As 1972 drew to a close, it was hard to think of a mainstream rock musician in better creative fettle than Stephen Stills. Of his male contemporaries around the same age, Pete Townshend could still not decide what concept opus The Who should next embrace while Van Morrison stood on the verge of negative reviews for ‘Hard Nose the Highway.’
Meanwhile Stills’ old Buffalo Springfield/CSNY compadre Neil Young was four albums into his solo career that had returned bigger sales than the trio issued by the man Crosby and Nash had dubbed ‘Captain Manyhands‘ although Texas-native Stills (born Dallas 3/1/1945) was leading Young by a short-head in terms of artistic achievement, exemplified by his outstanding April 1972 offering ‘Manassas.’
Through one of the most accomplished albums of the period, if not 70s rock in general, this sprawling double-set incorporated rock, country, jazz and bluegrass without ever once losing cohesion. Across the four sides of an exceptional 21-song collection, Stills is joined by a core of musicians whose inspired ensemble playing gave the work its intuitive feel.
Drummer Dallas Taylor and bassist Calvin ‘Fuzzy’ Samuel had followed him from the CSN/CSNY aggregations, while in the previous year keyboard player Paul Harris and percussionist Joe Lala joined the touring band Stills had formed. While they were out on the road promoting ‘Stephen Stills II‘ (June 1971), paths crossed with former Byrd Chris Hillman and pedal steel player Al Perkins who were sharing the final throes of the post-Gram Parsons Flying Burrito Brothers.
Having made his name as bass player in The Byrds, Hillman, now concentrating on guitar and mandolin, became second-in-command of the Stephen Stills/Manassas troupe, who on completion of their debut album established themselves as a first-rate live act.
From an extensive touring schedule came widespread acclaim for their concert performances, the renown built upon such rave notices as the one penned by UK rock writer Johnny Rogan in September 1972, whose review of a London show declared them, ‘the best rock group to be found anywhere on the planet.’
When the Manassas tour reached Paris, Stills met French singer-songwriter Veronique Sanson, whom he would marry before 1972 was out, thus commencing work on the follow-up to ‘Manassas‘ as a married man.
For an artist that had often produced his best work when confronted by a state of romantic anguish, Stills was now immersed in domestic bliss (Sanson shortly giving birth to a son), this newfound condition appearing to instigate a change in his composing and playing – as when it appeared ‘DOWN THE ROAD‘ (April 1973) was for the most part pleasant if somewhat pedestrian, contrived to the point of complacency.
Coming in at barely thirty minutes worth of content, the record lacked the inspirational quality of its predecessor, was panned by the critics and fared poorly in the marketplace. Indeed, the man at the centre of things added to the negativity by describing it to CSNY biographer Rogan as ‘a bit of a turkey.’ Yet even then a number of songs passed muster, even if it amounts to his first misstep and overall the most frustrating LP of Stills career.
The lack of enthusiasm for ‘Down the Road’ stems from being such an anti-climax when measured against its illustrious predecessor – the sense of Stills and his cohorts being capable of far better reinforced when it later emerged he had better songs available than several that made the final cut.
Neither was the recording process helped by occasional glimpses of the erratic, sometimes willful behaviour for which Stills had gained a reputation. From recording sessions that began in Miami during the closing weeks of 1972, there followed a stint at Caribou studios early in the new year before things were wrapped up in Los Angeles where executives from Atlantic Records were reputedly none too impressed by what they heard – engineers Ron and Howie Albert who had served the ‘Manassas‘ record well, having jumped ship when Stills apparently became ‘difficult‘ midway through proceedings.
Few of the issues that ultimately blighted ‘Down the Road‘ are evident on opening track ‘Isn’t It About Time‘, a solid, hard-edged protest song which makes for an auspicious start. Behind him the players are sharp and cohesive as Stills delivers a terse vocal in railing not just against conflict, but apathetic attitudes among the populace:
‘Don’t look now, don’t heed the warning/It’s really of no concern/Don’t mind the sound/They’re only just bombing/Anything left to burn.‘
The track, that would give Stills a minor hit single in the summer of 1973, surges on through prominent keyboard work from Harris and a scything slide guitar solo reportedly contributed by Joe Walsh.
