Illegal Stills

The majority of this album was recorded in Criteria Studios over January and February 1976, with the majority of his road band from his 1975 tours. Stills experimented with adding Crosby & Nash like harmonies by using Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman (otherwise known as Flo & Eddie). In the other studio were the Bee Gees working on their Children Of The World album, to which Stills added percussion to the hit song "You Should Be Dancing." During this time Barry Gibb and Stills wrote an unreleased song together.[5]

Side 1

As stated on the lyric sheet, "Buyin Time" was written "midst the 1975's Presidential placations over our economic woes", and recorded at Criteria Studios with vocals done at Caribou Ranch. Piano overdub by Stills at Criteria.

"Midnight In Paris", recorded at Criteria with Vocals at Caribou Ranch. French vocal - no expense spared and with Great Mental Torment (not the name of a group- rather a state go mind) by Stephen. Written by Veronique Sanson Stills for Donnie's song.

"Different Tongues". Basis recorded at Criteria with vocals at Caribou. Written in London, October 1974, after the CSNY 1974 tour, by Donnie an Stephen in their hotel room. The key change was suggested later in Miami by George Terry, Eric's guitar player. Acoustic piano by Stephen and string synthesizer arrangement by Stephen with the great Joe Vitale - we were already mixing by then. Special thanks to Jim Friedman for pulling us all together.

"Soldier". Another hotel song, expressing feelings had and people known for a long time. Piano, lead guitar, and synthesizer by Stephen.

"The Loner". Always wanted to do it. Had a song riff like "Crossroads" but thought "why try to write another when there is already a great song around." Spent a lot of time with different lead guitar ideas.

Side 2

"Stateline Blues". A Tahoe tune. Always seem to end up with an acoustic tune on the album. Played it live on Dobro for a few months, but it sounded richer on Maybelle, the oldest D-45, with just a Dobro solo. Stephen overdubbed bass part later, as did Joe Vitale on brush drums.

"Closer To You". Donnie's outstanding twelve-string throughout the track sets up a simply great song.

"No Me Niegas" Lala had to play right on this one. We tried to get a classic latin feel and of course the holes in the percussion are as solid as the beats. Piano and synthesizer by Stephen.

"Ring Of Love". Donnie pulled this one out of his past. Flo and Eddie worked on him the better part of and evening "till he forgot he wasn't supposed to be having a good time singing. 'Smiracles will happen!

"Circlin'". Cut three different times, this one sounds the best. Recorded at Cherokee in LA, after we had just finished all basics and vocals for the album. Just one of those nights when everyone was there. Joe Vitale played drums. Lead guitar and piano overdub is Stephen.[6]

The album is noted for its creative artwork, placing Stills head on the label of a bottle. A lyric sheet was also included with a description of each track.[6]

The album charted at No. 31 on the Billboard 200, the week of 4 July 1976, during a 15-week run.[7] It also peaked at No. 31 in Canada, and No. 54 in the UK. 'Buyin' Time' was released as a single but didn't chart. Stills supported the album with a tour in November 1976.

In a contemporary review Billboard said, "Typical laid-back Stills with usual better than average songs and instrumental work from Donnie Dacus, George Perry, Joe Vitale, Tubby Ziegler and several others. Flo and Eddie join in on vocals. For Stills fans, this LP is exactly what they expect. The only criticism might be that the artist doesn't seem to get above a fixed energy level until near the end of side two, when he swings into a Latin-flavored cut and several easy rockers. Stills is strong on the more uptempo cuts and should do more."[8]

Critical reception was mixed. Rolling Stone did not bother to review the album, however Steve Clarke for the NME in a review praised the production work and said, "There is such a thing as the Stephen Stills sound and like Phil Spector and Brian Wilson's sound it's a big aural landscape." Clarke concluded his piece with, "Illegal Stills is a well paced album with a flowing sense of continuity totally absent from Stills and bears the marks of simply first grade rock talent." Many critics said there was not enough guitar playing from Stills, and there was too much influence from Donnie Dacus, so much so that people thought it could have been credited to both Stills and Dacus.[5] Record Mirror, in 1976, received the album positively saying it "sounds fresh yet comfortably familiar" and complemented Stills on the production, calling it some of the "cleanest producing in sometime". They chose "Soldier' as a highlight saying it had that instant classic sound on first listen.[9]

In 1978, Stills commented that "Nothing I tried seemed to work out right. It was just a bad time for me. I couldn't pin anything down".[10]

All tracks are written by Stephen Stills, except where noted.

As listed on album sleeve.[6]

• Jerry Aiello - keyboards
• Donnie Dacus - vocals, guitars
• Howard Kaylan - vocals
• Joe Lala - percussion
• George "Chocolate" Perry - bass guitar
• Stephen Stills - vocals, bass guitar, guitars, keyboards
• George Terry - guitars
• Joe Vitale - drums
• Mark Volman - vocals
• Tubby Zeigler - drums

Technical Personnel

• Produced by Stephen Stills and Don Gehman.
• Recorded by Ron and Howie Albert at Criteria studios and by Don Gehman at Caribou Ranch and Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles.
• Mixed by Don Gehman and Alex Sadkin.
• Mastered by Alex Sadkin.
• Management: Michael John Bowen.
• Cover Photograph: Don Hunstein
• Photo of Stephen Stills: Tom Zimmhoff.

The Stephen Stills 1976 Tour was a concert tour by American musician Stephen Stills, it was his first tour after Neil Young pulled out of The Stills-Young Band tour. Many of the shows saw Stills play solo acoustic or as in a trio. This tour was undertaken after Neil Young pulled out of the Stills-Young Band tour, and features many cancellations and reschedules, including a whole American tour. This was a smaller tour in which Stills, generally played acoustic for the first half, then only played as a three piece, with drums and bass for the electric/piano set. Some dates Stills played acoustic for the whole show including The Palladium date. A European tour in June 1976 was cancelled at short notice due to Stills reuniting with Neil Young. Stills was due to play Ninean Stadium, Cardiff, Wales to 40,000 fans on 5 June but pulled out at the last minute. Bob Marley replaced him.[18][19][20][21][22]

Tour Personnel

• Stephen Stills - Guitar, Piano, Vocals
• George "Chocolate" Perry - Bass
• Joe Vitale - Drums[22]

Typical Tour Setlist

All songs written by Stephen Stills, except where noted.

Acoustic Set

1. "Change Partners"
2. "Helplessy Hoping"
3. "Everybody's Talkin" (Freddie Neil )
4. "Blackbird"
5. "Treetop Flyer"
6. "Stateline Blues"
7. "Do For The Others"
8. "Know You Got To Run"
9. "4+20"
10. "Crossroads/You Can't Catch Me" (Robert Johnson /Chuck Berry )

Electric Set

1. "Circlin'"
2. "I Give You Give Blind"
3. "Four Days Gone"
4. "Black Coral"
5. "Turn Back The Pages"
6. "Make Love To You"
7. "49 Bye-Byes/For What It's Worth"
8. "Midnight Rider" (Gregg Allman )
9. "Find The Cost Of Freedom"