"...Gonna Try Anyway..."
For all Stephen Stills fans
there are touchstones in his amazing career – Buffalo Springfield at the
beginning - followed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and his first two solo
albums on Atlantic in 1970 and 1971. But almost all will feel a rush of excitement
just clapping their weary eyes on the 1972 double-album sprawl of
"Manassas" – for me easily as cool as 1972's "Exile On Main
St." or "Quadrophenia" from the following year.
Stunning songs, top players
and different musical styles across the four sides – it's a bit of a wow
frankly - and Stills himself feels it’s amongst his best work. Not surprising
then that eight songs from it turned up on the 2013 Stephen Stills "Carry
On" 4CD retrospective (see separate review). Time to get familiar with
this wickedly good double-album and its two versions on HDCD. Here are the keys
to Johnny's Garden...
The UK/EUROPE/USA issue of "Manassas" by STEPHEN STILLS on Atlantic 7567-82808-2 (Barcode
075678280825) was released February 1993 (reissued October 1995) and is a HDCD
reissue (High Definition Compatible Digital) with the full double-album
transferred onto 1CD and plays out as follows (71:58 minutes):
Side 1 (called "The
Raven"):
1. Song Of Love
2. Rock & Roll Crazies -
Cuban Bluegrass (2 songs as 1)
3. Jet Set (Sigh)
4. Anyway
5. Both Of Us (Bound To
Lose)
Side 2 (called "The
Wilderness"):
6. Fallen Eagle
7. Jesus Gave Love Away For
Free
8. Colorado
9. So Begins The Task
10. Hide It So Deep
11. Don't Look At My Shadow
Side 3 (called
"Consider"):
12. It Doesn't Matter
13. Johnny's Garden
14. Bound To Fall
15. How Far
16. Move Around
17. The Love Gangster
Side 4 (called "Rock
& Roll Is Here To Stay"):
18. What To Do
19. Right Now
20. The Treasure (Take One)
21. Blues Man [Dedicated To
Jimi Hendrix, Al Wilson and Duane Allman]
Tracks 1 to 21 are the
double-album "Manassas" – released April 1972 in the USA on Atlantic
SD2-903 and May 1972 in the UK on Atlantic K 60021. The original vinyl LPs ran
the Sides differently - Record 1 had Side 1 and 4 – while Record 2 had Sides 2
and 3. Howard and Ronnie Albert Engineered - Stephen Stills, Chris Hillman and
Dallas Taylor Produced. "Manassas" peaked at No. 4 in the USA in late
April 1972 and No. 30 in the UK in late May 1972.
The MANASSAS Band was:
STEPHEN STILLS – Guitars,
Keyboards and Lead Vocals
CHRIS HILLMAN – Guitars and
Backing Vocals
AL PERKINS – Guitars and
Backing Vocals (including Steel Guitar)
PAUL HARRIS – Organ, Tack
Piano, Piano, Clavinette and Keyboards
CALVIN “FUZZY” SAMUELS -
Bass
JOE LALA – Congas, Timbales
and Percussion
DALLAS TAYLOR – Drums
Guests:
JERRY AIELLO – Keyboards
BYRON BERLINE – Fiddle
SYDNEY GEORGE - Harmonica
BILL WYMAN – Bass on
"The Raven" and "The Wilderness" Sides
ROGER BUSH – Acoustic Bass
on "The Raven" and "The Wilderness" Sides
The 8-page booklet is very
basic – tracks lists, musician and reissue credits with the inner gatefold of
the double-album reproduced on the two centre pages. But fans will know that
there was paper inners on American copies for both LPs (same picture on all four
sides mind you) and a giant foldout poster with fantastic colour photos of the
seven boys on one side and hand-written lyrics to every song on the other –and
that's AWOL I'm afraid.
The other variant of "Manassas" by STEPHEN STILLS I have is
the 23 September 2013 Japanese MINI LP ARTWORK Reissue on Warner Brothers/Atlantic WPCR-15257
(Barcode 4943674153107) that uses the old JOE GASTWIRT Remaster (there
is a reference to the 1995 version on the OBI strip at the rear). At 71:58
minutes the playing time is exactly the same as the widely available HDCD
variants and the Orange/Green label also carries the HDCD code. The repro'd
artwork is gorgeous – using the American textured hard card gatefold cover.
Typical of their attention to detail they've also repro’d the Inner Sleeve with
the side profile shot of Stephen Stills (one for one disc - see photos
provided) and the fold-out lyric poster that came with both US and UK original
vinyl copies. On top of all that is the usual white-pages Japanese language
booklet with lyrics (24-pages).
Try as I might – I can't
hear any real Audio difference between the Japanese issue and the common
Euro/US pressing – except to say that the Japanese issue (which is made and
mastered in Japan) has a more pronounced and warmer Bass on some songs – bottom end. Other than that you're paying a
lot of money for what is admittedly gorgeous packaging. So the thing to
remember about the Japanese repress is that it's not a SHM-CD and not a new
Remaster - so any claims of Audio improvement is very debatable. There is also
a 2013 Japanese issue of the follow-up LP "Down The Road" in the same
Mini LP packaging.
I mention the Audio a lot
because if you play any of the eight tracks from Manassas featured on the 2013
Stephen Stills "Carry On" Box Set – you 'can' hear the improvement
big time – beautiful clarity on softer songs like "Colorado" and “It
Doesn’t Matter” (which was always a tad muddy on every issue) and more muscle
on rockers like "Song Of Love" and "Jet Set (Sigh)". That
box set also carries a Previously Unreleased shorter take of "The
Treasure" running to 4:20 minutes instead of the released Take 1 version
here at over 8-minutes (could have been added on a bonus).
The music is a mishmash of
Rock on Side 1 with the fantastic riffage of "Song Of Love" and
"Anyway" nestling alongside Acoustic ballads like "Johnny's
Garden" and "Bound To Lose". These jostle alongside out-and-out
Banjo-picking Country Rockabilly in the shape of "Fallen Angel" and
"Don't Look At My Shadow". CSNY's harmony-influence surfaces on
shuffling California songs like "So Begins The Task" and the beautiful
"Colorado". Hidden nuggets include the wickedly musical Synth and
Acoustic soundscape of "Move Around" and the stunning Wah-Wah Guitar
Funk of "The Love Gangster" (surely would have made a great 45).
"Right Now" is a kind of "Deja Vu" fast-paced boogie - but
it's outclassed big time by the album finisher "Blues Man" - easily
the coolest tune he's ever penned for a Guitar - a song that tears them up even
now 44-years after the event.
The truth is that if I feel
there's even a millisecond of improvement on "Manassas" - then I had
to own the beautiful Japanese repro. I suspect others will feel exactly the
same.
GENIUS and then some...
