Still Stills - The Best of Stephen Stills (1976)

As a solo artist, Stephen Stills was the most prolific member of Crosby, Stills and Nash in the seventies, having produced four albums, including the two Manassas LPs - the first of which was a double set - between 1970 and 1973.  Atlantic Records didn't do much to promote Stills' solo projects, though, which makes its decision to put out a greatest-hits compilation of such work in 1976 somewhat ironic.

Ironic, and opportunistic - Still Stills was issued while Steve was pursuing his solo career at Columbia, having gotten fed up with Atlantic's disinterest in his solo efforts.  (He had also been involved with Neil Young in the recording of their namesake band's only album, Long May You Run, released on Reprise.)  In that sense, Still Stills was pure product - released just in time for the 1976 Christmas market - meant to cash in on Stills' reputation.  But the selection of material demonstrates the value in his reputation; there are a lot of strong tracks here that demonstrate his abilities as a guitarist, a singer and a songwriter.

Of course, "Love the One You're With," his cheeky ode to hippie ecstasy, opens the record, and his other hit single, the charming country waltz "Change Partners," strategically kicks off side two, but the rest of Still Stills emphasizes more diverse aspects of his talent.  The selections here range from the Buffalo Springfield pastiche "It Doesn't Matter" from the first Manassas album and the deeply spiritual gospel-tinged "We Are Not Helpless" from his 1970 solo debut to the tougher blues and rock of "Go Back Home," his guitar duet with Eric Clapton, and the tight rock of "Sit Yourself Down" (both from the 1970 LP).  And while I wouldn't have represented the inferior second Manassas LP with "Isn't It About Time" - here only because it was a single - it's still indicative of the energy that Stills has always put into his heavier songs.  Atlantic also threw in a few curves by including the lighthearted "Marianne" (from his 1971 solo release Stephen Stills 2) and also Mike Brewer and Tom Mastin's composition "Bound To Fall" (from the 1972 Manassas release), with its quick, biting acoustic arrangement.  Also, Crosby, Stills and Nash fans will find the Manassas country shuffle "Johnny's Garden" and that band's freewheeling single "Rock and Roll Crazies / Cuban Bluegrass" to be familiar territory, both of them songs from a musician known to explore different musical landscapes and determined to exceed his own expectations.

The punning title is appropriate.  Still Stills is a portrait of an artist whose music remains consistent even as it moves across different pop genres; many of the songs from the two Columbia albums Stills had already put out at the time of this album's release would have fit in well here and made a more well-rounded retrospective.  But, as greatest-hits packages go, this is nonetheless a solid, tight overview.  Out of print for decades, it makes a good Christmas present for the rare-record collector in your life who wants to dig a little deeper into the less remembered side of a rock icon's work.  (Though, if you prefer to buy the CSN fan on your gift list one studio LP from Stills' seventies albums outside the group, spring for the first Manassas album; it's not only his best such effort, it's also available on compact disc.)