Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young | ||
| Allmusic Biography : The musical partnership of David Crosby (born August 14, 1941), Stephen Stills (born January 3, 1945), and Graham Nash (born February 2, 1942), with and without Neil Young (born November 12, 1945), was not only one of the most successful touring and recording acts of the late 60s, 70s, and early 80s -- with the colorful, contrasting nature of the members characters and their connection to the political and cultural upheavals of the time -- it was arguably the only American-based band to approach the overall societal impact of the Beatles. The group was a second marriage for all the participants when it came together in 1968: Crosby had been a member of the Byrds, Nash was in the Hollies, and Stills had been part of Buffalo Springfield. The resulting trio, however, sounded like none of its predecessors and was characterized by a unique vocal blend and a musical approach that ranged from acoustic folk to melodic pop to hard rock. CSNs debut album, released in 1969, was perfectly in tune with the times, and the group was an instant hit. By the time of their first tour (which included the Woodstock festival), they had added Young, also a veteran of Buffalo Springfield, who maintained a solo career. The first CSNY album, Déjà Vu, was a chart-topping hit in 1970, but the group split acrimoniously after a summer tour. 4 Way Street, a live double album issued after the breakup, was another number one hit. (When it was finally released on CD in 1992, it was lengthened with more live material.) In 1974, CSNY re-formed for a summer stadium tour without releasing a new record. Nevertheless, the compilation So Far became their third straight number one. Crosby, Stills & Nash re-formed without Young in 1977 for the album CSN, another giant hit. They followed with Daylight Again in 1982, but by then Crosby was in the throes of drug addiction and increasing legal problems. He was in jail in 1985-1986, but cleaned up and returned to action, with the result that CSNY reunited for only their second studio album, American Dream, in 1988. CSN followed with Live It Up in 1990, and though that album was a commercial disappointment, the trio remained a popular live act; it embarked on a 25th anniversary tour in the summer of 1994 and released a new album, After the Storm. The trio again reunited with Young for 1999s Looking Forward, followed in 2000 by their CSNY2K tour. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 6 Title: Déjà vu Released: 1970-03-11 Tracks: 10 Duration: 36:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Carry On (04:27) 2 Teach Your Children (02:55) 3 Almost Cut My Hair (04:31) 4 Helpless (03:40) 5 Woodstock (03:56) 6 Déjà vu (04:14) 7 Our House (03:01) 8 4 + 20 (02:08) 9 Country Girl: Whiskey Boot Hill – Down, Down, Down – “Country Girl” (I Think You’re Pretty) (05:14) 10 Everybody I Love You (02:21) |
| Déjà vu : Allmusic album Review : One of the most hotly awaited second albums in history -- right up there with those by the Beatles and the Band -- Déjà Vu lived up to its expectations and rose to number one on the charts. Those achievements are all the more astonishing given the fact that the group barely held together through the estimated 800 hours it took to record Déjà Vu and scarcely functioned as a group for most of that time. Déjà Vu worked as an album, a product of four potent musical talents who were all ascending to the top of their game coupled with some very skilled production, engineering, and editing. There were also some obvious virtues in evidence -- the addition of Neil Young to the Crosby, Stills & Nash lineup added to the level of virtuosity, with Young and Stephen Stills rising to new levels of complexity and volume on their guitars. Youngs presence also ratcheted up the range of available voices one notch and added a uniquely idiosyncratic songwriter to the fold, though most of Youngs contributions in this area were confined to the second side of the LP. Most of the music, apart from the quartets version of Joni Mitchells "Woodstock," was done as individual sessions by each of the members when they turned up (which was seldom together), contributing whatever was needed that could be agreed upon. "Carry On" worked as the albums opener when Stills "sacrificed" another copyright, "Questions," which comprised the second half of the track and made it more substantial. "Woodstock" and "Carry On" represented the group as a whole, while the rest of the record was a showcase for the individual members. David Crosbys "Almost Cut My Hair" was a piece of high-energy hippie-era paranoia not too far removed in subject from the Byrds "Drug Store Truck Drivin Man," only angrier in mood and texture (especially amid the pumping organ and slashing guitars); the title track, also by Crosby, took 100 hours to work out and was a better-received successor to such experimental works as "Mind Gardens," out of his earlier career with the Byrds, showing his occasional abandonment of a rock beat, or any fixed rhythm at all, in favor of washing over the listener with tones and moods. "Teach Your Children," the major hit off the album, was a reflection of the hippie-era idealism that still filled Graham Nashs life, while "Our House" was his stylistic paean to the late-era Beatles and "4+20" was a gorgeous Stephen Stills blues excursion that was a precursor to the material he would explore on the solo album that followed. And then there were Neil Youngs pieces, the exquisitely harmonized "Helpless" (which took many hours to get to the slow version finally used) and the roaring country-ish rockers that ended side two, which underwent a lot of tinkering by Young -- even his seeming throwaway finale, "Everybody I Love You," was a bone thrown to longtime fans as perhaps the greatest Buffalo Springfield song that they didnt record. All of this variety made Déjà Vu a rich musical banquet for the most serious and personal listeners, while mass audiences reveled in the glorious harmonies and the thundering electric guitars, which were presented in even more dramatic and expansive fashion on the tour that followed. