Manassas (album)
Manassas | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | April 12, 1972 | |||
Recorded | Criteria Sound Studios, Miami, Florida, Late 1971 | |||
Genre | Country rock, roots rock, blues rock, folk rock, southern rock | |||
Length | 71:57 | |||
Label | Atlantic Records | |||
Producer | Stephen Stills, Chris Hillman, Dallas Taylor | |||
Stephen Stills chronology | ||||
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Manassas chronology | ||||
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Singles from Manassas | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Christgau's Record Guide | C+[2] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [3] |
Manassas is the 1972 debut double album by Stephen Stills' new band of the same name, released April 1972. It was a critical comeback for Stills, and continued his commercial success by being shipped Gold only a month after being released.[4]
Contents
Recording
The album was recorded at Criteria Studio B late 1971, where Stills used his clout to keep the studio and engineers Ron and Howard Albert – available around the clock. The band all stayed in a rented house about 30 minutes away from the studio, in Coconut Grove. This allowed Stills to record the album around the clock, waking up band members in the early hours of the morning when an idea struck. Stills would also record for mammoth sessions often going on for days, until Chris Hillman and Stills got into a fight, and they started to record at regular hours. Al Perkins and Dallas Taylor had a rule where they wouldn't do any more than seven takes for a single track, so often Stills would stay in the studio till morning time editing after releasing the band at 4 or 5 am.[5] The band then flew to Stills' house in London in January 1972 to finish recording, mix, and rehearse for the upcoming tour starting in March 1972. It was here that Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones plays bass on and co-authored "The Love Gangster" and is reported to have said that he would have left the Stones to join Manassas.[1]
Songs
Each side was split into four thematic sides. Side 1 - The Raven, is a composite of rock and Latin sounds that the group would often perform in full live exactly as recorded. Side 2 - The Wilderness mainly centers on country and bluegrass. Side - 3 Consider is largely folk and folk-rock, and contains the song "Johnny's Garden" reportedly for the caretaker at Stills' English manor house bought from Ringo Starr. The closing section, titled "Rock & Roll Is Here to Stay," is a rock and blues set.[6]
Artwork and Packaging
The artwork was taken after Stills, a Civil War buff, had the band flown over to a vintage train station in Manassas, Va., where the Confederacy had claimed its first major victory at the Battle of Bull Run. The photo they liked was the band standing on the platform under a Manassas sign and so the band was named.[7] Included with the album were fold-out posters with named pictures of all the members and a lyric sheet.
Chart performance
The album debuted on the Billboard Top LP's chart for the week ending April 29, 1972 and eventually peaked at No. 4[8] in June, during a 30-week run.[9] Stills' album shared the top 10 with an album by David Crosby and Graham Nash (Graham Nash David Crosby) and an album by Neil Young (Harvest), all collectively members of the quartet Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. "It Doesn't Matter" was released as a single and peaked at #61, during a chart run of 7-weeks.[10] While "Rock & Roll Crazies" was released as the second single and peaked at #92 during a 3-week run.[11] By 1974, it had sold an estimated 400,000 copies in the US, which is the equivalent of 800,000 as the album is a double.
Reception
Manassas marked a critical comeback for Stills, with Allmusic calling it a "sprawling masterpiece"[1] and Rolling Stone saying it was "reassuring to know that Stills has some good music still inside him".[12] However, Robert Christgau, rated the album C+ and in a mixed review stating "Yes, Steve has gotten it together a little, even deigning to cooperate with real musicians in a real band, and yes, some of this four-sided set echoes in your head after you play it a lot. The only problem is you're never sure where the echoes come from".[13] In some positive reviews, Record World, called it "music of the highest order",[14] Cash Box said it will "convince you of Stills' worth",[15] and Billboard said it "offers loads of class material"[16]
It was certified Gold on the May 30, 1972, just over a month after being released.[4]
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[17]
It was voted number 735 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000). [18]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Stephen Stills, except where indicated.
