"In LA, hanging out with the guitarist and songwriter Stephen Stills, my career with Cream nearly came to an abrupt end. Stephen had asked me to come down to his ranch in Topanga Canyon to watch his band, Buffalo Springfield, rehearse. I went down there with a girl called Mary Hughes, who was the It girl of the day in LA, and we made ourselves comfortable while the band warmed up. It was a loud session, and a neighbour must have called the cops, who came knocking on the door. It didn't take them long to cotton on to the fact that we were all smoking dope, as the smell was quite overpowering, and the next thing we knew we were all being hauled off [...] It was Friday night and I was thrown into a cell with a group of black guys who I immediately concluded must be Black Panthers. I was wearing pink boots from Mr Gohill in Chelsea*, and had hair down to my waist, and I thought, 'I'm in trouble here.' Luckily for me, word of my arrest had reached Ahmet, and he bailed me out. I then had to go to court and swear on the bible that I had no idea what marijuana was. I was English after all, and we didn't do things like that in England. I walked out of there without a blemish on my character, but it really shook me up. It was a scary enough experience being locked up in LA County Gaol for the weekend, but a drug conviction would have put an instant end to Cream's American career, and the future of mine too."
The others?: Accounts of what happened vary slightly. However, Stephen Stills managed to avoid arrest by escaping through a window and contacted attorneys for those not so lucky. Richie Furay describes the routine of processing as an ugly ordeal, during which Neil Young suffered an epileptic fit. The following morning they were released on bail and fined for disturbing the peace. Jim Messina believes that Eric was singled out to be humiliated and separated from the others because of his clothes and long hair. The incident is often said to be a contributing factor in the breakup of Buffalo Springfield.
