Stephen Stills. Plays a mean guitar, has a cool voice. Teamed up with Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, Richie Furay and Dewey Martin to form the Buffalo Springfield, and he penned "For What It's Worth", which became a protest anthem then, and probably pays quite of few of his bills now.

According to several accounts I've read, Stills & Young had a creative bond that propelled the Springfield, but the inevitable personality clashes between two strong minded individuals had a tendency to cause friction within bands. Stills is a huge egomaniac, who demands attention. Young is a quiet egomaniac who commands attention. Young was one of only a few people able to leave Stills speechless, because he was able to walk away.

But…

What if Stills had realized what potential a Stills/Young partnership could have held for the two artists, rather than going and playing grabass with those two pussies Crosby & Nash?

Neil Young released his first solo album in 1969, then followed it up with a hell of a six album run from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere in 1969 to Zuma in 1975. He also dabbled in the CSNY Musical Amusement Park. Unsurprisingly, he never really was a full member of the band, for he had a tendency to come and go as he pleased, depending on his mood.

Stills went from legitimate rocker to harmonizing on crap like "Our House". He was the balls in CSN, which is a lot like being the ace of the Orioles' starting five. In addition to CSN, he also released Stephen Stills and [/i]Stephen Stills 2[/i], but he really topped out with Manassas in 1972. Manassas had balls. Manassas rocked. For one album. I've actually never heard the second release, but I've also never read anything positive about it.

But what if Stephen Stills had been able to see the possible creative output of an extended partnership with Neil Young? They got back together for 1976's Long May You Run, but that was more like being drunk one night and bumping into your chick you banged for a while in freshman year. It ain't the same. You've both changed. The magic they had between them while laying down the "88,000" guitar parts in "Bluebird" was gone, unlikely to be uncovered again.

Could the competitive and rival egos of Stephen Stills and Neil Young driven a creative partnership to be dropped on Mount Olympus with Gods like Lennon/McCartney and Jagger/Richards? Hell, what about a short run like Farrar/Tweedy?

Neil Young has made a hell of a name for himself, choirs or no choirs. I liked Neil Young's 2005 release Prairie Wind. It's not his greatest, but it's enjoyable. But Stephen Stills? His 2005 release, Man Alive!, was one of the worst records I've ever heard. It was even worse than that Big Star record from last year.

Plus, he turned into this guy, some sort of cross John Goodman impersonator who follows Jimmy Buffett when he's not playing a State Fair.

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Awesome post.

Danke.

thats's a great what if

Young's 70s solo stuff was certainly phenomenal, but its cool to consider if Stills had stuck with him too

is there any CSNY worth listening to? ive consciously avoided it cos id rather just listen to Young

a former co-worker of mine had a child with him. the dude won't even acknowledge the kid, who is actually now an adult.

In the realm of 'what ifs', this ranks high up. Maybe if the egos didn't collapse every collaborative effort, something really great could have occurred. You nailed it though, Fu. Two egomaniacs, one loud, one quiet. After reading Shakey, I was impressed with Neil's ego and need to dominate and a little confused why Stills was so enamoured of himself, at least Neil has all those solo albums. Maybe they could have played off each other and done something fantastic.

Question: Is Long May You Run any good, I've never heard the whole thing.

And how Neil left their tour in '76 is one of the best fuck offs ever.

OR...what if Stephen Still would have beaten out Mike Nesmith for the role as the kooky "Monkee."???

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egads


young still looks bad ass in an old man sorta way

I have a vinyl copy I picked up for fifty cents or so, and I've never felt compelled to actually play it. I always end up grabbing Everybody Knows, American Stars & Bars or Rust Never Sleeps fromt eh vinyl rack instead. So I really don't know.

As for CSNY, there's Deja Vu, which isn't atrocious, but it does have dogshit like "Teach Your Children Well", "Almost Cut My Hair" and "Our House".

If I'm going to put on the foursome, I tend to put on So Far, which wasn't really a album, but moreso a way to promote a tour. It's a mishmash of Deja Vu and CSN, plus "Ohio" and "Find the Cost of Freedom". I like it because it has "Ohio" on it, plus it's an album I remember Dad playing a lot on Sunday afternoons when I was a kid.

The bottom line is, CSN(Y) wasn't really an artistic vehicle. It was a cash register.

As long as Still didn't go on to do Elephant Parts, Television Parts, Repoman, Tapeheads, Timerider and Doctor Duck's Super Secret All-Purpose Sauce, cause they wouldn't be the same.

If you're always more compelled to grab Neil solo than Young-Stills, that argues for its mediocrity. I'd still like to hear it though. I've never heard CSN/Y in my life, save for what appears on Decade (and their American Dream song from '88, I think). They just seemed like the folkie equivalent of a barbershop quartet and even Neil's involvement didn't make me want to hear more.

Can't argue with much of any of this, but with some contextual perspective that I was there to live through, at least through about '74, I don't think CSN(Y) was a cash register at all.

I'll concede my lack of contextual perspective.

The original CSN album was a confluence of acoustic and vocal elements that no one had pulled off as well before. The additiion of Young was a saving grace, a knife edge that played well against the original group, and something that was needed by the time that Deja Vu appeared. I always thought that Stills was an excellent journeyman, not much more.

After your last post, I re-thought that. I agree with that, and this second post. It became a cash register, but didn't start off that way.

McDonough's Young biography paints Stills as the creative force behind CSN. He laid down most of the music, and put in most of the time, only to have the two moustachoied ones come in to sing harmonies. Granted, that's only one account.

I don't doubt that Stills was the bull in that weak china shop- Nash always struck me as a cock smoker, and Crosby was, well, hugely fucked up for 30 years.

Per CSNY, I like So Far quite a bit. "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" made my Listmania 2. "Wooden Ships" has some pretty great harmonies as well.

All that said, this is a great 'what if?' If anything it may just show how much Stills needed somebody like Young to keep him at his peak.

I saw a doc once where Nash played up his role which I guess isnt too surprising. I mean, even Crosby, arguably one of the biggest fuck ups of ALL time, was/is a pretty damn talented musician.

I dunno, I never had much use for Stills: true, he was probly the force in CSN and sure Buffalo Springfield yadda yadda. Mannassas? Decent, but nothing special. Always struck me as the kind of dude who needed an ass whipping.

Oh, and Fu, since you deined to bring it up twice: I honestly cannot stand almost everything CSN did including their Woodstock-era "classics", but "Our House" is a really cool song to me for some reason. But since you have me killfiled, you'll never read this.

I sought out Manassas after reading somewhere that Wyman considered quitting THE ROLLING FUCKING STONES and joining up with Stills.

It doesn't live up to that hype, but is an interesting sort of counterpoint to Exile, which pretty much has the same goal: 4 sides of Americana, each representing a different type of American music. Neither achieves their goal, but it is kind of fascinating to listen to what an American and a British band come up with.

And, that fucking picture of Stills should go on Perverted Justice.

Doesn't everyone from Texas?

Easy, jocko

All right then. I meant except Jagged

What about monsters like T. Boone Pickens?

or Pimp C?