Editing Buffalo Springfield (section)

=== Origins ===
[[Neil Young]] and [[Stephen Stills]] met in 1965, at the Fourth Dimension in [[Thunder Bay]], Ontario. Young was there with [[the Squires]], a [[Winnipeg]] group he had been leading since February 1963, and Stills was on tour with [[The Company (folk-rock band)|the Company]], a spin-off from the [[Cafe Au Go Go|Au Go Go Singers]]. When Stills' band broke up at the end of that tour, he moved to the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]], where he worked as a [[session musician]] and auditioned unsuccessfully for, among other bands, [[the Monkees]].<ref name="Prown Newquist 1997">{{cite book|author= Pete Prown, HP Newquist|date= 1997|title= Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists|page= 45|publisher= Hal Leonard| isbn= 978-0-7935-4042-6}}</ref> Told by record producer [[Barry Friedman]] there would be work available if he could assemble a band, Stills invited fellow Au Go Go Singers alumnus Richie Furay and former [[The Squires|Squires]] bass player [[Ken Koblun]] to come join him in [[California]]. Both agreed, although Koblun chose to leave before very long and joined the group [[3's a Crowd (band)|3's a Crowd]].

While in Toronto in early 1966, Young met [[Bruce Palmer]], a Canadian who was playing bass for [[the Mynah Birds]]. In need of a lead guitarist, Palmer invited Young to join the group, and Young accepted. The Mynah Birds were set to record an album for [[Motown Records]] when their singer Ricky James Matthews, later known as [[Rick James]], was tracked down and arrested by the U.S. Navy for being [[Desertion|AWOL]].

With their record deal cancelled, Young and Palmer pawned the Mynah Birds' musical equipment and bought a 1953 [[Pontiac (automobile)|Pontiac]] [[hearse]], which they drove to [[Los Angeles]].<ref name="WFP">{{cite news|url=https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/music/one-moment-that-made-music-history-375979631.html|title=One moment that made music history|author=John Einarson|newspaper=[[Winnipeg Free Press]]|date=April 16, 2017|access-date=November 26, 2018|archive-date=November 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127110629/https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/music/one-moment-that-made-music-history-375979631.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Young and Palmer arrived in L.A. hoping to meet [[Stephen Stills]], who, as Young had learned, was living in the city. However, after almost a week of searching clubs and coffeehouses, the pair had been unable to find Stills. Consequently, on April 6, 1966, Young and Palmer decided to leave Los Angeles and drive north to [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]]. While the two were stuck in traffic on [[Sunset Boulevard]], they were spotted by Stills and [[Richie Furay]], who were heading the other direction down Sunset. Stills and Furay managed to switch lanes and maneuver behind Young's hearse, at which point the musicians pulled off the road and reunited.<ref name="WFP" />

Drummer [[Dewey Martin (musician)|Dewey Martin]], who had played with [[garage rock]] group [[the Standells]] and with [[country music|country]] artists such as [[Patsy Cline]] and [[the Dillards]], joined at the suggestion of [[the Byrds]]' manager, Jim Dickson. The group's name was taken from a brand of [[steamroller]] made by the Buffalo-Springfield Roller Company. The new group debuted on 11 April 1966, at [[The Troubadour (Los Angeles)|The Troubadour]] in [[West Hollywood]], five days after the chance encounter on Sunset Boulevard. A few days later, they began a short tour of California as the opening act for [[the Dillards]] and [[the Byrds]].