One of the most hotly awaited second albums in history -- right up there with those by
the Beatles
and
the Band
--
Deja Vu
lived up to its expectations and rose to number one on the charts. Those achievements are all the more astonishing given the fact that the group barely held together through the estimated 800 hours it took to record
and scarcely functioned as a group for most of that time.
worked as an album, a product of four potent musical talents who were all ascending to the top of their game coupled with some very skilled production, engineering, and editing. There were also some obvious virtues in evidence -- the addition of
Neil Young
to the
Crosby, Stills & Nash
lineup added to the level of virtuosity, with
Young
Stephen Stills
rising to new levels of complexity and volume on their guitars.
's presence also ratcheted up the range of available voices one notch and added a uniquely idiosyncratic songwriter to the fold, though most of
's contributions in this area were confined to the second side of the LP. Most of the music, apart from the quartet's version of
Joni Mitchell
's
"Woodstock,"
was done as individual sessions by each of the members when they turned up (which was seldom together), contributing whatever was needed that could be agreed upon.
"Carry On"
worked as the album's opener when
Stills
"sacrificed" another copyright,
"Questions,"
which comprised the second half of the track and made it more substantial.
"Woodstock"
represented the group as a whole, while the rest of the record was a showcase for the individual members.
David Crosby
"Almost Cut My Hair"
was a piece of high-energy hippie-era paranoia not too far removed in subject from
the Byrds
'
"Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man,"
only angrier in mood and texture (especially amid the pumping organ and slashing guitars); the title track, also by
Crosby
, took 100 hours to work out and was a better-received successor to such experimental works as
"Mind Gardens,"
out of his earlier career with
, showing his occasional abandonment of a
rock
beat, or any fixed rhythm at all, in favor of washing over the listener with tones and moods.
"Teach Your Children,"
the major hit off the album, was a reflection of the hippie-era idealism that still filled
Graham Nash
's life, while
"Our House"
was his stylistic paean to the late-era
Beatles
"4+20"
was a gorgeous
blues
excursion that was a precursor to the material he would explore on the solo album that followed. And then there were
's pieces, the exquisitely harmonized
"Helpless"
(which took many hours to get to the slow version finally used) and the roaring
country-ish
rockers that ended side two, which underwent a lot of tinkering by
-- even his seeming throwaway finale,
"Everybody I Love You,"
was a bone thrown to longtime fans as perhaps the greatest
Buffalo Springfield
song that they didn't record. All of this variety made
a rich musical banquet for the most serious and personal listeners, while mass audiences reveled in the glorious harmonies and the thundering electric guitars, which were presented in even more dramatic and expansive fashion on the tour that followed. ~ Bruce Eder