Side one – The Raven | |||
---|---|---|---|
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
1. | "Song of Love" | 3:28 | |
2. | "Medley
| 3:34 | |
3. | "Jet Set (Sigh)" | 4:25 | |
4. | "Anyway" | 4:21 | |
5. | "Both of Us (Bound to Lose)" | Stills, Chris Hillman | 3:00 |
Total length: | 17:48 |
Side two – The Wilderness | ||
---|---|---|
No. | Title | Length |
6. | "Fallen Eagle" | 2:03 |
7. | "Jesus Gave Love Away for Free" | 2:59 |
8. | "Colorado" | 2:50 |
9. | "So Begins the Task" | 3:57 |
10. | "Hide It So Deep" | 2:44 |
11. | "Don't Look At My Shadow" | 2:30 |
Total length: | 17:03 |
Side three – Consider | |||
---|---|---|---|
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
12. | "It Doesn't Matter" (original releases of Manassas do not credit Roberts as a co-author) | Stills, Hillman, Rick Roberts | 2:30 |
13. | "Johnny's Garden" | 2:45 | |
14. | "Bound to Fall" (original releases of Manassas do not credit Mastin as a co-author) | Mike Brewer, Tom Mastin | 1:53 |
15. | "How Far" | 2:49 | |
16. | "Move Around" | 4:15 | |
17. | "The Love Gangster" | Stills, Bill Wyman | 2:51 |
Total length: | 16:53 |
Side four – Rock & Roll Is Here to Stay | ||
---|---|---|
No. | Title | Length |
18. | "What to Do" | 4:44 |
19. | "Right Now" | 2:58 |
20. | "The Treasure (Take One)" | 8:03 |
21. | "Blues Man" (in tribute: Jimi Hendrix, Al Wilson, Duane Allman) | 4:04 |
Total length: | 19:49 |
Members
- Stephen Stills - vocals, guitar, bottleneck guitar, piano, organ, electric piano, clavinet, synthesizer
- Chris Hillman - vocals, guitar, mandolin
- Al Perkins - pedal steel guitar, guitar, vocals
- Paul Harris - organ, tack piano, piano, electric piano, clavinet
- Dallas Taylor - drums
- Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels - bass
- Joe Lala - congas, timbales/percussion, vocals
Additional members
- Sydney George (on The Raven and The Wilderness) - harmonica
- Jerry Aiello (on The Raven and The Wilderness) - piano, organ, electric piano, clavinet
- Bill Wyman (on The Raven and The Wilderness) - bass
- Roger Bush (on The Raven and The Wilderness) - acoustic bass
- Byron Berline - fiddle
- Jerry Garcia - pedal steel guitar [Rumored to have played on "Jesus Gave Love Away For Free" (along with Al Perkins) and "So Begins The Task". Various interviews have Garcia talking about playing uncredited on the first Manassas album.]
Charts
Weekly charts
Year | Chart | Peak
Position |
---|---|---|
1972 | US Billboard 200 | 4 |
US Cash Box | 6 | |
US Record World | 4 | |
UK Album Charts | 30 | |
Australian Charts | 17 |
Tour
After the initial Manassas tour from 9 April to 20 May. Manassas then completed five tours in six months, from July 14 to July 30 they toured the West Coast, the second tour from 11–28 August toured the East Coast, they then toured Europe and Scandinavia from September 13 to October 9. The fourth tour was a tour of Midwestern American Colleges, and finally the fifth tour was conducted in the South from December 1–19.[19][20]
Date | City | Country | Venue | Attendance |
---|---|---|---|---|
Europe Tour | ||||
22 March 1972 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | Concertgebouw | |
25 March 1972 | London | England | Big Beat Club | |
March 1972 | Paris | France | L'Olympia[21] | |
Australia | ||||
1 April 1972 | Albury, New South Wales | Australia | Rock Isle (Mulwala) Festival[22]
Headlined both nights |
|
2 April 1972 | ||||
US Tour | ||||
9 April 1972 | Honolulu | United States | HIC Arena | |
