Running Horse

Performer: Poco
Producer: Mike Clute; Rusty Young; Tony Harrell
Distributor: Redeye Music Distribution

Notes: Poco: Rusty Young (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, lap steel, banjo); Paul (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars); Jack Sundrud (vocals, bass); George Gratham (drums, percussion, background vocals). Personnel: Rusty Young (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, lap steel guitar, dobro, banjo, background vocals); Paul Cotton (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals); Jack Sundrud (vocals, bass guitar, background vocals); Bill Lloyd (guitar); Craig Fuller (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Tony Harrell (keyboards); George Grantham (drums, percussion, background vocals); John Cowan (background vocals). Recording information: Jack's Place, Nashville, TN; Mike's Place, Nashville, TN. Though its cover art and title allude to Legend (1978), Poco's only real blockbuster album and last of any true merit, Running Horse, reaches back no further than the group's last studio album, 1989's Legacy, a cobbled together reunion album produced in part by Richard Marx. The production on Running Horse is equally weak, tentative, and thin, with dated highly guitar tones and studio feel. Surprisingly little of founder Rusty Young's famous pedal steel work is evident, odd considering his prowess on that instrument helped introduce it to the non-country world (Greg Leisz bow down). It's as if the alt-country explosion of the mid-'90s never happened. With so many groups owing a debt to Poco, it's hard to understand why while listening to Running Horse. All that said, Young and guitarist Paul Cotton's songs display charming honesty and rich emotional depth, more so than most any mainstream country release could muster. "Every Time I Hear That Train" does feature some fine harmonies, but it's a pale glimpse. Even without a major-label deal and much technical support, they could have done much better. Little Feat alum Craig Fuller appears as a guest and co-writer. ~ John Duffy

Poco was part of the first wave of West Coast country-rock bands, emerging from the ashes of the seminal Buffalo Springfield and initially built around Springfield's singer/guitarist Richie Furay and producer/sessionman Randy Meisner. They combined the harmony-laden folk-rock sound of the '60s with a country twang (mostly courtesy of pedal steel guitarist Rusty Young) and made a few noted country-rock albums in the early '70s before their sound turned slicker and poppier later in the decade.

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