Crosby, Stills & Nash – Carry On (1991)

Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills, and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member, they are called Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY). They are noted for their lasting influence on American music and culture, and for their intricate vocal harmonies, often tumultuous interpersonal relationships, and political activism.

CSN formed in 1968 shortly after Crosby, Stills and Nash performed together informally in July of that year, discovering they harmonized well. Crosby had been asked to leave the Byrds in late 1967, and Stills’ band Buffalo Springfield had broken up in early 1968; Nash left his band the Hollies in December, and by early 1969 the trio had signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records.

Their first album, Crosby, Stills & Nash, was released in May 1969, from which came two Top 40 hits, “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” (No. 21) and “Marrakesh Express” (No. 28). In order to tour the album, the trio hired drummer Dallas Taylor and session bassist Greg Reeves, though they still needed a keyboardist; Ahmet Ertegun suggested Neil Young, who had played with Stills in Buffalo Springfield, and after some initial reluctance, the trio agreed, signing him on as a full member. The band, now named Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, started their tour, and played their second gig at the Woodstock festival in the early morning hours of August 18, 1969. The first album with Young, Déjà Vu, reached number one in several international charts in 1970, and remains their best selling album, going on to sell over 8 million copies with three hit singles: “Woodstock”, “Teach Your Children”, and “Our House”. The group’s second tour, which produced the live double album 4 Way Street (1971), was fraught with arguments between Young and Taylor, which resulted in Taylor being replaced by John Barbata, and tensions with Stills, which resulted in his being temporarily dismissed from the band. At the end of the tour the band split up. The group have since reunited several times, sometimes with and sometimes without Young, and have released eight studio and four live albums.

Crosby, Stills & Nash were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and all three members were also inducted for their work in other groups: Crosby for the Byrds; Stills for Buffalo Springfield; and Nash for the Hollies. Neil Young has also been inducted as a solo artist and as a member of Buffalo Springfield but not as a member of CSN. They have not made a group studio album since 1999’s Looking Forward, and have been inactive as a performing unit since the end of 2015. Whether or not this break is permanent remains to be seen, as the group has often been inactive for years at a time.

Carry On is the twelfth album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, issued on Atlantic Records in 1991, generally for the European and Australian markets. It is a two-disc sampler of their four-disc box set, CSN, released two months previously in the United States and the United Kingdom. It features material spanning 1968 through 1990 from their catalogue of recordings as a group in addition to selections from Crosby & Nash, Manassas, and their individual solo albums. It was reissued on 30 June 1998 on the WEA International record label. This compilation should not be confused with the Stephen Stills box set of the same name released in 2013.

Where the box set is a more comprehensive overview, this one focuses on previously unreleased tracks, hits, and favorites. Of its 36 tracks, 13 had been unreleased previously, and nine contain all of the group’s Top 40 hits from the Billboard Hot 100. The group’s some-time partner Neil Young appears on eight tracks, including his own songs “Helpless” and “Ohio”. The previously-unreleased material includes studio recordings by the full quartet of “Helplessly Hoping” (originally released by the trio), “Taken at All” (originally by Crosby & Nash), and “The Lee Shore” (previously available only live).[2] The set also includes both the demo of “You Don’t Have to Cry”, the first recording they made as Crosby, Stills & Nash, and the three tracks from their most recent studio album as of 1991 that are also on the box set.

The original recordings were produced David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young, with assistance from Howard Albert, Ron Albert, Stanley Johnston, and Paul Rothchild. Audio engineers on the original recordings include Stephen Barncard, Larry Cox, Russ Gary, Don Gooch, Steve Gursky, Bill Halverson, David Hassinger, Andy Johns, and Jim Mitchell. The original masters were recorded at the following studios: Devonshire Sound Studio, Wally Heider Studios, The Record Plant, Rudy Recorders, the Sound Lab, Sunset Sound, Sunwest Studio, and Village Recorders in Los Angeles; United Studio in Hollywood; The Record Plant in New York City; Wally Heider Studios, His Master’s Wheels, and Rudy Recorders in San Francisco; Criteria Sound Studios in Miami; Island Studios in London; and Stephen Stills’ late 1960s home in Laurel Canyon. The selections were compiled for this set by Crosby, Stills, Nash, Gerry Tolman, and Yves Beauvais, with additional research by Joel Bernstein. (wikipeia)

