With the recent passing of David Crosby, this recent release of Stephen Stills in concert back in 1971 is even more poignant.To put this album in it’s perspective, by this point Stills was a few years removed from his work with Jimi Hendrix and Buffalo Springfield, and riding the wave of the “folk rock” popularity of Crosby, Stills and Nash (and sometimes Young). He had released two eponymous solo albums as was just a year away from putting together his Manassas band. Here, he’s in a mix vintage Laurel Canyon folk , playing guitars, piano and banjo for part of the album, while for a healthy part sounding like he took a trip to STAX records, grooving with The Memphis Horns for a handful of tunes
The mix and match band of Steve Fromholz/g, Sidney George/as-fl, Paul Harris/org, Joe Lala/perc, Calvin Samuels/b and Dallas Taylor/dr five subtle support on folksy takes of “Love The One You’re With”, and “Do Unto Others” with a nice jam on the pick and grinner “ Jesus Gave Love Away For Free”. He sounds gospel driven at the piano for “49 Bye-Byes/For What It’s worth” and teams up with Crosby for wondrous harmonies on ”You Don’t Have To Cry” and “The Lee Shore”. When the Memphis Ho9rns of Jack Hale/tb, Roger Hopps/tp, Wayne Jackson/tp, Andrew Love/ts and Floyd Newman/as join the stage, the BBQ sauce gets slopped on for a funk fest on ”Lean On Me”, Cherokee” and “Ecology Song”. Who’d been hiding this from us?