Richie Furay Band at BB Kings

Richie Furay – The Whole Package. On the latest leg of a career that began four decades ago, Furay–Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, founding member of seminal groups Buffalo Springfield, Poco and the Souther Hillman Furay Band, pastor, author, singer, songwriter–has embarked on his latest adventure, one that represents The Whole Package.

With two books under his belt–FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH, which chronicles the life and times of Buffalo Springfield, and PICKIN’ UP THE PIECES, his own life journey–Richie has hit the road in support of his latest CD release, called HEARTBEAT OF LOVE. This is a collection of love songs he’s written over the years, with the objects of his affection and the subjects of the tunes as diverse as his daughters’ weddings, barbecue and his wife of nearly 40 years, the Kind Woman herself.

HEARTBEAT is also a heartfelt coming together of Richie’s personal and musical friends and family from his past and present–Stephen Stills and Neil Young. Al Perkins. Kenny Loggins. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Jeff Hanna and New Grass Revival’s Sam Bush. Poco bandmates Paul Cotton and Rusty Young as well as Timothy B.Schmit. And the list goes on and includes his musical partner of 20+ years, Scott Sellen, and his youngest daughter, Jesse Furay Lynch.

"This was really a labor of love," Furay explains. It began when he made a seemingly idle remark at one show about a favorite song he’d like the chance to record again if he could. His wish quickly materialized as a 5-day session in Nashville, which is all the time it took to lay down the basic tracks. "As I would listen to some of the tracks," he continues, "I’d think, ‘Wow, Stephen would sound great on this … or I wonder what Neil could do with that.’ I’d hear the voices of some of the guys I’ve sung and played with in my mind and think how great they’d sound on one tune or another."

So he extended the invitations to participate and much to his–though no one else’s–surprise, they all accepted. And the rest, as they say, is rock & roll history. "I was thrilled when the first guy I called agreed to participate and just floored when it all came together. I couldn’t have wished for anything better."

While such a Super Group would be difficult to manage on the road, that hasn’t kept Richie from his commitment to getting this music heard. The two Furays, Sellen (who plays piano, guitar and "anything else with strings") and Scott’s son Aaron, who plays bass, plus drummer Alan Lemke make up Furay’s core touring band. Whatever the iteration, the music is from the heart and the experience provides a tuneful look at the whole package that is the multi-talent of Richie Furay.