This two-CD set, issued for the European and Australian markets, has proved among the most popular of Crosby, Stills & Nash’s imports since its release in 1998. Not as hefty, physically or monetarily, as the 1991 four-CD box, it limits itself to the group’s hits and popular and important LP cuts — many represented by outtake versions and alternate mixes — interspersed with popular tracks from the work of Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and David Crosby (solo and partnered together), and adds what is mostly the best of the previously unissued Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young material from the box. It’s a good survey of the trio’s best moments and the three members’ most effective solo outings, and presents their most appealing side — one assumes that a future Graham Nash compilation will include room for tracks like “I Used to Be a King” or “Military Madness” and that Crosby’s best stuff off of his first solo album will be compiled that way as well. The inclusion of Crosby’s 1968 version of “Guinevere,” the early alternate mix of “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” and a handful of additional outtakes that surfaced on the box are the places where the set departs from a standard best-of, but that departure is justified and welcome, separating this set from the So Far album, and anyone who didn’t spring for the four-CD set will be delighted. There are no notes, but none are needed either, and the only drawback for some will be the fact that the stuff isn’t presented in remotely chronological order. (by Bruce Eder)

Personnel:
David Crosby (vocals, guitar, keyboards)
Graham Nash (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion)
Stephen Stills (vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, percussion)
+
Neil Young (vocals, guitar, harmonica, keyboards)
*
guitar:
Joel Bernstein – Danny Kortchmar – Michael Landau – David Lindley – Michael Stergis –  James Taylor

bass:
Jack Casady – Tim Drummond – Bob Glaub – Bruce Palmer – George “Chocolate” Perry –  Greg Reeves – Calvin “Fuzzy” Samuels – Leland Sklar

keyboards:
Richard T. Bear, – Joel Bernstein – Craig Doerge – Mike Finnigan – Paul Harris – James Newton Howard

drums:
John Barbata – Russ Kunkel – Dallas Taylor

percussion:
Michael Fisher – Joe Lala – Efrain Toro, Jeff Whittaker
+
Tony Beard (drum programming)
Cyrus Faryar (bouzouki)
Jerry Garcia (pedal steel-guitar)
Wayne Goodwin (fiddle)
Branford Marsalis (saxophone)
John Sebastian (harmonica, backround vocals)
Joe Vitale (drums, percussion, keyboards, synthesizers, vibraphone, flute)
+
background vocals:
Joel Bernstein – Rita Coolidge – Venetta Fields – Priscilla Jones – Clydie King – Sherlie Matthews – Dorothy Morrison – Timothy B. Schmit

Tracklist:

CD 1:
01. C S N & Y: Woodstock (Mitchell) (1969:**) 3.54
02. C S & N: Marrakesh Express (Nash) 2.36
03. C S & N: You Don’t Have To Cry (Stills) (1968:†) 2.41
04. CS N & Y:  Teach Your Children (Nash) )1969) 2.54
05. Stephen Stills: Love the One You’re With (Stills) (1970) 3.06
06. CS N & Y: Almost Cut My Hair (Crosby) (1970; †) 8,51
07. C S & N: Wooden Ships (Crosby/Kantner/Stills) 5.27
08. C S & N: Dark Star (Stills) (1983; *) 4.58
09. C S N & Y: Helpless (Young) (1969) 3.37
10. Graham Nash: Chicago/We Can Change The World (Nash) (1971) 4.00
11. C S & N: Cathedral (Nash) (1977) 5-28
12. Stephen Stills: 4+20 (Stills) (1969; **) 2.11
13. C S N & Y: Our House (Nash) 2.59
14. David Crosby & Graham Nash: To the Last Whale…” (Crosby/Nash) (1975) 5.31
15. Stephen Stills: Change Partners (Stills/Crosby) (1971) 3.16
16. C S & N: Just A Song Before I Go (1977) 2.14
17. C S N & Y: Ohio (non-album single) (Young) (1970) 3.06
18. C S & N: Wasted On The Way (Nash) (1981) 2.50
19. C S & N: Southern Cross (Stills/R.Curtis/M.Curtis) (1981) 4.39

