Manassas (album)

Manassas
Studio album by Manassas
Released	April 12, 1972
Recorded	Criteria Sound Studios, Miami, Florida
Genre	Country rock, Rock
Length	70:07
Label	Atlantic Records
Producer	Stephen Stills, Chris Hillman, Dallas Taylor
Stephen Stills chronology
Stephen Stills 2 (1971) Manassas (1972) Down the Road (1973) Manassas chronology Manassas (1972) Down the Road (1973)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	C+[2]

Manassas is the 1972 debut double album from Stephen Stills' band of the same name.

"It Doesn't Matter" was released as a single and peaked at #61.^[3] Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones plays bass on and co-authored "The Love Gangster" and is reported to have said that he would have left the Stones to join Manassas.^[1]

Manassas marked a critical comeback for Stills, with Allmusic calling it a "sprawling masterpiece"^[1] and Rolling Stone saying it was "reassuring to know that Stills has some good music still inside him".^[4]

Chart Performance

The album debuted on the Billboard Top LP's chart for the week ending April 29, 1972 and eventually peaked at #4^[5] in June. Stills' album shared the Top 10 with an album by David Crosby and Graham Nash (Graham Nash David Crosby) and an album by Neil Young (Harvest), all collectively members of the quartet Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Track listing

All songs by Stephen Stills except as noted; the four suites of music correspond to the four sides of the album's original LP release. However, the cassette release on Atlantic featuring the catalogue number J5 2 903 contains Sides 1 and 4 of the vinyl release on Side 1, and Sides 2 and 3 on Side 2.

The Raven

1. "Song of Love" – 3:28
2. Medley – 3:34

   "Rock & Roll Crazies" (Stephen Stills, Dallas Taylor)

   "Cuban Bluegrass" (Stephen Stills, Joe Lala)

3. "Jet Set (Sigh)" – 4:25
4. "Anyway" – 3:21
5. "Both of Us (Bound to Lose)" (Stephen Stills, Chris Hillman) – 3:00

The Wilderness

1. "Fallen Eagle" – 2:03
2. "Jesus Gave Love Away for Free" – 2:59
3. "Colorado" – 2:50
4. "So Begins the Task" – 3:57
5. "Hide It So Deep" – 2:44
6. "Don't Look at My Shadow" – 2:30

Consider

1. "It Doesn't Matter" (Chris Hillman, Rick Roberts, Stephen Stills) – 2:30
   • Note: Original releases of Manassas do not credit Roberts as a co-author.
2. "Johnny's Garden" – 2:45
3. "Bound to Fall" (Mike Brewer, Tom Mastin) – 1:53
   • Note: Original releases of Manassas do not credit Mastin as a co-author.
4. "How Far" – 2:49
5. "Move Around" – 4:15
6. "The Love Gangster" (Stephen Stills, Bill Wyman) – 2:51

Rock & Roll is Here to Stay

1. "What to Do" – 4:44
2. "Right Now" – 2:58
3. "The Treasure (Take One)" – 8:03
4. "Blues Man" – 4:04
   • In tribute: Jimi Hendrix, Al Wilson, Duane Allman.

Personnel

• Stephen Stills - vocals, guitar, bottleneck guitar, piano, organ, electric piano, clavinette
• Chris Hillman - vocals, guitar, mandolin
• Al Perkins - pedal steel guitar, guitar, vocals
• Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuel - bass
• Paul Harris - organ, tack piano, piano, electric piano, clavinette
• Dallas Taylor - drums
• Joe Lala - percussion, vocals

Additional personnel

• Sydney George - harmonica
• Jerry Aiello - piano, organ, electric piano, clavinette
• Bill Wyman - bass
• Roger Bush - acoustic bass
• Byron Berline - fiddle
• Jerry Garcia - pedal steel guitar (Rumored to have played on "Jesus Gave Love Away For Free". Various interviews have Garcia talking about playing uncredited on the first Manassas album)

References