Manassas (Stephen Stills, Chris Hillman and Band) -1972-03-22 - Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Manassas 

(Stephen Stills, Chris Hillman and Band)

1972-03-22

Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands 

FM Broadcast Recording, Very Good Quality

Available in both Lossless (FLAC) and Mp3 (320 kbps) versions

OK, Ive been dealing mainly with recent (2022 releases) music for the past few months, but before we get full into 2023 music, let's go back again (50 years) to some older stuff. In 2022, I spent some time looking back at albums that turned 50 years old, making lists of favorites, etc. from 1972 (and what a great year for music that was). The lists of the top 25 or 30 albums from that year include some of the greatest of all-time. However, there were so many great albums from that year that some very notable releases seem to have been more neglected or nearly forgotten. This band, Stephen Stills' Manassas, a coming together of Stephen Stills and his touring band with Chris Hillman (Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers) and Al Perkins (of FBB), put out a great double album (Manassas, 1972) featuring a blend of rock, blues, latin, folk, country, and bluegrass, but barely received a mention among the great albums of 1972. Even in my own list of the top 30 albums of that year, I didn't have it in there (so many great albums that couldn't all make the list), but probably should have. This was an interesting band and album, as well as an interesting time. Stephen Stills was in the final stages of touring with his band in 1971 (in support of his 2nd solo album, Stephen Stills 2, which was considered a disappointment), when he crossed paths with Chris Hillman touring with Flying Burrito Bros (but that band was in turmoil amid various departures), hit it off, started jamming together, and decided to form a new band, consisting of Stephen and his backing band (Drummer Dallas Taylor, bassist Fuzzy Samuels, keyboardist Paul Harris, and percussionist Joe Lala) with Chris Hillman and pedal steel guitarist Al Perkins from FBB. As their sessions got going, they really gelled and produced abundant material, which turned into a double album. The band is very versatile, with many influences, capable of playing in many different styles. The album reflects that, as the 4 sides of the album follow different themes, with side 1 consisting of rock and latin-influenced songs, side 2 featuring country and bluegrass tracks, side 3 being acoustic and folk-rock, and side 4 being rock and blues. The album was quite successful, reaching #4 on the albums chart, going gold, and featuring several songs getting substantial radio airplay (It Doesn't matter, Johnny's Garden, Rock and Roll Crazies, etc). They went on an extensive and highly successful tour throughout 1972, with a unique and varied song selection, and some pretty amazing shows. Presented here today, was one of their very first shows as a band, an FM broadcast recording fro their show in Amsterdam in March 1972. I've also added in a few additional songs from a show a month later in Florida. A Great show and an underappreciated band and mix of talent. The band did go back to the studio for a follow-up album (Down the Road, 1973) and subsequent tour, but by that time the magic seemed to have gone, as there was much conflict and disagreement during the making of that album (which was not nearly as good), and the band broke up soon after. Hillman left to join J.D Souther and Richie Furay in the Souther Hillman Furay Band (with previous posts here), and took Al Perkins, Paul Harris, and Joe Lala with him for that band. Stills went back to CSN&Y for a 1974 tour and expected album, but the album (and parts of the tour) fell apart before completion. But for 1972, Manassas was flying high making great music in the studio and on tour.

Tracklist:
CD1
1. Rock And Roll Woman
2. Bound To Fall
3. Hot Burrito #2
4. It Doesn't Matter
5. Go Back Home
6. Change Partners
7. Know You Got To Run
8. 4 & 20
9. Intro to
10. Bluesman
11. Word Game
12. Do For The Others
13. Move Around
14. Both Of Us (Bound To Lose)
15. Love The One You're With
16. He Was A Friend Of Mine >
CD2
1. Fallen Eagle
2. Hide It So Deep
3. Johnny's Garden
4. Don't Look At My Shadow
5. Sugar Babe
6. Four Days Gone
7. <For What It's Worth.
8. <Song Of Love
9. Rock And Roll Crazies
10. Cuban Bluegrass
11. Jet Set [Sigh]
12. Anyway>
13. The Treasure
14. Find The Cost Of Freedom