CD 2:
01. C S & N: Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (Stills) (1969; ** ) 7.29
02. C S N & Y: Carry On/Questions (Stills) (1969) 4.27
03. C S N & Y: Horses Through A Rainstorm (Nash/Reid) (1969; ‡) 3.39
04. Manassas: Johnny’s Garden (Stills) (1972) 2.47
05. David Crosby: Guinnevere (Crosby) (1968: †) 4.46
06. C S N & Y: Helplessly Hoping (Stills) (1969: †) 2.32
07. C S N & Y: The Lee Shore (Crosby) (1969; †) 5.30
08. C S N & Y: Taken At All (Nash/Crosby) (1976; † ) 2:54
09. C S & N: Shadow Captain (Crosby/Doerge) (1977) 4.33
10. C S & N: As I Come Of Age (Stills) (1981; †) 2.49
11. David Crosby: Drive My Car (Crosby) (1978; †) 3.51
12. Steve Stills & Graham Nash: Dear Mr. Fantasy (Winwood/Capaldi/Wood( (1980;‡) 7.04
13. C S & N: In My Dreams (Crosby) (1977) 5.12
14. C S & N: Yours And Mine (Crosby) (1990) 4.28
15. C S & N: Haven’t We Lost Enough? (Stills/Cronin) (1990) 3.07
16. C S & N: After The Dolphin (Nash) (1989) 4.54
17. C S N & Y: Find the Cost Of Freedom (B-side of the “Ohio” single) (Stills) (1970) 1.59

An asterisk (*) indicates a live recording, two asterisks (**) a previously unreleased mix, (†) a previously unreleased version, and (‡) a previously unreleased song.

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More from Crosby, Stills, Nash (& Young):

Stills & Collins – Everybody Knows (2017)

Everybody Knows is an album by Stephen Stills and Judy Collins, credited to “Stills & Collins”. It marks the first collaboration between the former lovers and longtime friends. It was financed through a crowdfunding campaign on PledgeMusic.

From 1968 to 1969, Stills and Collins were romantically involved. Stills wrote several songs about Judy, most notably “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” and “Judy”. But despite Stills playing on several of Collins’ recordings, they never recorded as a duo or performed on stage together.[2] Stills said that he and Collins “…talked over the years and muddled through conversations about if we did make a record together…”, ultimately releasing Everybody Knows and going on tour. (by wikipedia)

50 years ago, singer-songwriter Stephen Stills met singer-songwriter Judy Collins, known for her piercing ocean blue eyes. Their tumultuous love affair would later be immortalized by Stills with his composition “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” performed by Crosby, Stills & Nash on their landmark debut. Both artists would go gone to shape modern music with visionary approaches, but Stills and Collins’ short fiery union remains a transformative era for the two artists.

This summer, the two icons of folk will celebrate the golden anniversary of their formative time together. Their joint summer tour marks the first time ever Stills and Collins have been onstage together. For this once in a lifetime experience, the two music legends will pull from their rich catalogs, debut songs from their upcoming album, due out Summer of 2017, and share warm and intimate stories from their journeys and the1960s folk and Laurel Canyon scenes they helped build.

Stills and Collins met in 1967 and dated for two years. Stills wrote and demoed his legendary love song to Collins right after he left Buffalo Springfield, before he joined CSN. “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” is a five-section romantic epic brimming with heartfelt sincerity. The song has been ranked #418 in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time Poll.

​                                                                                                                                                                     Stills is known for his work with Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and his solo work. In addition to “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” Stills is best known for the hits “ For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield and “Love The One You’re With” from his solo debut, Stephen Stills. He’s a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and ranked #28 in Rolling Stone Magazine’s “The 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time.” He also has the added distinction of being the first artist to be inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame twice in one night (for his work with CSN and Buffalo Springfield). He recently released a sophomore album with The Rides, the blues-rock supergroup he formed in 2013 with Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Barry Goldberg, and is currently putting the finishing touches on his long-awaited, much-anticipated autobiography.

