Customer Reviews

Crosby, Stills & Nash (1st Album, Expanded and Remastered)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The music gets five stars. The 3 stars are for the lousy remastering job. There are so many problems here, let me list them for you:

1. I did a direct comparison between this new remaster and the older remaster job from the mid-90's. The older version blows this one away! This new remaster lacks any high end, making a lot of the songs sound flat.

2. The beginning of "49 Bye Byes" is cutoff. Crosby sings "You better come on in my kitchen / because it's going to be raining outside." This part is missing. Apparently, the estate of Robert Johnson objected (why now, after all these years?).

3. If you're thinking of buying this disc for the bonus tracks, save your money. The best one, "Song With No Words" is already available on the CSN boxset. The others are nice demos, but don't really lend themselves to repeated listening.

4. THE KICKER: They removed a picture of Dallas Taylor from the back of the CD booklet. On the original LP and subsequent CD issues, drummer Dallas Taylor is seen peering through the door. Since he is currently in litigation with the band, they saw to it to remove him from the album jacket!

The sound is NOT an improvement, the bonus tracks are lackluster and one track is actually edited. Stick with your older copy and save your money.

I just received and listened to Rhino Record's new reissue of CSN's first album (Rhino has recently done sonically wondrous things with early Chicago albums, especially their first, "Chicago Transit Authority"). The sound is pretty glorious throughout, and now that I've had a chance to give it a really critical listening, I can definitely say it's better than Atlantic's and Joe Gastwirt/Ocean View Digital's first digital remastering that was released a few years back (not to be confused with the initial CD transfer, which fell very flat sonically, as did most CDs of that time). During my first listening, I particularly noticed that the atmospeherics of "Guinnevere" stand out, as does the clarity of the vocal lines in "Helplessly Hoping." In fact, all the vocals are outstandingly clear, making the trademark three-part harmonies much easier to follow individually. In general, the whole album is a little more 3-dimensional, allowing you to hear into the mix a little bit better. And during the moments when it gets loud, it doesn't get quite as congested as the earlier remaster. The differences are subtle, but definitely audible.

The release has some new liner notes, including comments from the three principals, plus 3 previously unreleased versions of songs that would appear later in their collective and individual careers: Crosby's "Song with No Words," Still's "Do for the Others" and Nash's "Teach Your Children," plus a Stills cover of Fred Neil's "Everbody's Talkin'" (the song that provided a big hit for Harry Nilsson). The booklet also includes a reproduction of the original lyric sheet with artwork, which I remember hearing never made its way into all copies of the original LP.

Strangely, however, they changed the cover photo so Dallas Taylor, the drummer on the original album, is no longer shown peering through the glass in the door of the house. At first I thought he had been photoshopped out of the picture until I did a little research and learned that he wasn't at the original photo shoot to begin with and his image was added later before producing and printing the cover art. I'm all for purity and everything, but since one could argue that the whole point of the reissue is to restore the original as much as possible, why bother changing it? The public had never seen the photo without Taylor, so what was gained in leaving him out?

Another change, and one that I find extremely disappointing, is the elimination of Crosby's barely audible "Long Time Gone" tag, in which he sings Robert Johnson's phrase, "You better come in my kitchen because it's going to be raining outside." Wikipedia tells us that it was removed at the request of Johnson's family, though no further reason is given. Various message board participants claim that Johnson's estate wanted a great deal of compensation for its use. That answer seems more likely, as it would appear that no real benefit could accrue to Johnson's family simply by eliminating recordings of his songs where they had previously existed. Whatever the reason, removing it creates a diminished package, in my opinion. At least the previous Atlantic remastering still contains it, where it appears as the intro to "49 Bye-Byes." I'm glad I have that versison, and don't plan on getting rid of it despite getting this new and sonically improved version.

One other small but important change - the songwriting credit for "Wooden Ships" now lists Paul Kantner as a cowriter, along with Crosby and Stills, which I'm told is the way the song was credited when it appeared on Jefferson Airplane's "Volunteers."

Rightly so, this CD remains a cornerstone record that deserves a place in everyone's library. The writing was superb, and Nash for one, would rarely come up to this standard after this. Stills was determined to prove he was the best damned musician working in the States at that time, and Crosby, oddly enough, was the inspirational glue that held it all together. It wouldn't last, but who knew at this point?
The remastering is the issue here, and this music has always set a fidelity standard that you could measure every other recording by, again, thanks to Stills. Whether on vinyl or in digital formats, there is a presence to this music that is hard to quantify, but its quality is undeniable. The current remastering, on the heels of the superlative solo outing from Stills and the consistently brilliant work by Crosby post clean-up, offers you an intimacy and warmth I hadn't heard on even the very best pressings before. Forget the extra songs, even though they alone would justify a re-purchase, it is the original album that carries the day again and with a dynamic that shows all of Stills' perfectionist tendencies in the best of all possible lights. I'm looking forward, kind of, to the remastering of Daylight Again, and more importantly to Deja Vu, CSN, and Four Way Street, all scheduled for the next two years. Maybe it will be enough to fire up the creative juices for an original release.
Whatever, the point is that this is a worthy remaster that will enlighten the already converted and wow the novitiate. Well done, Stephen.

This is the new reissue with extra tracks (check the release date). Great stuff, too -- Stills' pre-solo album version of Do For The Others is terrific, as is the rendition of Everybody's Talkin'. This version of Song with No Words was on the box set (not sure if it's exactly the same, but it's the same recording), but it's pretty great stuff. The demo of Teach Your Children is awfully nice, too. Apparently, in about '69 or '70, every time these guys picked up a guitar and started to sing, it was pretty special. Of course, the original album is a stone classic, one of the best albums ever. It just has a quality to it that you can't exactly put your finger on. Every track just glows. If you don't have this album, you should probably buy it. If you have it, you're probably a fan, and I'd recommend this version just for the extra tracks.

