Human Highway
Human Highway was the working title for the album to be released by CSNY after their 1974 summer reunion tour. Material from two recording sessions was considered to be included, among which a number of songs that had been previewed on the 1974 tour.
In late May 1973, the foursome were on vacation in Hawaii and worked together on Crosby’s schooner and in a beach house at Lahania on the island of Maui, rented by Young. Nash: “We were all sort of on vacation and there was great music to be made. We had these great songs, like Neil’s Human Highway and Maui Mama and we were rehearsing them on David’s boat and it was sounding great. We tried to put an album together - and it would have been a great album. Then Neil went back and it all turned to shit.”
Still, six songs were recorded at Young’s Broken Arrow ranch in June 1973: Stills’ See The Changes, Nash’s Prison Song and And So It Goes, Young’s Human Highway and Through My Sails and the group effort Little Blind Fish. Later that year, Crosby, Nash and Young made a surprise appearance at the end of Manassas’ October 4 Winterland show, playing songs such as As I Come Of Age, Human Highway, New Mama, And So It Goes and Prison Song.
After their triumphal reunion tour of the summer of 1974, CSNY held some recording sessions at the Record Plant in Sausalito at the end of the year. Crosby: “We had been at each other’s faces for too long. If you put all of us together for very long we drain on each other quite a bit. At the end of that long tour, going into the studio was a hopeless cause. Still was burnt out. I was burnt. Even Nash was less than his usual self. And Neil. Neil, Mister Dependable. He came into the studio and said ‘Great, out of sight. I’ll be back tomorrow night’ and never showed again. That kind of trip really doesn’t encourage you to work.” It seems that Young split the scene after CSN started bickering about whether or not to include Crosby’s a capella Critical Mass in front of Nash’s Wind On The Water, causing Stills to slash Nash’s master tape to pieces.
CSN gathered again at the end of January 1975 but typical tensions within the band aborted the project and left the album unfinished. Nash: “The thing was, musically, to fit a major progression through a minor chord is… It’s impossible. Everything in my musical soul rejected it. And that was the final straw, because I felt like my opinion wasn’t being listened to. So that broke it, that one specific minor note on this real jazzy thing of Stephen’s… Guardian Angel.”
In interviews, Graham Nash has been quoted as saying Human Highway’s definitive tracklist was already decided upon and that there would have been ten songs on the record. I’ve tracked down all the songs that were said to have been on the shortlist for the album and based on previous albums, this could have been the Human Highway tracklist:
In late May 1973, the foursome were on vacation in Hawaii and worked together on Crosby’s schooner and in a beach house at Lahania on the island of Maui, rented by Young. Nash: “We were all sort of on vacation and there was great music to be made. We had these great songs, like Neil’s Human Highway and Maui Mama and we were rehearsing them on David’s boat and it was sounding great. We tried to put an album together - and it would have been a great album. Then Neil went back and it all turned to shit.”
Still, six songs were recorded at Young’s Broken Arrow ranch in June 1973: Stills’ See The Changes, Nash’s Prison Song and And So It Goes, Young’s Human Highway and Through My Sails and the group effort Little Blind Fish. Later that year, Crosby, Nash and Young made a surprise appearance at the end of Manassas’ October 4 Winterland show, playing songs such as As I Come Of Age, Human Highway, New Mama, And So It Goes and Prison Song.
After their triumphal reunion tour of the summer of 1974, CSNY held some recording sessions at the Record Plant in Sausalito at the end of the year. Crosby: “We had been at each other’s faces for too long. If you put all of us together for very long we drain on each other quite a bit. At the end of that long tour, going into the studio was a hopeless cause. Still was burnt out. I was burnt. Even Nash was less than his usual self. And Neil. Neil, Mister Dependable. He came into the studio and said ‘Great, out of sight. I’ll be back tomorrow night’ and never showed again. That kind of trip really doesn’t encourage you to work.” It seems that Young split the scene after CSN started bickering about whether or not to include Crosby’s a capella Critical Mass in front of Nash’s Wind On The Water, causing Stills to slash Nash’s master tape to pieces.
CSN gathered again at the end of January 1975 but typical tensions within the band aborted the project and left the album unfinished. Nash: “The thing was, musically, to fit a major progression through a minor chord is… It’s impossible. Everything in my musical soul rejected it. And that was the final straw, because I felt like my opinion wasn’t being listened to. So that broke it, that one specific minor note on this real jazzy thing of Stephen’s… Guardian Angel.”
