Stephen Stills

Music for people who clap when an airplane lands. Neil Young is Mario, David Crosby is Luigi, and Stephen Stills is Toad. I will not elaborate further, but there are mountains of factual evidence to support my claim. Four albums featuring this guy on a list like this is insanity. That's like four crusty phone videos by your drunk neighbor Ted on a "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" list.

Imagine being Stephen Stills. You’re in Buffalo Springfield, responsible for many of their hits, you’re their leader, but there’s high tensions, due in no small part to creative differences between you and Neil Young. So the band breaks up and you start a new band with the guy from the Hollies and the guy from the Byrds that likes to write songs about threesomes. You bust your ass recording a debut album where you play the majority of the instruments: a real tour-de-force showcase for your talents and it is massively successful, a smash hit. What is your next move? To fill out your arrangements live, you, for some reason, invite Neil Young, the guy who tried to take over to your last band, to join the band. There’s no way he’d do it again, right? Young’s arrival brings even more success to the band: the follow up album you record with him goes to number 1, sells 8 million copies…but the recording sessions were full of conflict and you find yourself butting heads with Neil Young once again. There’s no way he’s going to do it again…try and take control from you over *your* band, right? Neil Young: “I’ll fucken do it again” Then, a month after your album is released, May 1970, the Kent State massacre happens. Neil Young walks into the woods and comes up with “Ohio”. You and the boys put some vocal harmonies over his song, which is more aggressive than anything else you’ve ever recorded. Your record company rushes the song out for release at the same time that “Teach your Children Well” is climbing the charts. You go on an extended tour that summer and by July 1970, CSNY is calling it quits. So, you, Stephen Stills, start a solo career and have success, but your old foil, Neil Young is starting to have hit after hit, becoming a massive star. By the time 1974 rolls around and Young agrees to reunite CSNY for a stadium tour, he is the pretty much the main draw and a precedent has been set: CSNY only happens when Neil wants it to happen. The success of the band you started, the band whose career was started by the excellent record you toiled over in the studio, is now fully dependent on Neil Young being around to pull in a big payday and Neil has had no problem pulling the plug on CSNY at a moment’s notice. Sure, CSN can draw a crowd, but CSNY is another story and that’s how it’s going to go for the next 40 years. Now, reader, I’m sure you’re feeling pretty bad for Stephen Stills. What an outcome for the guy who was supposed to be “it”. Don’t feel too bad…for starters, he’s got tons of money. He definitely treated Neil Young pretty poorly - to the extent that a few of his albums after this one have a Neil Young cover on them as a sort of mea culpa, but also…he managed to get one of Jimi Hendrix’s last solos captured on tape for this album (Good Times Old Times) and then proceeded to bury parts of it under his own organ playing (that’s not a euphemism, get your mind out of the gutter). If you’re still feeling bad for Stills after all that, go ahead and listen to his 1978 album, “Thoroughfare Gap”. Any good will you still had for the man will evaporate in no time - Seriously, you owe it to yourself, as means of better understanding Stephen Stills, to hear “You Can’t Dance Alone” and especially “Can’t Get No Booty”.

Is it bad? No. But is it good? Also, no.

At times good, at times less good.

I am a stereotype but sometimes that's okay.

Guitar work is great but the song structure is just so...straightforward. Feels like an album full of studio musicians propping up a talented guitarist. Some really abrupt endings. Cherokee into We Are Not Helpless is jarring. Fav Track: Love the One You're With

Right, I literally don't know who he is. I'm not being stupid or anything, but I physically don't know who Stephen Stills is. He could be the leader of the Special Boat Squadron Service.

A timely companion to After The Gold Rush earlier in the week. Went into this with low expectations, as I have thought Love The One You're With to be a weird and terrible song since I saw Bucks Fizz perform it at Thorpe Park randomly over 35 years ago (disappointingly instead of their current hit at the time which was a real banger, even without any ripped skirts). But I digress: LTOYW is awful here too, the rest isn't as bad although run-of-the-mill, '70s singer/songwriter stuff. Go Back Home is pretty good. Stills seems to be the least interesting of the CSNY set, but I've heard worse solo albums. Yawn

