''Long May You Run'' is a studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

credited to the Stills–Young Band, a collaboration between Stephen Stills and

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

, released in 1976 on Reprise Records. It peaked at #26 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and was

certified gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in the United States by the RIAA. The album is the sole studio release by Stills and Young as a duo.

Background

Following the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young stadium tour of 1974, an attempt by the quartet to finalize a new album ended amidst acrimony without result.

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Crosby joined the Byrds in 1964. They got ...

and

Graham Nash Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...

resumed their partnership, while Stills and Young continued their independent careers. Songs from the aborted CSNY album appeared on various albums by group members, and Stills covered two Young songs on his contemporary studio albums: "New Mama" on '' Stills'' and " The Loner" on '' Illegal Stills''. In early 1976, Stills and Young reached a rapprochement, and began to work on a joint album project from a desire by both to pick up where they left off with their

Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield was a rock band formed in Los Angeles by Canadian musicians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin and American musicians Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song "For What It's Worth", rele ...

-era guitar explorations, a decade after the inception of the band. Crosby and Nash signed on as well, and briefly ''Long May You Run'' looked to be the awaited CSNY reunion album. However, on a deadline Nash and Crosby left

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

to finish the sessions for what would become their 1976 album ''

Whistling Down the Wire ''Whistling Down the Wire'' is the third album by Crosby & Nash, released on ABC Records in 1976, the second of the duo's three-album deal with ABC Records. Cassette and 8-track tape versions of the album were distributed by Atlantic Records, t ...

'', and Young and Stills reacted by removing the duo's vocals and other contributions from the master tapes. Crosby and Nash vowed never to work with either again, although less than a year later they would regroup with Stills for the album ''CSN''. The Stills-Young Band, comprising Stills' then-current touring band behind the pair, began a tour in 1976 prior to the album's release. The tour commenced in

Clarkston, Michigan Clarkston is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, United States. A northern suburb of Detroit, located about northwest of downtown Detroit, Clarkston is surrounded by Independence Township, but administered independently since its incorporation i ...

on June 23, but after nineteen dates Young dropped out after July 20 via a

telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

to Stills, forcing Stills to complete the concert tour solo through October. The telegram read: "Dear Stephen, funny how some things that start spontaneously end that way. Eat a peach. Neil." Young would later cite cryptic personal reasons for his departure, namely that he had "voice issues" but he has since stated the tour "wasn't working" and that the "balance was off in some way" as it progressed. During the tour, critics were writing harsh reviews of Stills while praising Young, titled "Young Hot, Stills Not". Stills began drinking heavily and started to take out his frustrations on tour personnel thinking they were purposefully making him look bad. However, even after Young told Stills not to read the reviews, he would not accept the advice, so Young left. The album's advance single, "Long May You Run", peaked at #71 on the

UK singles chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The song was an elegy for Neil Young's first car (which he nicknamed "Mort"), a 1948

Buick Roadmaster The Buick Roadmaster is an automobile that was built by Buick from 1936 until 1942, from 1946 until 1958, and then again from 1991 until 1996. Roadmasters produced between 1936 and 1958 were built on Buick's longest non-limousine wheelbase and s ...

hearse A hearse is a large vehicle, originally a horse carriage but later with the introduction of motor vehicles, a car, used to carry the body of a deceased person in a coffin at a funeral, wake, or memorial service. They range from deliberately a ...

that died in 1962 when its transmission blew in

Blind River, Ontario Blind River is a town situated on the North Channel of Lake Huron in the Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. The town, named after the nearby Blind River, celebrated its centennial in 2006. History French explorers discovered the North Channe ...

. Mort was a different vehicle from the 1953 Pontiac hearse, nicknamed Mort 2, that

Richie Furay Paul Richard Furay (born May 9, 1944) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member (with Buffalo Springfield). He is best known for forming the bands Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bru ...

, traveling with Stills, saw Young driving in a Hollywood traffic jam in 1966 that led to the formation of Buffalo Springfield. On January 22, 2010, Young performed "Long May You Run" on the final episode of ''

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show that featured Conan O'Brien as host from June 1, 2009, to January 22, 2010, as part of NBC's ''Tonight Show'' franchise. O'Brien had previously hosted NBC's ''Late N ...

