CSN (box set)

CSN
Box set by Crosby, Stills & Nash
Released	September 30, 1991
Recorded	June 26, 1968 - April 3, 1990
Genre	Rock
Length	297:19
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Graham Nash, Gerry Tolman
Crosby, Stills & Nash chronology
Live It Up (1990) CSN (1991) Carry On (1991)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

CSN is the eleventh album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, issued on Atlantic Records in 1991, not to be confused with the album of the same name released in 1977. A box set on four compact discs, it features material spanning 1968 through 1990 from their catalogue of recordings as a group in addition to selections from Crosby & Nash, Manassas, and their individual solo albums. It peaked at #109 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified platinum by the RIAA.^[2] The set is "dedicated to the loving memory of Cass Elliot, without whom most of this music may not have been made."

Content

The presence of the group's occasional fourth member, Neil Young, is limited to fourteen tracks and only two of his compositions for the band, "Helpless" and "Ohio." Of its 77 tracks, 25 had been unreleased previously, although many were alternate takes, alternate mixes, or concert versions of previously issued songs. Highlights include a cover of the song "Blackbird" by The Beatles, the full-length take of "Almost Cut My Hair," and the demo of "You Don't Have to Cry," the first recording they made as Crosby, Stills & Nash.

No tracks are taken from the following studio albums released either individually or in combination during the time period covered by the box: Down the Road; Illegal Stills; Whistling Down the Wire; Long May You Run; and Innocent Eyes. Alternate versions of "Got It Made" and "Soldiers of Peace" from the latter do appear, as well as a quartet version of "Taken at All" from Whistling Down the Wire. The orphan single by Young and Nash, "War Song," is also not included and is only available on the Neil Young archives box.

The original recordings were produced David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young, with assistance from Howard Albert, Ron Albert, Craig Doerge, Bill Halverson, Chris Hillman, Stanley Johnston, Paul Rothchild, Dallas Taylor, and Joe Vitale. Audio engineers on the original recordings include Stephen Barncard, Niko Bolas, Ellen Burke, Larry Cox, Russ Gary, Don Gooch, Steve Gursky, David Hassinger, Andy Johns, Glyn Johns, Gary Kellgren, Henry Lewy, Elliot Mazer, Jim Mitchell, Tim Mulligan, and Doc Storch. The original masters were recorded at the following studios: A&M Studios, Britannia Studios, Devonshire Sound Studio, Wally Heider Studios, The Record Plant, Rudy Recorders, the Sound Lab, Sunset Sound, Sunwest Studio, Village Recorders, and Westlake Audio in Los Angeles; United Studio in Hollywood; The Record Plant in New York City; Wally Heider Studios, His Master's Wheels, and Rudy Recorders in San Francisco; The Record Plant in Sausalito; Criteria Sound Studios in Miami; Island Studios in London; Sol Studio in Maidstone, Kent; Stephen Stills' late 1960s home in Laurel Canyon, Graham Nash's early 1970s home in San Francisco, and Neil Young's Redwood Digital home studio at his ranch in Woodside, California. Live recordings are from the Filmore East in New York, the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon, the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, and the United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York.

The selections were compiled for this set by Crosby, Stills, Nash, Gerry Tolman, and Yves Beauvais, with additional research by Joel Bernstein. The liner notes include an essay by writer Chet Flippo. Originally in a box set conforming to the size dimensions of a vinyl record, the set was reissued as a compact disc brick on August 13, 2013. The liner notes for the 2013 reissue do not indicate whether or not any additional mastering beyond that from 1991 was undertaken.

Track listing

An asterisk (*) indicates a live recording, two asterisks (**) a previously unreleased mix, (†) a previously unreleased version, and (‡) a previously unreleased song.

Disc one

Disc two

Disc three

Disc four

Collective personnel

• David Crosby — vocals, guitars, keyboards, string arrangements
• Stephen Stills — vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass, banjo, percussion, vibraphone
• Graham Nash — vocals, guitars, keyboards, harmonica, percussion, string arrangements
• Neil Young — vocals, guitars, harmonica, bass, keyboards, vibraphone
• Joel Bernstein, Donnie Dacus, Michael Hedges, Jimi Hendrix, Danny Kortchmar, Michael Landau, Dave Mason, Jimmy Page, Dean Parks, Michael Stergis — guitars
• Chris Hillman, James Taylor — guitars, backing vocals
• Jerry Garcia, Ben Keith, Al Perkins — pedal steel guitar
• Joe Vitale — drums, percussion, keyboards, synthesizers
• David Lindley — fiddle, guitar, mandolin
• Richard T. Bear, Joel Bernstein, Lawrence Dermer, Craig Doerge, Mike Finnigan, Paul Harris, James Newton Howard, Carole King — keyboards
• Jack Casady, Tim Drummond, Chris Ethridge, Bob Glaub, Phil Lesh, Bruce Palmer, George Perry, Greg Reeves, Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels, Leland Sklar — bass
• John Barbata, Jim Gordon, Conrad Isidore, Bill Kreutzmann, Russ Kunkel, Paul Lee, Dallas Taylor, Tubby Ziegler — drums
• John Barbata, Michael Fisher, Joe Galdo, Joe Lala, Efrain Toro, Jeff Whittaker — percussion
• Rita Coolidge, Joe Vitale — vibraphone
• Patricia Arnold, Joel Bernstein, Gloria Coleman, Rita Coolidge, Henry Diltz, Brenda Lee Eager, Venetta Fields, Art Garfunkel, Priscilla Jones, Cleo Kennedy, Clydie King, Marcy Levy, Sherlie Matthews, Joni Mitchell, Dorothy Morrison, Fred Neil, John Sambataro, Timothy B. Schmit — backing vocals
• Cyrus Faryar — bouzouki
• Dorian Rudnytsky — cello
• Wayne Goodwin, Al Gould — fiddle
• Dana Africa, Joe Vitale — flute
• John Sebastian — harmonica, backing vocals
• Branford Marsalis — soprano saxophone
• George Cricker — trombone
• Tony Concepcion, Al Degooyer — trumpet
• Jimmie Haskell, Mike Lewis, Sid Sharp — string arrangements
• Tony Beard — drum programming

Production personnel

• Graham Nash, Gerry Tolman — producers
• Stephen Barncard at Sunset Sound — 1991 mixes for unreleased material
• Joe Gastwirt, John Modells at Ocean View Digital — digital remastering, July and August 1991
• Joe Gastwirt at Ocean View Digital and John Nowland at Redwood Digital, San Francisco — analog-to-digital tape transfer, June and July 1991
• Joe Gastwirt, John Nowland, Joel Bernstein — tape restoration

References