CROSBY STILLS NASH & YOUNG - LONG TIME GONE, NM 2LP SET

	£		38
	$		50

CROSBY STILLS NASH & YOUNG - LONG TIME GONE, LIVE 1970        

Original near mint double-LP set in gatefold sleeve

Double vinyl album, TheSwinging Pig ( TSP-LP-032-2), released in 1989, Stereo, manufactured in Europe. Matrix Nos: TSP 032-2 A/B/C/D.

For many pop/rock music lovers of the late 1960s, the aggregation of David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young was a definitive representation of the mixed emotions of the period with, underneath the aspirations of dealing with the world through love, the harsher reality of personal perspectives - including greed - bubbling ever more turbulently.

This quartet, whose coming together had, ominously, included reservations (most pertinently between former Buffalo Springfield members Stills and Young), were a mercurial mix of creative inspiration and headstrong incompatibility, but with the latter proving too hard to handle when combined with the rigours of a concert schedule, their 1970 American tour of May to July 1970 was the last they would ever undertake.

And, in hindsight, it’s quite surprising that they had managed to complete their first/previous tour (some 25 or so US shows between August to December 1969) plus a few European dates early in 1970.

This double album was recorded during that final tour and though the cover identifies the venue as Lakehurst in New Jersey (June 3rd), records of their gigs don’t include this venue, and the prevailing view is that the songs come from - mostly - New York’s Fillmore East which they played on June 3rd in the first of 6 consecutive nights at the venue, with a few from the Forum in Los Angeles (June 28th).

For this concert and almost all of this final tour, the rhythm section comprised drummer Johnny Barbata (later to be involved with Jefferson Airplane/Starship) and bassist Calvin ‘Fuzzy’ Samuels a friend of Stills to whose solo albums he had contributed.

Prompted by an enthusiastic audience, the quartet kick-off with the acoustic Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, Stills’ dedication to his then girlfriend, singer Judy Collins. Unlike on Four Way Street, it’s a full-length version which features some very emotionally-delivered harmonies with a very quiet instrumental passage towards the end but, such was the reverence afforded to them, that you could hear the proverbial pin drop in the respectful audience silence that accompanied the tune. However, with the relatively frenzied climax, the cheers come loud and fast, and reinforce the attendant enthusiasm.

Then it’s into a delicately poignant version of the Lennon-McCartney cut, Blackbird - from the White Album - and the only non-original song on this set. Again, it’s performed with bags of feeling and with even less instrumentation than Judy Blue Eyes, but the audience’s respect is total and the hush definitely revential.

There then follows some light-hearted but slightly barbed banter between the artists as they briefly toy with introducing the next number, Young’s On The Way Home, as their “newest greatest hit”! Short, but brimming over with instrumentation (compared with the earlier numbers that is), its harmonies are fuller, even quite lush at times, making for a thoroughly enjoyable performance.

More banter (focusing on what David [Crosby] digs[!] and seemingly trying to decide what to play next) plus tuning/re-tuning follows before they launch into the first Graham Nash song of the show, Teach Your Children. Yet again the instruments are used relatively sparingly as the voices take centre-stage and there is a nervousness which only really becomes apparent when the song ends and a couple of them whoop happily as the applause begins. And, as that fades away, they break into several minutes of chatting both amongst themselves and with the audience, prompting some laughter and applause before side one of this set ends.

Side two starts with another Neil Young song, Tell Me [My] Why, which is pleasantly but purposefully driven by some nice acoustic guitar and though it features shared lead vocals, the composer’s is the most noticeable. The, after yet more banter (not to mention further tuning - with commentary on its progress!), they launch into an acoustic Young medley comprising The Loner, an abbreviated version of Cinnamon Girl (which gets a big burst of applause) and Down By The River - to an even bigger audience reception, which is reprised when the chorus begins and inevitably echoed, and very enthusiastically, at its conclusion.

Young then introduces his former Buffalo Springfield colleague, Stills who mentions his Louisiana upbringing and, starting to play a soft bluesy passage, references a coloured musician called Charlie Harris who he knew and, he explains, used to play blues guitar at sundown. For some reason, a few people in the audience are heard laughing while he plays, and he quietly but firmly responds with the observation that “one thing the blues ain’t, is funny!”, before breaking into an, at times, quite emotional rendition of Black Queen from his debut solo album.

Like Young, he garners a very warm response from the crowd and follows it up with another three of his songs, starting with a medley of 49 Bye-Byes and For What It’s Worth, which sees him on piano and features some enthusiastic clapping along from the audience as he breaks into the latter number and, as he delivers the spoken section deriding the then current American political scene, the supporting noise increases even more, building to a rapturous response as the song ends.