Bonus Tracks (1972-04-22 - Dania, FL)
1. So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star
2. Crossroads > Black Queen
3. You're Still On My Mind
4. 49 Bye Byes > For What It's Worth
5. Right Now
6. Carry On

Manassas is:
Stephen Stills - vocals, guitar, bottleneck guitar, piano, organ.
Chris Hillman - vocals, guitar, mandolin
Al Perkins - steel guitar, guitar, vocals
Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels - bass
Paul Harris - organ, tack piano, piano, organ.
Dallas Taylor - drums
Joe Lala - percussion, vocals

FLAC - Manassas_1972-03-22_Amsterdam(FM)_Flac_CD1.rar
Manassas_1972-03-22_Amsterdam(FM)_Flac_CD2+.rar 

MP3 - Manassas_1972-03-22_Amsterdam(FM)_MP3.rar

 

Dave Mason & Friends - 1979-06-02 - Greek Theater, Berkeley, CA

Dave Mason and Friends
1979-06-02
Greek Theater, Berkeley, CA
FM Broadcast Recording, very good quality
Available in both Lossless (FLAC) and Mp3 (320 kbps) versions

Moving on with Post-Traffic artists, here is Dave Mason. Although Dave Mason was a founding member of Traffic, and contributed on and off to the band through 1970, he never quite fully fit in with the group, not collaborating much, generally just showing up with his songs already formed and the band expected to play them as he wanted. So, although he contributed some great songs, he never seemed fully invested into Traffic, and kept quite busy outside the band even during the times he was ostensibly a part of it. During those years Dave Mason hung out and played with some really big names, including Jimi Hendrix (introduced Jimi to and played on 'All Along the Watchtower'), the Rolling Stones (Beggar's Banquet), and Eric Clapton with Delaney and Bonnie. And Dave was always more in the singer-songwriter vein, with less of the jazz influences as the other Traffic members. After leaving Traffic, he released his first solo album, Alone Together, in 1970, which yielded the hit single 'Only You Know and I Know'. He also released a duo album with Cass Elliot, Dave Mason & Cass Elliot, around that time.  After a dispute with his record company over his next album, Mason left, and the album Headkeeper (1972) was released despite Mason's protests. Mason moved to Columbia Records and released a string of increasingly successful albums, It's Like You Never Left (1973), Dave Mason (1974), Split Coconut (1975), culminating in Let it Flow (1977), which featured his biggest solo hit, 'We Just Disagree', as well other songs that received radio airplay, and reached Platinum sales status. Subsequent albums, Mariposo de Ora (1978) and Old Crest on a New Wave (1980) were less successful and marked the last of his Columbia albums and the slow decline of his solo career. Here today we have a show from Dave in the late '70's, still riding a wave of popularity, and joined by his regular band featuring ace guitarist Jim Krueger, as well as some of his rock star friends, with Stephen Stills sitting in, and Joe Cocker dropping by for a couple songs. A fine show from an FM broadcast, with Dave showcasing his solo songs along with a couple from his Traffic days and some classic rock covers.    

Tracklist:
1. Share Your Love
2. Only You Know and I Know
3. Pearly Queen
4. You Are Every Woman
5. Take It To the Limit
6. Look At You, Look At Me
7. I Fell In Love
8. Watching the River Flow*
9. We Just Disagree
10. Bring Your Love In
11. Let It Flow
12. All Along the Watchtower
13. band intros, encore break
14. Stand By Me
15. second encore break
16. Feelin' Alright*

Dave Mason Band:
Dave Mason - vocals, guitar
Jim Krueger - vocals, guitar
Mike Finnigan - vocals, keyboards
Jimmy Haslip - bass
Rick Jaeger - drums
with special guests
Stephen Stills - guitar
Mark Stein - keyboards
Lisa Robbins - vocals
and * featuring Joe Cocker - vocals

FLAC - Dave Mason_1979-06-02_Berkeley_FLAC.rar

mp3 - Dave Mason_1979-06-02_Berkeley_mp3.rar

Buffalo Springfield - The Missing Herd (Live, outtakes, rarities compilation)

Buffalo Springfield
The Missing Herd
(2-CD compilation of demos, outtakes and live rarities)
Varying quality recordings, mostly very good
Lossless (FLAC) files
Artwork is included.

