Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Crosby, Stills and Nash - "Crosby, Stills and Nash" Alternate Takes (1969)

First off, I want to make clear this is not meant to be a replacement for the 1969 album "Crosby, Stills and Nash." That's a classic album that needs no changes whatsoever. Instead, I have a bunch of unreleased alternate versions of every song from the album, all with great sound quality. I've simply ordered them in the same order as the original album to create a supplementary version of the album for those who want a different listen after hearing the original version lots of times.

I could be wrong, since it's been a long time since I collected these songs, but I think only two of them have been officially released.  The rest of the songs come from bootlegs called "Four Way Harmonies," "Session Selections," and "Studio Archives." These are unusual bootlegs due to their sound quality as well as uncovering studio performances that usually don't get bootlegged.

All of these performances have interesting variations.  "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" is only an alternate mix, but it brings forward some drums that weren't included on the final version, as well as different vocals. The others generally have significant additions or subtractions. In a few cases, all-acoustic versions have been replaced with electric versions, including bass and drums that had been missing. Some of these aren't necessarily as good as the final versions, but the differences are interesting.

For "Wooden Ships," Stephen Stills was actually tuning his guitar when the song began, and he was quite out of tune for about the first half minute. It sounds really bad. So I cut that part out and faded it in right when he got in tune.

The first nine tracks are in the same order as on the official album. I've added some interesting extras for the last three tracks. "Blackbird," the cover of the Beatles song, was very nearly included on the official album. So I have an alternate of that too. Then there's Stills encouraging David Crosby to sing the snippet of the blues song "Come On in My Kitchen" that ended up going right before the start of "Long Time Gone." Finally, I've included an interesting instrumental version of part of "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes."

01 Suite: Judy Blue Eyes [Alternate Mix] (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
02 Marrakesh Express [Alternate Version] (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
03 Guinnevere [Electric Version] (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
04 You Don't Have to Cry [Alternate Version] (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
05 Pre-Road Downs [Alternate Version] (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
06 Wooden Ships [Alternate Version] (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
07 Lady of the Island [Alternate Version] (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
08 Helplessly Hoping [Electric Version] (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
09 49 Bye-Byes [Alternate Version] (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
10 Blackbird [Alternate Version] (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
11 Come On in My Kitchen (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
12 Suite: Judy Blue Eyes [Instrumental Version] (Crosby, Stills & Nash)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16383330/CROSBSTLLSNSH1969CrsbStllsNshAltrnatTkes_atse.zip.html

Since this is an alternate version of "Crosby, Stills and Nash," I'm glad to say I was able to find an alternate version of the cover art photo. This was taken in the exact same photo session, with the three of them sitting on the same sofa.

6 comments:

  1. You are the best! Your uploads are always the highlight of my day. Thanks again for your diligence and hard work. Your uploads are priceless.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the praise. That inspires me to post more.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love that you posted this! It probably can't replace the original like you said, but some takes just may be able to! Haven't listened yet, but we'll see.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely don't replace the original with this. It's meant to be a supplement.

      Delete
  4. Current download link installed over a dozen unwanted programs on my PC. Not cool.

    ReplyDelete