This installment of "Quickies" actually boasts some more diversity than the last one. As in some (gasp) singer-songwriter records! Sandwiched in between is a jazz icon, who like the first entry, recorded some folk-rock back in 1968. Thankfully, he eventually chose the right genre. The last guy is in a similar position today as the first guy was in that long-ago year, and likewise poised to make a splash. Confused? Relax, it's all explained below.
Stephen Stills Just Roll Tape: April 26h, 1968
It's not everyday that tapes like these just turn up, but this one did after being forgotten for almost four decades. Back then, Stephen Stills was at a crossroads in his career. "For What It's Worth" had put him on the map, but his band Buffalo Springfield was on the verge of breakup, and even though he contributed a number of other good songs for Springfield, no one was sure if he would move beyond one-hit wonder status. Of course we all know how the story ended up, as he hooked up with David Crosby and Graham Nash and cemented his status as one of the premier singer-songwriters of the Woodstock generation. But on this April 26, he was in the already in the studio finishing up for some session work for Judy Collins and armed with an acoustic guitar. He bribes the engineer to "roll tape" so he can lay down some demo recordings for a new batch of songs he had just written.
Many of these songs in fuller form went on to become part of Stills' legendary canon: "Wooden Ships," "Black Queen" and yes, "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes." The recording quality is uneven there are several guitar missteps, and Stills didn't always hit the high notes right; these are old demos, after all. But Stills' voice is relaxed and in generally good shape (which makes one sad to hear it in such rough shape today), and all things considered, the tape's in decent shape. Most importantly, the songs themselves are all uniformly good-to-excellent and don't need much help to make them so. Even the handful which never appeared anywhere else sound full of promise, like "Judy" (another reference to Collins, perhaps?) and "The Doctor Will See You Now." The biggest treat is waiting there at the end, when Stills switches to a real swampy dobro for a seven-minute long version of "Treetop Flyer."
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