![]() ![]() Some, like the simplistically titled ‘Right on Rock and Roll’, ‘I’ll Be There’, ‘30 Dollar Fine’ and ‘Same Old Song’ were inferior to anything on Déjà Vu while also never landing on any subsequent Stills project, at least not in the arrangements heard here.Īdding to the overall alienation within the group were romantic complications. Crosby and Stills share the bulk of the unused material, the latter responsible for a full eight inclusions on the Outtakes disc. Crosby’s ‘Song with No Words (Tree With No Leaves)’, and ‘Laughing’, Stills’ ‘So Begins the Task,’ ‘Change Partners’, and ‘Bluebird Revisited’ along with Nash’s ‘Sleep Song’ were all numbers that appeared on a plethora of post-Déjà Vu solo albums. Other demos and outtakes display nascent forms of songs that were completed elsewhere. The title of the subsequent live album, Four Way Street, pretty much said it all. One of the few instances of the quartet playing together is the closing ‘Everybody I Love You’ (initially titled ‘Know You Got to Run’) - jointly credited to Stills and Young, it’s much more of a tacked-on afterthought. It didn’t make the final cut though, instead ending up on his own After the Gold Rush. The issue is emphasized with a look at the extras included here, only one of which, the plaintive ‘Birds’, is a Young composition. Young clearly wasn’t interested in a communal meeting of minds with the new outfit to which his name was appended. They were presented to the band as completed works, without the others’ creative input. It’s clear from Young’s two contributions the melodramatic, widescreen ‘Country Girl’ suite and the wistful ‘Helpless” are highpoints of his career, yet both were crafted mostly alone. Yet what the additional tracks really underline is how little collaboration there was between the members, a frustrating situation that inspired the lyrics of Stills’ opening ‘Carry On.’ Since Buffalo Springfield ended in a similar fashion with 1968’s appropriately titled Last Time Around - a collection of Stills’ solo songs cobbled together by producer Jim Messina - he and Young were already experienced in this process. The majority of these 38 cuts have never been officially available - making this a treat for anyone looking to broaden their awareness of the four musicians’ creativity during this era. The three platters that supplement this 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition are divided into “Demos”, “Outtakes” and “Alternates”. So began the rollercoaster ride that would yield the immensely popular Déjà Vu which, 51 years later, has sold over eight million copies and is deemed a masterpiece of the era. It would be Young himself who would eventually sell each of them on the idea – creating the now fabled iteration of the group. The threesome also saw Young using the status of CSN as a stepping stone for his own then embryonic career, something few, in retrospect, would dispute. Crosby made a point when he said “Chemistries are magical. No one wanted to upset the near-perfect harmony created within the trio. Interestingly, everyone else - including Young’s guitar sparring partner Stills - didn’t initially agree. Young came into the fold at Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun’s suggestion, since he knew how fiery Stills and Young were in Buffalo Springfield. ![]() The addition of Young as the fourth member came after a slew of possible choices, like John Sebastian (who ended up playing harp on the title track) and even the UK’s Steve Winwood, who turned the gig down for a variety of reasons. ![]() The detailed liner notes to this four-CD box, written by Cameron Crowe with Joel Bernstein, describe the beginnings of both Crosby, Stills and Nash, and their inclusion of Young for Déjà Vu. This was a difficult venture to birth for the foursome - for those who didn’t know the problems behind its recording, the record was one of the most anticipated releases of that year. It helps put the renowned second album from Crosby, Stills and Nash, along with new recruit Neil Young, into perspective. That quote - along with many others offered by the four musicians that complete CSNY – can be found in the detailed essay included with this new 50th anniversary expanded edition of the legendary 1970 set. “The first album was a joy, the second was painful” mused David Crosby about the recording of Déjà Vu, a few years after its appearance. ![]()
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