POCO, the band that blazed the path for the Eagles and other "country rockers" belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

POCO, the band that blazed the path for the Eagles and other "country rockers" belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Poco, founded in 1968 by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Richie Furay (inducted 1997 with Buffalo Springfield), virtually invented the"Country rock" genre commercially popularized by the Eagles through a long string of early-to mid-'70s hits like "Take It Easy." Poco's 1969 debut, "Pickin' Up the Pieces," received the rare 5-star designation in Dave Marsh's "Rolling Stone Record Guide."
Bud Scoppa wrote in Rolling Stone of Poco's unique talent of not only being able to take a sad song and make it better like a (Rock and Roll Hall of Famer) Rod Stewart, but they actually write sad songs and perform them as they were about something better than sorrow. Veteran DJ Dave Herman, among the notable DJ's highlighted in the Rock and Roll Hall, told his listeners after playing Poco's 1971 classic, "Bad Weather,": "You have to go far and wide through many a stack of albums to find a better song."
Current Eagles bassist/vocalist Timothy B. Schmit replaced original Poco member Randy Meisner after Poco's debut album and later replaced the a charter member of the Eagles in 1978.
Rusty Young flat-out revolutionized pedal steel guitar playing, both in broadening the range of its application and in creating a new variety of its sonic possibilities, winning Guitar Player magazine's venerated poll for "Best Pedal Steel Guitarist" award so many times it enshrined him in its Hall of Fame.
Jimmy Messina, later of (Kenny) Loggins and Messina fame, formed the band with Furay and contributed the standard, "You Better Think Twice." Cotton replaced Messina on lead guitar in 1971.
Original drummer George Grantham set the standard on adding a strong rock beat to country flavor picking and provided excellent harmony vocals.
Other Poco members included later seventies/early eighties Drummer Steve Chapman and Bassist Charlie Harrison and current bassist Jack Sundrud
Few bands of the past 30 years can boast of putting out such great songs as "A Good Feeling to Know, Crazy Eyes, Bad Weather, Rose of Cimarron," "Heart of the Night," "Crazy Love," "Midnight Rain," "Indian Summer," "Ghost Town," "Widowmaker," "Call it Love,"and "Days Gone By" just to name a few. Read more about Poco at http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-11020/Poco/main.html or at: http://www.btinternet.com/~poco.legacy/