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 6 Title: 4 Way Street Released: 1971-04-06 Tracks: 21 Duration: 1:49:52 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (00:34) 2 On the Way Home (03:47) 3 Teach Your Children (03:02) 4 Triad (06:55) 5 The Lee Shore (04:28) 6 Chicago (03:10) 7 Right Between the Eyes (03:36) 8 Cowgirl in the Sand (03:58) 9 Dont Let It Bring You Down (03:30) 10 49-Bye Byes (06:35) 11 Love the One Youre With (03:25) 12 King Midas in Reverse (03:43) 13 Laughing (03:36) 14 Black Queen (06:45) 15 Medley: The Loner / Cinnamon Girl / Down by the River (09:40) 1 Pre-Road Downs (03:04) 2 Long Time Gone (05:58) 3 Southern Man (13:45) 4 Ohio (03:34) 5 Carry On (14:19) 6 Find the Cost of Freedom (02:21) |
| 4 Way Street : Allmusic album Review : Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young had come out of Woodstock as the hottest new music act on the planet, and followed it up with Deja Vu, recorded across almost six months in the second half of 1969 and released in March of 1970, supported by a tour in the summer of that year. As it happened, despite some phenomenal music-making on-stage that summer, the tour was fraught with personal conflicts, and the quartet split up upon its completion. And as it happened, even Deja Vu was something of an illusion created by the foursome -- Neil Young was only on five of the albums ten tracks -- which meant that an actual, tangible legacy for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young was as elusive and ephemeral to listeners as Ahabs Moby Dick. But then came 4 Way Street, released in April of 1971: a live double-LP set, chock-full of superb music distilled down from a bunch of nights on that tour that more than fulfilled the promise of the group. Indeed, contained on those original four LP sides was the embodiment of everything great that the unique ethos behind this group -- which was not a "group" but four individuals working together -- might have yielded. Each of the participants got to show off a significant chunk of his best work, whether presented alone or in tandem with the others, and the shared repertory -- "Long Time Gone," "Ohio" etc. -- binding it all together as more than a documentary of some joint appearances. Conceptually, it was all as diffuse as the concept behind the group, but musically, 4 Way Street was one of the great live rock documents of its time, a status that the original vinyl retains along with such touchstones as the Allman Brothers At Fillmore East, the live half of the Creams Wheels of Fire, and the Grateful Deads Live/Dead; some of the extended guitar jams between Stills and Young ("Southern Man") go on longer than strict musical sense would dictate, but it seemed right at the time, and they capture a form that was far more abused in other hands after this group broke up. Although Neil Young and Stephen Stills had the advantage of the highest wattage on their songs and their jams together, David Crosby and Graham Nash more than manage to hold their own, not only with some strong and distinctive songs, but also with a strong case that less could be more: they reached the more introspective members of their audience, mostly individually, while Stills and Young wowed the crowds collectively. In many respects, this was the greatest part of the legacy that the foursome left behind, though it is also a bit unfair to stack it up next to, say, Deja Vu, as 4 Way Street had the advantage of all four participants ranging freely across a combined 20 years of repertory. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 6 Title: So Far Released: 1974-08-19 Tracks: 11 Duration: 43:07 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Déjà vu (04:14) 2 Helplessly Hoping (02:41) 3 Wooden Ships (05:27) 4 Teach Your Children (02:59) 5 Ohio (03:02) 6 Find the Cost of Freedom (02:01) 7 Woodstock (03:56) 8 Our House (03:01) 9 Helpless (03:40) 10 Guinnevere (04:39) 11 Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (07:24) |
| So Far : Allmusic album Review : Unbeknown to most fans, So Far was a stopgap release, undertaken by Atlantic Records in the absence of a new Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album to accompany the reunited quartets summer 1974 tour. At the time, the members thought it was ridiculous to release a greatest-hits/best-of compilation distilled down from two in-print LPs plus the single sides "Ohio" and "Find the Cost of Freedom"; but propelled by the publicity surrounding the groups massive stadium tour (the first exclusive stadium tour ever done in rock), So Far topped the charts and sold hundreds of thousands of copies, all without containing so much as a single new note of music. Ironically, the quartet had been working on what would have been, by all accounts, the best album in their history; as with so many other projects attempted by the four-man lineup, however, that album fell apart halfway through, amid clashes of egos and creative differences, and so there was So Far. Taken on its own terms, the album manages to be both enjoyable and frustrating, as well as virtually obsolete in the 21st century -- the Joni Mitchell cover art is cool, and the presence of "Ohio" and "Find the Cost of Freedom" makes it attractive (until the 1990s, So Far was the only album to contain both songs); and a case can be made that it contains some of the better moments from Crosby, Stills & Nash and Déjà Vu. The problem is that those were two virtually perfect albums, and the idea of excerpting parts of them for a compilation makes no more sense than, say, excerpting the first two Beatles albums for a "best of" on that band. Further, its not even a true greatest-hits or best-of compilation, with "Marrakesh Express" not present. And it is difficult to imagine anyone who enjoys this disc not enjoying the two complete albums even more. So, essentially, owning So Far serves no purpose except to get "Ohio" and "Find the Cost of Freedom," which are also on Carry On and the Crosby, Stills & Nash box, both of which offer a lot more, dollar for dollar and song for song. For those inclined to buy it, however, the 1994 reissue (Atlantic 82648) of So Far is to be preferred for sound quality over the earlier edition. