Poco - Original Album Classics (2011)

This box set collects five of the eight albums Poco recorded for Columbia's Epic Records imprint between 1969 and 1974 (the band parted ways with the label and signed with ABC Records in 1975) and aside from 1971's live Deliverin' (which isn't included here), it provides a neat capsule history of the Richie Furay era of the group (Furay left Poco following 1973's Crazy Eyes, the latest album collected in this set). A band that was just a blink ahead of its time, Poco was a bit too country for the rock audiences of the day and a bit too rock for the country crowd back then, but they paved the way for bands like the Eagles to grab a little bit of both of those musical cultures later in the decade. Always fun, energetic, and upbeat, Poco's finest phase came in those early Furay years and this box set affords an excellent way to plug into the best years of this delightful band.