Buffalo Springfield was together for only two short years (1966 – 1968), but there mark on music was remarkable, helping to launch the careers of the band members, including Neil Young and Stephen Stills. And the way they all came together is the stuff of legend. Having met at a club in Canada, Stills and Young felt a strong desire to work together, but both were on tour with other bands. Young to join the the Mynah Birds based on an invitation from would-be bandmate Bruce Palmer. They were set to record an album for Motown when Rick James, their singer, was arrested for draft evasion. With their record deal canceled, Young and Palmer decided to head for LA where they hoped to hook up with Stills. Discouraged at having been unable to locate Stills and ready to go to San Francisco, they were stuck in traffic on Sunset Boulevard in LA when Stills recognized Young’s 1953 Pontiac hearse, which just happened to be sitting in the opposite lane. After an illegal u-turn, some shouting, hand-waving, and much excitement, they realized that they were united in their determination to put together a band. They took their name from the side of a steamroller — made by the Buffalo-Springfield Roller Company — that was parked on the street.

Expecting To Fly - The Buffalo Springfield Story