For What It's Worth

Although "For What It's Worth" is often considered an anti-war song, Stephen Stills was inspired to write the song because of the Sunset Strip curfew riots in Los Angeles in November 1966, a series of early counterculture-era clashes that took place between police and young people on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, California, the same year Buffalo Springfield had become the house band at the Whisky a Go Go. The unrest continued the next night, and periodically throughout the rest of November and December, forcing some clubs to shut down within weeks. It was against the background of these civil disturbances that Stills recorded "For What It's Worth" on December 5, 1966. ==Production==

Stills said in an interview that the name of the song came about when he presented it to the record company executive Ahmet Ertegun (who signed Buffalo Springfield to the Atlantic Records-owned ATCO label). Stills said "I have this song here, for what it's worth, if you want it." Dowd did take part in the production of Cher's version of the song in 1969. One of the most recognizable elements of the song is Neil Young's use of guitar harmonics. ==Releases and charts==

While memories of the November riots were still fresh, the group and Ertegun pushed for a rush-release of "For What It's Worth". On December 10, 1966, five days after the song was recorded, local Top 40 radio station KHJ began playing the single. It first appeared on the station's "Boss 30" chart on December 28, 1966, at number 26,{{Cite magazine To capitalize on the single's success, Atco was pushing for a follow-up album that featured the song. It began printing album jackets with the title Stampede, but the group did not have enough songs for a new LP. Instead, Atco reissued their debut album and added Stills's song as the opening track. It eventually reached number 80 on Billboards Top LPs chart. As one of Buffalo Springfield's best-known songs, it is included on several of the group's anthologies, such as Retrospective: The Best of Buffalo Springfield (1969),{{Cite web == Certifications ==

==Critical commentary and legacy==

Cash Box said the single is a "throbbing, infectious protester circling 'round the current happenings in Cal." "For What It's Worth" quickly became a well-known protest song. In 2006, when interviewed on Tom Kent's radio show ''Into the '70s'', Stills pointed out that many people think the song is about the Kent State shootings of 1970, even though its release predates that event by over three years. An all-star version of "For What It's Worth", with Tom Petty and others, was played at Buffalo Springfield's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997; Neil Young did not attend the event. The song appears in the intro to the 2005 film Lord of War, showing the lifecycle of a rifle cartridge, from manufacture to firing. On August 17, 2020, Billy Porter sang "For What It's Worth" for the 2020 Democratic National Convention backed by Stephen Stills on guitar, a nod to the song's resurgent use in the summer 2020 American protests. In 2000, the 1966 recording of "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield on ATCO Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The HOF lists the ATCO date as 1967. Dawes, alongside Stephen Stills and Mike Campbell performed the song on January 30, 2025 at Kia Forum in Inglewood, California for FireAid to help with relief efforts for the January 2025 Southern California wildfires. ==Personnel==

Personnel taken from Buffalo Springfield liner notes. • Stephen Stills – lead vocals, lead guitar • Neil Young – lead guitar • Richie Furay – rhythm guitar, backing vocals • Bruce Palmer – bass guitar • Dewey Martin – drums, backing vocals ==Covers and sampling==

"For What It's Worth" has been covered, sampled, and referenced in numerous musical performances. Versions include those by The Staple Singers (US #66 in 1967, CAN #46 in 1967), Art (1967 single from Supernatural Fairy Tales), King Curtis (in the 1967 album King Sized Soul), Ken Lyon & Tombstone, Rush, Cher, the Candyskins, Oui 3 (UK #28), Queensrÿche (on their album Take Cover), Miriam Makeba (on her album Keep Me in Mind), Ozzy Osbourne and (həd) p.e. (retitled Children). Cher's 1969 cover did not make the Billboard Hot 100 but it did reach #88 in Canada. AllMusic retrospectively called her version "mature [and] forceful". Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 recorded a version of this song. It reached #10 in the Adult Contemporary Music Chart on September 19, 1970. David Cassidy recorded an extended live version for his 1974 album Cassidy Live! (Bell Records, UK #9; recorded live in Great Britain in May 1974). The hip-hop group Public Enemy sampled "For What It's Worth" on their 1998 song "He Got Game", which featured Stephen Stills reprising his vocal performance from the original song. Oui 3 adapted the song for their 1993 debut single of the same name, which reached number 26 in the UK chart. In 2017, Haley Reinhart released a cover of the song as the third single from her third studio album, ''What's That Sound?'' In 2018, the Lone Bellow released a cover of the song as a single. In 2022 Stevie Nicks released a cover of it as well, not to be confused with her 2011 song of the same name. ==See also==