In the final verse the writer takes to task the abuse of authority by vacuous politicians (‘Who gonna live, who gonna die/Do you want to know/Does it give you a sense of power/To say yes or no‘), his earlier observations of (‘The jungle so far away/Blood baked into blackened soil‘), an allusion to the Vietnam War that, from a U.S. perspective, was entering its final stages.
Altogether it stands as a strident, forceful piece, where thought has been given to the arrangement. The handclaps which have been present throughout continue after the final notes as those involved give themselves a well-deserved round of applause.
Credited solely to Hillman, ‘Lies‘ is not quite such a laudable effort, amounting to a fairly routine up-tempo country rock song of the period. It brings a spirited performance from the crew who give the composer effective backing in masking some thin lyrics. In effect his other songwriting submission, ‘So Many Times‘ (a co-write with Stills that also appears on side one), is the same song just taken at a much slower pace, the country overtones expressed through a ringing mandolin.
Once again Hillman writes from a standpoint of lovelorn torment (‘Who do you turn to and what do you say/When she’s got the power and she got the way‘), mournful laments such as this now becoming commonplace, ‘Saturday Night‘ by the Eagles from their recent ‘Desperado‘ album in much the same vein.
Having co-written two excellent songs (‘Both of Us‘ (Bound to Lose) and ‘It Doesn’t Matter‘) for the previous album, neither of his ‘Down the Road‘ efforts rise to the same standard, although each were infinitely superior to the pair Hillman composed for the lacklustre reunion LP of the five original Byrds that had been released six weeks earlier.
Having already embraced Latin rhythms in previous compositions, Stills extends his fascination with two tracks, ‘Pensamiento‘ and ‘Guaguancó de Veró‘ both flavoured with this vibe.
On the former (‘Pensamiento‘ roughly translating to having a positive frame of mind), positivity abounds, the melody and all-Spanish lyrics of the song co-written with Stills by Nelson Escoto. Built upon eclectic percussion and an atmospheric flute solo from Sydney George, it is a resonant, engaging track with much the same to be said for ‘Guaguancó de Veró.’
With only the chorus sung in Spanish, Stills (who shares the writing credit with percussionist Lala), writes a touching ode to Sanson, his feelings made clear amid the percussive backbeats and rumba-styled piano:
‘I got no words left, there’s nothing to say/I was reborn on the Champs-Élysées/Someone to listen, somebody to share/I fell in love this time/Someone was there to catch me/And I know it’s not a dream.’
Adding some decorative acoustic guitar work himself, he would return to such territory on ‘No Me Niegas‘ a highlight, one of the few, on his 1976 ‘Illegal Stills‘ record. For the moment such musical explorations earned him critical favour when otherwise it was hard to find in relation to his latest release.
‘For me, the two Latin songs are the best‘ wrote Richard Williams in his review of ‘Down the Road‘ for UK music weekly Melody Maker. ‘Stills has a real affinity for this music, the hoarse, strained quality of his voice suits perfectly the yearning mood of the tunes. I’d love to see ‘Pensamiento’ become a hit single.’
If collectively ‘Isn’t It About Time‘, ‘Lies‘, Pensamiento‘ and ‘So Many Times‘ could be deemed so far so good, or at least nothing to truly dislike, things begin to sound amiss with side one closer, ‘Business on the Street‘, the album rarely reviving thereafter.
In truth, it has the potential to become a decent song, a self-examining lyric containing such couplets as ‘The biggest fool of all is me/I play the music for the music you see/For money I do publicity/So I can buy guitars/Put a studio in the backyard’ not well served by a cluttered performance in need of structure. Stills no doubt had this laid-back cut in mind when he later reflected, ‘Some of the vocals and things should have been done over, but I was lazy.’
He could also have been referring to the title-track, a country-blues work out that sounds an unusually rough affair for Stills to choose as the usable version. If the two Latin-themed numbers are reminiscent of Santana, then ‘Down the Road‘ with its gritty melody and hedonistic lyrical references bring the Rolling Stones to mind, Stills at least having the good grace to wrap things up before the cut outstays its welcome, having the presence of mind to write as the last verse:
‘Some people into Jesus/Other people into Zen/I’m just into every day/I don’t hide from where I been.’
