CSN (box set)

Content

The presence of the group's occasional fourth member, Neil Young, is limited to fourteen tracks and only two of his compositions for the band, "Helpless" and "Ohio." Of its 77 tracks, 25 had been unreleased previously, although many were alternate takes, alternate mixes, or concert versions of previously issued songs. Included in the unreleased tracks are a CSNY rehearsal of "Helplessly Hoping" prior to their first tour, two outtakes from the Déjà Vu sessions "Horses through a Rainstorm" and "The Lee Shore," and the December 1968 demo of "You Don't Have to Cry," the first recording they made as Crosby, Stills & Nash. Other highlights include a cover of The Beatles' "Blackbird," the full-length take of "Almost Cut My Hair," and three tracks respectively from the aborted CSNY second studio album sessions of 1973, 1974, and 1976: "See the Changes"; "Homeward through the Haze"; and "Taken at All."

No tracks are taken from the following studio albums released either individually or in combination during the time period covered by the box: Down the Road; Illegal Stills; Whistling Down the Wire; Long May You Run; Innocent Eyes; and American Dream. The orphan single by Young and Nash, "War Song," is also not included and is only available on the Neil Young archives box.

The original recordings were produced by David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young, with assistance from Howard Albert, Ron Albert, Craig Doerge, Bill Halverson, Chris Hillman, Stanley Johnston, Paul Rothchild, Dallas Taylor, and Joe Vitale. Audio engineers on the original recordings include Stephen Barncard, Niko Bolas, Ellen Burke, Larry Cox, Russ Gary, Don Gooch, Steve Gursky, David Hassinger, Andy Johns, Glyn Johns, Gary Kellgren, Henry Lewy, Elliot Mazer, Jim Mitchell, Tim Mulligan, and Doc Storch. The original masters were recorded at the following studios: A&M Studios, Britannia Studios, Devonshire Sound Studio, Wally Heider Studios, The Record Plant, Rudy Recorders, the Sound Lab, Sunset Sound, Sunwest Studio, Village Recorders, and Westlake Audio in Los Angeles; United Studio in Hollywood; The Record Plant in New York City; Wally Heider Studios, His Master's Wheels, and Rudy Recorders in San Francisco; The Record Plant in Sausalito; Criteria Sound Studios in Miami; Island Studios in London; Sol Studio in Maidstone, Kent; Stephen Stills' late 1960s home in Laurel Canyon, Graham Nash's early 1970s home in San Francisco, and Neil Young's Redwood Digital home studio at his ranch in Woodside, California. Live recordings are from the Filmore East in New York in 1970, the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles in 1979, the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon in 1982, and the United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York in 1989.

The selections were compiled for this set by Crosby, Stills, Nash, Gerry Tolman, and Yves Beauvais, with additional research by Joel Bernstein. The liner notes include an essay by writer Chet Flippo. Originally in a box set conforming to the size dimensions of a vinyl record, the set was reissued as a compact disc brick on August 13, 2013. The liner notes for the 2013 reissue do not indicate whether or not any additional mastering beyond that from 1991 was undertaken.

Track listing

An asterisk (*) indicates a live recording, two asterisks (**) a previously unreleased mix, (†) a previously unreleased version, and (‡) a previously unreleased song.

Collective personnel

Production personnel