It was the ’60s—an exciting time—and Southern California was developing its own answer to the “British Invasion, “San Francisco’s psychedelia, and Detroit’s Motown. L.A.’s scene was creating country/rock/folk with exciting newcomers like Jackson Browne, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the Byrds, Gram Parsons, and Linda Ronstadt & The Stone Poneys. The Eagles were soon to enter the picture, and Poco was paving the way. What a band! There were Jimmy Messina and Richie Furay, fresh from their monstrously successful Buffalo Springfield, Rusty Young, steel’s new wonderboy, Randy Meisner on bass (soon replaced by Tim Schmidt), and George Grantham on drums. The music they were making was some of L.A.’s best. George stayed with Poco through 11 years and just as many albums. In 1980, however, he parted their company and moved to Nashville. Not long after his arrival, he got the gig with Ricky Skaggs, one of country’s hottest tickets. […]

August 1985 Issue