OK now, we can't bring up Neil Young, Stephen Stills, and Richie Furay's Poco, without hearing from the group that started it all, the great Buffalo Springfield, can we? Although Buffalo Springfield seems to be known primarily for what followed from their members (CSN&Y, Young, Stills solo, Loggins & Messina, Poco, etc.), let's not forget that Buffalo Springfield was a great band themselves, pioneers and innovators of all that followed, yes, but also just a great band regardless. They were very diverse, encompassing all of the country, rock, folk, pop, and psychedelic influences in a strange and unique blend, and while they only were together for a period of about 2 years total, produced many all-time classic tracks and jams. Here is an excellent bootleg compilation (1 disc of live tracks, 1 disc of outtakes & rarities), titled The Missing Herd, which was compiled to be a companion to the officially-released 4-CD Buffalo Springfield Box Set, released in 2001. Thus, it is subtitled Vols 5 & 6 (to follow the 4 official CDs - please don't ask where are the first 4 volumes), this is the complete Missing Herd compilation. Enjoy.

Disc 1:
The Missing Herd: Vol. 5 Livestock (Live tracks) (Subtitled Vol 5 because was designed as a companion to the official four-CD Springfield box set).
01 Introduction 0:41
02 Go and Say Goodbye 2:40
03 Mr. Soul 6:27
04 Bluebird 9:18
05 Pay the Price 5:32
06 Nobody's Fool 4:11
07 My Kind of Love 4:21
08 Good Time Boy 3:32
09 For What It's Worth 3:30
10 Rock 'n' Roll Woman 4:13
11 A Child's Claim To Fame 2:36
12 Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing 4:50
13 Uno Mundo 2:32
14 For What It's Worth 3:30
15 Bluebird 12:13
16 Epilogue: On the Way Home 2:14

Tracks 1, 8, 9: Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, Calif. 5/5/68
Tracks 2 - 7: Teen and Twenty Club, Huntingdon Beach, Calif. 8/11,12/67
Tracks 10 - 15: Market Hall, Dallas 4/20/68
Track 16: Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco 12/67

Disc 2:
The Missing Herd: Vol. 6 Do Not Approach Buffalo (Demos, outtakes, alternate takes, etc)
01 Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing (demo) 3:00
02 Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It (alt) 3:08
03 "Raga 1" (unreleased) 1:29
04 Mr. Soul (alternate take) 2:40
05 My Kind of Love (alt) 2:33
06 For What It's Worth (Smothers Brothers) 2:58
07 Down to the Wire (alt) 2:31
08 Bluebird (extended mix) 9:11
09 Sell Out (demo) 2:36
10 For What It's worth (Monterey Pop 1967) 2:57
11 Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing (Monterey Pop 1967) 3:33
12 Rock 'n' Roll Woman (Monterey Pop 1967) 4:06
13 Bluebird (Monterey Pop 1967) 4:24
14 A Child's Claim to Fame (Monterey Pop 1967) 2:00
15 Merry Go Round (alt mix) 2:07
16 Uno Mundo (alt mix) 2:06
17 49 Reasons (demo) 2:32
18 Roads of Plenty (barn rehearsals 1988) 4:22
19 Stills Boogie (barn rehearsals 1988) 3:29
20 Bluebird (extended mix, alt) 9:30

(Vol 6 collects mostly demos, alternate takes and outtakes. Five songs are from the Monterey Pop Festival performance. Unreleased songs include Sellout, Raga 1, Road Of Plenty and Stills Boogie. There are two different nine-minute versions of Bluebird, featuring long jams.)

