CSNY 1974 Tour Box Set - UPDATE #2
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
1974-08-23, Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Photo Gallery by John Gellman Photography
Earlier this summer, we reported that a box set of CSNY's 1974 tour was in the works.
The news set off quite a reaction with numerous comments on memories from CSNY's 1974 tour. In many ways, the tour marked the end of an era as well as the beginning of a new era. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's 1974 summer tour was unprecedented in many ways -- not the least of which was a pioneering mega huge sound system able to blast tens of thousands at outdoor stadiums. The Bill Graham produced spectacle went on to usher in the massive rock and roll extravaganzas that so many other acts would later follow.
The latest update is from Billboard.com:
[Graham Nash] hopes to put the finishing touches on a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young live album from the quartet's legendary 1974 tour for a hoped-for spring 2011 release. Nash and archivist Joel Bernstein are putting the set together from multi-track recordings of nine concerts, and listening to them has shown Nash that 'we were really a fine band. It's very obvious when you play the tracks that we're listening to each other, not stepping on each other's toes, not overblowing. It's really, really good.'
Nash adds that Neil Young, himself an exacting archivist, has 'give me basically carte blanche' to put the set together. 'He knows me. He trusts me. He feels I can do this. He will be very involved, of course, because I'm not mixing anything finally until Neil's heard it and approves -- the same with David [Crosby] and Stephen.'
After the '74 show is done, Nash plans on to move to a 1970 CSNY show from the Fillmore East in New York city, as well as Crosby Nash shows from 1970 and 1993. He's also waiting for final permissions from some famous musical friends for a Crosby Nash collaborative album to benefit the Children's Defense Fund, which he hopes will come out in 2011 as well.
(Merci Jacques-Eric !)
Previously, David Crosby had this to say on the box set in The Columbian by Alan Sculley:
“This CSNY thing is going to eclipse almost everything else,” David Crosby said. “I think it’s going to be just pretty much beyond belief. What I’ve heard, I was just stunned.”
“When you really hear them now, it’s just astounding,” he said. “The stuff that they’ve played me, I can’t even believe how … good it is.”
Stephen Stills and Neil Young
CSNY Concert: 1974-08-23, Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Photo Gallery by John Gellman Photography
Some memories from 1974....
From JoeRay Skrha:
Hi Gang,
I saw CSNY in Buffalo 8-11-1974 and Cleveland 8-31-1974... Both days were in the top 10 of concerts I ever attended. Buffalo was at the newly opened Rich Stadium, sunny warm day, great sound and Jesse Colin Young, Santana and CSNY. Cleveland was at Municipal Stadium, 88,000 people, great sound, Jesse Colin Young, The Band, Santana and CSNY. Bill Graham who ran the tour was at he very best. Rock and Roll was young, raw and alive.
This was the tour I wish I could experience again. It took a rap for being the Doom Tour... I disagree... Perhaps some musicians over did it but for those of us in attendance (always sat 20 feet back on Neils side), I was simply blown away. Neil recorded each concert in 8-16 or 24 track. Perhaps the archives BD-Live will allow more than one concert to be released. Even most of the audience recordings from this tour sounded good without much echo or distortion.
The sound was clear and alive.
Peace,
Joe Ray Skrha
From MARIAN M.:
My first time seeing Neil live (at the tender age of 19) was CSNY Reunion Tour 1974 @ Atlantic City Race Track (August 9)...standing for hours in the RAIN (rain, rain, rain, and still more rain), standing because there was nowhere to sit (all mud)! It was still all worth it to see Neil and the rest of the guys!
I loved seeing David Crosby walking out on stage holding up the newspaper with the headline in HUGE letters, 'Nixon Resigns'; this was met with a thunderous roar from the audience. This whole show was a glorious celebration!
The only songs I'm sure about (36 years later) being played were 'Don't Be Denied' and 'Pushed It Over the End,' which I LOVED! I have never seen a set list for this concert.
Is there anybody out there that can supply more information?
Even the possibility of a box set being released for this 1974 tour thrills my heart!!!!!!!
