Published on Feb 1, 2000
Arising from the ashes of the Byrds, the Hollies, and Buffalo
Springfield, three of the best-loved harmony pop groups of the
1960’s, Crosby Stills Nash & Young (CSNY) was the first
American supergroup. Merging the clear harmony singing of David
Crosby and Graham Nash with Stephen Stills and Neil Young’s
incisive songwriting and guitar histronics, CSNY was a virtually
can’t-miss proposition. After two outstanding studio albums,
Deja Vu and
Crosby, Stills & Nash (without Young), the group
released
4 Way Street, a double live set culled from several dates on
their 1970 tour of the US.
The first disc of this album is an eclectic mix of songs, mostly
acoustic, and mostly obscure.
4 Way Street begins in a really odd and disconcerting way –
the faded-in coda to “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”, perhaps their
best-known song. While I understand that the limitations of vinyl
could have made it impossible to include the entire seven-minute
track, the exclusion is simply inexusable on this remastered CD
version. I’m not even sure why they included this snippet at all,
to be honest.
But things get a lot better from there. After an acoustic
run-through of “Teach Your Children”, each of the players takes
their moment in the spotlight, and they all shine. Young delivers
tender readings of “On The Way Home”, “Cowgirl In The Sand” and,
most impressively, themelancholy “Don’t Let It Bring You Down”
(with a hilarious deadpan intro by Young, who says the song “starts
out slowly and then fizzles out entirely”) from Young’s excellent
album
After The Gold Rush.
Crosby is absolutely perfect in a slowed-down “Triad”, the
homage to menage a trois that was left off
The Notorious Byrd Brothers (a decision which probably led
to Crosby’s departure from that group) and then “The Lee Shore”,
another vintage seascape.
Nash steps up to the mike and belts out his famous protest song
“Chicago” and then a gorgeous piece called “Right Between The Eyes”
that may be my favorite of his solo works. Stills delivers a
seven-minute piano-and-vocal performance that is equal parts ’60s
peace-and-love rap, social commentary, televangelist-style
preaching, and great music. It starts out with “49 Bye-Byes” and
moves into a great, up-tempo version of the Buffalo Springfield
classic “For What It’s Worth”. It’s excellent.
The rest of the first CD follows this general trend – CSNY
perform alone and in various combinations, doing some more obscure
bits from their catalog – including “Love The One You’re With”,
“Laughing” and “Black Queen”. A ten-minute medley of Young tunes
(including “Cinnamon Girl”), closes out the first half of the set.
While the first disc showcases some great performances, and some
excellent songs, the real treat of
4 Way Street lies in the second disc.
When describing the current CSNY reunion tour, Neil Young said
the current band could “sing like the Byrds and jam like the Dead.”
Well, judging by the off-key VH-1 special, perhaps ol’ Neil was
only half-right (although in fairness it was the first show of the
tour) about CSNY 2000. He was, however, right about CSNY 1970. Disc
two of this live album features some hellacious jamming
interspersed with tight vocal performances, all in all crafting a
great portrait of one of the 1970s’ most popular bands at their
finest.
After a few hard-charging, somewhat rearranged plugged-in
classics from the first two albums (“Pre-Roads Downs” and “Long
Time Gone”), CSNY and their sidemen embark on the first of two long
jams – the Young classic “Southern Man” (also from
After The Gold Rush). A biting criticism of Southern
bigotry, this track features spastic guitar interplay between
Stills and Young, and tight harmonies on the choruses. Fourteen
minutes of powerful jamming, highly reminscent of the Grateful
Dead, which never loses focus or direction. “Ohio”, another Young
protest tune, is given a similarly spirited run-through. While the
jam on “Carry On” isn’t perhaps as well-paced or powerful as
“Southern Man”, the first five minutes or so are a clinic of just
how tight and energizing CSNY could be at their best. The set
concludes, fittingly, with an acoustic/a capella “Find The Cost Of
Freedom.”
All in all, this is a pretty good live album that might just
change your opinion of CSNY. While their harder-edge is hinted at
by classics like “Ohio” and “Woodstock”, hearing this band tear up
their electric set was a real eye- (or perhaps ear) opener. The
sound quality is good, and although the set isn’t laden with hits,
it does include some solid performances.