And even before the applause has died down, Graham Nash introduces Love The One You’re With and they’re off into the song. It’s another very popular choice, helped almost certainly by being Stills’ first hit single, and also from his debut album. Having had Crosby and Nash on backing vocals for the studio recording, this live version is able to replicate the original very faithfully and, with its uptempo beat, it gets a great response.

 Then they take a short break before returning with the last of this album’s quiet songs, As I Come Of Age which would later appear on Stills’ third solo album. Here it is performed as a slow piano piece with shared vocals and with the audience fade out, there is another short break before the opening notes to Nash’s Pre-road Downs mark the first of the “electric” (or rock) numbers, and the arrival on-stage of the Barbata-Samuels rhythm section.

As rock songs go Pre-Road is fairly gentle, but nevertheless it gets raises the tempo and sets the scene nicely for the next track, Long Time Gone - the only Crosby composition on this album - which not only brings some real intensity to the playing, but effectively dispenses with any perception that this quartet’s stage forte is primarily acoustic numbers. In particular, the toughness of the guitar interplay between Stills and Young would not be out of place in most out-and-out hard rock bands.

The last side in this 2-album set opens with yet more good-natured banter from the quartet which leads into Helplessly Hoping, another (Stills) rock number but played here with a certain amount of restraint, with a very nice late-song instrumental guitar passage.

Then they introduce their then current single, Ohio, a Young composition written in response to the shooting of 4 students in Kent State, Ohio less than one month earlier. Not surprisingly it gets a warm reception and is delivered with a considerable intensity that just grows - especially with the repetition of the chorus line ‘Four Dead In Ohio’ - as it approaches the end. Arguably the quartet’s best known single, it is a classic example of their, at times, overt political stance (on this occasion prompting several radio stations to ban it), and also shows the passion their playing could arouse.

And the set finishes with another socio-political comment song, Young’s Southern Man, which raised the hackles of many southern states’ people with its references to slavery (I hear …. bullwhips cracking) and the Ku Klux Klan (Now your crosses are burning fast…). For all that though it’s a first-rate piece of music and given the full electric treatment - as it is here - not only further illustrates the harder side that this foursome could present, but makes for a great finale to this excellent album.

The translucent green vinyls (with the odd black fleck/streak) have been well looked-after, having been kept in their customised TSP poly-lined inner sleeves since being purchased. The result is four beautifully-shiny surfaces which having been played no more than a few times in all and still even have just a little of the surface static that is usually only apparent with new albums. Suffice it to say that, even when viewed in direct light, the only visible marks are a sprinkling of the really light hairline kind that are usually caused when removing the record from its sleeve and replacing it.

And a pre-auction play-through shows that from the moment the needle enters the run-in groove on each side to the time it leaves the run-off, you hear a full-bodied and clear sound which is every bit as pleasing as its appearance as, not only are the run-ins/run-outs close to silent, but also there is only the occasional click or pop in the way of extraneous sounds both during and between the tracks and, on this basis, the vinyl is graded “mint (-)”.

Also, as you might expect from an album with so little playing, the black labels have little, if any, sign of any wear either to the spindle hole or the area around it, nor any writing, stains, labels or any other kind of blemish and, consequently, they are also rated “mint (-)”.

The cover, which has also been kept in a sturdy plastic cover since purchase, is a gatefold and at 20+ years old, inevitably shows some signs of wear: most noticeably there is some light creasing/wear at the top of the spine, at the corners and near some edges, with a few minor surface scuffs or similar marks and, just about visible in strong light, a slight hint of ring-wear.

Otherwise though, it is in beautiful condition, with very bright colouring, sharp edges, a well-shaped and easily-read spine, a pristine inside section, little if any open-edge feathering, substantial seams with no splits and very clean surfaces with no tears, no writing, no sticker-marks, no stains or other serious blemishes. Overall then, this first-class sleeve is graded “excellent (++)”.

This album also comes with the original TSP poly-lined inner sleeves which have just the odd light surface mark/crease, but are otherwise in superb overall condition, and consequently also rated “mint (-)”.

15 Tracks

Side 1: Suite: Judy Blue Eyes; Blackbird; On The Way Home & Teach Your Children.

Side 2: Tell Me [My] Why; The Loner/Cinnamon Lady/Down By the River & Black Queen.

Side 3: 49 Bye-Byes/For What It’s Worth; Love The One You’re With; As I Come Of Age; Pre-Road Downs & Long Time Gone.

Side 4: Helplessly Hoping; Ohio & Southern Man.

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