Deliverin' was my introduction to country music in general and Poco in particular, and it is a great album. I saw the post-Messina version before Richie Furay left the band, and as a live act, they were much better than their studio efforts. While there are any number of other reviewers who claim that the Cotton/Schmidt/Young/Grantham version was the best lineup, I disagree. By then I believe that they sounded the same song after song, not quite as upbeat with the tight harmony vocals, and too electric. The original linup memorialized in Deliverin' is the definitive Poco. The ending medley is especially superb. If there are any analog tapes of any concerts from this era hidden away in a vault somewhere, the issuer would clean up, Poco was that good.

This is, without a doubt, one of the best live shows EVER recorded. I saw this version of the band live 3-4 times in the early 70's and those shows remain among the best of thousands of concerts I have attended, mixed or crewed. Truly an amazing preformance!!!

Probably one of the best LIVE albums of all time. The vocals are incredibly intricate and superb. No other group in existence has ever worked a Tele and Steel combination with such flair and percision. Jim Messina is probably the most underated guitarists of the rock era. The abience of the performances and the joy of the audience jumps off the plater. Its also funny when Messina tells the crowd how much fun it is to play for such an appreciative audience but seems to forget which town he's in. Considering the quality of the musicianship on this and other records, its easy to understand how success came to members of this group later on in their careers. Enjoy!!

Rusty Young, in a Gold Mine Magazine interview many years ago, remarked how poorly this album was mixed. The band, as was with any band in those days, really had no say as to whom would get the recording and mixing "gig" for the album. The union made these decisions. Deliverin' suffers from a poor mix, but the saving grace here is that the material is strong enough to overcome it. The songs are all great, my personal favorites being the two medleys. The mixing problem, though, kind of washes out Richie's vocals and electric guitar (the album credits him for electric guitar, but good luck finding it). But for the most part, the great energy was captured and preserved. The crowds sounded really into it! This album was also released as a quadraphonic back in the 70's. If you're into vinyl, it's worth tracking down. The mix is a little better, and it features more band/crowd interplay between songs. It's also a little amusing at the beginning, when the band is being announced. When the announcer says "And there's no smoking out there....let's hear it for the bad guys!, the crowd reaction seems to go from eager anticipation, to utter dismay, possibly even some booing. On the stereo mix, you hear continued upbeat cheering during this period. I guess you had to be there to know what really happened.

I'm a big fan of the Eagles, and in exploring their background, I learned about Poco, who actually contributed two members to the Eagles over the course of the 1970s. I first purchased one of those 20th Century Masters CDs of their "greatest hits", which is good enough but can't be compared to the next compilation I purchased, which was "Deliverin'". What a surprise! This is the album that officially made me a Poconut. Born a generation too late, I can only wish I'd been there to see them perform live, as this album demonstrates that they must have been an exciting live act. Sure, the audio quality is imperfect, but what do you want? It's a live recording, and those are frequently imperfect anyway. The introductory track, "I Guess You Made It", is more rock than country and may be an unexpected opener to the show, but its energy is so palpable and should quickly win over the listener. The live version of "Grand Junction" is better than the studio version, it seems to have more bass to it. This is a great album overall and the only reason I didn't give it a full five stars is that it's so short. Those eight tracks will leave you frustrated, wanting more from this groundbreaking band that was ahead of its time. Modern country music has nothing on this!