CROSBY, STILLS and Nash started out
together just to make some nice, harmonic sounds together. Their first album was a huge
world-wide hit. Two million people thought their harmonic sounds were nice enough to buy.
Only drummer Dallas Taylor was on that LP in addition to C S & N. It was the kind of
record that had something for probably everyone's taste.
Question: how the hell do you follow that?
The answer comes from Atlantic records in a couple of weeks, when they release the group's
second, and even better (would you believe?) album.
FUNKY
Titled Deja Vu and performed by, to give
them their new, official band name, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Dallas Taylor &
Greg Reeves, it comes in a dark-brown, leather-bound jacket with a far-out front sleeve of
the six-man band looking like Civil War combatants.
The album was produced by the chaps
themselves at Wally Heider's excellent funky little Hollywood studio, immaculately
engineered by Bill Halverson, over a period of around two months.
Kicking off with a really cooking Carry
On, by Stills, this is actually two of Stephen's acoustic songs - Carry On and Questions
broken up by their inimitable unaccompanied harmonising for eight bars.
PLEA
Teach Your Children is Graham Nash's
simple little plea to us to teach our children well, so that we can learn from their
dreams. Jerry Garcia from The Grateful Dead adds some Country flavour with his Steel
Guitar.
A true reflection of Crosby's personal
American paranoia follows with his song Almost Cut My Hair. But he didn't cut his hair, he
tells us. He preferred to let his Freak flag fly! There's some great guitar from Stills
and Young on this track, both of them working together and against each other, compatibly.
Young's Helpless follows, a slow song
about the town in North Ontario where he grew up, and went through all his changes. Now he
can't go back there, as it's all a big drag. And he feels helpless. Neil Young on lead
guitar and voice, Stills on Cowboy piano, C,S&N harmonizing in the highest imaginable
way.
HYMN
Closing the first half of the album is the
group's rocking version of Joni Mitchell's hymn about the greatest-ever kids'
get-together, Woodstock. Nash and Stills sharing most of the singing about the
half-million Children Of God together in The Garden of Celebration. And about how Joni
dreamed she saw the bomber jet planes, riding shotgun in the sky, turn into butterflies
over the nation. Heavy.
Side 2 begins with Crosby's title track
Deja Vu, which in this context means that we have all been here before (in another
lifetime). Tempos vary in this one, illustrating the excellence of Taylor's drumming, and
Greg Reeves' bass. John Sebastian adds some willowy harmonica to the dreamy parts.
Our House is dedicated by Nash to the log
cabin he used to live in Laurel Canyon with his lady, and their two cats. Pretty
Lah-lah-lahing chorus, with Nash's various voices and piano strongly shining through.
4 + 20 was written by Stills The Loner
when he was four and twenty years old. Beautifully tragic song, just Stephen's voice and
his acoustic guitar.
SOARING
Country Girl is an epic production by Neil
Young in which he succeeds in out-Spectoring Phil Spector, and even out-Nitzscheing his
former producer Jack Nitzsche.
And finally, a rocking bit of Stills/Young
boogie called Everybody I Love You where the whole band really gets it on. And you won't
believe the high, searing, floating quality of vocals.
