SACD Stephen Stills – Stephen Stills

Stephen Stills as a hybrid stereo SACD from the Atlantic 75 Series: Bernie Grundman mastered his 1970 solo debut direct to DSD from the original analogue master tape. All ten songs play in one sequence – with Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and a whole circle of friends as guests.

Many hands, one clear identity

Stephen Stills’ first solo album, released in 1970, is the ideal place to meet the musician behind the famous band names. After Buffalo Springfield and the early success of Crosby, Stills & Nash and CSNY, his own name is on the cover. He wrote all ten songs, and his playing reaches far beyond guitar – to bass, keyboards and percussion. The changing musicians around him show just how wide that range is.

“Love the One You’re With” opens with an irresistible chorus and a colour that is easy to miss: Stills plays steel drums. He later traced the title back to a phrase he had heard from Billy Preston. The phrase became a song, and the arrangement turns it into a shared movement of rhythm and voices.

Two guests, two different encounters

Jimi Hendrix plays on “Old Times Good Times”, Eric Clapton on “Go Back Home”. That distinction says more than the headline that both appear on one album: they join different songs in different musical situations. Stills provides the continuity as writer and fellow player, each guest brings his own energy – this is not a joint Hendrix–Clapton session.

Hendrix’s guitar sits next to Stills’ organ; on “Go Back Home”, Clapton gets room within a longer song. Moving between the two tracks turns the credits into sound: a famous name becomes a very specific musical contribution. The album appeared after Hendrix’s death and is dedicated to him – a moving biographical note, without making it a farewell session.

Between the famous names

“Black Queen” puts Stills’ acoustic guitar and voice in close-up, a blues surrounded by bigger arrangements. “Do for the Others” shows another side of his writing, while “Church (Part of Someone)” and “We Are Not Helpless” explore what several voices together can do. Under his own name, Stills moves freely beyond a single band sound.

The remaining credits trace a wide musical circle. David Crosby, Graham Nash and Rita Coolidge are among the backing singers, and Ringo Starr plays drums on “To a Flame” and “We Are Not Helpless”, listed on the sleeve as “Richie”. Stills produced the record with Bill Halverson. Listen from start to finish and notice which roles Stills takes on himself – and which he hands to his guests.

The Atlantic 75 hybrid stereo SACD

CAPA 074 SA is a hybrid stereo SACD from the Analogue Productions Atlantic 75 Series. According to the publisher, Bernie Grundman mastered it direct to DSD from the original analogue master tape. Hi-Fi News chose this SACD as its Album Choice for July 2026 and rated the sound quality at 95 per cent. The SACD layer plays on SACD-capable players, the CD layer on any conventional CD player. The disc contains the ten songs of the original album, from “Love The One You’re With” to “We Are Not Helpless”.

You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and ship from Hilden.

More from the series: Atlantic 75 Series

Also in another edition: Stephen Stills

Artist page: The whole Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young family

Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe

Musicians

Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.