February 16 - June 7, 1976
MIKE GIBBINS: "When Badfinger split up, the four of us were left wondering where we would go next after we put out Head First. Pete ended up becoming the joint director of A&R for Highway 61 Records with Dennis Wilson. Joey toured with Jeff Lynne and the Electric Light Orchestra. Tom ended up being part of Utopia with Todd Rundgren and the like. That left me on my own, wondering what to do with myself." (1981)
GRAHAM NASH: "It had been well over a year since we'd finished recording for both Hawaiian Sunrise and Human Highway. We were kinda feeling burned out by the time Highway had finally been released, and so the break did the four of us some good; Neil and Steve put out their own solo projects for Highway 61, and David and I were planning another duo album with the leftover material we had. By now, I'd heard of Badfinger's split, and I wanted to call up one of the members to see if they were available." (2002)
STEPHEN STILLS: "Graham got a hold of Mike after learning that Tom and Joey were already busy with other bands, and he asked if he could serve as a full-time drummer for us. He then told me, David and Neil about Mike's situation, and so after a brief meeting, we all agreed to bring him into the fold, and then Graham gave Mike a follow-up call to confirm that he was now part of the band." (1994)
DAVID CROSBY: "I think it was a good thing that Graham invited Mike Gibbins to join the group. We still carried on as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young cause... well, Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young & Gibbins doesn't quite have the same ring, does it? *chuckles*" (1998)
MIKE GIBBINS: "I didn't have any material of my own when we did my first album with them, but that was fine with me. I did occasionally provide backing vocals on some of their tracks though; all in all, I was just happy to be part of a band again. Being part of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young was probably one of the best things to happen to me after Badfinger broke up ten years ago." (1985)
The recording sessions for the first CSNY album with Mike Gibbins as their new drummer began in mid-February and was to be called Long May You Run, serving as a follow up to Human Highway. The sessions lasted only four months, in contrast to Human Highway's production lasting about eighteen months, and took place at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida. By contrast to the more folksy sound that had dominated previous albums, Long May You Run would take on a more experimental approach, most of that being credited to Neil Young and Stephen Stills.
August 6, 1976
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| Mike Gibbins (far left) with the rest of Badfinger, circa 1973. |
GRAHAM NASH: "It had been well over a year since we'd finished recording for both Hawaiian Sunrise and Human Highway. We were kinda feeling burned out by the time Highway had finally been released, and so the break did the four of us some good; Neil and Steve put out their own solo projects for Highway 61, and David and I were planning another duo album with the leftover material we had. By now, I'd heard of Badfinger's split, and I wanted to call up one of the members to see if they were available." (2002)
STEPHEN STILLS: "Graham got a hold of Mike after learning that Tom and Joey were already busy with other bands, and he asked if he could serve as a full-time drummer for us. He then told me, David and Neil about Mike's situation, and so after a brief meeting, we all agreed to bring him into the fold, and then Graham gave Mike a follow-up call to confirm that he was now part of the band." (1994)
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| David Crosby and Graham Nash performing with Carole King, 1975. |
MIKE GIBBINS: "I didn't have any material of my own when we did my first album with them, but that was fine with me. I did occasionally provide backing vocals on some of their tracks though; all in all, I was just happy to be part of a band again. Being part of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young was probably one of the best things to happen to me after Badfinger broke up ten years ago." (1985)
The recording sessions for the first CSNY album with Mike Gibbins as their new drummer began in mid-February and was to be called Long May You Run, serving as a follow up to Human Highway. The sessions lasted only four months, in contrast to Human Highway's production lasting about eighteen months, and took place at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida. By contrast to the more folksy sound that had dominated previous albums, Long May You Run would take on a more experimental approach, most of that being credited to Neil Young and Stephen Stills.