In interviews, Graham Nash has been quoted as saying Human Highway’s definitive tracklist was already decided upon and that there would have been ten songs on the record. I’ve tracked down all the songs that were said to have been on the shortlist for the album and based on previous albums, this could have been the Human Highway tracklist:
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However, to present the songs here I have chosen to arrange them on two sides of an imaginary vinyl LP, one side containing the cuts from 1973, the others from 1974. It is quite remarkable there are no Neil Young songs on the second side of the album. This is the closest to hearing Human Highway I can imagine.
1. Human Highway (Young) (studio recorded CSNY version)
There’s a rumour CSNY sang this song over the telephone to producer Elliott Mazer during their stay in Maui, Hawai. It was then recorded during the sessions for the Stills/Young album Long May You Run, when Young asked Crosby and Nash to overdub their voices. Stills added a nice slide-infected acoustic guitar solo. This take was later leaked to the internet. Young eventually released a countrified version of the tune on 1978’s Comes A Time.
2. See The Changes (Stills) (studio recorded CSNY version)
The Stills original See The Changes was attempted by the quartet during the 1973 sessions in a slower arrangement incorporating the singer’s trademark Latin and funk stylizations. It eventually ended up on 1977’s CSN as a sparse acoustic ballad while the 1991 Box Set featured an unreleased electric CSNY take, recorded at Young’s ranch. Said Stills: “Changes, that’s what our stuff is about: emotional, intellectual, musical.”
3. Prison Song (Nash) (CSNY rehearsal)
Nash’s Prison Song is a Chicago-like hymn condemning the American prison system, as usually filled with sociological commentary. It was inspired by Nash’s dad getting a prison sentence for not wanting to tell who sold him a stolen camera. Prison Song was released on Nash’s next solo album, December 1973’s Wild Tales, in a recording featuring Crosby on backing vocals, David Lindley on mandolin, Stray Gator Tim Drummond on bass and former CSNY member Johnny Barbata on drums. This take was recorded at Young’s ranch when CSNY were rehearsing for the 1974 tour with Tim Drummond, Russ Kunkel and Joe Lala.
4. And So It Goes (Nash) (studio recorded CNY version)
And So It Goes, Graham Nash’s hymn to music that was attempted in 1973, might be seen as a folk version of Cinnamon Girl. It was eventually released on Wild Tales and has some remarkable guests: it features David Crosby on vocals, Neil Young on acoustic piano (performing as ‘overdubber’ Joe Yankee), Ben Keith on pedal steel guitar and the rhythm section of Drummond and Barbata.
5. Little Blind Fish (CSNY) (CSNY rehearsal)
Little Blind Fish is supposed to be the only CSNY track they wrote as a quartet. It’s a not so very impressive little ditty, sung mainly by Crosby, who recut the track with Crosby, Pevar & Raymond, his late nineties project featuring his son James Raymond on piano.
6. Through My Sails (Young) (studio recorded CSNY version)
Through My Sails is a nice group performance that has Neil on guitar, Stephen on bass and Russ Kunkel on conga. It was sequenced as the closing track of 1975’s Zuma, thus being the only public release from the Human Highway sessions for years and the last released CSNY studio recorded material until 1988’s American Dream.
7. Pushed It Over The End (Young) (live recorded CSNY version)
One of Young’s new songs, Pushed It Over The End is an as yet still unreleased track, clocking in at over seven and a half minutes. This lyrically ‘creepy’ song, of which only one impromptu solo recording has surfaced, references not only wayward heiress Patricia Hearst but also Young’s disintegrating relationship with actress Carrie Snodgress. This take is a band version from the Chicago show of August 27th 1974. After Crosby, Stills and Nash overdubbed their vocals, it was also released as an Italian B side.
8. Carry Me (Crosby) (studio recorded CN version)
In the midst of a prolific songwriting period, David Crosby premiered several new songs in acoustic renditions on the 1974 tour. One of them was the happy sparkling Carry Me. Despite the very lighthearted sound, it’s a plaintive ballad referencing the death of Crosby’s mother in 1973 and his relationship with Debbie Donovan. Carry Me ended up on the 1975 Crosby & Nash record Wind On The Water, featuring delightful acoustic guitar work from James Taylor plus Craig Doerge on piano, Leland Sklar on bass and Russ Kunkel on drums.
9. Homeward Through The Haze (Crosby) (studio recorded CSNY version)
This is a tasty topical piano ballad that appeared on the CSN Box Set, featuring not only Crosby, Stills and Nash but also Young on electric guitar. It was recorded with Leland Sklar and Russ Kunkel after the 1974 tour in the Record Plant in Sausolito during what should have been the first recording sessions for Human Highway. Crosby: “We’d gotten together to do a CSNY album but this was the only song that got cut. We had an argument that night, everybody went home and never came back. It was a finding-your-way song at a time when it was getting more and more difficult to find the way.” Like Crosby’s other contribution to Human Highway, a Crosby & Nash version of Homeward Through The Haze ended up on 1975’s Wind On The Water.
