Crosby, Stills & Nash – CSN Box Set 4 CD’s (@320)

 

Crosby, Stills & Nash – CSN Box Set 4 CD’s

CSN [Box Set] Review by Bruce Eder.

This 77-track, four-CD set remains one of the best boxes devoted to a single music act that one can buy, covering the output of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young across 22 years, from 1968 until 1990. The first thing that becomes apparent, beyond the excellent sound (which was a revelation at the time, when only extant editions of the group's work were the early, substandard CD editions), is the sheer worth of the material. Crosby, Stills & Nash's reputation, based on their first four albums, can be taken as a given for anyone who would think of buying this set, and it does cover virtually every base that one could involving the trio, with an occasional Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young cut included for completeness' sake. Disc one by itself should be worth the price of the set to serious fans, eight of its 18 tracks being previously unissued songs (including a version of the Beatles' "Blackbird") and unissued early demos, alternate takes, or variant mixes on songs from the Crosby, Stills & Nash or Déjà Vu albums, along with one Crosby & Nash outtake. Disc two is similarly filled with previously unheard songs and versions of songs, although here the rarities are more focused on material by Stephen Stills (including a Crosby, Stills & Young version of "Black Queen"), Graham Nash solo, and the Crosby & Nash duo. Disc three is devoted more to Manassas and Crosby & Nash, but does work in Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's "Taken at All" and "See the Changes" from various attempts at doing albums. Disc four takes listeners up to 1990, with Stills, Nash, and Crosby solo material (including unissued live and studio cuts) of the '80s interspersed with released Crosby, Stills & Nash tracks and previously unissued Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young tracks. The accompanying booklet includes a sessionography and reminiscence about each track, and as most of this set is presented in chronological order, one not only gets a dazzling four-hour-plus song-by-song listening experience, but also what amounts to a montage/history of the group and their members across more than two decades.

Tracklist:

Disc 1:

 

1. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (Alternate Studio Mix)

2. Helplessly Hoping (Unreleased Live Studio Version)

3. You Don't Have To Cry (Unreleased First Recording)

4. Wooden Ships (LP Version)

5. Guinevere (Unreleased Demo)

6. Marrakesh Express (LP Version)

7. Long Time Gone (LP Version)

8. Blackbird (Unreleased Live Studio Version)

9. Lady Of The Island (Digitally Remastered LP Version)

10. Song With No Words (Tree With No Leaves) (Unreleased Live Version)

11. Almost Cut My Hair (Unreleased Unedited Original Version)

12. Teach Your Children (LP Version)

13. Horses Through A Rainstorm (Unreleased Song)

14. Deja Vu (Digitally Remastered LP Version)

15. Helpless (Digitally Remastered LP Version)

16. 4 + 20 (Unreleased Studio Mix)

17. Laughing (LP Version)

18. Carry On (LP Version)

 

Disc 2:

 

1. Woodstock (Unreleased Alternate Studio Mix)

2. Ohio (Digitally Remastered LP Version)

3. Love The One You're With (Unreleased Live Version)

4. Our House (LP Version)

5. Old Times Good Times (LP Version)

6. The Lee Shore (Unreleased Studio Version)

7. Music Is Love (LP Version)

8. I'd Swear There Was Somebody Here (LP Version)

9. Man In The Mirror (Unreleased Live Version)

10. Black Queen (Unreleased Live Version)

11. Military Madness (LP Version)

12. Urge For Going (LP Version)

13. I Used To Be A King (LP Version)

14. Simple Man (Unreleased Alternate Studio Mix)

15. Southbound Train (LP Version)

16. Change Partners (LP Version)

17. My Love Is A Gentle Thing (Unreleased LP Version)

18. Word Game (LP Version)

19. Johnny's Garden (LP Version)

20. So Begins The Task (LP Version)

21. Turn Back The Pages (LP Version)

 

Disc 3:

 

1. See The Changes (Unreleased Studio version)

2. It Doesn't Matter (LP Version)

3. Immigration Man (LP Version)

4. Chicago (LP Version)

5. Homeward Through The Haze (Unreleased Alternate Mix Version)

6. Where Will I Be? (LP Version)

7. Page 43 (LP version)

8. Carry Me (LP Version)

9. Cowboy Of Dreams (LP Version)

10. Bittersweet (LP Version)

11. To The Last Whale... / Critical Mass (LP Version)

12. Prison Song (LP Version)

13. Another Sleep Song (LP Version)

14. Taken At All

15. In My Dreams (LP Version)

16. Just A Song Before I Go (LP Version)

17. Shadow Captain (LP Version)

18. Dark Star (Unreleased Live Version)

19. Cathedral (LP Version)

 

Disc 4:

 

1. Wasted On The Way (LP Version)

2. Barrel Of Pain (Half Life) ( LP Version)

3. Southern Cross (LP Version)

4. Daylight Again (LP Version)

5. Thoroughfare Gap (LP Version)

6. Wild Tales (LP Version)

7. Dear Mr. Fantasy (LP Version)

8. Cold Rain (LP Version)

9. Got It Made (Unreleased Live Version)

10. Tracks In The Dust (LP Version)

11. As I Come Of Age (Unreleased Studio Version)

12. 50/50 (LP Version)

13. Drive My Car (Unreleased LP Version)

14. Delta (LP Version)

15. Soldiers Of Peace (Unreleased Studio Version))

16. Yours And Mine (LP Version)

17. Haven't We Lost Enough? (LP Version)

18. After The Dolphin (LP Version)

19. Find The Cost Of Freedom (Digitally Remastered LP Version)

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