Stephen Stills

Long May You Run, from 1976, was supposed to be a full-blown CSNandY album, but Stephen Stills and Neil Young ditched their, uh, pals by erasing all their vocals without prior notice. At the same time, Young allegedly grew tired of Stills' drug and alcohol abuse, while Stills believed Young wasn't offering up his best tunes. Oddly enough, none of this strife comes through in the music. In fact, the two sound as if they're a couple of beach bums gently grooving after splitting a bottle of spiced rum.

Like the tour, the album (recorded in Miami, where many of the songs take place) is a profit-taking throwaway, but that's not necessarily a bad thing--Young is always wise to wing it, and the less Stills expresses himself the better. Also, there's an expotential advantage in hearing Steve sing lead only every other cut. His "Make Love to You" ("you're such a lady") does inspire "Midnight on the Bay," Neil's stupidest song in many a moon. But most of the time Neil's in a droll mood--title song's a riot. Not bad for California rock. (Grade - B)