Stephen Stills' Stephen Stills hung out with me on my drives to and from my first day of work on this continent, amiably addled company on the way in, something of a guardian angel through the scary rainstorm coming home. Just a very easy album to get on with, hang-out yacht rock. The tunes are laid back, as are the jams - long enough to get absorbed in, short enough to swerve tedium. It's more a vehicle for eyes-closed emotional vibes than for melodies. Earnest, sincere and hopeful, this is music I would once have despised, mistaking doomed idealism for complacency. What the heck is the percussion doing on the opening Bucks Fizz song? Whatever it is, I like it! ‘Love the One You’re With’, I can imagine Clapton hiding behind his heroin beard when Stills was playing that back to him. This list always leads me back to Clapton, my Anti-Mecca. And Neil Young, my hairy Vatican. With one eye to Si's review, this is not as good as 'After the Gold Rush', but better than Young's songs on 'Deja Vu'. On that subject, this record has inspired an idea to reenact the making of Robert Altman’s “The Big Sleep”, with Stephen Stills as Philip Marlowe/Elliott Gould, Graham Nash as gangster Marty Augustine, David Crosby as Sterling Hayden/Roger Wade/Hemingway, Rita Coolidge as Eileen, John Lennon and Yoko Ono as Robert Altman, and special guest star Eric Clapton as Terry Lennox, whom will be shot by Stills at the climax. Neil Young will play the naked hippy girls living across from Stills. As too many of the cast are already dead, this will have to be a written exercise. The twist ending is a final shot of Crosby/Hayden rising back out of the night sea, eyes black, described in Hemingway barks.

3.5 considering i expected to really dislike this, i was pleasantly surprised. the first half was definitely stronger than the latter in my opinion but it was overall very pleasant background music while i was getting ready. church was my favourite it made me quite happy to listen to.

Well now. Another confirmation for me that this list is a delightful use of my time. I absolutely loved this. Funky, rocky gospel nonsense with someone talking to God on a Hammond? just take my money

No. 205/1001 Love the One You're With 4/5 Do for the Others 4/5 Church 4/5 Old Times Good Times 3/5 Go Back Home 3/5 Sit Yourself Down 4/5 To a Flame 4/5 Black Queen 3/5 Cherokee 3/5 We Are Not Hopeless 4/5 Average: 3,6 Nothing groundbreaking. But am enjoyable folk-rock album.

Okay

This music has soul! I love it!

Stephen Stills - Stephen Stills ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Recorded between Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young tours in 1970 Stephen Stills self-titled debut is a funky delight. Featuring a slew of famous friends like Jimi Hendrix, his CSN&Y band mates doing backing vocals, John Sebastian, Mama Cass, Rita Coolidge, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr fresh of playing drums for Howlin' Wolf and plenty of other top faces of the music scene. Whew! That's a lot of talent. An extremely likable loose album that mixes all sorts of styles to create if not the best album of 1970 certainly one of the most joyful.

Great album. Amazing guest stars that somehow don’t take over the album. Prolific few years for Stills.

Basically all the dudes in CSNY have good records, and this is no exception. 4.5 bumped up to 5.

10/10 holy shit these guys are fuckin talented!

Lots of memories

🌟 Rating: 4.3/5 It’s like denim in album form: rugged, dependable, and somehow smells like campfire whiskey. 🎧 Favorite Track: “Love the One You’re With” A vibe so strong it practically walks barefoot into a commune and hands you a tambourine.

I mean. This album is insane. If you have any emotions when you listen to this album they will be amplified 100 fold.

surprisingly funky!! the bass lines in this album are incredible. such a groove!

Stephen is a favorite from way back. Great Crosby, Nash and Young.

Wow this was much better than I expected. I knew Love the One You're With (and thought it was with Crosby and Nash honestly) and I thought the album was going to be really folksy based on what I know of Crosby, Stills, and Nash, who I've never cared much for. This album really surprised me. The second song was folksy and the third started as folk before transitioning to a more gospel feel. Then the album got into funky blues rock stuff and I really loved a bunch of it. The second half is so strong, and the end of the album reminds me how Weezer's Red Album ends, which I've always loved.

Haven't heard this before. Starts off with a classic, super-catchy track that everyone knows and continues with great songs throughout. Sometimes it seems hard to tell where CSN(Y) ends and the solo records begin. This is a little bit like that to me.

What an absolutely stacked personnel list for this album! Aside from 2 tracks being essentially CSN, Hendrix, Clapton Booker T, AND Ringo were all on here!? The songs were fun to listen too. They were both funky and sweet and sound very of the time. “Go back home” was the highlight for me though the first track is a classic. In retrospect, since I’m going 5 here I should have done the same for OK Computer.

decent album, funky rock, very listenable

vier bis fünf

4.6 - Bit of me, not gonna lie

I've never heard this before, as I usually stick to CSN&Y stuff. What a voice. Lovely harmonies and enjoy the bluesy, gospel soul sound on songs like Church. Bit of a Joe Cocker sound on it. I was quite surprised by this as it’s a lot more pacey and rocky than I was expecting. I thought it would be more acoustic folky ditties, but it gets quite shreddy and funky at times. Old Times, Good Times and Go Back Home are great examples of this and feature Hendrix and Clapton providing solos, respectively. 

