Buffalo Springfield! Better than Crosby, Stills, Nash...?

[Hepcat]

Did the recorded output of Buffalo Springfield exceed that of Crosby, Still, Nash (& Young) in quality? Or was one or the other group unlistenable in your opinion?

[BARON CORNY DOG]

Did the recorded output of Buffalo Springfield exceed that of Crosby, Still, Nash (& Young) in quality?

No.

[pig bodine]

About equal, but BS only recoded 3 albums. CSN(Y) pretty much suck after Deja Vu

[Matt Wilson]

I keep harping on this - had CSNY never broke up and their best solo/duo recordings been CSNY songs, they would've been the biggest band of the '70s.

[naughty boy]

[Sneelock]

Buffalo Springfield was great but CSN(Y) was GRATE.
I think Matt makes a good point - they kept cranking out good singles under their own names for quite a while.

[sloopjohnc]

Buffalo Springfield was great but CSN(Y) was GRATE.
I think Matt makes a good point - they kept cranking out good singles under their own names for quite a while.

But wasn't that part of the problem? They were all solo artists at heart.

[Sneelock]

sure but maybe part of the strength too - in both cases.

[clive gash]

None of them (Harvest aside) were mega sellers individually, why would a record with three songs by each sell more? The Eagles had a homogenised sound and image, CSN&Y’s songwriting and performance was too variable.

[sloopjohnc]

None of them (Harvest aside) were mega sellers individually, why would a record with three songs by each sell more? The Eagles had a homogenised sound and image, CSN&Y’s songwriting and performance was too variable.

I don't know if you can use album sales as a determinant whether they thought they were solo artists or not. Lots of lesser artists than CSN&Y break up because of members' egos. They also seem to pair up into Stills-Young, like in Buffalo Springfield and Crosby with Nash.

But the Eagles are a good example. All those guys had pretty big egos, but were able to put them aside.

[Sneelock]

I have Glenn Frey's ego in a mason jar.
you can make a bid on EBAY.

[sloopjohnc]

I have Glenn Frey's ego in a mason jar.
you can make a bid on EBAY.

I'm saving up for Ted Williams' cryogenic head so I'll have to pass.

[Matt Wilson]

None of them (Harvest aside) were mega sellers individually, why would a record with three songs by each sell more?

The same way Deja Vu sold more than Let it Be or any solo Beatles album in 1970.

[toomanyhatz]

Springfield had a decided advantage in that Graham Nash was never part of it.

Stills also got worse, although Young did get better.

[sloopjohnc]

Springfield had a decided advantage in that Graham Nash was never part of it.

But did the Hollies?

[Matt Wilson]

Tell me this triple album wouldn't have been THE LP of 1971:

Album One
Side One
1. "Southern Man" -Neil 5:31
2. "Love the One You're With" - Stephen 3:07 (#14 Billboard charts) (B-side “Birds” – Neil 2:34)
3. "Music is Love" - David 3:22 (#95 Billboard charts) (B-side “Do for the Others” – Stephen 2:52)
4. “I Used to be a King" - Graham 4:48 (#111 Billboard charts) (B-side “Orleans” – David 1:56)
5. "Tell Me Why" - Neil 2:59

Side Two
1. "Sit Yourself Down" - Stephen 3:06 (#37 Billboard charts) (“B-side “There’s Only One” – Graham 3:55)
2. "Simple Man" - Graham 2:18
3. "Laughing" - David 5:27
4. "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" - Neil 3:10 (#33 Billboard charts) (B-side “Church [Part of Someone] – Stephen 4:05)
5. "Chicago/We Can Change the World" - Graham 4:01 (#35 Billboard charts) (B-side “Oh Lonesome Me” – Neil [Don Gibson] 3:47)

Album Two
Side Three
1. "Change Partners" - Stephen 3:16 (#43 Billboard charts) (B-side “Be Yourself” – Graham 3:03)
2. 'Tamalpais High (at about 3)" - David 3:33
3. "Don't Let it Bring You Down" - Neil 2:58
4. "Military Madness" - Graham 2:55 (#73 Billboard charts) (B-side “Word Game” – Stephen 4:13)
5. "Song with No Words/Tree with No Leaves" - David 6:00

Side Four
1. "Marianne" - Stephen 2:30 (#42 Billboard charts) (B-side “Till the Morning Comes” – Neil 1:17)
2. "Man in the Mirror" - Graham 2:49
3. "After the Gold Rush" - Neil 3:47
4. "Traction in the Rain" - David 3:46
5. "Black Queen" - Stephen 5:26

Album Three
Side Five
1. "When You Dance I Can Really Love" - Neil 3:45 (#93 Billboard charts) (B-side “What are Their Names” – David 4:09)
2. "Cowboy Movie" - David 8:11
3. "To a Flame" - Stephen 3:08
4. "Better Days" - Graham 3:50
5. "I'd Swear There Was Somebody Here" -David 1:20

Side Six
1. "Old Times Good Times" - Stephen 3:39 (with Hendrix)
2. "I Believe in You" - Neil 3:27
3. "Wounded Bird" - Graham 2:13
4. "The Lee Shore" - David 5:31 (studio version from CSN box set)
5. "Cripple Creek Ferry" - Neil 1:34

[toomanyhatz]

THE LP? How?

Commercially? There wasn't that big a market for triple albums. Critically? Mixed, like all their single albums. Artistically? The advantage Neil's songs hold over the others' is embarrassing.

[Goat Boy]

So that's a "no" then

[clive gash]

Now imagine those songs being played by the same band, one of which, Captain fucking Manyhands, insists on noodling all over them, flattening out all of the raggedness of NY and slathering dreadful blues licks all over Crosby’s psych polyphony.

No way!

[Matt Wilson]

THE LP? How?

Commercially? There wasn't that big a market for triple albums. Critically? Mixed, like all their single albums. Artistically? The advantage Neil's songs hold over the others' is embarrassing.

That's only because he's your favorite. Like saying Lennon's songs were better than McCartney's, or vice versa. That album is great. Consisting of the best tracks from five good albums (well, maybe not Stephen Stills 2).

I'm on a mission. I'm going to convince *somebody* that CSN&Y in the '70s would've been HUGE!!