His guitar duets with Stephen Stills added energy to their electric sets, and… Its popularity not only helped Young’s solo efforts, but the other members of the group had major success with their individual releases.Īs originally expected, Neil Young was a great asset to the group’s live shows. It’s also one of the best titles ever for a second album. Those were filled with songs CSN would have loved to record.ĭeja Vu hit #1, and eventually went 7-times Platinum in the U.S. He clearly showcased his talent with After The Gold Rush and Harvest…which were his next two releases. His solo success came after Deja Vu gave him a much higher profile. What we do know is that even though Neil Young had two very good solo albums prior to joining CSN, they were not very successful. We’ll never know if CSN would have had smoother sailing if they hadn’t added the Y. Drummer Dallas Taylor, Bassist Greg Reeves, and Engineer Bill Halverson have said the first album was made with great cooperation and enthusiasm, but Deja Vu had the musicians butting heads. Neil Young only played on five tracks…his two songs, “Helpless” & “Country Girl”, plus “Almost Cut My Hair”, “Woodstock” and “Everybody I Love You”.Īs much as I love Neil Young, it could certainly be debated whether his addition was good or bad for Crosby, Stills & Nash. (CSN&Y with Dallas Taylor & Greg Reeves, photo by Henry Diltz) The Stills solo song “4 + 20” got a lot of airplay, and so did David Crosby’s “Deja Vu” (with John Sebastian on harmonica). The hit singles from Deja Vu were Graham Nash’s “Teach Your Children” (with Jerry Garcia on steel guitar), Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock”, and Nash’s “Our House”. It was the perfect album opener, with excellent harmony and a driving rhythm…a worthy follow-up to “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” which had opened their first album. “Carry On” by Stephen Stills was the first song I heard. Memphis FM radio stations started playing the album right away. Deja Vu had the leather-looking cover with the gold embossed letters, and an actual photograph glued to the front. We may have wanted to break in, but we came back when the store was open. We looked in to see a huge display at the front of the store with lots of copies of the album…only a locked door away. The day Deja Vu was released (March 11th, 1970), we went to the record store…but it had closed for the day. My wife and I were newlyweds living in Memphis, TN while I attended electronics school. You can also get info about the Deja Vu 50th Anniversary Box Set by clicking the link at the end of this article. Note: This article is about the original album. Stephen thought it would be different this time. Eventually, they decided to add Neil Young…the same musician Stephen Stills fought with when they were in Buffalo Springfield. It was a huge success with critics and the public alike, but they felt they needed another guitarist for live performances. In 1969, they had released their self-titled first album. alone.Deja Vu was a pivitol time in the career of Crosby, Stills & Nash. To date, Deja vu has sold over seven million copies in the U.S. It changed us)ĭeja vu spawned three hit singles - "Our House," which hit Number 30 "Teach Your Children," which peaked at Number 13 and "Woodstock" which topped out at Number 11. Neil Young believes that from the onset, the magnitude of fame that CSNY achieved right out of the gate destined the foursome to never survive as a permanent entity: SOUNDCUE (:12 OC. In truth, CSNY was almost built to self-destruct. way it is)ĭavid Crosby told us that although fame, cash, and adulation were absolutely a gas - they were never a motivation for him: SOUNDCUE (:20 OC. Graham Nash told us that Deja vu was a darker record than Crosby, Stills, & Nash due to the death of Crosby's girlfriend Christine Hinton in a car accident, and Nash and Stills' respective breakups with legendary singers Joni Mitchell and Judy Collins: SOUNDCUE (:10 OC. Highlights on the set included Graham Nash's instant standards "Our House" and "Teach Your Children" - featuring Jerry Garcia making his debut on pedal steel guitar, David Crosby's title track and "Almost Cut My Hair," Stephen Stills' "Carry On" and the solo "4+20," Neil Young's "Helpless" - as well as the group's reinvention and definitive take of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock." Young had begun performing with CSN shortly after the debut album was released.ĭeja vu, which hit Number One for just one week on May 16th, 1970, stayed in the Billboard Top 10 for a whopping 23 straight weeks. The album, which served as the followup up to the previous year's, watershed Crosby, Stills, & Nash collection, was the first to feature Stephen Stills' Buffalo Springfield buddy and foil, Neil Young. It was 50 years ago today (March 11th, 1970) that Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young's Deja vu album was released.
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