 Enjoyed nearly every song here but To a Flame was a bit of damp squib after a belting first half of the album.

 Overall, this is excellent and I’ll be diving into more of the CSN solo work.

Un gran placer el tiempo que pase con este álbum, un gran placer

Awesome

Really great album. Heavy on the blues with some great folky lyrics.

Rock me to sleep, Steve.

Delightfully jammy. It’s got that classic CSN palette, but applied in a looser way. I dig it.

peak folk rock. Core rock instrumentals without getting too loud. amazing album from start to finish

loved this album, very soft melodie’s

Damn, I expected soft and tender just from seeing the album cover, instead I got rich, thoughtful and expressive. I resonated with this album on an emotional level. Stills' musical choices on the album hit home quite right. He also knows how to keep the tempo going throughout the album. His amazing feel for composing and lyricism really shines in this solo debut album. It was also amazing to read about his inspiration wrought from Jimi Hendrix and his regret of not making a full album with the man.

Where has this been all my life? The songs on this album vary between great and excellent. Stephen Stills possesses a brilliant voice, awesome songwriting ability, AND he is a top notch guitarist.

Quite enjoyable.

If you can't listen to the album you love, honey, love the album you're with. And I did today. One I've never listened to, but so good!

Super-duper!!

Outstanding. Please play Love the One You’re With at my funeral. Thanks.

What an exceptional album… didn’t realize how Stephen Stills played all those instruments… didn’t realize Rita Coolidge busted up CSNY… didn’t realize that the song “Love The One You’re With” - a fantastically realistic love song - came from such a great album. Just terrific!

Such familiar sound. Feels like I've known him forever without eer knowing who it was. Great album

Favorite Track: Go Back Home

..Ja fanfaairt soivat..

JAMS

Still one of the best albums of all time. It is incredibly varied with consistent high quality. Stills is a formidable singer, guitarist, songwriter and overall musician.

this was a lovely surprise

Absolutely great - every song was remarkable. I had heard of Stills just from Crosby, Stills & Nash but never actually listened to him separately. Will definitely add to my favourites and listen to it again.

great album i love the acoustic feel mixed with the gospel additions on some of the tracks. lyrics go from so so to really good so they even out. the blues fusion with roots notes is perfect. best songs: church, love the one you’re with, we are not helpless

Hat Spaß gemacht

Engaging and fun. Great album… Stephen jumped up to my top rated artists.

BL: I've heard the name Steven Stills be mentioned a few times but never really got the chance to dig into him in any particular way so will be excited to hear this record. AL: I loved this record a lot. The perfect mix between emotional ballads and more traditionally upbeat story writing. Highly worth the listen, stylistically nothing mindblowing especially for the time. But the musicianship and lyricism was highly worth the listen. Also a special mention to a very cool (but very 70s) cover art FT: "Love the One You're With", "Church", "To a Flame", "We Are Not Helpless" 5/5

Slow and beautiful

great

This was a complete surprise. I knew Love the One You’re With and I thought the rest would just be him noodling. This whole record maintains the heights of its first track. This is great 70s blues and keep an amazing momentum throughout

Soup for the soul.

My First «play on repeat»-album! Right up my alley, and this will be a stater in my collection. Awesome songwriting, great musicianship, and a whole album I enjoyed from start to end.

Aika kova. Ei ihan kympin kokonaisuus, mut kai tää silti viiteen tähteen pyöristyy. Folkkia, countria, bluesia, gospelia.. kaikki 70-luvun saundeilla ja menolla.

Liked this wayyyy more than I thought I would, thought it'd just be cool songwriting but the amount of different styles and themes across this album while still remaining super cohesive is fantastic. Cool asf

A nice album from an incredible songwriter. I wish he had more songs to make this album a little longer, though. 4.7/5 Favorite: “Sit Yourself Down” Least Favorite: “Cherokee”

Hendrix and Clapton as features on the same record is pretty incredible. Then you’re gonna flute it up another notch on Cherokee? Get out of town

Didn't really care for his collab work with Bing Crosby and Ogden Nash, but this album kinda slaps.

