While many of Stephen Stills' peers and bandmates have issued memoirs recalling their misspent youth and Sixties superstardom, the 71-year-old guitarist is content to let his work speak for itself. Stills, best known for writing anthems for his generation such as "For What It's Worth" and "Love the One You're With," has issued a four-disc retrospective box set that showcases his nearly 50-year career. Spanning from his earliest song sketches to his still-ubiquitous hits with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to forgotten Manassas gems, the venerable guitarist says this collection is his autobiography. He spoke to Rolling Stone last week about the process as well as the real story of his lost sessions with Jimi Hendrix.
How much regard do you have for your legacy?
Well, it's not for me to regard. Graham and everybody had their work cut out for them with this beautiful package. I had a roomful of tapes about the size of two garages, and someone had to go poring through them and find the best versions of [these songs]. Legacy is something you talk about when you are finished, and I'm not finished. To answer invites too much speculation about how much self-regard I have. Ask Crosby that, but not me [laughs].
Well, it's not for me to regard. Graham and everybody had their work cut out for them with this beautiful package. I had a roomful of tapes about the size of two garages, and someone had to go poring through them and find the best versions of [these songs]. Legacy is something you talk about when you are finished, and I'm not finished. To answer invites too much speculation about how much self-regard I have. Ask Crosby that, but not me [laughs].
What is it about Graham Nash that made him the perfect curator of this project?
He's got the patience. It's also an organizational skill. He's got that kind of mind. He's got filing skills, if you will. He's got a great memory and he can listen to all this stuff – hours and hours and hours. He would find these chesnuts – I wouldn't have had the patience.
He's got the patience. It's also an organizational skill. He's got that kind of mind. He's got filing skills, if you will. He's got a great memory and he can listen to all this stuff – hours and hours and hours. He would find these chesnuts – I wouldn't have had the patience.
Read on...
STEPHEN STILLS AT GONZO
 | The Lost Broadcasts DVD - £9.99 |
No comments:
Post a Comment