14 April 1972 | Auburn | Auburn Memorial Coliseum | ||
15 April 1972 | Jackson | Mississippi Coliseum | ||
17 April 1972 | New Orleans | Municipal Auditorium | ||
19 April 1972 | Baton Rouge | Assembly Center | ||
21 April 1972 | Gainesville | Fieldhouse | ||
22 April 1972 | Dania | Pirates World | Sold Out[23] | |
23 April 1972 | Tampa | Jai-Lai Fonton | ||
26 April 1972 | Oxford | Mississippi Colisseum | ||
28 April 1972 | St Louis | Kiel Auditorium | ||
29 April 1972 | Peoria | Fieldhouse | ||
30 April 1972 | Chicago | Arie Crown Theatre | ||
2 May 1972 | ||||
4 May 1972 | New York City | Carnegie Hall[24] | ||
5 May 1972 | Boston | Boston Garden | ||
7 May 1972 | Uniondale | Nassau Colisseum | ||
9 May 1972 | Buffalo | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium | ||
12 May 1972 | Philadelphia | The Spectrum Theatre | 6,410[25] | |
13 May 1972 | Williamsburg | College Of William And Mary | ||
15 May 1972 | Atlanta | Alexander Memorial Coliseum | ||
18 May 1972 | San Antonio | San Antonio Municipal Auditorium | ||
19 May 1972 | Houston | Hofheinz Pavilion | ||
20 May 1972 | Dallas | Dallas Memorial Auditorium | ||
West Coast Tour | ||||
14 July 1972 | Fresno | United States | Unknown Venue | |
15 July 1972 | Las Vegas | Unknown Venue | ||
16 July 1972 | Los Angeles | Hollywood Bowl[26] | ||
17 July 1972 | Sacramento | Unknown Venue | ||
21 July 1972 | Berkeley | Berkeley Community Theatre | Sold Out[27] | |
22 July 1972 | ||||
23 July 1972 | ||||
24 July 1972 | Albuquerque | Unknown Venue | ||
26 July 1972 | San Bernandino | Swing Auditorium | ||
28 July 1972 | San Diego | San Diego Sports Arena | ||
30 July 1972 | Tucson | Tucson Community Centre | ||
July 1972 | Miami | Jai Ali Fonton | ||
East Coast Tour | ||||
11 August 1972 | Washington | United States | Merriweather Post Pavilion[28] | |
12 August 1972 | New York | Roosevelt Raceway | ||
14 August 1972 | Clarkston | Pine Knob Music Theatre | ||
28 August 1972 | ||||
European Tour | ||||
13 September 1972 | Manchester | Europe | The Hardrock Concert Theatre | |
17 September 1972 | London | Rainbow Theatre | ||
20 September 1972 | Nederlands | Unknown Venue | ||
22 September 1972 | Stockholm | Kungliga Tennishallen | ||
24 September 1972 | Hamburg | Musikhalle | ||
26 September 1972 | Frankfurt | Jahrunderthalle | ||
5 October 1972 | Paris | Bastille Railroad Station[29] | ||
7 October 1972 | Norway | Unknown Venue | ||
9 October 1972 | Belgium | Unknown Venue | ||
10 October 1972 | London | Sundown Festival | ||
Midwest American College Tour | ||||
19 October 1972 | Bloomington | United States | Indiana University | |
20 October 1972 | Tulsa | Assembly Centre | ||
22 October 1972 | Minneapolis | Minneapolis Auditorium | 4,700[30] | |
26 October 1972 | Madison | Dane County Coliseum[31] | ||
27 October 1972 | South Bend | Athletics And Convocation Centre | ||
28 October 1972 | Indiana University | Assembly Hall[32] | ||
2 November 1972 | Dayton | Dayton Arena | ||
3 November 1972 | Michigan State University | Jenison Fieldhouse | ||
4 November 1972 | Port Clinton | Field House, University of Toledo[33] | ||
8 November 1972 | Stanford University | Maples Pavilion[34] | ||
16 November 1972 | Portland | Memorial Coliseum | ||
20 November 1972 | ||||
South Tour | ||||
1 December 1972 | United States | |||
9 December 1972 | Anaheim | Anaheim Convention Center | ||
19 December 1972 |
Typical tour set list
All songs written by Stephen Stills, except where noted.
