Following the temporary disbandment of folk-rock supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY) in 1971, bandleader Stephen Stills took the opportunity to assemble a new backing ensemble that included The Byrds' Chris Hillman and acclaimed steel guitarist Al Perkins. This allowed Stills to release some of his fresh solo material with a slight country bent. Under the name Manassas, Stills' group released two albums, including its wildly lauded eponymous 1972 debut, before the reunion of CSNY in 1974 brought the project to its de facto end. Though Manassas hasn't recorded together in over thirty-five years, a large quantity of unreleased material was left over from the two album sessions, and on September 22, 2009, Atlantic Records released the appropriately titled "Pieces," a compilation of the best of these previously-unheard master tapes.
As a castoff compilation album, "Pieces" (2009) is necessarily and forgivably flawed. Many of the songs never got the full fleshing-out they deserved, and a number of tracks barely clock in at a brief two minutes. Some of them include bits of studio banter and conversations with the recording engineers that somehow made their way onto the master tapes. Nevertheless, every song selected for inclusion is well-produced and instrumentally crisp, with none of the off-hand, throwaway, filler material that so frequently comprises typical "unreleased sessions" albums.
While many of the tunes are quite short, they don't feel incomplete or unresolved, even though they could easily have been expanded with another few hours in the studio. The musical variety represented on the disc is surprisingly broad. Tossed in amongst the requisite soulful electric soft rock and emotionally raw acoustic pop, which have so distinctively characterized Stills' solo sound over the years, are the swampy "I Am My Brother" and the Latin-soaked instrumental "Tan Sola y Triste." The funky, country-rock sound of "Fit To Be Tied" and "Lies" would feel right at home on any Eagles album — a vibe heightened by Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh's guest performance on the latter song. Towards the end of the album, the band members even trade in their organs and guitars for fiddles and mandolins on a spontaneous four-song bluegrass bender worthy of its own separate discussion.
The bluegrass jam kicks off with "Panhandle Rag," an exuberant, upbeat instrumental piece showcasing virtuosic fiddle and mandolin solos. "Uncle Pen" continues the folksy vibe, taking the tempo down a hair and adding elegant vocal harmonies that wouldn't seem out of place at a Nashville square dance.
Stills reintroduces his trademark political activism in the instrumentally sparse "Do You Remember the Americans," a cynical lament for the returning soldier who discovers an America unwilling to welcome him back. Finally, the band rounds out its musical digression with the delightful, casually-paced "Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud Music)," a country song celebrating life on the road as a touring musician. While these tunes are all in the two-minute range, they still comprise one of the strongest parts of the album. They represent a total break from form, giving the band a chance to shine in an atypical setting.
While the musical snippets do hold their own quite well, and most of them do exhibit a wholesome level of musical character, one of them stands out from the rest of the pack. At one minute and twenty-three seconds, "My Love Is a Gentle Thing" is one of the shortest tracks on the album, but it may also be the best. Driven by a pair of rhythmic acoustic guitars and soft hand drums and replete with vibrant, shimmering harmonies over the choruses, "My Love Is a Gentle Thing" sounds like a long-lost Crosby, Stills & Nash masterpiece, perhaps a fifth segment of "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" that was cut before that song was released. Regardless of its origin and its length, the song is beautifully crafted and lovingly rendered by the band, and may well be that rarest of musical rarities — a truly perfect track.
While "My Love Is a Gentle Thing" may be the best track on the album, it would be unfair not to examine the collection of feature-length tracks in their own right. Of all the songs reaching past the three-minute mark, "High and Dry" is the clear frontrunner. Beginning as a slow, psychedelic odyssey, a la the Beatles' "Yer Blues," the song morphs into a more up-tempo rocker around the midway point. Strangely, the track seems to be compiled from a studio take for the first half and a separate, live stage recording after the transition, complete with audience cheering and applause. Even so, it remains one of the most viscerally raw works on "Pieces," and deserves a bit of credit as one of the best hard-rock songs Stephen Stills has ever created.
"Pieces" gives viewers deeper insight into the musical experimentation of an often-pigeonholed artist. The album has its shortcomings, but they are easy to forgive in light of its numerous shining moments.
