Written by founding member Richie Furay, the song was the title track of Poco's first album.
After Buffalo Springfield broke up, members Richie Furay and Jim Messina decided to make a band with pedal steel guitar player Rusty Young, with whom they had recorded the Furay-penned Springfield song "Kind Woman".
It was obviously a comment on leaving one thing behind and carrying on,"[1] referring to the breakup of Buffalo Springfield and the new beginnings with Poco.
The single, though not commercially successful, was nonetheless undoubtedly instrumental in the creation of the then-new genre country rock.
Richie Furay said of "Pickin' Up the Pieces": "To me it summarized the attitude we wanted to convey in our music: good, wholesome & positive.