- "Rock And Roll Woman"
- "Bound To Fall"
- "Hot Burrito #2"
- "It Doesn't Matter"
- "Go Back Home"
- "Change Partners"
- "Know You Got To Run" (Stills, John Hopkins)
- "4+20"
- "Blues Man"
- "Word Game"
- "Do For The Others"
- "Move Around"
- "Both Of Us (Bound To Loose)" (Stills, Chris Hillman)
- "Love The One You're With"
- "He Was A Friend Of Mine"
- "Fallen Eagle"
- "Hide It So Deep"
- "Johnny's Garden"
- "Don't Look At My Shadow"
- "Sugar Babe"
- "For What It's Worth"
- "Song Of Love"
- "Rock & Roll Crazies"
- "Cuban Bluegrass"
- Jet Set (Sigh)
- Anyway
- The Treasure
- "Find The Cost Of Freedom/Daylight Again"
Tour personnel
- Stephen Stills - vocals, guitar, bottleneck guitar, piano, organ, electric piano, clavinet, synthesizer
- Chris Hillman - vocals, guitar, mandolin
- Al Perkins - pedal steel guitar, guitar, vocals
- Paul Harris - organ, tack piano, piano, electric piano, clavinet
- Dallas Taylor - drums
- Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels - bass
- Joe Lala - congas, timbales/percussion, vocals
References
- ^ a b c Caldwell, Rob. Manassas at AllMusic. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: S". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 13, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0857125958.
- ^ a b "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
- ^ "The story of Stephen Stills and Manassas". Bill DeYoung dot com. 2018-07-04. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
- ^ "Manassas - Manassas, Stephen Stills | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
- ^ Pierro, Joseph (2004). "A Single Grand Victory: The First Campaign and Battle of Manassas (review)". The Journal of Military History. 68 (3): 962–963. doi:10.1353/jmh.2004.0134. ISSN 1543-7795.
- ^ Stephen Stills > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums at AllMusic. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
- ^ "Stephen Stills Manassas Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
- ^ Stephen Stills > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles at AllMusic. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
- ^ "Stephen Stills Rock And Roll Crazies Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
- ^ Scoppa, Bud (May 25, 1972). "Manassas / Graham Nash David Crosby > Album Reviews". Rolling Stone (109). Archived from the original on October 2, 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2007.
- ^ "Robert Christgau: CG: stephen stills". www.robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
- ^ "Record World" (PDF).
- ^ "Cash Box" (PDF).
- ^ "Billboard" (PDF).
- ^ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (7 February 2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5.
- ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 234. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
- ^ www.americanradiohistory.com (PDF) https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Record-World-IDX/IDX/70s/72/Record-World-1972-07-08-OCR-Page-0015.pdf. Retrieved 2018-12-17. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - ^ www.americanradiohistory.com (PDF) https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/70s/1972/Cash-Box-1972-07-08-OCR-Page-0007.pdf. Retrieved 2018-12-17. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - ^ www.americanradiohistory.com (PDF) https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/70s/1972/Cash-Box-1972-04-15-OCR-Page-0044.pdf. Retrieved 2018-12-17. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - ^ "MILESAGO - Performance - Music Festivals - Rock Isle (Mulwala) Festival 1972". www.milesago.com. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
- ^ "25 Apr 1972, 25 - The Miami News at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
- ^ www.americanradiohistory.com (PDF) https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/70s/1972/Cash-Box-1972-05-13-OCR-Page-0026.pdf. Retrieved 2018-12-17. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - ^ "13 May 1972, Page 8 - The Philadelphia Inquirer at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
- ^ www.americanradiohistory.com (PDF) https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/70s/1972/BB-1972-07-29-OCR-Page-0012.pdf. Retrieved 2018-12-17. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - ^ "26 Jul 1972, 25 - Oakland Tribune at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
- ^ "14 Aug 1972, 20 - The Baltimore Sun at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
- ^ www.americanradiohistory.com (PDF) https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Record-World-IDX/IDX/70s/72/Record-World-1972-11-04-OCR-Page-0050.pdf. Retrieved 2018-12-17. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - ^ "23 Oct 1972, Page 10 - The Minneapolis Star at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
- ^ www.americanradiohistory.com (PDF) https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/70s/1972/Billboard%201972-11-04-OCR-Page-0030.pdf. Retrieved 2018-12-17. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - ^ "8 Oct 1972, Page 167 - The Indianapolis Star at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
- ^ "3 Nov 1972, 22 - News Herald at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
- ^ www.americanradiohistory.com (PDF) https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/70s/1972/Billboard%201972-11-04-OCR-Page-0034.pdf. Retrieved 2018-12-17. Missing or empty
|title=
(help)