Pickin' Up the Pieces is the debut album by Country rock

Country rock

Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...

 pioneers Poco

Poco

Poco is an Southern California country rock band originally formed by Richie Furay and Jim Messina following the demise of Buffalo Springfield in 1968. The title of their first album, Pickin' Up the Pieces, is a reference to the break-up of Buffalo Springfield. Highly influential and creative,...

, released in 1969. It was one of the earliest examples of the emerging genre of Country rock

Country rock

Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...

. Several of the songs here date back to Richie Furay's days in Buffalo Springfield

Buffalo Springfield

Buffalo Springfield is a North American folk rock band renown both for its music and as a springboard for the careers of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Jim Messina. Among the first wave of North American bands to become popular in the wake of the British invasion, the group combined...

. An early version of "What a Day" was included on the Springfield's eponymous box set

Buffalo Springfield (box set)

Buffalo Springfield is a career retrospective of the late 60s folk rock band of the same name, released in 2001. Band member Neil Young assembled the tracks in chronological order to show how the band evolved and disintegrated in the span of two years. Of the four CDs, the first three represent...

 in 1996.

Randy Meisner appears on this album but was asked to leave the band shortly before the record was released. Meisner's exit was a result of his anger from being excluded (at Furay's insistence) from participation in the final mix playback sessions for the record, as only Messina and Furay were to complete the production. His image was removed from the painting on the album's cover, and replaced with the dog seen at the far left. His bass parts and backing vocals were left in the mix, but his lead vocals were removed, and new versions were sung by George Grantham.

Track listing

1. "Foreword" (Richie Furay) – 0:48
2. "What a Day" (Richie Furay) – 2:28
3. "Nobody's Fool" (Richie Furay) – 3:26
4. "Calico Lady" (Richie Furay/Jim Messina/Skip Goodwin) – 3:03
5. "First Love" (Richie Furay) – 3:08
6. "Make Me a Smile (Richie Furay/Jim Messina) – 3:18
7. "Short Changed" (Richie Furay) – 3:17
8. "Pickin' Up the Pieces
   Pickin' Up the Pieces (song)
   "Pickin' Up the Pieces" is the first song ever recorded by pioneer country rock band Poco. Written by founding member Richie Furay, the song was the title track of Poco's first album.-History:...
   
   " (Richie Furay) – 3:20
9. "Grand Junction" (Rusty Young) – 2:58
10. "Oh Yeah" (Richie Furay/Jim Messina) – 4:06
11. "Just in Case It Happens, Yes Indeed" (Richie Furay) - 2:45
12. "Tomorrow (Richie Furay/Skip Goodwin) - 3:11
13. "Consequently, So Long" (Richie Furay/Skip Goodwin) – 3:50
14. "Do You Feel It Too" (Richie Furay) – 3:05 (not on the original LP, but a previously unissued alternate take added to the first appearance of the album on CD)

Personnel

• Jim Messina - guitar, vocals
• Richie Furay
  Richie Furay
  Richie Furay is an American singer, songwriter, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member who is best known for forming the bands Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin, and Poco with Jim Messina, Rusty Young, George Grantham and Randy Meisner...
  
   - guitar, 12-string guitar, vocals
• Rusty Young - steel guitar, banjo, dobro, guitar, piano
• Randy Meisner
  Randy Meisner
  Randy Herman Meisner is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of Poco and the Eagles...
  
  - bass, guitar, vocals
• George Grantham - drums, vocals

Production

• Producer: Jim Messina
• Recording Engineer: Terry Donovan
• Arranger: Nick DeCaro
• Photography: Frank Bez