Dewey Martin, drummer for the short-lived but long-resonating band Buffalo Springfield whose career after the group split never ignited like those of former bandmates Neil Young and Stephen Stills, has died. He was 68.
He was found dead Sunday by a roommate in his suburban apartment, longtime friend Lisa Lenes said Thursday. The cause of death has not been determined. "We believe it was natural causes," Lenes said, adding that Mr. Martin had suffered health problems in recent years and played music publicly only sporadically.
Mr. Martin was one of the founding members, along with Young, Stills, singer-songwriter-guitarist Richie Furay and bassist Bruce Palmer, of Buffalo Springfield, a key progenitor of country-rock music. The group recorded three studio albums before disbanding after two years amid rising tensions and musical ambitions of the band's talented but explosive leaders.
In his autobiography "Shakey," Young praised Mr. Martin's musical sensitivity. "You get harder, he hits harder. You pull back, he hits back. He can feel the music — you don't have to tell him."
"It's a great loss," Micky Dolenz, drummer for the Monkees, said Thursday. Dolenz said he became close friends with Mr. Martin in the late '60s. "He was a great drummer. ... And he was a really nice guy."
Mr. Martin played on Buffalo Springfield songs
including "For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey What's the Sound),"
"Mr. Soul," "Rock 'N' Roll Woman" and "Broken Arrow."
Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth (Monterey 1967)
