It was a critical comeback for Stills, and continued his commercial success by being certified Gold only a month after being released and peaking at number 4 on the US charts.
The album was recorded at Criteria Studio B late 1971, where Stills used his clout to keep the studio and engineers Ron and Howard Albert available around the clock.
The band all stayed in a rented house about 30 minutes away from the studio, in Coconut Grove.
This allowed Stills to record the album around the clock, waking up band members in the early hours of the morning when an idea struck. Stills would also record in mammoth sessions often going on for days, until Chris Hillman and Stills got into a fight, after which they started to record at regular hours.
Al Perkins and Dallas Taylor had a rule where they would not perform any more than seven takes for a single track, so often Stills would stay in the studio editing after having released the band at 4 or 5 am.
The band then flew to Stills' house in London in January 1972 to finish recording and mixing the album and to rehearse for an upcoming tour starting in March 1972. It was here that Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones played bass on and co-authored "The Love Gangster" and is reported to have said that he would have left the Stones to join Manassas.
At one point Stills put in an unbroken 106 hour stint in the studio, and engineer Ron Albert said he had just gotten to bed after a marathon session lasting 84 hours when the phone rang with Stills summoning him back to the studio with the words: "I know you're tired, but there's this idea I've got for this song that I want to get on tape before I forget it..." Another time, working to Stills' manic schedule, the band cut eight tracks in two days with no sleep.
The album was split into four thematic sides.
Side 1 - The Raven, is a composite of rock and Latin sounds that the group would often perform in full live exactly as recorded.
Side 2 - The Wilderness mainly centers on country and bluegrass.
Side 3 - Consider is largely folk and folk-rock, and contains the song "Johnny's Garden", reportedly for the caretaker at Stills' English manor house bought from Ringo Starr.
This includes Stills at his most experimental including using a Moog Synthesiser on "Move Around". The closing section, titled "Rock & Roll Is Here to Stay", is a rock and blues set.
"What to Do" and "Right Now" are Stills take on the CSNY split and his relationship with Graham Nash.
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Side one – The Raven
1. Song of Love - 3:28
2. Medley - 3:34
Rock & Roll Crazies (Stills, Dallas Taylor)
Cuban Bluegrass (Stills, Joe Lala)
3. Jet Set (Sigh) - 4:25
4. Anyway - 4:21
5. Both of Us (Bound to Lose) - 3:00 (Stills, Chris Hillman)
Side two – The Wilderness
1. Fallen Eagle - 2:03
2. Jesus Gave Love Away for Free - 2:59
3. Colorado - 2:50
4. So Begins the Task - 3:57
5. Hide It So Deep - 2:44
6. Don't Look at My Shadow - 2:30
Side three – Consider
1. It Doesn't Matter (original releases of Manassas do not credit Roberts as a co-author) (Stills,
Hillman, Rick Roberts) - 2:30
2. Johnny's Garden - 2:45
3. Bound to Fall (original releases of Manassas do not credit Mastin as a co-author) (Mike Brewer,
Tom Mastin) - 1:53
4. How Far - 2:49
5. Move Around - 4:15
6. The Love Gangster (Stills, Bill Wyman) - 2:51
Side four – Rock & Roll Is Here to Stay
1. What to Do - 4:44
2. Right Now - 2:58
3. The Treasure (Take One) - 8:03
4. Blues Man (in tribute: Jimi Hendrix, Al Wilson, Duane Allman) - 4:04
All tracks are written by Stephen Stills, except where indicated
Manassas
- Stephen Stills - vocals, guitar, bottleneck guitar, piano, organ, electric piano, clavinet, Moog synthesizer
- Chris Hillman - vocals, guitar, mandolin
- Al Perkins - pedal steel guitar, guitar, vocals
- Paul Harris - organ, tack piano, piano, electric piano, clavinet
- Dallas Taylor - drums
- Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels - bass
- Joe Lala - congas, timbales/percussion, vocals
Additional players
- Sydney George - harmonica (on "The Raven" and "The Wilderness")
- Jerry Aiello (on "The Raven" and "The Wilderness") - piano, organ, electric piano, clavinet
- Bill Wyman - bass (on "The Raven" and "The Wilderness")
- Roger Bush - acoustic bass (on "The Raven" and "The Wilderness")
- Byron Berline - fiddle
- Malcolm Cecil - Expanded Series III Moog synthesizer programming
Technical
- The Albert Brothers - engineers
- Stephen Stills, Ira H. Wexler - cover design
- Ira H. Wexler - photography
Special thanks to Bruce Berry & Guillermo Giachetti, Daniel J. Campbell, Michael John Bowen, Michael O'Hara Garcia, Buddy P. Zoloth, Edward Astrin & Ahmet Ertegun
Notes
Released: April 12, 1972
Recorded: Late 1971 Studio Criteria Sound Studios, Miami, Florida
Genre: Country rock, folk rock
Length: 71:57
Producer(s): Stephen Stills, Chris Hillman, Dallas Taylor
Label: Atlantic Records
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