Dez Reviews Stephen Stills, Live at Shepherd's Bush, 2009

Stephen Stills is one of the most frustrating musicians to follow. He is one of my favorite musicians, and was a prodigiously talented songwriter, guitarist, singer and all around musical visionary. He managed to outshine Neil Young while they were in Buffalo Springfield together, and was the leader and most talented of the law firm Crosby, Stills & Nash when they were in their prime. But somewhere around the mid-70’s he lost his way and never really regained his footing. Ego, excess and perhaps creative exhaustion stalled a career that seemed destined to rival that of his on again/off again musical partner Neil Young. Stills has not been able to write consistently good music since the mid-1970’s, and out of all of his CSNY comrades, the years have probably been the least kind to Stills. As much of a legendary junkie as Crosby was, at least the Cros still possesses some killer pipes. Stills, on the other hand, has lost that beautiful range that he used to have. His voice is now a scratchy, strained howl. He has been in as bad shape as Crosby has been in recent decades, often showing up to gigs out of shape and drunk. Even his once peerless guitar playing has suffered in the last couple of decades.

Therefore, I wasn’t too excited when I heard that he had a new live record coming out that he wanted to act as a sort of career overview. The only thing that got me somewhat interested was that it was to be split evenly between acoustic and electric halves, just like his other live release, the killer 1975 Live.

But it is still Stills, so I had to give him a shot. What a great thing when your expectations are low, and then they are pleasantly and greatly exceeded. This live record is a triumph of sorts for Stills. Perhaps it is because he knows this show is being recorded for posterity, he seems particularly focused. The setlist is well chosen, hitting most of the phases of his remarkable career. He hits highlights from Buffalo Springfield (“Rock and Roll Woman,” “Bluebird” and “For What It’s Worth”) to CSN (“4+20” and “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”) to Manassas (“Johnny’s Garden,” “Isn’t It About Time”) and various solo highlights like “Treetop Flyer,” “Change Partners” and “Love The One You’re With.” In addition, he throws in some well chosen covers, like Dylan’s “Girl From the North Country” and Tom Petty’s “Wrong Thing To Do.”


ABOVE: Stephen Stills might be fat, old and out of shape, but he can still kick your ass on the guitar

He is especially chatty during the acoustic set, introducing his classic drug smuggler tale “Treetop Flyer” with “This is dedicated to some of Crosby’s friends…before they knew that they could grow it themselves…” and even acknowledging his age before “4+20” with “I will go ahead and sing the original lyrics, because “3+60” doesn’t have the same ring to it.” It was also interesting to hear him discuss “Johnny’s Garden,” I did not know that it was based on the same gardener that Peter Sellers based his film Being There on. Stills evidently bought the house from a friend who had bought it from Sellers in London and the gardener “came with the house.”

The centerpiece here is his epic “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” The song has been a curse of sorts for him to perform in recent years. Be careful writing classic songs in your youth that require vocal gymnastics, because your fans will still expect you to hit those notes 30 years later. I’ve seen CSN live quite a few times over the years, and Stills always struggles vocally with several lines of this song (to an embarrassing extent at times), with Crosby and Nash helping to cover for him with their still strong harmonies. So he’s gonna try it solo here? You can tell even he is hesitant to try it. He plays around with the guitar line for a little bit and then says “I’m just playing around here so I can figure out whether I really want to do this one…” What a revelation this rendition is. Free from the shackles of the tight three part harmonies of the original song, alone Stills is finally able to adjust and play with the vocal lines to fit what he can now do. This is a strong, exciting rendition, and is the most natural I’ve ever heard him sing it (and I’ve heard him do it many times). During the guitar solo section, he unleashes some lightning fast lines that remind us just how great he is on the instrument. Untouchable on the acoustic guitar.

The electric set is not quite as thrilling as the acoustic, but has its charms. His electric playing is muscular and he stretches out and solos in exciting fashion throughout. I especially like what he does with “Rock and Roll Woman.” The original was a bright, chiming pop gem with gorgeous harmonies (I always like to say that “Rock and Roll Woman” is the best Byrds song by someone other than The Byrds). But here Stills dirties it up and turns the once chiming pop tune into a gritty rock anthem. Great stuff. While his guitar playing is excellent throughout, some of the electric set has a certain sameness about it, especially on the rather tired rendition of “For What It’s Worth.” Also, where he was careful and able to work with vocal subtleties in the solo acoustic set, during the electric set at times he is really straining his voice.

Minor complaints aside, this is a triumphant set from Stills. It shows that while he’s been a bit battered, worn and torn, he has survived and still has some of his gifts and can offer us some great music.

***1/2 out of *****