Up next, a guitarist who was there for the key moments of the 60's and beyond...
Stephen Arthur Stills was born January 3, 1945 and is one of the great veterans of the rock era. After 51 years in the music business, Stills remains active with Crosby, Stills & Nash, the supergroup he helped build after leaving Buffalo Springfield. Stills has the distinction of performing at all three of the legendary 60's Festivals--he performed with Buffalo Springfield at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and with Crosby, Stills & Nash at both Woodstock and Altamont.
As a child, Stephen became interested in blues and folk music. Born into a military family, Stills moved often and he graduated from high school in El Salvador. He attended Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida and Saint Leo College Preparatory School in Saint Leo, Florida. Stills briefly went to Louisiana State University, but dropped out in the early 1960's to pursue a music career.
Stephen played in several groups in his youth, including the Continentals, which also included Don Felder, future guitarist of the Eagles. Stills had a solo gig at the famous coffee house in Greenwich Village, New York--Gerde's Folk City and then caught on as being part of the house vocal harmony group at Cafe Au Go Go in New York City. Another member of what were known as the Au Go Go Singers was Richie Furay. This nine-member ensemble toured in the Catskills and in the South but broke up on 1965.
Five members, including Stills, stuck together and formed a folk-rock group called the Company. The Company toured Canada for six weeks, which is where Stills met guitarist Neil Young. The Company broke up within four months and Stills did some session work, then convinced Furay to move with him to California.
Young found his way to Los Angeles as well, bringing bassist Bruce Palmer with him. They hooked up with Stills and Furay and formed Buffalo Springfield. Drummer Dewey Martin joined a week later. The group blended folk, country and rock in a unique sound all their own and provided a launching pad for the careers of their members. Buffalo Springfield made their live debut on April 11, 1966 at the famous Troubadour in Hollywood, California, opening for the Byrds.
After a tour, Chris Hillman of the Byrds persuaded another famous club, Whisky a Go-Go on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, to give Buffalo Springfield an audition. This led to the group performing at Whisky from May 2 to June 18, 1966. This gave Buffalo Springfield tremendous exposure and they took full advantage. Their shows became packed and several record labels began showing interest. The group signed with Atlantic Records and began recording at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood.
The Springfield released their eponymous debut album in December, 1966. In November, Stills composed "For What It's Worth" and the song was first performed Thanksgiving night at Whisky a Go-Go. KHJ in Los Angeles soon had the song in hot rotation on their radio station and by March of 1967, the song was a national smash. Atlantic quickly replaced one of the songs on the album with "For What It's Worth" and re-released the album. Stills' song proved to be a timeless classic and became a political anthem for the youth of the 1960's. Stills also wrote "Sit Down, I Think I Love You" for the Mojo Men in 1967.
The group then released Buffalo Springfield Again, considered to be their finest effort. The album included "Mr. Soul", "Bluebird" and "Rock & Roll Woman". In live shows, "Bluebird" served as a springboard for an extended jam session with Stills, Young and Furay intertwining guitar solos. Buffalo Springfield drew raves in opening for the Beach Boys for their fifth annual Thanksgiving tour.
But Palmer was deported after being arrested for drugs for a second time, with session bassist Jim Messina hired to replace him. Then, after all the songs were recorded for a third album, another drug bust in the group (Furay, Young and Messina) led to the group breaking up. The final album was thus titled Last Time Around and Buffalo Springfield gave their final performance in Long Beach, California in May 5, 1968.
While Buffalo Springfield was splitting up, Stills played on the Super Session album with Al Kooper, then he joined with David Crosby, who had recently been kicked out of the group the Byrds. At a party at the home of either Cass Elliott, or Joni Mitchell, according to various sources, Graham Nash of the Hollies joined Crosby and Stills in a version of "You Don't Have to Cry". The three instantly realized their harmonies were something special and thus, Crosby, Stills & Nash were born.
Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records, who was a big fan of Buffalo Springfield, signed the trio to a contract. CSN also hired Elliot Roberts and David Geffen as their management team. Both would help them tremendously. The group's amazing self-titled album was released in 1969. It included "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes", "Wooden Ships" and "Helplessly Hoping", all written or co-written by Stills, as well as "Marrakesh Express" and "Long Time Gone".