The Stones are also evoked on ‘City Junkies‘, the piano refrain a direct lift from ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together.’ Again it can be sensed a better song lurks within what is presented as the finished article, the writer lamenting through a mid-paced track how a lover has been lost to the New York drug scene, this unhappy tale adequately performed if lacking a sense of drama.
When looking back on the record Hillman told Rogan, ‘That second album was a story in itself. It originally had all this material that was subsequently deleted. The record company wanted to put more of Stephen’s songs on it, so there are tracks such as ‘City Junkies’ which I don’t really care for.’
As uninspiring as Hillman thought it, ‘City Junkies‘ was at least better than closing track ‘Rollin’ My Stone‘ which is all very busy and frenetic without having a great deal to say – the second side best served by ‘Guaguancó de Veró‘ and opening cut ‘Do You Remember the Americans‘, a sprightly country number built upon banjo and pedal steel guitar.
Stills takes the role of a hitch-hiking returnee to the United States, someone appalled by the absence of compassion in his homeland:
‘I remember years ago hitchin’ this same road/Never saw a trucker leave a man out in the cold/No riders sign on the window never meant a thing/Nowadays they just roll on lookin’ kind of mean.’
The ‘four years overseas‘ comment used elsewhere in the lyric may allude to a returning army vet in making the scenario even more dispiriting, the forlorn traveller at a loss to understand the change in attitude being encountered, ‘Where are the country people does anybody know/Do you remember the Americans where did they go/Were they simply bought and sold.’
But proving himself a composer of pithy, country-tinged material (‘Fallen Eagle‘ on the previous record another excellent example), was not enough to spare ‘Down the Road‘ from a mauling at the hands of the critics, Rolling Stone magazine going as far to say, ‘It would be sad to think the people involved put this record out not because of business pressures but because they were proud of it.‘
If anyone needed notification the late ’60s/early ’70s purple patch of Stephen Stills was over it came not just from critical voices in the music press but one far closer to home, Hillman adding his voice to the air of discord by stating, ‘That second album wasn’t good.’
Which in all honesty is true, the unenthusiastic response to the record reflected in ‘Down the Road‘ failing to crack either the UK or US top twenty, this after his previous three albums had each attained lofty chart placings.
The sudden negativity surrounding Manassas increased further when the North American tour to promote the album ran into problems due to the heroin addiction of drummer Taylor. The dates were eventually completed by which time Hillman was considering an offer from David Geffen to join J.D. Souther and former Poco leader Richie Furay in a ‘super group’ the Asylum label chief had intentions of creating, while Stills, peeved at a lack of perceived support for Manassas from Atlantic Records, became receptive to overtures for a resumption with his erstwhile superstar partners.
When Manassas performed at the Winterland Theatre, San Francisco in October 1973, they were joined on stage by three guests, Hillman recalling the occasion by saying, ‘you could sniff a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young reunion in the air‘ – his sense of smell proving well-honed as the four would undertake a U.S. stadium tour the following summer.
For Stills Manassas came to represent the most interesting offshoot of his career, running the spectrum of finest hour to fitful failure. The feeling of ‘Down the Road‘ being a wasted opportunity was to persist and many years later became more apparent when in 2009 he emptied his Manassas vault with ‘Pieces‘ – a collection of outtakes and unused material attached to both albums.
It seemed inexplicable tracks such as ‘Like A Fox‘ featuring a superb harmony vocal by Bonnie Raitt and ‘The Witching Hour‘ that boasted a memorable Stills lyric while capturing Manassas at their finest were not selected for ‘Down the Road‘ – these and at least two other tracks which had come to light having the combined strength to transform an album described by its main creator as ‘a turkey‘ into one that could have really taken flight.
STEPHEN STILLS/MANASSAS – DOWN THE ROAD (Released April 23 1973):
Isn’t It About Time/Lies/Pensamiento/So Many Times/Business on the Street/Dou You Remember the Americans/Down the Road/City Junkies/Guaguancó de Veró/Rollin’ My Stone;
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