Music Review: The Stills-Young Band – Long May You Run

Drawn like a moth to a flame or 'can’t live with him, can’t live without him' probably best describes the relationship between Neil Young and Stephen Stills.

The duo had recorded and toured together as a part of Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young and issued solo releases, but in early 1976 decided to produce an album together within a band context. Their goal was to recreate the sound and energy of their legendary Buffalo Springfield days. The resulting Long May You Run did not achieve that goal. They did not write any songs together nor are there any stirring guitar duels. It has the feel, most of the time, of two solo artists using the same backing band. Another mistake may have been to remove the backing vocals by David Crosby and Graham Nash from the final mix.

The Stills-Young Band is small but tight and fits the sound they were trying to create well. Percussionist Joe Lala, keyboardist Jerry Aiello, bassist George Perry, and drummer Joe Vitale were all veterans of the road and the studio.

For some reason I have always associated this album with Neil Young. When I pulled it off the shelf for this review, it was filed under Young and not Stills. This may be due to the fact that two Young tracks are the best of the nine. The title track is a brilliant performance and would have fit any of his solo albums at the time. “Fontainebleau” is just a cut below and features some creative guitar work and an odd beat. His other three songs are okay which is faint praise. “Let It Shine” is amusing if nothing else, “Midnight On The Bay” does have some nice guitar work from Stephen Stills, and “Ocean Girl” just disappears.

Now we come to Mr. Stills who contributed four tracks. The best of a desultory lot is “Guardian Angel” which is up beat and has a spiritual nature to it. “12/8 Blues” is a competent blues rocker but “Black Coral” and “Make Love To You” continued the downward trend of his writing skills which was plaguing his solo career at the time.

Neil Young and Stephen Stills would tour together to promote the album but would soon part company again. They would leave behind a relic of their off again, on again relationship. In the final analysis when Stephen Stills and Neil Young walk into a recording studio together more is expected.