In 1970, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young released one of the most highly anticipated second albums in music history, following in the footsteps of Beatles and Band, which lived up to its expectations and reached number 1 on the charts. The achievement is even more astonishing, given the fact that the band spent only 800 hours together to record Deja Vu, and it would be fair to say that they barely functioned as a group for most of that time.

Deja Vu was crafted as an album as the product of four strong and rising musical talents combined with excellent production, recording and editing. There were also some decidedly obvious virtues to the album, such as the addition of Neil Young to the lineup, which enhanced its level of virtuosity, with Neil Young and Stephen Stills raising the level of complexity and volume on their guitars. Young’s presence also extended the range of available voices by a notch and added a uniquely idiosyncratic songwriter to the group, although his greatest contribution in this area was confined to the album’s second side.

Most of the quartet’s music, aside from the cover of Johnny Mitchell’s “Woodstock”, was done in individual sessions with each of the members when they were together, a rare occurrence, where each contributed whatever was needed or agreed that it needed to be agreed upon.

The song, “Carry On”, that I select, which opens the album and in which Stills sacrifices his real rights as a composer for the group, along with “Woodstock”, are the tracks where the foursome seem to function as a single group. The remaining songs are separate performances for each.

Tracklist

1. Carry On 4:25
2. Teach Your Children 2:53
3. Almost Cut My Hair 4:25
4. Helpless 3:30
5. Woodstock 3:52
6. Déjà vu 4:10
7. Our House 2:59
8. 4 + 20 1:55
9. Country Girl 5:05
    a. Whiskey Boot Hill
    b. Down, Down, Down
    c. Country Girl (I Think You’re Pretty)
10. Everybody I Love You 2:20