I sure hope this is true!!!!
Marian M.
Rolling Stone - August 15th, 1974
More on the reunion tour of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in 1974.
More commentary on CSNY's 1974 Tour Box Set here and here.
by thrasher@PermaLink: 9/07/2010 06:33:00 PM
18 comments
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18 Comments:
From what I've read (since I wasn't there) a live 1974 album would be more palatable than a box. That said, I'm hoping for some good nuggets in Archives Vol. 2.
Innaresting though that CSN is working on a Fillmore 1970 set. Perhaps the Crazy Horse set from March of that year hit a little close to home?
They should put them out side by side -- before and after cocaine.
(sigh) in the past CSNY have for the most part tried to put most of the 1974 tour behind them...they weren't calling it "the doom tour" for nothing...now it sounds great? one word:auto-tune...
I remember buying this Rolling Stone with CSNY on the cover. I
still have it.I saw them at Jeppesen stadium in Houston in
July 1974. It was a huge stadium & the place was packed. I just remember it was a great show..almost three hours long.
I think we will see the Stills Box Set & his remastered debut before we see any 1970 or 1974 releases.
a friend o' mine (lionel louie) said I was crtical of the proposed '74 release...AGAIN I say CSNY themselves have been critical of the tour...I have the Wembly DVD (somewhere)...It was so bad I didn't make it all the way thru...having just been in a modern recording studio, I think I can safely say that with enough "knob twiddling" you can make Johnny Cash sound like Graham Nash...and if that's what it takes to make something bad sound good that's OK...
"one word:auto-tune..."
i must be gettin' old but i actually don't mind that idea.
yes, it's not honest in that that is NOT how they sounded on the night but you could argue that the chaos/drugs/monitors etc were messing their shows up unnaturally and they deserve to be fixed and have the potential be realized.
Surely preferable to having these tapes/videos buried away forever unheard.
i was at the wembley show - what a great day!
auto-tune away my friends!!
Frankly, I don't understand all these negative comments about this project. A compilation album from the multitrack recordings should be a dream for the real fans.All these concerts were recorded by Elliot Mazer, one of best Neil producers. A live album was not released then for some childish rivalities between CSNY and for too many egos involved.Not all the vocal performances were perfect for the great use of drugs. Anyway, CSNY at the zenith...
Andrea."So Tired"
@asg:
There's no reason to suspect auto-tune. Pure speculation.
In fact, Neil & CSN have been quite vociferous about their distaste for auto-tune. Another example of what's destroying the music biz.
Auto-tune would seem to be hypocritical at this stage in their careers.
I look forward to this. CSN were still vital in 1974. Add Neil .. well that helps a lot.
This tour had such eclectic playlists, from CSN's jewel box debut album to Neil's move to the ditch with On the Beach. Lots of (at the time) unreleased material from all.
From the boots, it seems there were a lot of great performances. If they compile it from multiple nights, they can elimate the just plain bad stuff.
But I find this tour interesting, more adventurous than 1970, and clean multitracks from it should be great to hear.
Neil's selections are very interesting.
The mor ethe better in my mind.
(take 2) I would RATHER CSN use modern technology if they need to...someone somewhere (Bernstein in SHAKEY?) commented on how much technology was used in CSN's most recent releases...If Stills had had HIS way 4-way street wouldn't have been so "raw"...TFA works BECAUSE it's raw, and Neil fans know WHY it was so raw...Thrash, I didn't say they will (or did) artificially "fix" the recordings...I'm saying MAYBE they should consider it...they're NOT in their mid-30s anymore...
P.S. taking my cue from "raincheck", the Denver boot has some good stuff on it (Sugar Mtn.,Pushed It...)I saw them near DC in one of the (apparently) few arena shows they did on that tour (Capitol Center)...