As Stills had handled most of the instruments for the album, CSN needed additional musicians, and contacted Neil Young to play for a tour. Young came on board, but only with the condition that he could maintain a parallel solo career. The group performed together for the first time as a quartet on August 17, 1969 at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago, Illinois. They mentioned that the next day they were going to someplace called Woodstock but they had no idea where that was.
Young joined the group for their second album Deja Vu became one of The Top 100 Albums of the Rock Era*, containing the hits "Teach Your Children", "Woodstock" and "Our House" as well as a top album track--"Carry On".
The tenuous nature of the group was strained by its success and CSNY broke up after their summer tour in 1970.
All four members of CSNY released high-profile solo projects. Close friend Jimi Hendrix, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Crosby, Nash, Call Elliot and Rita Coolidge all helped out on Stills' solo album in 1970, which included the hit "Love the One You're With". Stephen followed with the album Stephen Stills 2.
In 1972, Stills and Chris Hillman, formerly with the Byrds, started the group Manassas. Their eponymous double album was a mix of rock, country, blues, bluegrass and Latin music.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunited in 1974 but an album never surfaced. Stills signed with Columbia Records and recorded three more solo albums, Stills in 1975, Illegal Stills in 1976 and Thoroughfare Gap in 1978. Stills & Young joined for the project Long May You Run in 1976 but Young had to leave halfway through the subsequent tour because of a throat infection.
Stills finished the tour, then permanently reunited with Crosby and Nash in 1977. The group once again generated their trademark harmonies on CSN, which included the hit "Just a Song Before I Go". In 1982, Crosby, Stills & Nash released Daylight Again, which included "Wasted on the Way" and Stephen's song "Southern Cross".
In 1979, Stills traveled to Cuba to play in the Havana Jam festival. Stephen recorded solo albums in 1984 (Right by You) and 1991 (Stills Alone).
Young joined the trio for albums in 1988 (American Dream) and 1999 (Looking Forward) and tours in 2000, 2002 and 2006.
In 1997, Stills became the first person to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice in the same night. He was honored for his work with both CSN and Buffalo Springfield. Fender Guitars designed a custom guitar for Stills, a Telecaster-style guitar, and presented it to him to mark the occasion.
Stills has experimented with the guitar, flipping pickups to mimic Hendrix playing a right-handed guitar left-handed. Stills will also use unconventional guitar tunings. He often employs a fingerstyle method of playing, especially when he plays an acoustic guitar.
Stills is also very good at piano, organ, congas and bass drums.
But he excels on the guitar. When you watch him, you are watching rock history. He is an amazing guitar player, something most rock fans don't appreciate until they see him live. Stephen Stills ranks #42 for the Rock Era*...
#42: Stephen Stills, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills & Nash, solo
51 years as an active guitarist
As a child, Stephen became interested in blues and folk music. Born into a military family, Stills moved often and he graduated from high school in El Salvador. He attended Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida and Saint Leo College Preparatory School in Saint Leo, Florida. Stills briefly went to Louisiana State University, but dropped out in the early 1960's to pursue a music career.
Stephen played in several groups in his youth, including the Continentals, which also included Don Felder, future guitarist of the Eagles. Stills had a solo gig at the famous coffee house in Greenwich Village, New York--Gerde's Folk City and then caught on as being part of the house vocal harmony group at Cafe Au Go Go in New York City. Another member of what were known as the Au Go Go Singers was Richie Furay. This nine-member ensemble toured in the Catskills and in the South but broke up on 1965.
Five members, including Stills, stuck together and formed a folk-rock group called the Company. The Company toured Canada for six weeks, which is where Stills met guitarist Neil Young. The Company broke up within four months and Stills did some session work, then convinced Furay to move with him to California.