Really enjoyed that album and there are definitely some songs, i will enjoy further on. Never heard of Stephen Stills before, but his lyrics and guitar skills are outstanding and top class. I am really glad now, having joined this 1001 gen app. My top 3 in a particular order are: 1) Do for the Others 2) Go Back Home (awesome song concerning the sequences of e guitar, bass and piano. Outstanding e guitar solo btw) 3) Black Queen (really enjoyed the country style guitar parts) 4.8

Significant contributer to the rock genre. I‘m loving the blues and rock combinations in the songs. Knew him already from CSN(&Y). Love their songs too. Personal Top3 in no order: Old Times Good Times Go Back Home Black Queen

One of the first vinyls I bought because it was easily obtainable at thrift stores. It kicks ass. Love the whole thing still to this day

Great record.

Man this was really great. Great arrangement, vocals, songs, and not horribly dated like much of the stuff of the era. Very strong from start to finish. 9/10.

I enjoyed that hell out of this. Really good songwriting, delightful performances, and great production. There's such a good blues vibe here. It's chill but still energetic. I can't really find anything bad to say about this one. Over the corse of the relatively short album it steadily rose from a 4 to a 5-star album. That's despite the saxophones and jazz flute, mind you. The guitar work on "Black Queen" alone is enough to overcome a half-dozen saxophone solos. Which is good because "Cherokee" pushes my limits on both.

4.95/5 je reexoute. Très bon e chanson d'un super artiste.

I thought this would be mostly Americana songs in the vein of Love the One You're With, but it was very eclectic. Some blues, soul, and funk mixed in. And I enjoyed reading about and listening for the other notable musicians who contributed, like Ringo and Hendrix.

Pleasant surprise. A little more three dimensional than CSN, a little more 'rawk.'

Can't do much better than Stephen Stills.

What a tremendous album from the Stills of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Album standouts include Love The One Your With, Do For Others, Old Times Good Times, Go Back Home, Cherokee, and We Are Not Helpless.

All those years I thought that voice belonged to David Crosby

Something about this type of music that just soothes my soul! Just good old classic folk rock with some awesome harder guitar riffs in there. And backing guitar in sone tracks by Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and other legends! This is a great album. Listen again: yes Purchase for my collection: yes Favourite Song: Love The One You’re With

Great gentle 60s folk Americana vibe - good for background as you work

bastante molon y muy relajadito

I am a fan of CSN(Y), but I’ve found most if CSN solo projects to be close to unlistenable, with the focus on the worst aspects of their songwriting and presentation. I HATE “Love the One You’re With” and expected this to all be the precious version of Stills that I can’t stand. But then there was Church (Pt of Someone) and it all changed. I loved most of the rest of the album and really gained more appreciation for Stephen Stills.

Surprised by how good this album is. Great songs and killer guitar playing all the way through.

Extra star for the album cover

Enjoyable. Not sure we need every album by every combo of Crosby stills Nash and young and all their solo projects on the list

Chill singer/songwriter sound. I like it

confusing album. feels like it has been mixed or produced at completely different times. more like a greatest hits. Shades of Supergrass in places, other stuff more poppy and unlistenable. strange, but also compelling at times

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll just barely bump down to a 4. It’s a good album, don’t get me wrong, and honestly, it’ll probably click like a 5 someday. On a first pass, though? It’s just not quite there. Stephen Stills’ songwriting, while good, isn’t as strong as it could be, and not as strong as it would later be on “Manassas”, nor as strong as it was on the CSN(Y) albums. It’s a little broad here, with too much room for interpretation on a number of tracks, making the emotional pull a bit too ambiguous. It certainly doesn’t help that a lot of the context for that emotional pull feels sort of lost to the 55 years since this album dropped. Without that emotional pull, there’s just less “substance” to the album for me. That leaves two other qualities to pick up some weight, being his vocals & the instrumentation. They’re both pretty good here, but once again, it just didn’t quite get there for me. Stephen’s vocals are good, but while I know he’s not necessarily a belter, there’s never really anything super standout. Namely, I never felt like he was using his voice to get the most emotional pull out of the tracks, and more so just singing the way one would “logically” sing them. For an analogy, it’s like a gifted technical singer hitting all the right notes on an Aretha Franklin track, but without that deeper, truly personal touch. For the instrumentation itself, I’d argue much of the same thing – at a technical level, it’s wonderfully done, with a huge variety of instrumentation & some genuine star-studded appeal here. Jimi Hendrix rips a fucking stellar guitar solo on “Old Times Good Times”, as does Eric Clapton on “Go Back Home”. Hell, he got Ringo Starr on drums on a pair of tracks here, and he does a pretty good job. I think my thing with the instrumentation is that it’s kinda compensating for the “lesser” lyricism & vocal work. The problem is, at least to my brain, I think it ended up overcompensating. A little too much flashiness feels present here, and it creates a disconnect for me. I liked a lot of these tracks, but I felt like I was just enjoying them because they sounded good & did everything technically right, as opposed to genuinely feeling engaged with the tracks themselves, and entering that sort of “zen state” like I have with CSNY albums & with Stephen Stills himself on “Manassas”. That’s not to say there weren’t tracks I engaged with, because there definitely were. Hell, I really did enjoy a lot of the album, regardless of feeling that deeper sense of connection or not, because at the most technical level, it’s still a very enjoyable listen. It’s just some intangible things about my own personal tastes that built up over the course of the runtime stopping me from giving it a full 5 on a first pass, but I’d still recommend it regardless. If you like CSNY-adjacent stuff, it’s certainly going to scratch an itch. It’s a good 38 minutes, but for whatever reason, I never felt like it took the next step that would make me go “yep, this is a 5”. It probably will someday, though, hence a 4.5 barely bumped down to a 4.