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 6 Title: American Dream Released: 1988-11-18 Tracks: 14 Duration: 57:13 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 American Dream (03:18) 2 Got It Made (04:56) 3 Name of Love (04:12) 4 Don’t Say Goodbye (03:23) 5 This Old House (04:49) 6 Nighttime For The Generals (04:09) 7 Shadowland (04:47) 8 Drivin’ Thunder (03:15) 9 Clear Blue Skies (03:07) 10 That Girl (03:30) 11 Compass (05:27) 12 Soldiers of Peace (03:47) 13 Feel Your Love (04:13) 14 Night Song (04:13) |
| American Dream : Allmusic album Review : There are some excellent songs here, notably Youngs "This Old House" and Crosbys "Compass," but the quartet didnt really jell on its first new studio album in 14 years. Certainly, expectations were so high that the album seemed much worse than it really was, and in retrospect it seems a workmanlike effort simply lacking the spark that made this group so much more than the sum of its parts. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 6 Title: Déjà Vu Live Released: 2008-07-22 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:13:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 What Are Their Names? (02:29) 2 Living With War-Theme (03:25) 3 After the Garden (03:42) 4 Military Madness (04:02) 5 Lets Impeach the President (05:44) 6 Déjà Vu (07:15) 7 Shock and Awe (05:09) 8 Families (02:58) 9 Wooden Ships (08:18) 10 Looking for a Leader (03:56) 11 For What Its Worth (04:50) 12 Living With War (05:25) 13 Roger and Out (05:37) 14 Find the Cost of Freedom (03:56) 15 Teach Your Children (03:21) 16 Living With War-Theme (03:01) |
 | Album: 6 of 6 Title: CSNY 1974 Released: 2014-07-08 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:18:22 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Love the One Youre With (06:10) 2 Wooden Ships (06:21) 3 Immigration Man (03:36) 4 Helpless (04:32) 5 Johnnys Garden (05:07) 6 The Lee Shore (04:46) 7 Change Partners (03:23) 8 Only Love Can Break Your Heart (03:28) 9 Our House (03:19) 10 Guinevere (05:51) 11 Old Man (03:56) 12 Teach Your Children (03:09) 13 Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (08:32) 14 Long Time Gone (05:44) 15 Chicago (04:43) 16 Ohio (05:37) |
| CSNY 1974 : Allmusic album Review : It was, at the time, one of the highest-grossing rock tours ever, grossing over 11 million dollars in an era when such figures were uncommon. Such success camouflaged the chaos behind the scenes -- the bitter fights and feuds, the excess and indulgence that led to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young pocketing about a half million dollars each, when all was said and done. Big bucks were the reason the CSNY 1974 tour even existed. Efforts to record a new album in 1973, their first since 1970s breakthrough Déjà Vu, collapsed but manager Elliot Roberts and promoter Bill Graham convinced the group to stage the first outdoor stadium tour in the summer of 1974, with the idea that CSNY would test-drive new material in concert, then record a new studio album in the fall, or maybe release a live record from the historic tour. Neither happened. The group cleaved in two upon the tours conclusion and the live tapes sat in the vaults until Graham Nash decided to assemble a box set of the tour just in time for its 40th anniversary in 2014. Nash and producer Joel Bernstein -- the driving forces behind the excellent new millennial archival CSN reissues -- culled the best moments from the nine recorded shows, sometimes cobbling together composites, then assembled the whole thing as a three-CD set designed to replicate the mammoth three-hour sets the quartet played in 1974. That very length indicates how there was room on the 1974 tour for every aspect of CSNY, giving space to sensitive folk, woolly electric guitar jams, hits, and unheard songs. Several of those new songs showed up on albums by CSNY in various permutations, while a few -- mostly written by Young -- never got an airing outside of this tour, so the first official release of "Love Art Blues," "Pushed It Over the End," and even the throwaway Nixon jape "Goodbye Dick" is indeed noteworthy. But what makes CSNY 1974 a substantial chapter in their legacy is how it captures the band in full flight just as its moment is starting to slip away. Stills and Young play with the burly force they channeled into Manassas and Crazy Horse, providing a startling contrast to both the sweetness of disc twos acoustic set and Crosbys excursions into the haze of If I Could Only Remember My Name. Hearing the band pull apart as its members come together is simultaneously thrilling and enervating because Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young remain locked in a battle to outdo one another; its fascinating to hear them spar, but also draining. Nevertheless, that messy competition is why CSNY 1974 is a vital addition to their canon. Tales of CSNY acrimony are legend, but this rancor rarely surfaced on record. Here, those brawling egos are pushed to the forefront, with all the pretty harmonies operating as an accent to the main event. | ||