Young found his way to Los Angeles as well, bringing bassist Bruce Palmer with him. They hooked up with Stills and Furay and formed Buffalo Springfield. Drummer Dewey Martin joined a week later. The group blended folk, country and rock in a unique sound all their own and provided a launching pad for the careers of their members. Buffalo Springfield made their live debut on April 11, 1966 at the famous Troubadour in Hollywood, California, opening for the Byrds.
After a tour, Chris Hillman of the Byrds persuaded another famous club, Whisky a Go-Go on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, to give Buffalo Springfield an audition. This led to the group performing at Whisky from May 2 to June 18, 1966. This gave Buffalo Springfield tremendous exposure and they took full advantage. Their shows became packed and several record labels began showing interest. The group signed with Atlantic Records and began recording at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood.
The group then released Buffalo Springfield Again, considered to be their finest effort. The album included "Mr. Soul", "Bluebird" and "Rock & Roll Woman". In live shows, "Bluebird" served as a springboard for an extended jam session with Stills, Young and Furay intertwining guitar solos. Buffalo Springfield drew raves in opening for the Beach Boys for their fifth annual Thanksgiving tour.
But Palmer was deported after being arrested for drugs for a second time, with session bassist Jim Messina hired to replace him. Then, after all the songs were recorded for a third album, another drug bust in the group (Furay, Young and Messina) led to the group breaking up. The final album was thus titled Last Time Around and Buffalo Springfield gave their final performance in Long Beach, California in May 5, 1968.
Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records, who was a big fan of Buffalo Springfield, signed the trio to a contract. CSN also hired Elliot Roberts and David Geffen as their management team. Both would help them tremendously. The group's amazing self-titled album was released in 1969. It included "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes", "Wooden Ships" and "Helplessly Hoping", all written or co-written by Stills, as well as "Marrakesh Express" and "Long Time Gone".
As Stills had handled most of the instruments for the album, CSN needed additional musicians, and contacted Neil Young to play for a tour. Young came on board, but only with the condition that he could maintain a parallel solo career. The group performed together for the first time as a quartet on August 17, 1969 at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago, Illinois. They mentioned that the next day they were going to someplace called Woodstock but they had no idea where that was.
Young joined the group for their second album Deja Vu became one of The Top 100 Albums of the Rock Era*, containing the hits "Teach Your Children", "Woodstock" and "Our House" as well as a top album track--"Carry On".
The tenuous nature of the group was strained by its success and CSNY broke up after their summer tour in 1970.
In 1972, Stills and Chris Hillman, formerly with the Byrds, started the group Manassas. Their eponymous double album was a mix of rock, country, blues, bluegrass and Latin music.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunited in 1974 but an album never surfaced. Stills signed with Columbia Records and recorded three more solo albums, Stills in 1975, Illegal Stills in 1976 and Thoroughfare Gap in 1978. Stills & Young joined for the project Long May You Run in 1976 but Young had to leave halfway through the subsequent tour because of a throat infection.
Stills finished the tour, then permanently reunited with Crosby and Nash in 1977. The group once again generated their trademark harmonies on CSN, which included the hit "Just a Song Before I Go". In 1982, Crosby, Stills & Nash released Daylight Again, which included "Wasted on the Way" and Stephen's song "Southern Cross".
In 1979, Stills traveled to Cuba to play in the Havana Jam festival. Stephen recorded solo albums in 1984 (Right by You) and 1991 (Stills Alone).
Young joined the trio for albums in 1988 (American Dream) and 1999 (Looking Forward) and tours in 2000, 2002 and 2006.
In 1997, Stills became the first person to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice in the same night. He was honored for his work with both CSN and Buffalo Springfield. Fender Guitars designed a custom guitar for Stills, a Telecaster-style guitar, and presented it to him to mark the occasion.
Stills has experimented with the guitar, flipping pickups to mimic Hendrix playing a right-handed guitar left-handed. Stills will also use unconventional guitar tunings. He often employs a fingerstyle method of playing, especially when he plays an acoustic guitar.
Stills is also very good at piano, organ, congas and bass drums.
But he excels on the guitar. When you watch him, you are watching rock history. He is an amazing guitar player, something most rock fans don't appreciate until they see him live. Stephen Stills ranks #42 for the Rock Era*...
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