August 6, 1976
Released: August 6, 1976
Recorded: February 16 - June 7, 1976
Producer: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Track listing[1]
Side A
Long May You Run
Broken Bird
Black Coral
Time After Time
Mutiny
Midnight on the Bay
Broken Bird
Black Coral
Time After Time
Mutiny
Midnight on the Bay
Side B
J.B.'s Blues
12/8 Blues (All the Same)
Taken at All
Ocean Girl
Foolish Man
Guardian Angel
12/8 Blues (All the Same)
Taken at All
Ocean Girl
Foolish Man
Guardian Angel
Like many follow-ups to great movies or albums, Long May You Run fell short for most critics, especially in regards to their more experimental songs (i.e. "12/8 Blues", "Ocean Girl") contrasting sharply with the more traditional sounding songs ("Taken at All", "Foolish Man"). On reflection to the sudden change of sound, the album did not reach the Top 10 in either the United States (#26) or the United Kingdom (#12), and nor did the two singles "Long May You Run"/"Time After Time" (#71 UK, #24 US) or "Taken at All"/"Black Coral" (#39 US, did not chart in the UK).
Despite the generally mixed reviews (although leaning towards positive), CSNY and Mike Gibbins went on a tour in the United States to promote their new album beginning with two performances at the Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan on June 23 and 24. However, after the Charlotte Coliseum performance in Charlotte, North Carolina on July 18, Neil Young pulled out via a telegram to Crosby, Stills and Nash:
"Dear David, Stephen and Graham, it's funny how some things that start spontaneously end that way. Eat some peaches. Neil."
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| Neil Young, 1976. |
The rest of the tour carried on under Crosby, Stills & Nash for the first time since 1969 following their eponymous debut album. After all, the show had to go on, with or without Neil. Many dates following the Charlotte Coliseum performance were changed up, and the trio plus Gibbins soon found themselves performing abroad in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany and Japan by the end of the year.
October 8, 1976
Released: October 8, 1976
Recorded: June 16, 1974 - August 29, 1975 and August 11, 1976
Producer: Neil Young and David Briggs
Track listing[2]
Side A
Don't Cry No Tears
Hitchhiker
Campaigner
Lookin' for a Love
Barstool Blues
Hitchhiker
Campaigner
Lookin' for a Love
Barstool Blues
Side B
Stupid Girl
Drive Back
Cortez the Killer
Hawaii
Drive Back
Cortez the Killer
Hawaii
Ironically, Neil Young's first album following his split with Crosby, Stills & Nash had actually been recorded while he was part of the group; shortly before the release of On the Beach, during the tour that led to the Hawaiian Sunrise live album, during the recording sessions for both Human Highway and Homegrown. The remaining three songs, "Hitchhiker", "Campaigner" and "Hawaii", were all recorded along with various other songs on August 11, 1976. The other five songs from the sessions would eventually find their way onto a future Young project for next year.
Zuma (#44 UK, #25 US) received generally positive reviews from critics, being Young's first post-Ditch Tetralogy album following Time Fades Away, Tonight's the Night, On the Beach and Homegrown. The sole single from the album, "Lookin' for a Love"/"Drive Back", did not chart on either side of the Atlantic, but it did reach #48 in Young's native Canada.
November 2, 1976
When George McGovern was elected president in 1972 against Gerald Ford, he'd only obtained the highest office by pure luck; Ford had chosen Bob Dole as his running candidate for vice-president instead of one of the more liberal Republicans, Nelson Rockefeller, whilst McGovern had chosen Terry Sanford. Not only that, the reputation of the Republican Party had taken a heavy blow following the Watergate scandal - and later, Richard Nixon's ten-year imprisonment - meaning that it was too soon for a Republican president after Nixon's fall from grace. Yet despite these factors, Ford had won 27 states and McGovern 23 (plus the District of Columbia), but McGovern had won more votes in the electoral college - 282 to Ford's 255.
Despite these victories, as well as getting American soldiers out of Vietnam by 1975, McGovern wasn't a hugely popular president to his peers; he was a liberal that was either ahead of his time or behind his time. What didn't help his reputation was the energy crisis that had hit the Western world, leading to an oil crisis that began in October 1973 at the same time as the Yom Kippur War; an oil embargo had been proclaimed by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) targeting nations believed to be supporting Israel, and that included the United States. McGovern was given public blame for these issues, and on top of being disliked by the Democratic Party, this would haunt George McGovern for the remainder of his time in the White House.
