Déjà vu • Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young
Déjà vu. One of the greatest albums ever recorded. It was one of the first records I owned as a kid, after a few Beatles records and bubblegum pop records not worth the mention. Just owning a copy of Déja vu made me feel much cooler than I ever was.
The album is filled with contradictions, not the least of which is that it is characterized by profound, meticulous harmonies. No one does it better. You’ll see when you listen to it. On the other hand, the band itself is best known for its relational disharmony. In fact, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young broke up after making this record, and all four members went on to have hit solo albums (though they have gotten back together a few times over the years).
To the above point, Stephen Stills estimated that the album required 800 hours of studio time to complete. That is explained by the amazing attention to detail for each song, as well as the fact that most of the tracks were recorded individually by each singer, and they rarely recorded together at the same time. As a side note, contributing artists included Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead) on pedal steel guitar in the song “Teach Your Children,” and John Sebastian (The Lovin’ Spoonful) plays mouth-harp in the song “Déjà vu.”
This is the first and most successful album by the rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. It was released in March of 1970 and made it to #1 on the pop album chart, eventually selling more than 8 million copies. It generated 3 Top 40 singles: "Teach Your Children," "Our House," and "Woodstock." Rolling Stone ranked Déjà vu at number 148 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. One of the songs, “Almost Cut My Hair,” is a little on the melodramatic side, and perhaps betrays how obsessed the world was at the time with hair! No other disclaimers required.
If you’ve not experienced this album before, try to imagine that it’s 1970, let your hair down (don’t cut it though!), maybe put on some sandals and your favorite pair of tinted hippie sunglasses, and enjoy a great, classic record:
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Here are a couple of videos to check out of the band performing two hit singles:
But first, some rare video from Woodstock in 1969, Crosby, Stills, & Nash performing the song Blackbird from the Beatles White Album:
Teach Your Children Well, with Crosby Stills & Nash (there is virtually no good video of the band singing, which includes Neil Young):
Our House, with Crosby Stills & Nash:
