Customer Reviews

Another Stoney Evening

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The year was 1971; Crosby, Still, Nash and Young were breaking up as usual, and at the time of this recording Crosby and Nash were the only two who got along well enough to continue performing together.

They were enough.

The two close friends, an ex-Byrd and an ex-Hollie introduced to one another by Cass Elliott just a couple of years before, had quickly found out that their vocal harmonies were purely magical and that their musical styles quite unexpectedly complemented one another. They got to explore their chemistry a little bit during the wooden-music portions of CSN+/-Y concerts, and you can hear some of it on _Four-Way Street_.

But after the Big Bang, they _really_ got to explore it. And it's extraordinarily well-represented on this vintage disc.

This is _all_ wooden music -- just Crosby and Nash, with their Martin guitars and a piano. That's all they needed.

The CD's title is a reference to a famous Crosby/Nash bootleg LP (_A Very Stoney Evening_), but this is a different performance (the one that took place on the actual night to which the bootleg performance has been mistakenly attributed). It's been remastered from the original analog recordings, and with Stephen Barncard's name on it, you know the job has been done as well as possible. The sound quality is excellent throughout.

Unfortunately there ain't no such animal as a _perfect_ twenty-five-year-old analog recording. If you listen to it on headphones you can, for example, hear the high-end hiss come and go as Barncard and Nash turn Crosby's vocal track up and down on "Triad". But given what they were working with (". . . this primitive technology from another era, Captain"; "Well, do what you can with it, Spock") it couldn't have come out any cleaner.

The highlight of the CD may be "Where Will I Be," a heartbreaker from not long after Christine Hinton's death in a car accident and a performance rarity even by Crosby's standards. But the performances of even such long-familiar tunes as "All Along the Lee Shore" and "I Used to Be a King" and crisp and engaging. These guys were _on_ that night.

_What_ they were on is another question. Their stoned banter makes reference to Crosby's "Lebanese flu," and hash may well have been all that kept Crosby going through a case of the _real_ flu; the liner notes indicate that he was running a 104-degree fever on the night of this performance. (Which reminds me to mention that the CD comes with another rarity: a genuinely helpful set of liner notes. Steven Silberman wrote them.) At any rate, they've since learned -- especially Crosby -- that chemical aids aren't strictly necessary for the sort of high they reach here.

There's a hilarious moment when the two try to close the set with "Teach Your Children." Some audience members are trying to clap along but not doing a very good job of sticking to the beat; Crosby laughingly stops the tune and tells them, "We know you're _moved _ . . . but you gotta be moved _in time_."

(Then they start again and make a few mistakes of their own. On the first chorus, Crosby sings "children" and Nash sings "parents"; on the second chorus, perhaps deliberately but I doubt it, they wind up with _Crosby_ singing the high part. They swap back just in time for the final "Don't you ever ask them why" -- and if it _wasn't_ deliberate, it's further evidence of the incredible chemistry between these two performers.)

The Grateful Dead's label released this gem not too long before Crosby and CPR released their _Live at the Wiltern_ CD. The contrast is amazing, but what's even more amazing is that the two live releases are of roughly equal quality. And for Crosby fans like me, it's a welcome full-spectrum dose of the Croz -- from wooden music to slick, jazz-inflected rock. If you like Crosby or Nash or Crosby/Nash or any combination of C, S, N, and/or Y, don't miss this CD.

This is a wonderful snapshot of Crosby & Nash in their early post-CSNY days. The performances are complimented by some wonderful banter between the duo and audience; almost like Nash playing Abbott to Crosby playing Costello.

The song selection is a splendid mix of early Crosby nuggets from If I Could Only Remember My Name ("Laughing", the sweet "Traction In The Rain") and Nash from his Songs For Beginners period. In fact, Nash's version of "I Used To Be A King" is quite Neil Young-esque in delivery. It is also interesting to hear studio-enhanced material like "Orleans" stripped down to its bare essentials. Even the nuggets like a blissful "Wooden Ships" shines. There isn't a dud moment, and each song is braced with a combination of heart, humility and intimacy that is often rare in live recordings.

Kudos to the Grateful Dead Organization for releasing a first-class CD of their musical breathren. And Kudos to David and Graham for making such wonderful music.

Back in the 1970s, most people who declared themselves fans of CSNY were drawn either to the egotistical, multi-instrumentalist, self-described "bluesman, dig?" Stephen Stills, or to the egotistical, narcissitic, idiosyncratic, brooding guitar genius Neil Young. Crosby and Nash were nice for the harmonies, but the space they took on CSNY albums was regarded as fluff that interrupted genius.

Interesting how perspectives change. Mine anyway. David Crosby and Graham Nash may not have been billed as "genius," but they were great musicians, as this hard-to-find live set makes clear. For Crosby, this album is a tour-de-force of his best songs from his most productive period from '68-'71: "Laughing," "Wooden Ships," "Traction in the Rain," "Triad," "Guinnevere," "Orleans" and "Deja Vu." Despite an obvious flu and avowed intoxication, his performances are perhaps the most brilliant he's committed to wax. I'm still not sold on Nash as a major songwriter, but the songs he chooses for this show are undeniably melodic.

Most enjoyable is hearing how the two friends help each other. My favorite cut on this disk is Nash's "I Used to Be a King," a simple pop tune that Crosby jazzes up with some amazing, subtle scat work that propels the song forward, and makes a much more compelling performance out of it than this song would have any right to expect. For his entire career, Crosby has often saved his most magical moments for songs where he doesn't sing lead, but instead creates a rich, innovative background of harmony and rhythm. Nash, though less gifted, is equally generous to Crosby on his songs, bringing focus to the CSNY cuts, which work better here than on other live CSNY albums, with the S and Y hardly missed at all.

Right as 4 Way Street was hitting the stores, Crosby and Nash were touring as a real laid-back acoustic duo. This concert is pulled from right in the middle of this period and is the best example to date of the famous Crosby/Nash "ear-f**k". 4 Way Street hinted at what the acoustic sets were like (the strikingly beautiful Lee Shore is a religious experience) but this CD really hits it home. All they needed were acoustic guitars and their voices to overpower an audience. Sure they were stoned, but they weren't stoned to the point where it affected the music in a negative way. If anything it added to the experience. Everyone was burning. But to enjoy this music you don't need to be stoned. You just have to listen. Listen to their voices weave in and out and wrap around eachother. Listen to Crosby slashing away at his 12-string. Really amazing chill stuff. Thank you Grateful Dead Records. Thank you Stephen Barncard. Please release more stuff from this period.

David Crosby and Graham Nash's 'Another Stoney Evening' captures the vocal-focused half of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young at the peak of their talents, their relevance, and before the excesses of the rock and roll lifestyle wrecked havoc in David Crosby's life. The chosen tracks (certainly more than 15 were performed...) from this October 10, 1971 concert at the 3,000 capacity Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles are all drawn from the five official previous releases by various incarnations of CSN&Y, including a pair of David Crosby and Graham Nash solo discs, and the then soon-to-be-released first David Crosby-Graham Nash studio endeavor. More tracks are drawn from the live '4 Way Street' CSNY live recording than any other (four, ironically), but at least two are drawn from each of the other five releases. Knowing where their bread is buttered, the album opens and closes with a track each from the first Crosby, Stills and Nash disc, and its follow-up, 'Deja Vu'.

The album shines on those tracks where Crosby and Nash's magical harmonies are brought center stage. While every track supplies superb vocals, even given the fact that Crosby was reportedly running a 104 degree fever from the Asian flu this particular evening (which is at least one way to explain his repeated hacks, chokes and coughs... the pair also cite the Lebanese flu as a possible culprit), the best performances are found on 'Deja Vu' and 'Guinevere', which runs six and one-half minutes. The tracks that suffer the most are those where Stephen Stills' virtuoso guitar playing talents are vacant, such as on 'Wooden Ships' and 'Teach Your Children'. While David Crosby is more than adept at providing rhythm guitar for CSN&Y, he's not a lead guitarist by any streatch of the imagination.

Other high points of the evening (aside from the jokes about being high) include two songs from Nash's solo stint on stage, superb renditions of the compelling 'Stranger's Room' and 'Immigration Man'. Graham comes across sincere and convicted in his vocal delivery on these tracks, and the piano accompaniment is, by track thirteen, a welcome respite from all the mediocre folk-guitar backing. Perhaps the most interesting performance is Crosby's second live rendition of 'Triad' (it first appeared as a CSN&Y track on the '4 Way Street' production). Here's the song that supposedly drove Crosby from The Byrds, as Roger McGuinn thought it too outlandish for 'The Notorious Byrd Brothers' LP, but also didn't find its way onto a CSN&Y release until 1970. The audience all but cajoles Crosby into performing the song during his solo set. I always enjoyed the witty double entendre from 'Triad', "I love both of you, too" (two?), so it was good to hear that again.

I was fortunate to catch David Crosby and Graham Nash in a September concert at the open air Pine Knob Pavilion in Clarkston, Michigan in 1973, and I was pleased to find the duo still having a good old time on stage as they were on this October night in L.A. One may quibble over the song selection (I thought it would be fitting for Crosby and Nash to give at least a one-song nod to their heritage with The Byrds and The Hollies, or perhaps indulge in a melody of tracks from those pre-CSN days), but even at this relatively early stage in their career, this dynamic duo had more desirable tracks to offer than they could even hope to cover in one evening.

The liner notes by Steve Silberman give adequate background on this particular performance, as well as the bootleg disc called 'A Very Stoney Evening' from which this disc draws its name. The two recordings are from different nights on the same tour. The rest of the package travels to you just about as stripped down as David and Graham's unplugged tours. Since I often complain about the omission of running times for the individual songs on many CD's, I should give credit where it's due, so I'll note that they are offered here, although they can be misleading as the between songs banter is included in the figures. This is a very desirable disc for Crosby and Nash fans, and a peek at acoustic folk at its best from two of the most famed purveyors of that genre, during perhaps the most revolutionary decade of the twentieth century, for everyone else.

I bought this through Amazon about a month ago, and I keep coming back to it. The relative rawness combines with the utter purity of two obviously good friends singing and playing together, totally relaxed...perhaps a bit stoned, but not enough to affect the performance in any way. You just can't seem to find music like this recorded any more. Sure, the analog recording pales, in some ways, compared to today's digital signal processing, but performances this spontaneous, this gifted and pure are simply rarities these days. Because the guitars were high quality Martins and Guild to begin with, they sound great despite the lo-fi techniques used for this recording. And the vocals... well, I have never been a huge fan of Graham Nash, but when he and David Crosby got together for collaborations such as "If Only I Could Remember My Name", vocal magic happened. If your sound system, speakers and equalizer are up to it, you can crank this beautiful artifact up, turn down the lights, turn on however you please, and essentially "be there" for this incredible performance. I find myself going there over and over again...

This is fun stuff from the brief era when it was just these two guys, their guitars and a piano. No Stills & Young, but that's ok. Their shows were intimate, often hilarious (for the stoned, at least) and featured some of their greatest songs, particularly those from Crosby's "If I Can Only Remember My Name" and the first Crosby/Nash album. Even better than this is the famous bootleg, "A Very Stoney Evening," with a couple of different tunes (including Young's "Ohio") and funnier banter. But if you like these guys, this record is a real treat. I hope they release more.

