WINTERLAND REUNION

(Whoopy Cat 0035)

Tracklist: Helplessly Hoping, Wooden Ships, Blackbird, As I Come of Age, Roll Another Number, Human Highway, New Mama, So It Goes, Prison Song, Long Time Gone, Change Partners bonus: Down by the River

1973: It was a bad year, a sad year, a year for the history books. "The pall of the Watergate is upon us," reflected Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmum in an address to the American Bar Association that August. So true. America, it seemed, was fraying at the seams. Not only was there the Watergate matter, but there was an economic crisis, an energy crisis--and, to bring the crises closer to home, an aborted CSNY reunion. The foursome had come together on Maui in Hawaii, recording a bevy of songs ("Human Highway," "Pardon My Heart," "And So It Goes," "Prison Song" and "Homeward Through the Haze," among others) before ... yep. The same-old, same-old ego-conflicts arose. "It would have been the best album we ever made," Crosby told writer Johnny Rogan. Winterland Reunion, then, is a hint of what could have been. On October 4th, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young convened on stage following a Manassas concert. What a show! On the surface, the all-acoustic performance is a ragged affair, but the undertow is strong enough to pull you in. "There's no preparation. You're getting it as it comes," explains Nash before Stills launches into the night's closing song, "Change Partners." In short: What a show! One highlight is Neil's "Human Highway," during which he and Stephen trade off verses. Other highlights: "Wooden Ships," "Blackbird," "As I Come of Age" ... uh, wait. Let's do it another way: See the track listing up above? Those are the highlights! Really. Soundwise, this is superb, with its only drawback being inexplicable one- or two-second drop-outs during a few of the songs. The electric "Down by the River"--from an ABC-TV appearance (The Music Scene, perhaps?) in 1969--is another revelation, yet another example of the foursome at the peak of their powers.

LONGEST SHOW EVER

Seattle Center Coliseum - July 9, 1974

Length: CD 1: 56:47/CD 2: 62:29/CD 3: 54:54/CD 4: 39:29

CD 1 1. Love The One You're With 2. Wooden Ships 3. Immigration Man 4. Cowgirl In The Sand 5. Change Partners 6. Traces 7. Grave Concern 8. Black Queen 9. Almost Cut My Hair 10. Ohio

CD 2 (Acoustic Set) 1. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes 2. Helplessly Hoping 3. Blackbird 4. Human Highway 5. Prison Song 6. As I Come Of Age 7. Carry Me 8. For Free 9. Guinnevere 10. South Bound Train 11. Sleep Song 12. Our House

CD 3 1. 4+20 2. Know You Gotta Run 3. You Can't Catch Me 4. Love Art Blues 5. Long May You Run 6. A Man Needs A Maid 7. Don't Be Denied 8. First Things First 9. Deja Vu 10. My Angel 11. Pre-Road Downs

CD 4 1. My Favorite Changes 2. Long Time Gone 3. Revolution Blues 4. Pushed It Over The End 5. Carry On 6. What Are Their Names/Chicago

Notes: Source: I was told Soundboard. Sounds like a good audience recording.

ALL ALONG THE NAVAJO TRAIL

(Fucking Up ?)

Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA July 13, 1974

disc one: Love the One You're With, Wooden Ships, Immigration Man, Traces, Cowgirl in the Sand, Grave Concern, Black Queen, Ohio, Suite Judy Blue Eyes, Blackbird, Human Highway
disc two: Carry Me, For Free, The Lee Shore, Prison Song, It's Allright, Our House, Long May You Run, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Ambulance Blues, Sugar Mountain.
disc three: Know You Got to Run, You Can't Catch Me/Word Game, Don't Be Denied, Deja Vu, Pre-Road Downs, First Things First, Long Time Gone, Revolution Blues, Pushed It Over the End, Carry On, Chicago

