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I got 'in' to CSNY just as they were on their own way 'out. Having heard a stirring live rendition of Suite Judy Blue Eyes on headphones at the Oslo University record store I decided, on the spot, to get more involved with these cool cats from the West Coast. That version of Suite Judy Blue Eyes from their 'farewell' live 4 Way Street set released in 1971 caused enough spark in me to start a fire and I quickly amassed as much CSNY solo and combo vinyl material as my student finances allowed. Come the Summer of '74 when I heard that the boys were playing together "for one last time", I knew I had to be in the middle of Wembley Stadium to savour the farewell.
40 years on and I could not believe that the frenetic energy of that summer tour might once again be savoured and, thanks to superior digital technology, in a way that would make it sound as if CSNY were playing on your own private estate. 40 years on and CSNY still pull their weight above the individual means. When CSNY '74 was announced I was among the first off the ranks to purchase my own souvenir set and I have just finished the first listening to both the audio set and extra video takes. My review is based upon the PureAudio DVD version.
First impressions: a set definitely worth owning; it's old yet absolutely new at the same time; there are new songs on here that I've never heard before; there are solo album songs that had not yet been released, yet are showcased on here; there are the old classic solo and combo tunes that are woven with the unmistakable harmonies of David, Stephen, Graham and Neil. A winner package.
Now CSNY never were a band to stick to studio purity when it came to live gigs. You are not going to hear the richly textured studio-mixed harmonies of Carry On, or the hair-tingling finale to Country Girl, or even the timeless vocal chimes of Helplessly Hoping. What you have in this compact time-snapped recording of a series of live gigs is a beguiling mix of rock, grit, ballad, sunshine and soul. Graham Nash and Joel Bernstein have done an exemplary job of selecting only the best sounding and best feeling tunes from a catalogue that reaches over 80 during the course of the tour.
The 40 songs are broken into three sets - as they were on stage. Set 1 is electric with the expected Love the One You're With, Wooden Ships, Helpless and the frantic Almost Cut My Hair carrying the flag. Total newcomer among this lot is Neil's Traces. Tellingly played here, yet not a trace heard of since. Nash's raw Immigration Man has guts, but doesn't for me match the C+N duo studio version. Still's Black Queen drags into overplay here when you consider the lightly visceral solo studio version. But we did say live and raw. Pour a Budweiser, sit in the sweet spot between your 5.1 system and let it rip.
I enjoyed Set 2 the most. It is here that you get almost studio like alternate takes of classics - notably Guinevere, Lee Shore, Our House, Teach Your Children. Pour a crisp sauvignon blanc for this set and savour with your eyes closed. While Neil had his own harmony singers on his studio version of Only Love Can Break Your Heart, it is here that it gets the full CSNY treatment and it's a delight. The four voices caressing Blackbird make one smile while Neil's Long May You run give a hint at what a studio version might have sounded like, had he and Stephen only not removed Graham and David's vocal from the studio mix.
Set 3 is back to the electric and yup, it's got predictable: Déjà Vu mixed and delivered in a way only David knows how; Pre Road Downs - edgy and pushy; Long Time Gone - drawn and Still-blues and a pre-Beach version of Neil's Revolution Blues. More beer and mebbe bite on a burger by now. What became of Neil's Pushed it Over the End beats me. Perhaps that's just what he did. Could be it was just a little too catchy and didn't grunge or folk enough? Like Nash's Horses Through a Rainstorm, it probably didn't fit in any box.
From a technical aspect: I chose the PureAudio DVD version because, like Neil, I like the purity of my music. I play it on a 5.1 Mission surround speaker system with a Denon Internet-linked amplifier - not hi-end hi-fi, but higher than most folk's setups and a Sony Blu Ray DVD player. All 40 songs fit on one DVD and must be played on a blu-ray DVD player. So that means no listening on my Macs and no creating of MP3 files (as an Australian purchaser of the pack I am not entitled to the free MP3 versions). The on-screen visual menu is piddly and disappointing: one B&W photo of the boys and a minuscule track selector box to the right. While you can peck your way around the track numbers with your DVD control, pressing ENTER does not select the track. You have to key in the number! Took me a while to figure that one out (may be different on your own machine).
While the original recording was not made with multi-source recording in mind - it is flat stereo, your amplifier can create some interesting soundscapes, if you experiment. I get a plausible 5.1 effect on the MUSIC setting on my Denon remote control. The sound is perceptibly fuller and clearer and this is particularly apparent in the acoustic brackets.
Summary: this is an album to sit down for and experience, not to eavesdrop on while shopping, cycling, or taking the bus to work. Play it only in the company of like-minded souls and make it an event - with volume. Stock the bar with beer and sauvignon blancs, slip on some loons and a tie-dye T-shirt and go back to a time of rock 'n' fun. Then maybe, just maybe ... teach your own children ... well.
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