STILL(S) AMAZING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS – Stephen Stills & ‘MANASSAS’

[email protected] July 24, 2019

In the autumn of 2017, your genial host at SAMTIMONIOUS.com caused something of a furore, judging by the number of responses to the contrary, with a post entitled: ‘Twenty Albums Everyone Should Own – in the form of Ten Great Double Albums.’

In some cases, exception was taken to a notable omission (‘The River,’ ‘Tusk,’ ‘The Wall‘) – but most offence centred on the absence of ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road‘ by Elton John – which was ironic, if a touch unexpected, as right at the death it lost out for tenth place by a whisker to Stephen Stills ‘MANASSAS‘.

(Recompense of sorts has since been made to Messer’s John and Taupin with a post fulsome in its praise of their accomplished 1973 recording).

So – what was it that gave Stills and his four-sided opus the edge? Twenty months ago, like now, it was a tough call to make.

Both contain numerous examples of sublime, intelligent song writing, allied to great arrangements and stirring performances.

It does, however, seem strange to reflect that for two artists whose recorded output has been so wildly erratic, their very best work, not to say most consistent, should arrive on a double album – Stills managing to incorporate blues, rock, bluegrass, funk and Latin-shuffles into one sprawling, nigh-on faultless collection.

Before extolling the virtues of an LP that represents the final high spot of his career, it is worth taking a quick look down the road (pun unintentional) that brought Stephen Stills (born Dallas 3/1/1945) to the point where ‘Manassas‘ was released in May 1972.

Equally adept as a blues or rock guitarist, Stills had first lent his considerable talents to seminal LA folk-rockers Buffalo Springfield – where alongside close friend Neil Young, he wrote two of the most acclaimed rock songs (‘Bluebird,’ ‘Rock & Roll Woman‘) of the era, both of which appeared on the brilliant ‘Buffalo Springfield Again‘ album (1967). In the same year he also penned their politically charged hit single ‘For What It Is Worth.’

After the group split in 1968, Stills joined forces with former-Byrd David Crosby and ex-Hollie Graham Nash – Stills contributing the epic ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes‘ to their eponymous 1969 debut album. An ode to folk-singer girlfriend Judy Collins, it is the most compelling, ambitious segment of the record – at the same time encompassing the South American rhythms now becoming a feature of his work.

With Neil Young joining this already fractious aggregation, the quartet managed to record the critically acclaimed, massive selling ‘Deja Vu‘ (1970), but conflicting egos brought swift disintegration of the outfit – Stills recording his debut album (‘Stephen Stills‘) while CSN&Y were in their final throes.

Enlisting help from a stellar cast including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton (the two guitarists heard on the same album for the one and only time), Crosby, Nash, Booker T, Cass Elliot and John Sebastian, Stills produced a first-class effort further enhancing his status as a composer and musician – the sad footnote being the dedication (to): ‘James Marshall Hendrix’ who had died two months before its November 1970 release.

Once again retaining the services of CSN&Y sidemen Dallas Taylor (drums) and Calvin ‘Fuzzy’ Samuels (bass), ‘Stephen Stills II‘ (1971) is less assured, containing too many laboured songs shot through with intrusive horns. Ironically, the two least affected are the most effective – ‘Change Partners‘ and ‘Marianne‘ both becoming minor hits.

Showing no inclination at this time to work with his more famous cohorts, particularly Crosby & Nash, in the autumn of 1971 Stills gathered most of his current touring band – Taylor, Samuels, Paul Harris (keyboards), Joe Lala (percussion) – to begin work on a third solo album. Significantly, guitarist Chris Hillman and pedal steel virtuoso Al Perkins were also invited, both of whom were spare after the recent Flying Burrito Brothers break-up.

Taking the role as second-in-command, Hillman, an original member of The Byrds, also threw some mean mandolin playing into an already eclectic mix, giving the country material an authentic, back porch feel.

But across the forty-odd songs reportedly cut in sessions that began and ended in Miami (in between rehearsals took place at the Surrey mansion Stills had bought from Ringo Starr), it sounds not a single good idea went unused – with barely a wasted second on any of the twenty-one tracks making it to the final cut.

With Stills attaching a theme to each of the four sides (‘The Raven,’ ‘The Wilderness,’ ‘Consider,’ ‘Rock & Roll Is Here To Stay,’) the original vinyl was pressed – in keeping with many double albums of the time, ‘Tommy‘ for example – with sides one and four on one record, two and three on the other.

Yet while there is no defined concept on ‘Manassas‘ it remains a wonderfully cohesive work. The first four songs of side one are fiery, percussive rockers, mixing Stones-like swagger with the panache Little Feat would soon discover – the slide guitar and keyboard patterns carried over by Joe Walsh into his trademark ‘Rocky Mountain Way‘ hit of the following year.

Hillman receives a co-writing credit for side one closer ‘Both of Us‘ (Bound To Lose’) and ‘It Doesn’t Matter,’ the opening track of side three, each song capturing the essence of ‘Manassas’ – sinewy guitars, understated (electric) piano, deft percussion, airy background vocals – Stills not sounding so at home within a group framework since the halcyon days of Buffalo Springfield.

Side two is no less impressive as the emphasis shifts from rock to bluegrass. ‘Fallen Eagle‘ is an absolute gem, the writer bemoaning the plight of the American eagle being hunted to extinction (‘Fly on up to Canada/This country isn’t safe anymore, that’s for sure’), the story told against some brilliant fiddle playing by ‘auxiliary Burrito’ Byron Berline.

