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Tired of the egos and conflicts within Crosby, Stills,
Nash & Young, Stephen Stills sought refuge in a “real” band
that wasn’t driven by the individual personalities and iconic
stature of the players. The first album Stills made with
this band Manassas is a masterpiece; originally a double
album that can hold its own with Dylan’s “Blonde on Blonde”,
The Beatles’ “The White Album” and the Stones’ “Exiles on
Main Street”, Manassas allowed stills to recruit the best
players that could merge elements of Rock, Country-Rock
and even Latin Rock. Stills recruited Chris Hillman (The
Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers), Al Perkins (Flying Burrito
Brothers), Dallas Taylor and Calvin Samuels (both veterans
of CSNY) and Joe Lala from Blues Image fashioning a band
that had its own unique identity while drawing on the sounds
of all of the bands these members had played in. Stills
provided the bulk of the original material aided by Chris
Hillman resulting in a debut that would be hard to surpass.
***
The self titled first album “Manassas” took the name
of the battlefield where the first major land battle of
the Civil War was fought and, later, where the North and
South had a conflict a year later with the South winning
its biggest victory to date. For Stills “Manassas” represented
a victory out of adversity and the symbolism of the name
couldn’t be missed particularly given the often sprawling
but powerful nature of their debut album. ***
After a successful tour the band produced a second,
scattered and less artistically successful album. While
much of the ambition could still be heard in these tracks
but it’s clear that the band’s success had taken its toll
causing it to fall apart just they were reaching for the
brass ring again with their second album. After the release
of their second album “Down the Road” the band called it
quits with Stills returning to his increasingly uneven solo
career, Hillman briefly reuniting with The Byrds and, again,
later with Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark and the other members
scattering to other bands/projects. ***
“Pieces” represents material that didn’t make either
album. You would be hard pressed to tell that the material
here was left over from the sessions for the two previous
albums they’re that good. In fact, much of the material
here if it had been included on “Down the Road” would have
elevated that much maligned album to a stature similar to
the debut if it had been included. Consisting of outtakes,
alternate takes and live material, “Pieces” is the third
album that this band SHOULD have been able to make. ***
From the stunning opener “Witching Hour” (later released
by Chris Hillman on one of his solo albums although it is
a Stills number) to the stunning live version of “High and
Dry”, “Pieces” proves to be the follow up album that should
have been made after the debut. Either way, this is a terrific
album. It should be noted that some of these songs did end
up on Stills' other solo albums but they were either inferior
versions or different enough so that the tracks included
here are essential releases. It's nice to have this third
"album" to close off the Manassas story on a high note rather
than the sorry second album the band released which pales
in comparison to this one.
Sound:
Although louder than what we might have heard if this
CD was released a decade ago, “Pieces” sounds pretty good
overall. There is no noticeable post production digital
compression applied. If that was the case we’d lose the
sense of depth preserved here. Clarity is remarkably good
for the recording with nice detail and the mastering while
not as warm as an audiophile recording, is very, very good.
Songs:
“Witching Hour” “Sugar Babe” “Lies” “My Love is a Gentle
Thing” “Like a Fox” “Word Game” “Tan Sola y Triste” “Fit
to be Tied” “Love and Satisfy” “High and Dry” “Panhandle
Rag” “Uncle Pen” “Do You Remember the Americans” “Dim Lights,
Thick Smoke (and Loud, Loud Music)” “I Am My Brother”
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