A review of CSY&N's Déjà Vu

[desdemona]

A review of Déjà Vu

this was one of my favorite albums at the time, I found this site, which turned out to be well done, and interesting reading, here's a review from 1970

Author: Allen McDougall

Publication: Melody Maker

Date: March 28, 1970

CROSBY, STILLS and Nash started out together just to make some nice, harmonic sounds together. Their first album was a huge world-wide hit. Two million people thought their harmonic sounds were nice enough to buy. Only drummer Dallas Taylor was on that LP in addition to C S & N. It was the kind of record that had something for probably everyone's taste.

Question: how the hell do you follow that? The answer comes from Atlantic records in a couple of weeks, when they release the group's second, and even better (would you believe?) album.

FUNKY

Titled Deja Vu and performed by, to give them their new, official band name, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Dallas Taylor & Greg Reeves, it comes in a dark-brown, leather-bound jacket with a far-out front sleeve of the six-man band looking like Civil War combatants.

The album was produced by the chaps themselves at Wally Heider's excellent funky little Hollywood studio, immaculately engineered by Bill Halverson, over a period of around two months.

Kicking off with a really cooking Carry On, by Stills, this is actually two of Stephen's acoustic songs - Carry On and Questions broken up by their inimitable unaccompanied harmonising for eight bars.

PLEA

Teach Your Children is Graham Nash's simple little plea to us to teach our children well, so that we can learn from their dreams. Jerry Garcia from The Grateful Dead adds some Country flavour with his Steel Guitar.

A true reflection of Crosby's personal American paranoia follows with his song Almost Cut My Hair. But he didn't cut his hair, he tells us. He preferred to let his Freak flag fly! There's some great guitar from Stills and Young on this track, both of them working together and against each other, compatibly.

Young's Helpless follows, a slow song about the town in North Ontario where he grew up, and went through all his changes. Now he can't go back there, as it's all a big drag. And he feels helpless. Neil Young on lead guitar and voice, Stills on Cowboy piano, C,S&N harmonizing in the highest imaginable way.

HYMN

Closing the first half of the album is the group's rocking version of Joni Mitchell's hymn about the greatest-ever kids' get-together, Woodstock. Nash and Stills sharing most of the singing about the half-million Children Of God together in The Garden of Celebration. And about how Joni dreamed she saw the bomber jet planes, riding shotgun in the sky, turn into butterflies over the nation. Heavy.

Side 2 begins with Crosby's title track Deja Vu, which in this context means that we have all been here before (in another lifetime). Tempos vary in this one, illustrating the excellence of Taylor's drumming, and Greg Reeves' bass. John Sebastian adds some willowy harmonica to the dreamy parts.

Our House is dedicated by Nash to the log cabin he used to live in Laurel Canyon with his lady, and their two cats. Pretty Lah-lah-lahing chorus, with Nash's various voices and piano strongly shining through.

4 + 20 was written by Stills The Loner when he was four and twenty years old. Beautifully tragic song, just Stephen's voice and his acoustic guitar.

SOARING

Country Girl is an epic production by Neil Young in which he succeeds in out-Spectoring Phil Spector, and even out-Nitzscheing his former producer Jack Nitzsche.

And finally, a rocking bit of Stills/Young boogie called Everybody I Love You where the whole band really gets it on. And you won't believe the high, searing, floating quality of vocals.

http://www.4waysite.com/index5.htm

Edited June 6, 2004 by desdemona

[liesabath]

Yes another great album. I even bought a second vinyl copy of this album, because the shape of the first one, was too bad to listen to anymore. Still have them both and the cd. Still listening to it once a month or so, never bouring!!

Have still one wish though: to see CSN&Y live on stage.

[DudeAsInCool]

Thanx for reminding me about this. This was one of the seminal albums of the 70s and it still holds up today :good job: (I later had the thrill of meeting David Crosby and Graham Nash separately--the former did a bit role in a film or ours, and the latter at a photography exhibition from his personal collection). Stephen Still's solo album with 'Ove the One Your With" and David Crosby's first solo album are also worth revisiting.

[desdemona]

I saw csn&y the last tour they did before they split, in cleveland, it was an outstanding concert. Then get this, lol last summer cs&n played the local county fair, saw them, they were still good, dave crosby tells some good stories, and some of the protest songs still make sense today :(

Edited April 10, 2004 by desdemona