Wednesday, February 01, 2006

CSN--Why Not?

Picked up Rhino's reissue of the first Crosby Stills & Nash album, and I'm quite impressed. The sound quality is superb, easily equal to the remastered audiophile release of the disc that Atlantic did a few years ago. The highlight of this reissue, though, is the addition of four bonus tracks, two of which are so stunning that they're worth the price of admission by themselves. The rendition of "Everybody's Talking," the Fred Neil song, is different than any I've ever heard on bootleg before; Crosby and Nash join Stills on harmony on the first chorus, and the vocals are a bit tenuous--but by the second chorus, the harmonies are right on the mark, and the song sounds like something they've done a hundred times. The other gem is "Song With No Name," a great piece from David Crosby's first solo album; this version is a Crosby/Nash acoustic take, and its simplicity underscores the strength of the vocal arrangement. Definitely worth getting, even if (like me) you already have the original disc in multiple formats.


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