They Call Us Au Go-Go Singers
(The Au Go-Go Singers)
(1964)
Like many of my favorite folk-rock musicians, Stills actually got his very early start in more traditional folk music. That included as part of the resident band at the Cafe Au Go-Go, a nine-person ensemble that also included his pal Richie Furay who would later join him as part of Buffalo Springfield. The band sang and played old standards of folk in New Christy Minstrels style arrangements.
This small release album was recorded in 1964 about the same time the band was coming together from just having been a fun one-off collaboration of musicians starting out. They did not continue on much beyond the following year but this recording at least lets us hear the very early days of Stills and Furay. Indeed, the standout song of the album with Still’s on lead vocal is “High Flyin’ Bird” which has a much more soulful and gritty feel compared to the rest of the works and shows where Stills was heading. From this start, Still would go on to tour with a group called the Company during which he first met Neil Young—that meeting of course later being a starting point for much more important collaborations later.
Super Session
(Bloomfield-Kooper-Stills)
(1968)
Just on the heels of the break-up of Buffalo Springfield and before heading on to bigger and better things, Stephen Stills agreed to help out his friend Al Kooper by joining on the second day of recording a jam session album because the previously booked lead player Mike Bloomfield could not make it again. This collaboration ended up becoming a hugely acclaimed album called Super Session, a harbinger of the supergroup trend that Still’s formation of CSN would typify. The album is chock full of some masterful blues work by the leads, the first side being Bloomfield’s contributions and the second side that of Stills. I have to admit that the Mike Bloomfield songs are much more impressively soulful and probably more of what Kooper was going for originally since he and Bloomfield had been working together for years. Nevertheless, Stills’ last minute addition brings in a bit of his own style and vocals for some nice songs and covers that add another layer to the album.
Long May You Run
(The Stills-Young Band)
(1976)
In the middle of the decade, Stills and Young laid aside a bit of their ego-heavy bickering to come together to make a complete album. It was actually even going to be a new CSNY album but some disagreements and arbitrary decision making by Stills and Young cut off participation by the others (and led to some bitter feelings for while). The results were this album attributed to the Stills-Young Band.
You can very clearly tell which song was by which artist by their individual stylings and of course by who sings lead. I have to admit that Stephen’s contributions on this album seem a little bit thin. The melodies are not super memorable nor are the rhythms particularly captivating. (He probably had used most of his good material for his solo album just earlier in the year–and one of the songs is just a reworking of his earlier song My Angel.) Black Coral is probably the one most reflective of his style at the time. Young’s title song is probably the catchiest of the bunch though “Midnight on the Bay” and “Ocean Girl” are quite good too.
Can’t Get Enough
and
Pierced Arrow
(The Rides)
(2013 and 2016)
In the middle of the 2010’s, Stills allied with Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Barry Goldbert to form the blues group The Rides. They recorded a couple of albums and toured a bit as well. I’m not a big fan of the result, especially when it’s young Shepherd on the vocals with his very garage band voice. But Stills apparently considered it all a fun good time and they did land high on the blues charts, so it was at least a nice continuation of his work.
Everybody Knows
(Stills & Collins)
(2017)
Musical legends Stephen Stills and Judy Collins were famously a couple for a short time but it was a relationship that led to some great long-lasting songs like Still’s “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”. Yet despite the very public connection they held, there was never a full musical collaboration between the pair. This long awaited album remedies that by offering a wonderful set of duets showing that they both can still deliver some nice performances. The songs on this album are mostly covers of older songs but are very pleasant and well-produced (redeeming Stills a bit from the not-so-stellar songs of his previous solo album).
The Leonard Cohen-written title track of the album is a nice showcase for both of the artists as a duet pair but I especially like hearing both of them together on some of Stephen’s signature songs “So Begin the Task” and especially this version of “Questions”. Other tracks are more Judy showing off her still sweet solo voice backed by Stills on guitar. There’s also another great song penned by Stills and Collins together called “Judy”, showing she’s still a good inspiration for him!