Despite releasing three accomplished albums which were innovative and influential exemplars of the "West Coast sound" of the mid-to late 1960s, Buffalo Springfield only had a limited impact on the public consciousness during its brief and tempestuous heyday. However, the continued cultural resonance of their solitary hit single, "For What It's Worth," combined with the subsequent critical acclaim and commercial success of its alumni, has ensured Buffalo Springfield of a somewhat mythical status in popular music history.

The genesis of Buffalo Springfield proceeded slowly through various musical styles and right across the North American continent. Stephen Stills and Richie Furay met in folk music mecca Greenwich Village, and first played together in an eccentric nine-man vocal ensemble called the Au Go Go singers, which released an obscure album in 1964. Fellow singer-songwriter Neil Young encountered Stills in Ontario, and Furay in New York, before befriending bassist Bruce...