​

‘Stills & Collins’ will be released on the heels of a very busy period for Collins, who released an album in 2015 and 2016. 2015’s ‘Strangers Again’ earned Judy her highest Billboard 200 debut in almost 30 years, and 2016’s ‘Silver Skies Blue’ duets album with Ari Hest earned a GRAMMY nomination for Best Folk Album. She’s recently been described by the NY Times as the “ageless wild angel of pop,” appeared in HBO’s Girls, and released the book ‘Cravings: How I Conquered Food’ earlier this year. (press release)

Judy Collins provided Stephen Stills with the inspiration for “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” a song he composed in 1969 as their relationship was coming to an end. Lovers no more, the two remained friends over the years and decided to strike up a musical partnership nearly 50 years later, releasing Everybody Knows in September of 2017. The album deliberately plays off their past, with the duo reviving songs from their individual albums — “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” from Collins; “So Begins the Task” from Stills — and selecting covers from their peers, including the Traveling Wilburys’ “Handle with Care,” Tim Hardin’s “Reason to Believe,” Bob Dylan’s “Girl from the North Country,” and Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows,” which also lends its name to the album title. It’s a clean and crisp production, so much so that its transparency reveals the disparity between Collins’ sweet voice and Stills’ scraggly singing, a pairing that can sound as smooth as sandpaper. Nevertheless, there’s an inherent warmth to Everybody Knows. Stills and Collins have a gentle, easy chemistry and the studio-slick supporting performances provide a nice bed for a project that is less nostalgia than a reassuring reminder of the comfort of growing old together. (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

Personnel:
Tony Beard (drums)
Judy Collins (vocals, guitar)
Kevin McCormick (bass)
Stephen Stills (vocals, guitar)
Russell Walden (keyboards)
+
Marvin Etzioni (mandolin, mandocello on 05.)

Tracklist:
01. Handle With Care (Dylan/Lynne/Petty/Harrison/Orbison) 3.43
02. So Begins The Task (Stills) 3.36
03. River Of Gold (Collins) 3.37
04. Judy (Stills) 4.03
05. Everybody Knows (Cohen/Robinson) 5.27
06. Houses (Collins) 4.37
07. Reason To Believe (Hardin) 2.57
08. Girl From The North Country (Dylan) 3.26
09. Who Knows Where The Time Goes (Denny) 5.41
10. Questions (Stills) 3.45

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Various Artists – That´s Underground – The Rock Machine Turns You On (1968)

During the Sixties, “underground music” became very popuilar all over the world.

So many record companies decided to release sampler to push this exciting sound.

That’s Underground, The Rock Machine Turns You On (original 1968 CBS pressing), is one of the most treasured records not only for featuring some big names of the era but because of its spectacular psychedelic splatter multicoloured vinyl. Made before they became fashionable and they hardly get more coloured than this.

The West German album has on the rear sleeve the familiar words “The Rock Machine Turns You On” (not the same compilation as the UK, Dutch and French albums The Rock Machine Turns You On above). The West German records are on distinctive “psychedelic” multicoloured vinyl, but both records shown have orange CBS labels. The rear sleeve shows pictures of other contemporary CBS releases.

This album was for many people a very important album:

“This must have been the first colored vinyl I saw in my life. Not only the splashing colors blew my mind, but also the music heard on this album must have blown the brains out of the 16 year old boy I was then. Still love each and every track on this album.” (Leonard)

“Blown my mind just looking at it. It sure is one hell of a production, the vinyl and song selection all look great. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen or heard of this before but then looked it up and found it was only issued in Germany, Italy and South Africa. Surely, it deserved a much wider release and I can see why it would have been a totally mind-bending experience to a youngster in the 60’s. 50 years on and it’s freaking me out right now.” (Lee Wrecker)

Alternate front + back cover from South Africa

This LP was  reissued of released in Germany by Repertoire in 2005 under licence from Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Germany) GmbH. It dates the original release as 1970 (!) …

I´m sure, that this compilation was for many, many people a very important part of their life … you can call it … a soundrack of their youth …

Tracklist:
01. The Electric Flag: Killing Floor (Burnett) 4.14
02. Spirit: Mechanical World (Andes/Ferguson) 5.19
03. The Chambers Brothers: Time Has Come Today (J. Chambers/W. Chambers) 4.53
04. Leonard Cohen: Suzanne (Cohen) 3.49
05. Moby Grape: Can’t Be So Bad (Miller)
06. Big Brother And The Holding Company: Piece Of My Heart (Ragovoy/Berns) 4.15
07. The United States Of America: Hard Coming Love (Moskowitz/Byrd) 4.44
08. Blood, Sweat And Tears: My Days Are Numbered (Kooper) 3.19
09. Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited (Dylan) 3.28
10. Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper, Steve Stills: You Don’t Love Me (Cobb) 4.08

Many fantastic colors … 

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I got this sampler from Mr. Sleeve … thank you very much !!!

