (Young's ''Country Girl'') and new sides of the band (a surf instrumental); newcomers will hear a blend of power pop, folk, jazz, bluegrass, and country inherited by the likes of Wilco and Whiskeytown.
Springfield were also one of rock's most tempestuous outfits, wracked by ego and epilepsy (Young's). ''We were young, and there was a lot of instability in our lives,'' says Furay, who later founded Poco. ''We could never get the forward momentum we needed.'' Interestingly, Furay says one of their few steps forward, ''For What It's Worth,'' wasn't worth that much to him. He thought their hit should have been Stills' ''Bluebird'': ''I would've staked my career on that back then.''
Stills, Young, and, to a lesser extent, Furay still record and tour, though Furay's main stage for the last 17 years has been his church. Springfield jammed a few times in the '80s, and in 1997 a reunion was set for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -- until Young bagged out, partly because the show was to be taped for TV. ''Neil's always been his own man,'' admits Furay. Memories may fade, but certain personality traits apparently never do.