New Link! (Updated 08/28/14)
Disc 1 (vol.5): Buffalo Springfield_Missing Herd Vol.5_FLAC.rar
Disc 2 (vol.6): Buffalo Springfield_Missing Herd Vol.6_FLAC.rar

Stills-Young Band - 1976-07-07 - Providence, RI

Stills-Young Band

(Stephen Stills & Neil Young)

1976-07-07

Providence Civic Center, Providence, RI

Master audience recording (Dan Lampinski), very good quality

mp3 @ 320 kbps

Artwork included

OK, here's the second part of the 7/7/76 post, the headline act, the Stills-Young Band. The Stills-Young Band consisted of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, and several of the members of Stills' former band Manassas, and represented a very brief reunion of Young and Stills. The pairing seemed odd at the time, since it was usually the friction between Young and Stills that ended their previous collaborations, from Buffalo Springfield to CSNY. Young has said that the reason he joined up with Stills again at that time was that he wanted to return to some of the interesting guitar explorations and interplay the two of them created in Buffalo Springfield. However, perhaps not surprisingly, the reunion was briefer than expected, because after quickly recording their only album as a band and setting off on tour, Young apparently tired of the group and just left in the middle of the tour, notoriously sending Stills a telegram saying he was gone and not coming back. Stills and band continued the tour without Young. Overall, 1976 was a very interesting and productive year for Young. In the early part of the year Young had a highly successful tour of Japan and Europe with Crazy Horse, and according to many fans those Japan shows rank among his very best. Then he returned to record with Stills, and they set out on tour months before the album was released. By the time the album was released in September, the band was already defunct. Several places have reported that Young only played on 8 dates of the tour, but that is wrong, he played on 19 dates before leaving, about half of the planned tour. In between and around all this, Young was also writing and recording some of his most memorable tunes around this time, many of which would not be released for some years, including 'Pocahontas', 'Like a Hurricane', 'Powderfinger', 'Too Far Gone', and several others (many were part of the great unreleased album, Chrome Dreams). Later in the year, Neil toured again with Crazy Horse, and then finished his concert year on Thanksgiving on stage with The Band for 'The Last Waltz'. As for the Stills-Young performances, they were interesting, and Young was at the top of his game (not as much for Stills) but even at this fairly early stage of the tour, there seems to be little interaction between Stills and Young, with there being a clear separation between the Stills songs and the Young songs. Those who were at the shows said they were rarely even onstage together. The performance, however, is quite good overall, but why they chose to sing 'Suite:Judy Blue Eyes' without Crosby or Nash present is very strange (it is downright painful to hear Young and Stills trying to sing the harmony vocals). Nonetheless, it is another unique and interesting chapter in Neil Young's strange career. (BTW, all Young fans should already have Chrome Dreams and some of the 1976 Japan shows, which are available on several other blogs - only reason I haven't posted them here).

Electric Set

01. Love The One You're With

02. The Loner

03. Helpless

04. For What It's Worth

05. Long May You Run

06. Black Queen

07. Southern Man

Acoustic Set

08. Sugar Mountain

09. Midnight On The Bay

10. After The Goldrush

11. Word Game

12. 49 Bye-Byes >

13. Circling >

14. 49 Bye-Byes

15. Treetop Flyer

16. Blackbird

17. Heart Of Gold

18. Ohio

Electric Set

19. band introductions

20. Buyin' Time

21. Let It Shine

22. Make Love To You

23. Cowgirl In The Sand

24. Mr. Soul

25. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes

Jerry Aiello - keyboards

Joe Lala - percussion, vocals

George "Chocolate" Perry - bass, vocals

Stephen Stills - guitar, vocals

Joe Vitale - drums, vocals

Neil Young - guitar, piano, harmonica, vocals

New Link! (Updated 12/30/13)
Stills-Young_1976-07-07_-_Providence.rar