Election Day couldn't come fast enough for America when 1976 rolled around; it had been a few years since the Watergate scandal blew up, and the Republican Party was slowly beginning to heal. Their most popular candidate for the election on November 2 was former governor of California (as well as former actor) Ronald Reagan.
McGovern had won only six states (Rhode Island, West Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota and Hawaii, as well as the District of Columbia), whilst Reagan won the remaining 44 states in a landslide victory of 489 electoral votes to McGovern's 49. On January 20, 1977, Ronald Reagan would become the 39th President of the United States and would continue for a second term in 1981.[3] As for George McGovern? While he left office as one of the least popular Presidents in American history, as time went on, he would be regarded as a "tragic hero" of the 1970s, especially in showing support for LGBT rights in America as well as attempting to get the Equal Rights Amendment approved for the United States Constitution.
Tom Petty & Mudcrutch - American Girl
Zuma (#44 UK, #25 US) received generally positive reviews from critics, being Young's first post-Ditch Tetralogy album following Time Fades Away, Tonight's the Night, On the Beach and Homegrown. The sole single from the album, "Lookin' for a Love"/"Drive Back", did not chart on either side of the Atlantic, but it did reach #48 in Young's native Canada.
November 2, 1976
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| Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, 1976. |
Despite these victories, as well as getting American soldiers out of Vietnam by 1975, McGovern wasn't a hugely popular president to his peers; he was a liberal that was either ahead of his time or behind his time. What didn't help his reputation was the energy crisis that had hit the Western world, leading to an oil crisis that began in October 1973 at the same time as the Yom Kippur War; an oil embargo had been proclaimed by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) targeting nations believed to be supporting Israel, and that included the United States. McGovern was given public blame for these issues, and on top of being disliked by the Democratic Party, this would haunt George McGovern for the remainder of his time in the White House.
Election Day couldn't come fast enough for America when 1976 rolled around; it had been a few years since the Watergate scandal blew up, and the Republican Party was slowly beginning to heal. Their most popular candidate for the election on November 2 was former governor of California (as well as former actor) Ronald Reagan.
McGovern had won only six states (Rhode Island, West Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota and Hawaii, as well as the District of Columbia), whilst Reagan won the remaining 44 states in a landslide victory of 489 electoral votes to McGovern's 49. On January 20, 1977, Ronald Reagan would become the 39th President of the United States and would continue for a second term in 1981.[3] As for George McGovern? While he left office as one of the least popular Presidents in American history, as time went on, he would be regarded as a "tragic hero" of the 1970s, especially in showing support for LGBT rights in America as well as attempting to get the Equal Rights Amendment approved for the United States Constitution.
November 6, 1976
Released: November 6, 1976
Recorded: 1976
Producer: Pete Ham
Track listing[4]
Side A
Rockin' Around (With You)
Breakdown
Mystery Man
Surrender
The Wild One, Forever
Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll
Breakdown
Mystery Man
Surrender
The Wild One, Forever
Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll
Side B
Strangered in the Night
Fooled Again (I Don't Like It)
Hometown Blues
Luna
American Girl
Fooled Again (I Don't Like It)
Hometown Blues
Luna
American Girl
Like their eponymous debut album, Tom Petty and Mudcrutch's second album, American Girl, was produced by Pete Ham, but without any involvement from George Harrison. It had performed even better than their previous album by charting as high as #36 in the United States and even managed to chart at #20 in the United Kingdom, supported by a tour in said country.
Critical reception to American Girl was also very positive; the title track was released as the lead single alongside "The Wild One, Forever" in October, and did a respectable #14 in the United States and #30 in the United Kingdom. The following single, "Breakdown"/"Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll" just barely made the Top 40 in America - at #38 - following its release in January 1977.
Although this was a period in which punk rock and disco were reigning, Tom Petty and Mudcrutch were quickly gaining a following, and would go on to be one of the greatest rock acts of the 1970s.
Critical reception to American Girl was also very positive; the title track was released as the lead single alongside "The Wild One, Forever" in October, and did a respectable #14 in the United States and #30 in the United Kingdom. The following single, "Breakdown"/"Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll" just barely made the Top 40 in America - at #38 - following its release in January 1977.