This 1971 concert recording was made very famous due to it's circulation in the bootleg world and as a staple on many tape-traders lists of twenty five years ago. David Crosby and Graham Nash, were part of a four-way street that was on top of the record charts and a money making machine that had captured the ears of the world with the loosest folk-rock ever performed in sold-out venues around the planet. With Neil Young and Stephen Stills being touted as the big-guns of a four way split, these other two guys wanted to show the critics that they were fulla beans and hot air about slighting their talents as part of the winning formula.

Graham and David, had a friendship that had gotten past the women, dope and money that had put (at least) a few riffs between Stephen and Neil's part of the big circus as the big-four could not continue to record music and play concerts together by this point in time due to huge clashes of ego that tore at them and ripped the "Woodstock Vibe" to pieces as the 1970's were getting into second gear now. The duo of Crosby/Nash did want to turn back the clock to 1968 and make it a bit more personal once more and not being a part of a show put forth in basketball arenas. So they licked their wounds, got back to basics and took it out on the road as the funky folksters of fun.

This set from the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion in Los Angeles, Ca was from 10 October 1971. With just guitars and voices David and Graham faced the masses that were quickly charmed to the music that they could perform together. This set is famous for David having the flu and instead of cancelling the gig David found some proper medication to get him through the evening and it put him into a happy-place that is documented on this disc. Grateful Dead Records, found the original mutli-track tapes in perfect shape and had no problems in the remix and production duties in 1997 to at least make an official release of this stoney evening possible.

This CD presents a greatest hits collection of David and Graham's first three years together and with: "Deja Vu" "Wooden Ships" "Used To Be King" "Lee Shore" "Laughing" "Triad" "Immigration Man" "Guinevere" and "Teach Your Children" being featured here everyone is going to be happy with the contents of the show. The sound is full and up-close to what is going down on stage, and David and Graham seem to be of one brain when they perform together and of that you have the evidence right here.

This set defines the word 'loose' and these kind of nights did indeed occur on stage forty years ago infront of a sea of fans who also found medications to ease the way through their evenings just like the artists they came out to enjoy. The x-factor is present here on: "Another Stoney Evening" and all of the flubs and false steps are preserved intact as this is the real-deal of these long-lost times of the early seventies.
This is a time capsule unearthed...
Three & 1/2 Stars

Another Stoney Evening is an amazing recording, which I was lucky enough to purchase while it was still in-print. With all the C&N/CSN/CSNY live tapes from the 1969-1975 era, this is the only live acoustic recording to surface besides the acoustic songs on FOUR WAY STREET. Taken largely from IF I COULD ONLY REMEMBER MY NAME, SONGS FOR BEGINNERS, and CROSBY/NASH, Another Stony Evening features live versions of Where Will I Be, Orleans, Stranger's Room", Traction in the Rain, Laughing, and much more. I saw these guys in a Standing Room Only concert in 1973, and again in 1976 and 1993. Their friendship and fine music shined through each time, as it does on this recording.

This performance is neither a showcase of stellar musicianship or Class 101 in how to put on "the perfect concert". Honestly, in many ways, it's much more.

For starters, in sitting back and taking this in, I'm struck by how it exemplifies the beautiful, heartwarming relationship of two musicians who came together from opposite sides of the ocean and musical spectrum. That said, the love these two guys had/have for one another becomes very quickly evident in their interplaying banter.

While the playing isn't of virtuoso caliber, it is still quite sufficient for what Nash and Crosby effortlessly put across. While neither would ever make a list of Rock's top twenty guitarists, they are both rhythmically on the money with combined chord shifts and textures that fit the mood and songs perfectly.

Rather than focus on what this performance lacks musically, one has to ask: is it more enjoyable to listen to a note for note performance by a group of guys who are up there just putting it out like well trained robots or one by a couple of true friends who-mistakes and all-bring the passion they have for each other to their music (and, in turn, pass that warmth to their audience)...?? I'll go to the latter anyday and this album, like a peaceful ride through an old neighborhood, takes me there.