Happy Birthday, Richie Furay

David and Nancy Stone know how to throw a party.  And Richie Furay knows how to say thank-you.

The country-rock pioneer showed his appreciation to the promoters and the sell-out crowd who came to celebrate his 70th birthday with a heartfelt and high-energy performance tonight at the South Orange (NJ) Performing Arts Center.  And, like any great birthday party, there were plenty of surprises.

Richie with David & Ted Spero

The evening began with an intimate dinner for Richie & his band with family and friends.
 
Dinner was followed by a meet & greet reception with close to 100 fans -- many of whom have been following Richie's career since his early days with Buffalo Springfield, then Poco, Souther-Hillman-Furay, the Richie Furay Band and beyond.  As always, Richie was gracious with his time -- chatting, signing autographs, posing for photos.

The Richie Furay Band with Rusty Young

Then the concert got underway, along with the first special guest of the evening: Rusty Young, co-founder of Poco and master of the pedal-steel guitar.  Rusty engaged the audience with stories and songs and accompanied Richie on several tunes, including the 1973 Poco epic, Crazy Eyes.


The second surprise guest was original Poco drummer and vocalist George Grantham, who continued to play on and off with Poco until 2002, when he suffered a stroke.  George got a standing ovation as he walked onstage with the help of a cane and sang with Richie.

Richie Furay and George Grantham

Next up, a video filled with birthday messages from a who's-who of rock musicians including Graham Nash, Jim Messina, Kenny Loggins, Dan Dugmore, Waddy ("You don't look a day over 69") Wachtel, Chris Hillman, Paul Cotton, and many others.  At the conclusion, a birthday cake was trotted out, and it was the crowd's turn to sing to Richie.

Mark Volman greets Richie onstage

Then, one last video -- a birthday message from Mark Volman (founding member of The Turtles, former member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, and half of Flo & Eddie), who said he hoped to see Richie "real soon."  And right on cue, Volman walked onstage.  A perfectly choreographed surprise.

Here are a few YouTube videos courtesy of Buffalo Springgal (and check out 4 great Poco tracks in the jukebox):


This was my third trek to NJ to see Richie and the Stones, and it was worth every mile to be a part of their warm community of fans and friends for one memorable night of music and celebration.