This collection provides the full show (note: some sources indicate that another Neil Young song, the title track from On the Beach, was also performed but is not included in this set) from the first of two CSNY 1974 concerts at the Oakland Coliseum on July 13, 1974.The biggest tour of its time, the '74 CSNY reunion proved to be the last time around (to date, anyway) for the legendary super-group. Readers old enough to remember the tours will recall that such notables as The Beach Boys, the Band and Santana opened these stadium shows. And CSNY did not disappoint: their sets almost always exceeded three hours and featured songs from both their collective and solo ventures. Navajo Trail is representative of these shows, with over three hours of music and 32 songs.
Neil Young fans should be delighted with Navaho. We get one of his greatest unreleased songs, an electrifying "Pushed It Over the End" as well as "Traces," another unreleased tune. Also featured is a solo "Ambulance Blues" and an absolutely incredible read of "Revolution Blues," featuring Neil and Stephen on electric guitars, which blows away the On the Beach version. Other strong Young songs include group acoustic spins of "Sugar Mountain," (an unusual version with harmony vocals) "Only Love Can Break Your Heart," and the then-unreleased "Human Highway" (far superior to the Comes a Time version) and "Long May You Run." We also get "Ohio" and "Cowgirl in the Sand," both electric, as well as the classic from Time Fades Away, "Don't Be Denied." Neil fans certainly went home satisfied from this concert.
As did fans of David Crosby and Graham Nash. Both provide outstanding vocals throughout the show, especially on standout acoustic cuts like Crosby's new "Carry Me," Nash's electric "Immigration Man" and the lovely duet on "Lee Shore." Nash's solo spot is particularly strong, with only the always maudlin "Our House" tarnishing great versions of "Prison Song" and the new "It's Alright." In the two electric sets, Crosby's "Long Time Gone" and "Deja Vu," along with Nash's "Pre-Road Downs" and new "Grave Concern" are also strong. Navajo Trail provides ample evidence that Crosby and Nash were key members of the band (stronger proof is found on the Empty Ocean Road bootleg of the awful Stills-Young Band tour, where their absence makes the vocals of the remaining duo sound shrill and lifeless). Nothing wrong here with Crosby or Nash.
Which leaves the "headliner" of the group, Stephen Stills. In earlier tours, Stephen was the star of the show, getting the last acoustic solo spot and the majority of the lengthy lead guitar parts. For the '74 tour, this status seemed to continue, but as Navaho Trail shows it was clearly not deserved. By '74 the velvet voice that gave us "Four Days Gone" and "49 Bye Byes" had given way to a rough, low register blues growl that struggled to stay in tune (notwithstanding the fact that, yes, he did hit the high note on "hearrrrrrt" during the middle part of "Suite"). And while his guitar playing remained strong, his songwriting did not. His few new tunes offered on the tour were mediocre, such as the ho-hum "First Things First" found on Navajo Trail (where he plays congas, not guitar). And while his solo spot generated audience excitement, the performances of "Know You Got To Run" and "You Can't Catch Me/Word Game" were uneventful. Perhaps the sets' weakest performance is the monotonous "Black Queen" where the electric guitar riff goes on ... and on ...and on. And while "Wooden Ships" early in the show is outstanding, the set closer "Carry On" sounds tired, perhaps because the band had played it so often on other tours. While this assessment of Stills' performance may seem harsh to fans, other bootlegs from the tour confirm that by 1974, Stephen Stills' best days were behind him.
Sonically, Navajo Trail is about as good as any bootleg from the '70s not recorded from a radio show. While audience noise is sometimes annoying, especially in the acoustic part of the show, the sound here is probably equal or better to what you would have heard at the 80,000 seat stadium.
So, is Navajo Trail worth the big bucks triple-bootleg sets command? If your interest lies only with the Neil Young songs, I'd recommend skipping Navajo and searching out Traces, which collects most of the Young songs performed during the '74 tour. If you are a CSNY fan but already own the condensed two-disc version of the Navajo show, We Waited Three Years For This, upgrade to the full set only if you can get a good trade-in value for it. But if you really loved CSNY and want a document of their last stand as the country's (and maybe the world's) biggest band of the early '70s, go for Navaho Trail or its companion piece, Roosevelt Raceway, a full show from later in the tour (I'd personally chose Raceway, since it has the great "Walk On," "Military Madness," "Old Man," Manassas' favorite "Johnny's Garden" and a terrific "Almost Cut My Hair").
And one last thought......remember that Watergate and Nixon's impeachment problems accompanied the '74 tour. Perhaps a 25 year reunion of the band is in order to celebrate our current president's misfortunes?