Definition of great groovy classic 70s style rock. Killer guitar solos and deep but poppy lyrics.

Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that. Folk is generally not something I like (although this list is testing that somewhat). There is folk here, but also rock, gospel, maybe a little blues. The first half is quite good. Love the One You're With has great backing vocals. Church (Pt. of Someone) has a gospel-like feel that works pretty well. Old Times Good Times and Go Back Home made me think this may actually be a great album. I suspect that's mostly because of Hendrix and Clapton. Then the second part comes and it's average at best. Nothing was terrible, but none of it caught my interest. So 4.5 for the first half and 2.5 for the second half. 3.5 rounded up.

Incredible funk

Stephen Stills always seemed like the most talented of the CSNY team, especially his guitar chops. Old Times Good Times, Black Queen and Go Back Home are great points of supportive evidence. It was interesting hearing Love The One You’re With as the original as I always thought it was Luther Vandross’ song, which turns out the original is less gospel but keeps the vibe. Overall, I don’t think there was a bad song on this album, though To A Flame and the flute solo on Cherokee wasn’t a favorite, though the later had a point. I may even look around the bins for this one of vinyl.

Can't argue that Stills makes some great folk rock. Not only does he play a ton of instruments, but the line up of talent he got to come in on this is rather impressive.

Still a haunting voice.

Lots of different styles tried, with various levels of success

A good album, I liked Love The One You're With, Church and We Are Not Helpless.

I really enjoyed this one. It’s the kind of album that doesn’t rush to impress you with flash, but instead quietly wins you over with solid songwriting, mood, and variety. From the first track, I could hear that Stephen Stills had a clear vision for what he wanted this solo debut to sound like. It’s warm, rich, and confidently blends rock, folk, blues, and even a touch of Latin rhythm here and there. The arrangements feel thought-through without being overstuffed, and the guitar playing is consistently tasteful. There’s a sort of easy swagger to it all that makes it feel like he knew exactly what he was doing. I liked how Love the One You’re With kicks things off – sure, it’s the big hit, but it’s also genuinely good. Catchy, smooth, and full of laid-back energy. But it was the deeper cuts that stood out more for me. Black Queen is a highlight – that one’s raw and bluesy, just Stills and a guitar, recorded in one take and sounding like he’d had a drink or two beforehand. I love how unpolished it is. Do for the Others is another favourite, with that melancholy acoustic feel and lovely vocal harmonies. There’s also some impressive guest appearances if you go digging – Clapton’s on guitar, Hendrix even shows up briefly – but the album never leans too heavily on them. It’s still very much Stills in the driver’s seat. I think what makes this work so well is that it feels like a personal album, even though it’s polished and filled with guests. You get the sense that these songs actually meant something to him. There’s pain in the ballads, a touch of humour in places, and a clear love for the craft. For me, this is one of those albums that might not blow you away on first listen, but if you let it sit with you, it slowly becomes something you return to again and again.

I enjoyed this. It was nice background music and I probably would have listened to it more. 4/5

Solid but not mine.

This is quite fun. Some nice instrumentation, a nice folly/bluesy Americana cross. Love some of the gospel choir vocals. Felt quite rolling stonesy at times. Enjoyed it.

A real good follow up to Henry's Dream. Nice and bluesy and energetic.