CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG : BALBOA PARK

 

  1. Black bird

  2. On the way home 

  3. Helplessly hoping

  4. Helpless

  5. Black Queen

  6. 49 Bye Byes / For What it's worth / America's Children

  7. Pre-road downs  

  8. So begins the task

  9. Long time gone 

  10. Wooden ships

  11. Down by the river

  12. Star of Bethlehem

Label : Colosseum Records

Time : 72:27

Venue : Balboa Stadium, San Diego, California, USA

Date : December 21, 1969

Quality : Audience recording (B+)

Review (Old Grey Cat) : December 21, 1969: David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young deliver a ramshackle set at Balboa Stadium in San Diego. Ramshackle not entirely of their own making, mind you. Feedback from the on-stage monitors, drunken fans, planes flying overhead... with two of the those three ingredients heard or referred to in the opening "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"! Incredible, eh? Unfortunately, in order to fit the entire show onto one CD, Colosseum cut much of the charming between-song interludes, including Willie's "Grass people don't act like that" observation. What's here is actually pretty damn good, save for the aforementioned difficulties during the "Suite" and "Blackbird." "Helplessly Hoping" is rushed, yet it retains its charms. Stills is in top form throughout, most noticeably on the acoustic "Black Queen" and the "49 Bye-Byes" medley - though the "America's Children" rap hasn't worn well through the years. Maybe you had to be there, huh? The sound throughout the acoustic portion of the set is very good, though not excellent. The closing electric numbers - "Long Time Gone," "Wooden Ships," and "Down by the River" - are all killer performances. Unfortunately, the same can't be said about the sound. It's passable, with the vocals near-drowned in the electric waves rolling from the speakers. Granted, with "Down by the River" the vocals aren't crucial--here, it truly is a guitar cacophony, with Stills and Young exorcising the damn demons which haunted the concert.

Note: The set closes with the acoustic "Find The Cost Of Freedom", but this song is not on the bootleg. Instead there's "Star Of Bethlehem" on my copy which is not listed on the artwork and is presumably a bonus track from another recording.