ROOSEVELT RACEWAY

Location: Roosevelt Raceway, Westbury, Long Island Date: 9.8.74 (Gold Standard)

Disc one: Love the One You're With, Wooden Ships, Immigration Man, Helpless, Military Madness, Johnny's Garden, Walk On, Almost Cut My Hair, Teach Your Children, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, The Lee Shore, Time After Time, Southbound Train

Disc two: Another Sleep Song (w/ Joni Mitchell), Our House, Hawaiian Sunrise, Long May You Run, Ambulance Blues, Old Man, Change Partners, Myth of Sisyphus, You Can't Catch Me/Word Game, Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, Deja Vu, First Things First

Disc three: Don't Be Denied, Black Queen, Revolution Blues, Pushed It Over the End, Pre-Road Downs, Carry On, Sugar Mountain, Ohio

The last night of the American leg of the '74 stadium tour, this September 8th gig at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, Long Island features 33 songs--quite literally, there's something here for everybody. For example, fans of the Neilster's will want to hear this version of "Ambulance Blues." Perfect--okay, near-perfect--sound, Neil's vocals upfront and center, and his harmonica oozing into the microphone just the way it should combine for a killer--and I do mean--killer performance. Maybe he was singing to a stadium-sized audience that night, but for all intents and purposes he was singing for you and me, too. Likewise, later in the set, with "Pushed It Over the End," he reaches the pinnacle again. Another highlight: "Don't Be Denied," which he dedicates to Danny Whitten. Only the sleight "Hawaiian Sunrise" fails to deliver. Unlike We Waited Three Years for This, Stills comes off much better--better sound will do that, you know? "Change Partners" is as enchanting as on album. The rest of his material works wonders, though "Myth of Sisyphus"--to these ears, at least--has yet to match the brilliance he achieved when he laid it down for the '75 Columbia album Stills. One of the few downers of his turns is his electric run-through of "Black Queen." And the laid-back, slowed-down "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," which emphasizes the harmonies even more, is a positively brilliant rendition that matches, if not supercedes, the '69 album version. Graham Nash also shines. "Immigration Man," "Military Madness," "Teach Your Children," "Southbound Train," "Another Sleep Song," "Our House" and "Pre-Road Downs." Not a weak moment, song-wise or performance. This may well be hard for some to believe, but take my word on it: He more than holds his own amongst the "heavyweights" of Stills and Young. Sure, he gets short-shrift in the music press, but he more than holds his own in the company of Crosby, Stills and Young. Some might even say that, at times, he outshines them all--although that's taking it a bit too far for me. He matches Stills. Comes close to Young. And comes close to Crosby. "Almost cut my hair just the other day ...": A song for the ages. He may well have been the odd-man out when shaping the set (singing lead less than half as often as Neil, for example), but when he does steps to the fore ... watch out! "Time After Time," unreleased at the time of the performance, is wondrous, as is "The Lee Shore." Same goes for "Deja Vu," which benefits from a jazzy backing from the electric ensemble. His presence also shines on several other songs, most notably "Sugar Mountain." Now then, sound: Damn fine, although there is a noticeable drop in quality during "Deja Vu." As if one tape ran out and another tape, from another source, kicks in. It won't stop you from enjoying it, mind you, but it will annoy you in the short term. Finally: Should you, if given the opportunity, plunk down your hard-earned change for this three-disc set? The Old Grey Cat says: Depends how much change your plunking down. I've seen it being sold with prices from $65 to $90--extreme to very extreme, to say the least. I bypassed it on numerous occasions over numerous months and, even knowing what I know now, would again. But--yes, there's a but--if you happen to find it on "sale" or "clearance" in the, say, $30 price range? Slap those coins on the counter!