Various Artists – Havana Jam 1 (1979)

Havana Jam was a three-day music festival that took place at the Karl Marx Theater, in Havana, Cuba, on 2–4 March 1979. It was sponsored by Bruce Lundvall, the president of Columbia Records, Jerry Masucci, the president of Fania Records, and the Cuban Ministry of Culture.

The festival included, on the American side, Weather Report, the CBS Jazz All-Stars, the Trio of Doom, Fania All-Stars, Stephen Stills, Billy Swan, Bonnie Bramlett, Mike Finnigan, Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge and Billy Joel. The Cuban acts included Irakere, Pacho Alonso, Zaida Arrate, Elena Burke, Orquesta de Santiago de Cuba, Conjunto Yaguarimú, Frank Emilio, Juan Pablo Torres, Los Papines, Tata Güines, Cuban Percussion Ensemble, Sara González, Pablo Milanés, Manguaré, and Orquesta Aragón.

In 1977, US President Jimmy Carter and Cuban President Fidel Castro started to loosen the political tension between the two countries and opened Interest Sections both in Havana and Washington. It was the first time in almost two decades after Castro’s rise to power that there was a real interest in establishing a normalization of diplomatic relations and the lifting of the United States embargo against Cuba.

With a real crisis in the music industry in the United States and the start of the salsa boom, in April 1978, CBS Records director, Bruce Lundvall, saw an open door to probe Cuban music and together with a group of the company’s music enthusiasts made a four-day trip to Havana, where they were overwhelmed by the sound of Cuban music, but especially by Afro-Cuban jazz band Irakere, one of Cuba’s most highly regarded and virtuoso musical acts.

After months of talks, Lundvall managed to sign Irakere and in July the group traveled to New York to perform an unannounced guest set at the famed Newport Jazz Festival-New York. Rave reviews led to an invitation from the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

A few months later, Irakere won their first Grammy with the album Irakere, recorded at their Montreux Jazz Festival and Newport Jazz Festival performances, and Lundvall wanted to try his luck with other Cuban bands too. So, in the Fall of 1978, he joined forces with Fania Records director Jerry Masucci and convinced the Cuban cultural authorities to organize a three-day festival in Havana with the participation of Cuban and American musicians. The event would be recorded and televised for the enjoyment of both the Cuban and American people.

So they all agreed to set a date for the festival, spontaneously entitled Havana Jam. March 2 through 4, 1979, were the days earmarked for this historical step toward establishing a cultural exchange between the two enemy nations. In order to carry out the Herculean task of planning, Lundvall brought aboard Jock McLean and Phil Sandhaus, of Columbia’s artists development department. Both veterans of major concert promotion, they knew the festival needed professional production of the highest caliber, and enlisted Showco (a Dallas-based concert production company) and Studio Instrument Rentals for the task.

At this point in time, Lundvall was diligently “feeling out” select members of the Columbia artist roster, all of whom were honored to accept the invitation to perform in Cuba. By early February the talent was confirmed. Representing the U.S. would be Billy Joel, Stephen Stills, Weather Report, Kris Kristofferson with Rita Coolidge, the Fania All-Stars and the CBS Jazz All-Stars. The latter group was conceptualized by Lundvall and scheduled to feature more than 20 top jazz artists on the label.

With the festival within grasp, other CBS Records personnel were summoned into the picture-rehearsals were set up for the CBS Jazz All-Stars, travel accommodations were made, equipment was rented, a wide cross-section of media was invited, and both recording and videotaping plans were confirmed.

Record producers Bert deCoteaux and Mike Berniker flew down with a crew from the CBS Recording Studios along with a support team and mobile 24-track Recording Studio from Record Plant NY.

Engineered by David Hewitt with Phil Gitomer and Michael Guthrie. McLean, Sandhaus, Freston and various other people were already busy working in Havana’s Karl Marx Auditorium when the musicians landed at the José Martí airport on March 1.

Havana Jam was an invitation-only event, with mostly cultural personalities and members of the Communist Party and their children in attendance, though some students from different art and music schools were also invited.