10. Wind On The Water (Nash) (studio recorded CN version)
This etheral paean to cetcean life that has a feel similar to Cathedral was attempted at the 1974 sessions. A dispute about this song between Stills and Nash led to the fracas that ultimately disrupted work on the album. The song was later released on the Crosby & Nash album of the same name as To The Last Whale, a medley in which it was preceded by Crosby’s a capella chorale Critical Mass. Wind On The Water is the second CN song to feature James Taylor playing acoustic guitar - this time he’s also singing harmonies. Crosby, Nash and Taylor are backed by Doerge, Sklar and Kunkel.
11.Time After Time (Crosby) (live recorded CSN version)
Another one of Crosby’s new songs was the ethereal Time After Time, which recalled earlier efforts like The Lee Shore and Déjà Vu. It was eventually released in 1976 on Crosby & Nash’s Whistling Down The Wire. This however is a live CSN version from the 1974 tour.
12. First Things First (Stills) (live recorded CSNY version)
First Things First is a typical lighthearted Latin influenced Stephen Stills rocker (including some Spanish lyrics), almost bringing good old Buffalo Springfield back to memory. During performances of the song on the 1974 CSNY tour, Stills would switch from guitar to perform a virtuosic conga solo. This live recording is from the September 8 CSNY gig in Westbury, New York. A studio version later showed up on 1975’s Stills, featuring Crosby & Nash on vocals, Joe Lala on percussion and former CSNY member Dallas Taylor on drums.
13. As I Come Of Age (Stills) (studio recorded CSN version)
Closing my version of Human Highway is Stills’ obviously autobiographical As I Come Of Age. Also released on 1975’s Stills and featuring Crosby & Nash on backing vocals, this poppy song has Ringo Starr (as ‘English Ritchie’) on drums. The alternate take on the CSN Box Set had Stills’ touring band (Mike Finnigan, George ‘Chocolate’ Perry and Joe Vitale) backing them.
The last two songs are from another aborted attempt at trying to record an album, when Stills and Young deleted Crosby and Nash’s vocals from the master takes of their joint Long May You Run album.
14. Long May You Run (Young) (studio recorded CSNY version)
Young used this song for the Stills/Young project of the same title. When the Stills/Young project became a CSNY collaboration, this was one that saw the added backing vocals of both David Crosby and Graham Nash. Then when it became Stills/Young again, the CSNY verion ended up in a drawer only to appear (erroneously) on 1977’s Decade - and now here.
15. Taken At All (Crosby & Nash) (studio recorded CSNY version)
Recorded at the same sessions as Long May You Run, the full version of Taken At All was released on the 1991 CSN Box Set. Written by Crosby and Nash, they put their recording on 1976’s Whistling Down The Wire. Other songs cut at this occasion were Crosby’s Dancer and Nash’s Mutiny (both also rerecorded for Whistling Down The Wire), while Crosby and Nash overdubbed their vocals on Midnight On The Bay, Ocean Girl and Black Coral.
To this astonishing treasure of songs I added three bonus tracks (where would we be without them?) by Neil Young, who wrote and played more songs than anyone on the huge 1974 reunion tour. One of the songs that spawned the original 1973 sessions, Young’s Hawaiian Sunrise, sometimes also called Maui Mama, is a catchy little tune that was played multiple times during the acoustic set on the 1974 tour. This version was recorded in the Wembley Stadium on September 8, 1974, the last gig of the CSNY tour. Echoing the same themes as Pushed It Over The End, Love/Art Blues is an as-yet unreleased little ditty with Young lamenting about being torn apart between his family life and his music and features some nice piano licks by Stephen Stills and harmony vocals by Crosby & Nash. Goodbye Dick is a rather silly song about the resignation of Richard Nixon and a perfect ending of this CD.
Another song tried in December 1974 was Stills’s Different Tongues, which eventually ended up on Illegal Stills, released in March 1976. The next month, CSN tried to cut Western Witches (a song not much is known about) and Guardian Angel (written by Stills, released on Long May You Run) before calling it a day. Other songs rumored to be on Human Highway include New Mama (claimed to be given by Young to CSNY for the reunion album and later covered by Stills on 1975’s Stills) and Mutiny (of which apparently a demo by Nash and Young exists - it was rerecorded by Crosby and Nash for Whistling Down The Wire).
© Wouter Adriaensen, 2010