''. A few weeks later, Young performed the song during the closing ceremony of the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

in Vancouver, accompanying the extinguishment of the Olympic cauldron.

Track listing

Side oneSide two

Personnel

* Stephen Stills – vocals, acoustic piano, guitars *

– vocals, acoustic piano, string synthesizer, guitars, harmonica Additional musicians * Jerry Aiello – organ, acoustic piano *

George "Chocolate" Perry George Wesly Perry (born 1953), known professionally as "Chocolate Perry" is an American bassist, songwriter and producer. Perry has worked with the Bee Gees, John Cougar, Jon Secada, Stephen Stills, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Al Kooper, D ...

– bass, backing vocals * Joe Vitale – drums, flute, backing vocals *

Joe Lala Joseph Anthony Lala (November 3, 1947 – March 18, 2014) was an American musician and actor. In 1966, he co-founded the rock band Blues Image. Life and career Lala was born in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida, to parents from Contessa Entellina (an ...

– percussion, backing vocals

Production

* Stephen Stills – producer, mixing * Neil Young – producer, mixing *

Don Gehman Don Gehman is an American record producer, engineer, and executive, best known for his work with John Mellencamp and Hootie & the Blowfish. He was one of "the most successful producers of the 1980s and 1990s." As a sound engineer, he also helped ...

– producer, recording, mixing *

Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recording ...

– associate producer * Steve Hart – recording assistant * Michael Lasko – recording assistant *

Alex Sadkin Alex Sadkin (April 9, 1949July 25, 1987) was an American record producer, engineer, mixer and mastering engineer. Sadkin grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida across the street from Bennett Elementary School, and played saxophone in Sunrise Junio ...

– mixing *

Tom Wilkes Thomas Edward Wilkes (July 30, 1939 – June 28, 2009) was an American art director, designer, photographer, illustrator, writer and producer-director. Life Wilkes was born in Long Beach, California and raised in southern California. Wilkes atte ...

– album design

Charts

Certifications

Tour

Personnel * Jerry Aiello – organ *

Chris Hillman Christopher Hillman (born December 4, 1944) is an American musician. He was the original bassist of and one of the original members of the Byrds, which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby and Michael Clarke. With freque ...

– guitar, vocals (for two dates after Young departed) *

– percussion *

– bass guitar * Stephen Stills – vocals, guitar, piano * Joe Vitale – drums *

– vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica Setlist This is the setlist from the Boston Garden date on the 26 June 1976 # "

Love the One You're With "Love the One You're With" is a song by folk rock musician Stephen Stills. It was released as the lead single from his debut self-titled studio album in November 1970. The song, inspired by a remark Stills heard from musician Billy Preston, be ...

" (Stills) # " The Loner" (Young) # "Long May You Run" (Young) # "

For What It's Worth "For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey What's That Sound)" (often referred to as simply "For What It's Worth") is a song written by Stephen Stills. Performed by Buffalo Springfield, it was recorded on December 5, 1966, released as a single on Atco Reco ...

" (Stills) # " Helpless" (Young) # "Black Queen" (Stills) # " Southern Man" (Young) # "On the Way Home" (Young) # " Change Partners" (Stills) # "Too Far Gone" (Young) # "4+20" (Stills) # "Word Game" (Stills) # "Buyin' Time" (Stills) # "Evening Coconut" (Young) # "Make Love to You" (Stills) # "

Cowgirl in the Sand "Cowgirl in the Sand" is a song written by Neil Young and first released on his 1969 album ''Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere''. Young has included live versions of the song on several albums and on the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young album '' 4 Wa ...

" (Young) # "The Treasure" (Stills) # " Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" (Stills)

References

External links

''Long May You Run''
at Myspace (streamed copy where licensed)
about Neil Young's 1948 Buick Roadmaster Hearse, with Photos''
{{Authority control Stephen Stills albums Neil Young albums 1976 debut albums Albums produced by Tom Dowd Albums produced by Don Gehman Reprise Records albums Albums produced by Neil Young Albums produced by Stephen Stills Collaborative albums Art rock albums by American artists Art rock albums by Canadian artists