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Stephen Stills
Just Roll Tape: April 26, 1968
(Rhino)
First Appeared in The Music Box, July 2007, Volume 14, #7
Written by John Metzger
As anyone who has closely followed his career can attest, Stephen Stills has
a tendency to allow his songs to gestate for a long time. Need proof? Look no
further than his latest archival release Just Roll Tape. Taken from an
impromptu session that was held on April 26, 1968, the collection contains 12
songs that filtered through his various projects over the course of the next
four years. One tune in particular — Know You’ve Got to Run — predated
his work with Buffalo Springfield and was pilfered for Crosby, Stills, Nash and
Young’s Everybody I Love You before it finally debuted in full on his
1971 solo set Stephen Stills 2.
As the story goes, Stills had accompanied Judy Collins, his then-girlfriend,
to New York City where she was recording music for the soundtrack to The
Subject Was Roses. At the end of her session, he decided to purchase an hour
of studio time in order to run through his repertoire. Like many similar sets by
other artists, the resulting tapes were thought to be lost, but in 2003 they
were presented to Graham Nash by the man who had discovered them in a box that
had been headed to the trash bin 25 years earlier. Make no mistake, the reel
contained lo-fi, solo acoustic demos. Considering their history, however, the
anomalies are minimal, and the sound quality is remarkably good.
The cover to Just Roll Tape seems to indicate that the songs are being
presented to the public in precisely the order in which they were recorded, and
the session’s sequencing certainly shows that Stills had a method to his
madness. Using the opening cut All I Know Is What You Tell Me to warm up,
he quickly moved through a series of fully realized compositions that ranged
from the gentle folk of Change Partners to the intricately blues-y Black Queen. Elsewhere, the gorgeously haunting The Doctor Will See You
Now highlights the influence that he and Neil Young had upon each other, and
the embryonic rendition of Wooden Ships that concludes the affair — save
for a demo of Treetop Flyer, which was culled from a later date — finds
him running short of material.
Over the course of Just Roll Tape, it’s astounding to hear how early
some of Stills’ tunes hit their stride. Yet, it equally is apparent how
influential his partners in Manassas and Crosby, Stills and Nash were in helping
to refine and polish tracks like So Begins the Task, Suite: Judy Blue
Eyes, and Helplessly Hoping until they became sparkling gemstones.
For as promising as the songs are, they seem to beg for the now-familiar,
prismatic harmonies of his pals. Wooden Ships, in particular, is just a
kernel of an idea that is waiting to bloom. For certain, Just Roll Tape
isn’t likely to be of interest to all of Stills’ fans, but for those who desire
an intimate glimpse into his creative process, it proves to be quite
illuminating. 
Just Roll Tape is available from Amazon.com.
To order, Click Here!
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2007 The Music Box
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