I'm sure glad I didn't give away my first CD of this album. I'm not a critical listener but the top end of the sound has been dulled very badly. The bonus material is OK but doesn't fit with this album, it's more like from Deja Vu. I hope nothing ever happens to my unremastered disc. P.S. I gave this disc away.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with the earlier reviewer who prefers the 1995 remaster to this new Rhino reissue. In fact, the new remaster is much clearer than the Atlantic digital remaster without resorting to unnatural brightness. Indeed, the new remaster sounds almost "organic" and with the increased clarity the listener can peer more deeply into the mix than ever before. (Indeed, the difference between the two is apparent from listening to the Amazon song clips for Wooden Ships or 49 Bye-Byes, for example.) Helplessly Hoping is especially notable with the three voices in the left, center, and right positions. (Alas, if only all the songs had been mixed this way but that would be rewriting history.)

The bass is more prominent on the Rhino remaster. This is effective on several tracks where the bass notes dig especially deeply, such as Pre-Road Downs and Long Time Gone. However, it is less effective on Wooden Ships where it tends to muddy the waters a bit.

Some of the other objections that have been raised by reviewers seem to amount to little more than quibbling. All in all, I'd say the Rhino reissue beats the competition hands down.

Forgive me, but the debate over the merits of the 1994 remaster over this one is a doofus debate. The sound cognoscenti and rabid fans alike have been blasting this 2006 issue for all sorts of enormously important reasons, from the fact that Crosby's two seconds of personal fun at the end of "Long Time Gone" (he croons, in a somewhat comedic voice, "You better come to my kitchen, 'cause it's soon gonna be rainin' outside") have been cut to the fact that the image of Dallas Taylor has been Photoshopped-out from the artwork, to supposedly compromised highs on the equalizer frequencies. This is the sort of bickering that spoiled children indulge in when they've had too many goodies to enjoy. The very first CD was actually perfectly nice, and whatever it's (microscopic) shortcomings in terms of modern mastering, it preserved the core of the music: the glorious harmonies, the cool, cathedral-like atmosphere of Wooden Ships (I'm calling it "cathedral" because certain types of echo effects are called that on mastering machines), and so on. If you have it, you might as well keep it. If you don't, buy this issue, the 2006 one. I can't imagine that you could possibly regret it. I see that at least one reviewer was so disgusted with it that he actually gave it away, which boggles the mind. This is a fine remastering, and, if nothing else, it finally does away with 99% of the "rip" that is heard at the beginning of "Long Time Gone," which the 1994 remaster actually emphasized. It sounds exactly like a needle scratch on a good old LP, which may have been placed there by superior intelligences from outer space to warn those who are now suddenly advocates of vinyl that this is definitely one of the options that awaits them (lol). And while my own ears prefer the ever-so-slightly subdued vocals in some places on the 2006 issue compared to a bit too much screaming on the 1994, that too is a minor thing, and if you already have the 1994, it will do as well. I'm just trying to tell you not to waste your money on every single new remaster out there because you'll go broke for nothing, or, at best, for very little.
Finally, I agree with the malcontents that the bonus material isn't all brilliant, but it's not without charm either, and Stills's beautiful rendition of "Everybody's Talkin'" alone is worth the price of admission. I never paid much attention to this pop ditty back when it was a huge hit for Nilsson, but in this interpretation it is no longer a pop ditty. It has acquired nearly tragic depth and sounds imbued with experience. Terrific.

What can you say about this legendary debut album that hasn't been said before.This new "expanded/remastered" edition sounds fantastic.The extra songs are new revelations on the early CSN sound."Teach Your Children" was transformed by Stills from an
English folky tune to the countryfied hit we heard on DEJA VU.I found a few changes on this new CD. Dallas Taylor's picture has inexplicably been stripped out of the back cover.Taylor was such a big part of their early sound & it's kinda sad that he has been removed .Also,at the beginning of "49 Bye Byes" on the original album , David Crosby did his
best Robert Johnson "imitation" about inviting some babe into his kitchen.THAT intro has been removed.No big deal;doesn't affect the music but,if ain't broke,don't fix it.Highly recommended for the extra songs.A stone cold classic. The apex of Stephen Stills' career.

Uh, somebody needs to be supervising whoever writes these descriptions a little closer....this is the new version with 4 bonus tracks including a great rough demo of the dog-eared "Teach Your Children"??? Or is it not??? No more bong breaks for you guys.....Oh yeah, this is a landmark recording and should be in everybody's collection; perfect singing, playing and writing, often copied, never done better.....

One would wonder, what's happening to Rhino? What happened to the so called "hand made records" that made us think who else by Rhino could've done? In my opinion, they are losing it. I'm not the first one to complain. Read the critics on the Talking Head's Brick Box Set and you'll know what I'm talkin' about. This particular release not only doesn't improve a bit the sound of the late 90's remaster version of this outstanding album, but actually has so many problems that makes even the non-remaster version superior. An to make you even more confuse about the "remaster crase" of the last years, this release is claim to be in HDCD. Well, if they say so, it's fine for me, but I couldn't tell the difference. The bonus tracks are fine, but it's too much money for so little return. Rhino is having problems. I can tell. I've always been one of their biggest fans and I have most of its greatest releases from the past years, including the two Grateful Dead Box Sets. What a marvellous job they did on that release. That's absolutely not the case here. Avoid it.