The festival was hardly mentioned on the Cuban press, and thirty years later not many Cubans know it ever existed. (by wikipedia)

In 1979 many of Columbia’s top recording artists made a rare visit to Cuba where they performed (and recorded) at a series of concerts with some of the top Cuban groups. This double LP (unlike the strictly jazz Havana Jam 2) covers a wide range of music from Weather Report, the CBS Jazz All-Stars (an allstar group with Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz and Woody Shaw) and The Trio of Doom (John McLaughlin, Jaco Pastorius and Tony Williams) to Irakere, Stephen Stills, Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge. There is enough worthwhile jazz on the two-fer to make this set worth picking up (by Scott Yanow).

What a great jam recording !

Recorded live at the Karl-Marx Theatre, Havana, Cuba, March 2-4, 1979

Personnel:

CBS Jazz All-Stars:
Willie Bobo (percussion)
Arthur Blythe (saxophone)
Stan Getz (saxophone)
Dexter Gordon (saxophone)
Jimmy Heath (saxophone)
Percy Heath (bass)
Bobby Hutcherson (marimba)
Hubert Laws (flute)
Woody Shaw (trumpet)
Cedar Walton (piano)
Tony Williams (drums)

Cuban Percussion Ensemble:
Frank Emilio Guillermo Barreto, Changuito, Tata Guines, Los Papines (percussion)

Irakere:
Jorge “El Nono” Alfonso (percussion)
Carlos Averhoff (saxophone)
Armando Cuervo (percussion)
Paquito D’Rivera (saxophone)
Carlos Emilio Morales (guitar)
Enrique Pla (drums)
Carlos del Puerto (bass)
Arturo Sandoval (trumpet)
Jesus “Chucho” Valdes (piano)
Oscar Valdez (percussion)
Jorge Varona (trumpet)

Stephen Stills Band:
Bonnie Bramlett (vocals)
Mike Finnigan (keyboards)
Joe Lala (percussion)
George “Chocolate” Perry (bass)
Stephen Stills (guitar, vocals)
Gerry Tolman (guitar)
Joe Vitale (drums)

Trio Of Doom:
John McLaughlin (guitar)
Jaco Pastorius (bass)
Tony Williams (drums)

Weather Report:
Peter Erskine (drums)
Jaco Pastorius (bass)
Wayne Shorter (saxophone)
Joe Zawinul (electric piano, synthesizer)

And now, I´m too lazy to search all other musicians … sorry …

Tracklist:
01. Weather Report: Black Market (Zawinul) 8.59
02. Irakere: Concerto Para Flaut y Adagio de Mozart(Rivera/Mozart) 9.48
03. Stephen Stills: Cuba al Fin(Stills) 7.48
04. Sara González: Su Nombre Es Pueblo (Gonzalez) 3.54
05. CBS Jazz All-Stars:  Project “S” (Heath) 8.36
06. Orquesta Aragón: Que Barla Mionda (Valdés) 7.37
07. Kris Kristofferson: Living Legend (Kristofferson) 4.29
08. Rita Coolidge: (Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher (Smith/Miner/Jackson) 3:33
09. CBS Jazz All-Stars: Black Stockings (Laws) 6.24
10. Mike Finnigan + Bonnie Bramlett: How Wrong Can You Be (Gronenthal/Grace) 4.46
11. Fania All-Stars: Juan Pachanga (Blades/Ramirez/Masucci) 4.41
12. Trio Of Doom: Dark Prince (McLaughlin) 3.54
13. Cuban Percussion Ensemble: Scherezada/Sun Sun (Rimsky-Korsakov/Traditional) 7.41

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Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper & Steve Stills – Super Sessions (1968)

Super Session is an album conceived by Al Kooper and featuring the work of guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills, released on Columbia Records in 1968, CS 9701. Bloomfield and Stills do not play together on the album, with tracks including Bloomfield on side one, and those including Stills on side two. It peaked at #12 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified a gold record by the RIAA.

Kooper and Bloomfield had previously worked together on the sessions for the ground-breaking classic Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan, as well as playing in support of his controversial appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in July 1965. Kooper had recently left Blood, Sweat & Tears after recording their debut album with them, and was now working as an A&R man for Columbia. Bloomfield was about to leave Electric Flag, and at relative loose ends. Kooper telephoned Bloomfield to see if he was free to come down to the studio and jam; Bloomfield agreed, leaving Kooper to handle the arrangements.

