Happy Birthday: Stephen Stills
You know today’s birthday boy from his work with Buffalo Springfield, Crosby Stills, Nash and sometimes Young, and his solo efforts, but what you may not know are how many high-profile individuals Stephen Stills has performed with as a sideman. Fortunately, we can fix that for you, so read on and prepared to get educated.
1. Eric Clapton, “Let It Rain” (1970): Clapton and Stills actually used to be neighbors, or at least that’s the term that Stills himself used in an interview with MusicRadar when talking about how Clapton ended up playing on “Go Back Home,” from Stills’ self-titled debut album. “ I said, 'I need a solo, would you do one?' And he said, 'Yes, but only if you show me your acoustic guitar sound.' I said, 'Deal!' We did that and then we played ‘Tequila’ all night long. That went for three hours."
2. Neil Young, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” (1970): Whether or not Young’s goal on After the Gold Rush was – as has been theorized – to create a sound that was a combination of Crazy Horse and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, he was certainly able to get a portion of the latter sound on this song, thanks to Stills contributing backing vocals. It’s worth noting that Stills went on to cover this song himself, which you can find on his 1984 album Right With You.
3. Dave Mason, “Seasons” (1977): Stills acknowledged a bit of good-natured professional jealousy of his fellow guitar player in an interview with Performing Songwriter, where he discussed his own playing and said, “I still have a weakness in my ring finger. It’s devastatingly annoying, the guys that can bend with just the ring finger – Dave Mason, for instance. It’s one of those things that, for my style, separates the men from the boys. But I keep working on it.”
4. The Michael Schenker Group, “Never Trust a Stranger” (1981): The fact that the All Music Guide’s review of the Michael Schenker Group’s second album, MSG, makes specific mention of its “bizarre cameo from Stephen Stills” on this ballad is reason enough to include it, but we’re also citing it here because we have absolutely no idea how on earth this particular collaboration came to pass. If you can offer any insight, we’d love to find out the answer to this rock and roll mystery.