Although this was a period in which punk rock and disco were reigning, Tom Petty and Mudcrutch were quickly gaining a following, and would go on to be one of the greatest rock acts of the 1970s.
Footnotes
- Tracks are sourced from Crosby & Nash's Whistling Down the Wire and The Stills-Young Band's Long May You Run. The full CSNY tracks are taken from Neil Young's Decade ("Long May You Run"), Stephen Stills' Carry On ("Black Coral") and the third disc of the CSN box set ("Taken at All").
- All tracks are sourced from Zuma, excluding "Hitchiker", "Campaigner" and "Hawaii", all sourced from Hitchhiker (recorded 1976, but not released until 2017).
- In OTL, Ronald Reagan did become President, but he was elected in 1980, winning against the incumbent Jimmy Carter, and was President until 1989 due to the 22nd Amendment (approved 1947) restricting politicians from becoming President for longer than eight years.
- All tracks from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers are utilized and rearranged to have evenly-timed sides. "Surrender" is the 1976 recording found on An American Treasure.
Author's Comments
As the penultimate chapter for Phase Two, here's a nice, short and simple one, especially given how lengthy the last chapter was. And no, the inclusion of the "Day After Day" tag was not a mistake; the lives of the Badfinger members post-breakup will be part of it, and Mike Gibbins' side of the story does overlap with the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young story, "Before the Silver Rushes". Plus, we got a brief mention of Pete Ham working with Tom Petty on the second Mudcrutch album, so half of the members are featured.
Meanwhile, we'll soon be saying goodbye to George McGovern as President of the United States of America, and hello to Ronald Reagan in the White House. I haven't done much with President McGovern since chapter thirty, mostly because the political side of the story doesn't have a huge effect on the music scene of 1973-1976. However, I do intend to do a profile on George McGovern during his time as President, drawing some parallels as to what Richard Nixon and (later) Gerald Ford went through in the 1973-1977 term; I imagine that a fair number of things would be different in regards as to how McGovern would handle certain topics like LGBT rights and the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Oh, and he also grants John Lennon citizenship in America mostly because he has bigger fish to fry than dealing with overseas rock stars "causing trouble on American soil".
Next chapter will not only be the last for Phase Two, but also the fiftieth chapter as a whole! Wow! I never imagined when I started this blog that I would put out five chapters, let alone fifty, but it's been an amazing journey so far. Phase Three has a lot to live up to, and I don't even know how many chapters long it'll be! I'm predicting at least forty given that it covers nine years (1977-1985), but I could write up as many as fifty, potentially hitting 100 chapters. We'll see.
As the penultimate chapter for Phase Two, here's a nice, short and simple one, especially given how lengthy the last chapter was. And no, the inclusion of the "Day After Day" tag was not a mistake; the lives of the Badfinger members post-breakup will be part of it, and Mike Gibbins' side of the story does overlap with the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young story, "Before the Silver Rushes". Plus, we got a brief mention of Pete Ham working with Tom Petty on the second Mudcrutch album, so half of the members are featured.
Meanwhile, we'll soon be saying goodbye to George McGovern as President of the United States of America, and hello to Ronald Reagan in the White House. I haven't done much with President McGovern since chapter thirty, mostly because the political side of the story doesn't have a huge effect on the music scene of 1973-1976. However, I do intend to do a profile on George McGovern during his time as President, drawing some parallels as to what Richard Nixon and (later) Gerald Ford went through in the 1973-1977 term; I imagine that a fair number of things would be different in regards as to how McGovern would handle certain topics like LGBT rights and the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Oh, and he also grants John Lennon citizenship in America mostly because he has bigger fish to fry than dealing with overseas rock stars "causing trouble on American soil".
Next chapter will not only be the last for Phase Two, but also the fiftieth chapter as a whole! Wow! I never imagined when I started this blog that I would put out five chapters, let alone fifty, but it's been an amazing journey so far. Phase Three has a lot to live up to, and I don't even know how many chapters long it'll be! I'm predicting at least forty given that it covers nine years (1977-1985), but I could write up as many as fifty, potentially hitting 100 chapters. We'll see.
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