Kooper booked two days of studio time in May 1968, and recruited keyboardist Barry Goldberg and bassist Harvey Brooks, both members of the Electric Flag, along with well-known session drummer “Fast” Eddie Hoh. On the first day, the quintet recorded a group of mostly blues-based instrumental tracks, including a modal excursion “His Holy Modal Majesty”, a tribute to the late John Coltrane that was also reminiscent of “East-West” from the second Butterfield Blues Band album. On the second day, with the tapes ready to roll, Bloomfield did not show up.

Needing to have something to show for the second day of sessions, to sit in for Bloomfield, Kooper hastily called upon Stephen Stills, also in the process of leaving his band Buffalo Springfield. Regrouping behind Stills, Kooper’s session men cut mostly vocal tracks, including “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry” from Highway 61 and a lengthy and atmospheric take of “Season of the Witch” by Donovan.

Some overdubbed horns were later added while the album was being mixed, and sales worth a gold record award were garnered from an album which cost just $13,000 to make. The success of this record opened the door for the “supergroup” concept of the late 1960s and 1970s — Blind Faith, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and the like. Kooper forgave Bloomfield, and the two of them made several concert appearances after the album was released. The results of one of those became the album The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper.

On April 8, 2003, Legacy Records reissued the album for compact disc with four bonus tracks, including both an outtake and a live track with Bloomfield, and two with the horn overdubs mixed out. (by wikipedia)

As the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) had done a year earlier, Super Session (1968) initially ushered in several new phases in rock & roll’s concurrent transformation. In the space of months, the soundscape of rock shifted radically from short, danceable pop songs to comparatively longer works with more attention to technical and musical subtleties. Enter the unlikely all-star triumvirate of Al Kooper (piano/organ/ondioline/vocals/guitars), Mike Bloomfield (guitar), and Stephen Stills (guitar) — all of whom were concurrently “on hiatus” from their most recent engagements. Kooper had just split after masterminding the groundbreaking Child Is Father to the Man (1968) version of Blood, Sweat & Tears. Bloomfield was fresh from a stint with the likewise brass-driven Electric Flag, while Stills was late of Buffalo Springfield and still a few weeks away from a full-time commitment to David Crosby and Graham Nash. Although the trio never actually performed together, the long-player was notable for idiosyncratically featuring one side led by the team of Kooper/Bloomfield and the other by Kooper/Stills. The band is fleshed out with the powerful rhythm section of Harvey Brooks (bass) and Eddie Hoh (drums) as well as Barry Goldberg (electric piano) on “Albert’s Shuffle” and “Stop.”

The Chicago blues contingency of Bloomfield, Brooks, and Goldberg provide a perfect outlet for the three Kooper/Bloomfield originals — the first of which commences the project with the languid and groovy “Albert’s Shuffle.” The guitarist’s thin tone cascades with empathetic fluidity over the propelling rhythms. Kooper’s frisky organ solo alternately bops and scats along as he nudges the melody forward. The same can be said of the interpretation of “Stop,” which had originally been a minor R&B hit for Howard Tate. Curtis Mayfield’s “Man’s Temptation” is given a soulful reading that might have worked equally well as a Blood, Sweat & Tears cover. At over nine minutes, “His Holy Modal Majesty” is a fun trippy waltz and includes one of the most extended jams on the Kooper/Bloomfield side. The track also features the hurdy-gurdy and Eastern-influenced sound of Kooper’s electric ondioline, which has a slightly atonal and reedy timbre much like that of John Coltrane’s tenor sax. Because of some health issues, Bloomfield was unable to complete the recording sessions and Kooper contacted Stills. Immediately his decidedly West Coast sound — which alternated from a chiming Rickenbacker intonation to a faux pedal steel — can be heard on the upbeat version of Bob Dylan’s “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry.”