Hillman and his mandolin take centre stage on the poignant ‘Jesus Gave Love Away For Free,’ a song so nuanced it sounds like one of the traditional ballads The Byrds covered on ‘Sweetheart of the Rodeo‘ four years before. ‘Colorado‘ meanwhile is a serene offering and in a time of many fine ‘homesick’ songs, (‘Carolina In My Mind,’ ‘Illinois,’) it stands among the most touching.

The fingerprints of Chris Hillman are all over side two, the ‘Burrito’ influence never more prevalent than on ‘Don’t Look At My Shadow,’ an impossible to fault honky-tonk number, where Stills recounts his journey from ‘clubs in New Orleans,‘ to ‘LA Forum Sports Arena, Twenty thousand fans‘ – although listening to ‘So Begins The Task,’ with its close harmonies and acoustic guitars, it is hard not to imagine what his erstwhile superstar colleagues would have done with this song.

Having been around for almost four years, it sounds tailor-made for Crosby & Nash input. It is also conceivable Stills had this song in mind when he later reflected:

‘Atlantic (Records) could have really swung with Manassas – but all they kept asking me was when the ‘group’ was getting back together.’

The question repeatedly posed by Atlantic, while frustrating for Stills, is understandable. The ‘Manassas‘ double album sold well – but it was small beer to what a record by the ‘group’ was likely to shift should they reform.

Side three contains the superb ‘It Doesn’t Matter,’ but the highlights do not stop there. ‘How Far‘ is a wry, country-rock take, ‘Johnny’s Garden‘ a witty, observational piece, which almost without trying put Stills in the vanguard of the emerging singer-songwriter brigade – in 2008, a sensational reading of the song brought an audience at Birmingham Symphony Hall to its feet.

Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman joins the troupe (and takes a co-write credit) on ‘The Love Gangster,’ a shuffling, blues rock workout, with the only cover to be included found in the middle of side three, a take on the Mike Brewer-written ‘Bound To Fall.’ The intense acoustic guitar interplay gives the cut great immediacy in what proved a personal triumph for Hillman, The Byrds failing to cut a version they were ever satisfied with.

Co-producers Ron and Howie Albert ensure the standard is maintained onto side four (‘Manassas‘ is a superbly sequenced album), where Stills guitar work and harmonies of Hillman combine to make ‘What To Do,’ and ‘Right Now,’ a stirring Springfield/Burrito hybrid.

Throughout, Stills asserts himself as a fluid, but disciplined lead guitarist, yet even on the acoustic blues ending of ‘Blue’s Man,’ his playing is never indulgent or unnecessarily flashy – the album finishing as it had begun; smart, inventive, majestic.

When they went on the road to promote the record, the Stephen Stills/Manassas band brought the house down – one UK rock writer declaring them, ‘the best rock group to be found anywhere in the world,‘ in his review of a London performance in September 1972.

Never one to generate much in the way of critical favour, Stills must have been gratified when the New Musical Express described ‘Manassas‘ as ‘outstanding‘ and even Rolling Stone magazine (who spent the 70s loathing CSN, but lauding Young) were forced to concede the album ‘had its moments‘ – not enough, however, for it to be included in their Top Forty Albums of 1972, which is travesty of the highest order.

In the 1979 ‘Rolling Stone Record Guide‘, noted critic Dave Marsh manages to bestow grudging praise, but quick to add (what came after is), ‘garbage – the relic of a burnt-out career.’

This may sound harsh – even if Stills had presented his detractors with plenty of ammunition.

‘Down The Road,’ the 1973 follow-up to ‘Manassas‘ was a terrible anti-climax, lacking everything that made its predecessor so noteworthy. The group are too loose, production sounds cluttered, the songs a long way short of previous standards.

Due to Stills becoming ‘difficult‘ the Albert brothers relinquished production duties halfway through the project – although the ultimate irony of ‘Down The Road‘ came forty years later, when Stills cleared his ‘Manassas‘ vault with the CD ‘Pieces.’

Of considerable interest, at least three songs omitted from the final ten would have improved things no end.

By late 1973 Stills and his Manassas group had pretty much lost their way and when a trio of old acquaintances turned up at a San Francisco show, Hillman remarked: ‘You could smell a CSN&Y reunion in the air.’

Duly re-united with the others for a lucrative 1974 tour, Stills managed a few good songs for the 1975 ‘Stills‘ LP, contributed a couple of decent tracks to the ‘CSN‘ album (1977), then fewer still to the 1982 follow-up ‘Daylight Again.’ Aside from an agreeable title cut that had been up his sleeve for a while, less said about the 1978 solo effort ‘Thoroughfare Gap,’ the better.

But if Stephen Stills is an artist who blew most of his best material in virtually one go it hardly makes him unique – yet ‘Manassas‘ is.

Indeed, for a work so audacious and inspired he deserves to be revered. More to the point, however, is it worthy of a place in the Top Ten list of best double albums ever made?

It still makes it onto mine.

STEPHEN STILLS – ‘MANASSAS‘ (Released April 12 1972):

Song of Love/Medley: Rock N Roll Crazies-Cuban Bluegrass/Jet Set (Sigh)/Anyway/Both of Us (Bound to Lose)/Fallen Eagle/Jesus Gave Love Away for Free/Colorado/So Begins the Task/Hide It So Deep/Don’t Look At My Shadow/It Doesn’t Matter/Johnny’s Garden/Bound to Fall/How Far/Move Around/The Love Gangster/What to Do/Right Now/The Treasure (Take One)/Blues Man;

This article was first published on 29/7/2019.

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