From the boots I've heard over the years as well as some shows played often on RustRadio, I don't think the performances were all that bad apart from the between song ( and sometimes during song) banter from mostly David Crosby. To otherwise enhance the vocals would be a farce. A recording is like a photograph, it is what it is. To alter the vocals at this point would be no different than going in and overdubbing new guitar part. As usual, Neil's performances were spot-on which is not unusual since I recall him saying in an interview during that period how he went out of his way to distance himself from that "rock-n-roll circus" even traveling to the shows in his own bus. It will be good to have the shows from this era finally available but would be worthless if the end result was altered to satisfy a few ego's.
Really guys, most of these posts are about alterations nobody knows are being done, or really has reason to suspect.
Look, here's another one.
Croz saying these shows sound great means nothing, he is a blowhard oversells everything. He can't shut up. But Nash has pretty good ears and if he is deciding this is box set worthy, my guess is these tapes sound pretty good.
"raincheck" is right...about pretty much all of it...Crosby has been known to exaggerate...
Hey, 1974 wasn't perfect. God knows, I lived through it (somehow). CSNY was experiencing egos on steroids... But, the shows did have plenty of bright spots - From Neil's "Don't Be Denied," to "Pushed it Over the Edge" and "Love Art Blues," to Stills' "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" and the great compilation song, "Wooden Ships". On one level this tour epitomized the aimlessness of the post-60's funk, while also espousing a grandiose, albeit distorted, vision of the future. I don't really care if it was "doom" and "gloom" - that was the pathos of the moment - and I enjoy it For What it's Worth.
Jim. "Hippie Dream"
I was at the July 28th '74 Jeppeson Stadium Houston concert. It was so insanely hot that I cut off a brand new pair of levi's jeans. But who can argue with a lineup like CSN&Y, the Beach Boys, and Jesse Colin Young?
One amazing day.
I went to the show in Cleveland and it was the greatest. The place was packed.Jesse Colin Young opened the show. He had an 8 piece band, horn section and all and they got the crowd rockin.
The Band came out next and sucked, Richard Manuel was "sick", They were off key, off tempo, lackluster.
Then Santana came out and set the place on fire with his new Afro-Latin Soul band.
Finally CSNY came out and blew us away, They played songs like Deja Vu and put an electric psychedelic jam spin to it and blew everyone away,the whole set rocked.
I don't know what turmoil CSNY was going through but they were tight and out of sight.
Dave from Cincy
Hi,
I have quite a few shows from the tour, and I know that some can have their so so moments, but I think a lot of them are pretty great..
That first show in Seattle, the one that was like four hours has some GREAT GREAT GREAT moments... for C S N and Y...... (they go like electric, acoustic, electric, and play in permutations)... lee shore from that was amazing....I will say this though.... can't stomach some of Stills' guitar playing on a couple electric tracks (love the one you're with comes to mind, and whatever neil song they played second).... However,his acoustic playing and singing was pretty darn good, and Croz and Nash had some great songs too... .....there are some great group moments, particularly the acoustic, which I think they pulled off better than SOME of the electric... like 4+20 with harmonies, human highway, hawaiian sunrise..... Another awesome song from the tour is Crosby's "Time After Time...." WOW.... I'm a pretty huge CSNY fan (one of the good ones from the heavily bootlegged Roosevelt show), and I would definitely put quite a few songs from the tour on my greatest of all time list......some of the jams are good too....
I will say this though.......saw CSNY in San Jose back in like 2001 (or was it 02?), and that was definitely one of my favorite concerts.....Stills' sweet judy blue aways was f'ing amazing..... Wooden ships was amazing...rockin in the free world was amazing... and so on.
I just hope that whatever they DO choose is a good selection... I love CSNY but can't always agree with what they choose to officially release...... for example, never released the super-awesome like 8/9 minute version of lee shore, instead the shortened like 5 minute version? Just some of the choices they make can be a bit baffling......however if you are collector you can find some of the great stuff that hasn't been released.... the CSN box set was the beginning of that for me...
A day late here yesterday being 41st anniv Kent State. At AC concert in the rain, Aug. 9, '74, day after Nixon resignation, Neil, bathed in a blood red spot, launched into "Ohio" for an unforgettable moment!
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