(Ed. note: new contributor, new feature!)
Thrift Store Gems are records you should pull the trigger on next Saturday flipping through the used crates at the shop. I hid a copy for you...flip between Linda Ronstadt and Dan Fogelberg, or was it Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass? You've probably heard these somewhere along the line, or spotted them at the local Goodwill, but give 'em a second chance and they might fit like a cheap used leather jacket. No decade is spared in this series, so let's get searching.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Déjà vu (1970)
Déjà vu is a 6th St. prostitute doused in slick perfume. Nothing more than loose demos cut up and pasted together with cocaine and weak bravado. A big-budget production that ushered in the era of corporate rock and pissed off ‘60s hippie dreamers still pissing in the woods at Woodstock. But even the occasional call girl is a nice looking woman.
Crosby, Stills & Nash would bring in a hired gun after the large success of their self-titled debut. Neil Young, the elusive rocker of Buffalo Springfield fame, left his ranch and dodged his epilepsy long enough to lend a hand. Joined by talented druggies Greg Reeves and Dallas Taylor, and the then-and-still obtuse Young, CSN managed to fuck up beautifully. The beautiful mess is even packaged in a fake leather gatefold that seems fitting.
The opening cut on Side 1 – radio friendly “Carry On” - is a put together effort probably tracked before Johnny the dealer showed up. I like throwing Crosby’s “Almost Cut My Hair” on when I'm alone, he wrote it after losing his then girlfriend in a car accident and you can hear it. Skip over “Woodstock”, unless you’d enjoy Joni Mitchell’s heartfelt poem of cliche clichés lathered in production and sped up too fast. “Déjà vu” is another Crosby cut that’s oozes a nice lack of cohesiveness, but the closing solo by Stills is a nice trip.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 4 + 20 (Mp3)
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