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Rating: Unlike his friend-rival Neil Young, a "Loner" by (self)definition and chronically uncomfortable in the supergroups he ventured into, Stephen Stills has always thrived happily and authoritatively in the various dream teams that marked the golden period of his career.
In 1972, the Texan musician added another tile to his brilliant resume, after Buffalo Springfield, Supersession with Kooper-Bloomfield, and of course CSNY, not to mention the parade of all-star guests in his solo debut in 1970. Together with former Byrds bassist Chris Hillman, he founded Manassas, also recruiting Al Perkins (already guitarist with Hillman in the glory days of country rock, Flying Burrito Brothers), the rhythm section of CSN (Dallas Taylor Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels), keyboardist Paul Harris, and percussionist Joe Lala.
The corporate name is chosen in honor of one of the most famous battles of the American Civil War, and it is an indirect tribute to The Band, the group that first evoked the ghosts of the most arcane America, translating them into music, retrieving the dusty military maps of that conflict from old chests in the famous "The Night they drove old dixie down".
"Manassas" can comfortably be classified among the peaks of Stills' career: it is an impressive double album, played divinely, which touches on all the knowable between that West Coast sound for which Stephen rightfully held the keys, here expanded into often original figurations, and unexpected Latin, bluegrass, and jazz digressions. Everything is dense with the moods and scents of an unrepeatable season coming to an end. It is the triumph of the workaholic Stills, capable of transitioning with enviable polish between various genres and gifted with a refined and unique taste in arrangements. Not by chance, Bill Wyman, a guest on a track, said he would have liked to join the Stills project. Fortunately for him, "stone face" continued rolling with Jagger and Richards, as the magic of Manassas would already vanish with the next step, the mediocre "Down the road".
The work is divided into four parts, one for each side. The first, "The Raven", is the sound manifesto of the project, with a series of vibrant and expansive incandescences. "Song of love", a disenchanted window towards the Sixties and a possible last generational anthem, relies on Stephen's guitar slams and his warm and sharp voice nestled on a Latin-tinged percussive fabric, a tendency accentuated by the subsequent "Rock & Roll Crazies / Cuban Bluegrass".
"Jet Set (Sigh)" features a thrilling dialogue between Stephen's electric six-string and Perkins' pedal steel, while the stylistic-emotional peak is reached with the dreamlike surge of "Both of us (Bound to lose)", sealed at the end by a liquid and nervous solo from Stills.
The second side, "The wilderness", takes the listening to more conventionally country-bluegrass shores, with Stills still managing to offer a couple of memorable moments. The dreamy piano of "Jesus gave love away for free" is a heartfelt tribute to the happiest Gram Parsons, with fantastic vocal interweaving between Stephen and Hillman, while the country-folk charms of "So begins the task" would not have been out of place on "Déjà vu" the four bandmates. The folk-rock soul is emphasized on the third side, "Consider". Here certainly stand out the warmth of "Johnny's garden" and the fury, restrained and imprisoned in sinuous movements, of "It doesn't matter" (co-signed by Hillman), with Perkins' pedal steel drawing smoky border aromas. Stills then offers another soothing ballad in "Move Around", circularly mystical and inebriated, one of his forgotten masterpieces, capable of creating intense emotional upheavals comparable to those of his companions Young and Crosby.
The last side ("Rock and roll is here to stay", a phrase Neil would cite on "Rust Never Sleeps") seals the work in a visionary key with an impetus that mixes the rock-blues matrix with the joy of pure improvisation. The eight minutes of "Treasure", still fresh without ever appearing redundant, are certainly among the best things Stills has ever done. The Texas Cowboy is here engaged in forging amazing electric funky wah-wah scribbles and crossing the incandescent sonic magma of Manassas with the flair of the best conductor.
The curtain falls worthily with Stephen finally alone, after such a lush instrumental park: voice and guitar for the farewell of "Blues Man", a heartfelt dedication to Hendrix and Duane Allman. A very pleasant epilogue, not twisted and tortured like his companion Young, an incomparable architect of solitude, but perfect after this headlong journey through the purest American sound fabric.
Tracklist and Lyrics
03 Jet Set (Sigh) (04:25)
If you do grow
Then you must know
When you get so jive
You only half alive
Show me right now
That you know how
You can stand up
Look in a mirror and sigh
Get your feet wet
Run with the jet set
Be a good girl
Go around the world
But the longer it goes on
The harder you hang on
'Til you stand up
Look in a mirror and sigh
Tryin' to be cool
You just be the fool
Let it be known
You ain't full growed
And it's all right
Don't put up such a fight
You can stand up
Look in a mirror and sigh
04 Anyway (03:21)
Hey girl how's by you
Sing your rock and roll
Sing your blues
But I'm all right you know I pay my dues
Got 'em comin' to me
Got 'em comin' to you
I'm gonna try again
Don't matter if I win or lose
Gonna try again anyway
Yes I am, gonna try anyway
Yes I will
But I know you
You gonna be so cool
Ain't gonna try no sweet talkin'
I ain't no fool
Cause I know you love me girl
Just like I love you
Got my feet on the ground
And I know what I got to do
I'm gonna try again
Don't matter if I win or lose
Gonna try again anyway
Yes I will, gonna try anyway
Yes I will
Do you know where you're goin'?
Honey where have you been?
Do you see the games they're playin'?
Do you really believe you can win?
I'm gonna try again
Don't matter if I win or lose
Gonna try again anyway
Yes I will, gonna try anyway
Yes I will
05 Both of Us (Bound to Lose) (03:00)
Why can't you hear me
Why can't you see me
How can you be so blind to this feelin' in my heart
Time is a'waistin'
What have I tasted
Can you turn a deaf ear to my call
Both of us bound to lose
Why do we have to choose
Both of us bound to lose
Now can you hear me
Now can you see me
How do you like the fool when he's down
Is that really how you see me
Just a statue making sounds
The Fallen Eagle
Sing to the fallen eagle
Helicopters fly
Chase him 'round the mountains
Chase him 'til he dies
They say that it's good sportin'
Shootin' him on the wing
Above the roar and clatter
You can hear your rifle sing
his death song
it won't be long
Sing to the western rancher
The eagle takes his lamb
He's got a thousand others
He don't give a damn
Get up with the sunrise
Everybody gather 'round
Kill him with the first shot
He'll turn and bring you down
down down
crash on the ground
Sing to the noble eagle
Help is on the way
A government team of experts
Is a'rushin' to your aid
I know your not excited
An eagle is no waif
Fly on up to Canada
This country isn't safe
anymore
that's for sure
06 Fallen Eagle (02:03)
Sing to the fallen eagle
Helicopters fly
Chase him 'round the mountains
Chase him 'til he dies
They say that it's good sportin'
Shootin' him on the wing
Above the roar and clatter
You can hear your rifle sing
his death song
it won't be long
Sing to the western rancher
The eagle takes his lamb
He's got a thousand others
He don't give a damn
Get up with the sunrise
Everybody gather 'round
Kill him with the first shot
He'll turn and bring you down
down down
crash on the ground
Sing to the noble eagle
Help is on the way
A government team of experts
Is a'rushin' to your aid
I know your not excited
An eagle is no waif
Fly on up to Canada
This country isn't safe
anymore
that's for sure
09 So Begins the Task (03:57)
And so begins the task
I have dreaded the coming of
For so long
I wait for the sun
To remind my body
It needs restin'
And I must learn to "live" without you now
I must learn to give only part some how
Camping on the edge
Of your city I wait
Hoping someday
You might
See
Beyond yourself
The shadows on the ceiling
Hard
But not real
Like the bars that cage
You within yourself
And I must learn to live without you now
I must learn to give only part some how
And I must learn to without you now
As I cannot learn to give only part some how
All of these cages
Must
And shall be set aside
They will only
Keep
Us from the knowing
Actors
And stages
Now fall before the truth
As th love
Shared
Between us
Remains
...Growing
And I must learn to live without you now
As I cannot learn to give only part some how
10 Hide It So Deep (02:44)
If I fell in love with you again
Would you simply want it said you once knew me
Could you care enough to follow and see
Just what is it lies between us, why we hide it so deep
I was told by a fried that you miss me
And you try very hard to forget me
And you live your busy life, there's no room for me
Cause the thing you're sure I'd take is your will to be free
Still you wrestle with the chains of your burden
And you're sure when they're gone you can be certain
You can live as you please, give what you sell
And you carry that weight so nobody can tell
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