Manassas (band)

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Manassas
Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels
Paul Harris
Dallas Taylor
Joe Lala

Manassas was an American rock supergroup formed by Stephen Stills in 1971.[2] It was used primarily for Stills' music, the band releasing two studio albums before disbanding in October 1973. They released a 1972 self titled debut and a second album titled Down the Road in 1973.

Formation and first album

Calvin ("Fuzzy") Samuels with Manassas (1972)

Manassas was formed in the fall of 1971, following Stills' concert tour to support his album

Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels, keyboardist Paul Harris and vocalist/percussionist Joe Lala
) to play at the session.

The musicians quickly gelled in the studio, and within several weeks had recorded enough material at Criteria to fill a double-LP album release. The band was capable of a wide musical range, with a repertoire including blues, folk, country, Latin, and rock songs.

Civil War history, orchestrated a photo shoot for them in Manassas, Virginia, the site of the First and Second
Battles of Bull Run (1861 and 1862, respectively).

The band's first album,

RIAA gold certification. For most of 1972, Manassas embarked on an international tour in support of the album, playing in Europe, Australia, and arenas in the United States. They would open their concerts with the first side of the album in full, and finish with "The Treasure", then an acoustic "Find the Cost of Freedom". During this tour they appeared on the TV shows: ABC-TV's In Concert in the United States, BBC's In Concert in the United Kingdom, and Beat-Club in West Germany.[7]

Second album, hiatus, reformation and breakup

Chris Hillman (with Manassas, TopPop, 1972)

Upon returning to the U.S. from the European leg of Manassas' 1972 tour, Chris Hillman took several weeks away from the band to record a reunion album with his pre-Burritos band the Byrds, an effort that also included Stills' ex-CSNY bandmate David Crosby.[8] Manassas then regrouped and quickly completed their second album, Down the Road. Initial sessions for the album were convened at Criteria Studios, but the band moved the sessions in midstream to Caribou Ranch in Colorado and the Record Plant in Los Angeles after Criteria staff engineers Ron and Howard Albert expressed concern that the sessions were not producing quality results.[9] Down the Road was completed in January 1973. The album was released in the spring of that year to middling reviews and sales, ultimately peaking at No. 26 in the United States and falling short of RIAA gold status; it was the first album that Stills appeared on since 1968 that did not attain the latter certification.

After completing Down the Road, Manassas became dormant for several months. During the break, Stephen Stills married

project involving ex-Buffalo Springfield and Poco singer/guitarist Richie Furay and Eagles songwriter/collaborator J. D. Souther, after satisfying Manassas' scheduled touring commitments. Shortly thereafter, Crosby and ex-CSNY mate Graham Nash joined Neil Young and The Stray Gators on tour in support of Young's Harvest (1972). When this tour ended in mid-1973, Crosby, Nash and Young – encouraged by their management, and hopeful to realize the financial benefits of a possible CSNY reunion – regrouped in Maui to discuss potential work on a new album. The three contacted Stills, who, putting aside the differences that led to CSNY's initial demise,[10] cut short his honeymoon break with Sanson to join the new project. CSNY worked for several weeks in both Maui and Los Angeles on the project, Human Highway, but these sessions were ultimately aborted due to various disagreements within the band.[11]

Stills was greeted by several sources of turmoil upon returning from the Human Highway sessions to regroup Manassas, as, in addition to Hillman's future commitment to work with Furay and Souther, Dallas Taylor had become severely addicted to heroin, and Calvin Samuels had left the band for personal reasons. Stills dealt with these issues by securing the services of Jefferson Airplane drummer John Barbata (who had previously replaced Taylor in CSNY during their 1970 tour and Kenny Buttrey during Young's 1973 tour) as a backup for Taylor, and bassist Kenny Passarelli of Joe Walsh's band Barnstorm to replace Samuels. Samuels would return to the band for the last leg of its 1973 tour. Following the tour's completion in October, Manassas's dissolution was publicly announced.[12]

One of Manassas' last shows, at

Souther-Hillman-Furay Band
, which would also include Manassas members Al Perkins and Paul Harris (and eventually Joe Lala, who also played on the 1974 CSNY reunion tour), released its first album in early 1974.