The re-issue:

One of the album’s highlights is the scintillating cover of “Season of the Witch.” There is an undeniable synergy between Kooper and Stills, whose energies seems to aurally drive the other into providing some inspired interaction. Updating the blues standard “You Don’t Love Me” allows Stills to sport some heavily distorted licks, which come off sounding like Jimi Hendrix. This is one of those albums that seems to get better with age and that gets the full reissue treatment every time a new audio format comes out. This is a super session indeed. (by Lindsay Planer)

Personnel:
Mike Bloomfield (guitar on 01. – 05., 10., 12. + 13.)
Harvey Brooks (bass)
Eddie Hoh (drums, percussion)
Al Kooper (vocals, keyboards, guitar)
Stephen Stills (guitar on 06. – 09. + 11.)
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Barry Goldberg (piano on 01. + 02.)
unknown horn section (arranged by Al Kooper and Joe Scott)

Tracklist:
01. Albert’s Shuffle (Kooper/Bloomfield) 6.54
02. Stop (Ragovoy/Shuman) 4.23
03. Man’s Temptation (Mayfield) 3.24
04. His Holy Modal Majesty (Kooper/Bloomfield) 9.16
05. Really (Kooper/Bloomfield) 5.30
06. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (Dylan) 3.30
07. Season Of The Witch (Leitch) 11.07
08. You Don’t Love Me (Cobbs) 4.11
09. Harvey’s Tune (Brooks) 2.07
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10. Albert’s Shuffle (remix without horns) (Kooper/Bloomfield) 6.58
11. Season Of The Witch (remix without horns) (Leitch) 11.07
12. Blues For Nothing (outtake) (Kooper) 4.15
13. Fat Grey Cloud (in concert at the Fillmore West) (Kooper/Bloomfield) 4.38

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Al Kooper & Mike Bloomfield

Stephen Stills – Brookhaven New York (1979)

Woodstock Reunion 1979 was a concert on 7 September 1979 at Parr Meadows racetrack in the hamlet of Yaphank in the town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. It had an audience of about 40,000 and was organized for the 10th anniversary of the original Woodstock Festival.
Performers included Paul Butterfield and Rick Danko, Canned Heat, Richie Havens, Jorma Kaukonen, Country Joe McDonald, John Sebastian, Michael Shrieve, Stephen Stills, and Johnny Winter.
Recordings of the concert were broadcast on the King Biscuit Flower Hour. A bootleg CD titled Live at Parr Meadows also exists.

Although this show was billed as a “Woodstock Reunion,” it was not really a reunion, because out of all the acts that played the original festival only a handful made this show. In some cases, only one member of a band showed up—such as Stills, who was representing CSN—and furthermore, it was not at the site where the 1969 celebration of peace, love, and music had actually taken place.

Although Woodstock had only happened a mere decade earlier, the hope was another magical musical moment would once again rock history. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Although Stills, John Sebastian, Richie Havens, and others did their best, there was no audience of 600,000 or national media spotlight to offer the same inspiration as had happened ten years earlier.

Stephen Stills, on hiatus from his day job with CSN, came to play a set of songs mostly built on themes of love. In fact, four of the ten songs played during this set (which was also broadcast on the King Biscuit Flower Hour) contained the word “love” in their title.

Stills had returned to making solo albums and was eager to re-establish his own career during this period. With the exception of a heartfelt version of the Buffalo Springfield classic,” For What It’s Worth” (unfortunately incomplete in this recording), Stills does not offer any of his hits from Springfield, CSN, or his solo career. He does, however, offer a number of surprises including a curious cover of Muddy Waters’ “Hoochie Coochie Man.” He closes with “Treetop Flyer,” a song he had written in the late-1960s while still with Buffalo Springfield, but it was not commercially released until 1983 when it was used as part of the Crosby, Stills & Nash concert video, Daylight Again Live.

Recorded live at Parr Meadows, Brookhaven, New York, September 07, 1979
FM broadcast

Personnel:
Mike Finnegan (keyboards)
Gerald Johnson (bass)
Billy Meeker (drums, vocals)
Stephen Stills (vocals, guitar)
Gerry Tolman – rhythm guitar
+
John Sebastian (harmonica)

Tracklist:
01. Introduction – Precious Love (Stills) 5.41
02. Go Back Home (Stills) 8.36
03. Fine Love (Finnigan/Stills) 5.49
04. For What Its Worth (Stills) 5.05
05. Wanna Make Love To You (Stills) 7.50
06. Part Time Love (Finnigan/Stills) 7.05
07. Cherokee (Stills) 10.20
08. Hoochie Coochie Man – Rocky Mountain Way (Morganfield/Walsh) 11.27
09. Woodstock (Mitchell) 7.18
10. Treetop Flyer (Stills) 4.47

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