By 1971 singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Stephen Stills had been a member of folk-rock group Buffalo Springfield (and penned their one hit, "For What It's Worth"), formed the supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and released two fantastic solo albums. His next project was a new band, called Manassas, consisting of various musician friends, including Chris Hillman (previously of The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers) and pedal steel guitarist Al Perkins (a seasoned session musician, who had also recently been in the Burritos with Hillman). The full line-up was Stills (lead vocals/guitar/slide/keyboards), Hillman (guitar/mandolin/vocals), Perkins (pedal steel/slide/guitar/vocals), Paul Harris (keyboards), Fuzzy Samuels (bass), Joe LaLa (percussion/vocals) and Dallas Taylor (drums). Both Taylor and Samuels had recently served as part of the CSNY rhythm section.The band's self-titled album came out in 1972. A double album, each side of vinyl consisted of a suite of songs ("The Raven", "The Wilderness", "Consider" and "Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay") which incorporated the diverse range of musical styles Stills and his friends had at their fingertips, including rock, folk, blues, country, and latin. The first side was very much blues-rock orientated, and the second side saw the band turn to their country-rock side (with spectacular results, to rival that of The Flying Burrito Brothers). The other two sides were a more varied mix of styles. Guest musicians appearing on the album include Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones (who co-authored "The Love Gangster" with Stills), and on the country-rock side bluegrass musicians Byron Berline and Roger Bush (of Country Gazette).
It was a great success, and is often referred to as Stills' masterpiece, incorporating the full scope of his musical talents. It eventually peaked at #4 on the album charts.
|> Down The Road (1973)
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1 comment:
St. Stills avec Manassas, très très bien! Merci beaucoup.
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