Legacy

Criteria Studios engineer Howard Albert has said "Manassas was one of the greatest and the most underrated bands of the seventies. That double album, along with Eric Clapton's Layla – which me and [Ron Albert] both worked on – stand as the most important and best albums we've ever been a part of."[15] Of the band's prowess on stage, Stephen Stills has said "Manassas was such a terrific band. It really had some structure and reminded me of [Stills' previous band] the Buffalo Springfield at its best. Manassas could play anything."[15]

Personnel

Original band members

Touring members (1973 only)

Session contributors

Per:[16][17]

  • Bill Wyman, bass (on Manassas)
  • Byron Berline, fiddle (on Manassas)
  • Joe Walsh, slide guitar (on Down the Road)
  • Bobby Whitlock, keyboards & backing vocals (on Down the Road)
  • P. P. Arnold, backing vocals (on Down the Road)
  • Sydney George, harmonica (on Manassas) and flute (on Down the Road)
  • Jerry Aiello, keyboards (on Manassas and Down the Road)
  • Charlie Grimes, guitar (on Down the Road)

Tours

Discography

Studio albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales (as of 1974)
Certifications
US
[18] 		Cash Box
[19] 		Record World
[20]
GER
[21]
 NED
[22] 		AUS
[23] 		IT
[24]
SPA
[25]
 SW
[26] 		NOR
[27] 		UK
[28] 		CAN
[29]
Manassas 4 6 4 32 1 17 23 — 8 6 30 9
Down the Road 26 25 18 — — — — 19 18 — 33 31

Compilation album

Title Album details Peak chart positions Notes
US
GER
 NED AUS IT NOR UK CAN
Pieces
  • Released: September 9, 2009
  • Label:
    Rhino Records
 — — — — — — — — Previously unreleased material from both Manassas albums

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Album Label
US

[18]

Cash

Box

[19]

Record

World

[20]

US

AC

[18]

AUS

[23]

UK

[28]

NED

[22]

CAN

[29]

1972 "It Doesn't Matter" b/w

"Rock & Roll Crazies Medley" or

"Fallen Eagles"

61 49 46 — — — — 48 Manassas Atlantic
1972 "Rock & Roll Crazies Medley" b/w

"Colorado"

92 111 86 — — — — —
1973 "Isn't It About Time" b/w

"So Many Times"

56 62 62 — — — — 77 Down The Road
1973 "Down The Road" b/w

"Guaguancó De Veró"

— — 129 — — — — —

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-306-80974-3
    , p. 150.
  2. ^ a b "AllMusic | Manassas Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  3. ^ Mendelsohn, John Ned (August 19, 1971). "Stephen Stills Stephen Stills 2 > Album Review". Rolling Stone. No. 89. Archived from the original on July 3, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2007.
  4. ^ Zimmer and Diltz, Crosby, Stills and Nash – The Biography, pp. 148-149.
  5. ^ Zimmer and Diltz, Crosby, Stills and Nash – The Biography, p. 149.
  6. ^ Zimmer and Diltz, Crosby, Stills and Nash – The Biography, p. 154.
  7. ISBN 13023-0506-9
    ).
  8. ISBN 1-906002-15-0
    , pp. 306–308.
  9. ^ Zimmer and Diltz, Crosby, Stills and Nash – The Biography, pp. 161-162.
  10. ^ Zimmer and Diltz, Crosby, Stills and Nash – The Biography, pp. 135-136.
  11. ^ Zimmer and Diltz, Crosby, Stills and Nash – The Biography, pp. 165-168.
  12. ^ Zimmer and Diltz, Crosby, Stills and Nash – The Biography, pp. 168-169.
  13. ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 255. CN 5585.
  14. ^ Zimmer and Diltz, Crosby, Stills and Nash – The Biography, p. 169.
  15. ^ a b Zimmer and Diltz, Crosby, Stills and Nash – The Biography, p. 156.
  16. ^ Liner notes to the album Manassas, Atlantic Records, catalog no. SD 2-903, 1972.
  17. ^ Liner notes to the album Down the Road, Atlantic Records, catalog no. SD 7250, 1973.
  18. ^ a b c "Stephen Stills". Billboard. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  19. ^ a b "CASH BOX MAGAZINE: Music and coin machine magazine 1942 to 1996". Worldradiohistory.com. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  20. ^ a b "RECORD WORLD MAGAZINE: 1942 to 1982". Worldradiohistory.com. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  21. ^ "germancharts.de – Stephen Stills – Manassas". germancharts.de. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  22. ^ a b "Dutch Charts – dutchcharts.nl". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  23. ^ a b "Go-Set Australian charts – 23 May 1970". Poparchives.com.au. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  24. ^ "Hit Parade Italia – ALBUM 1972". Hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  25. ISBN 84-8048-639-2
    .
  26. ^ Swedish Charts [dead link]
  27. ^ "norwegiancharts.com – Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  28. ^ a b "STEPHEN STILLS | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  29. ^ a b "Results: RPM Weekly". Canada Library and Archives. July 17, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  30. ^ a b Fong-Torres, Ben (August 29, 1974). "The Reunion of Crosby Stills Nash & Young". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  31. ^ "TOP 33 Tours – 1972". top.france.free.fr. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  32. ^ "Gold & Platinum – RIAA". RIAA. Retrieved September 5, 2018.

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