Long May You Run

Following the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young stadium tour of 1974, an attempt by the quartet to finalize a new album ended amidst acrimony without result. David Crosby and Graham Nash resumed their partnership as Crosby & Nash, while Stills and Young continued their independent careers. Songs from the aborted CSNY album appeared on various albums by group members, and Stills covered two Young songs on his contemporary studio albums: "New Mama" on Stills and "The Loner" on Illegal Stills.

In early 1976, Stills and Young reached a rapprochement, and began to work on a joint album project from a desire by both to pick up where they left off with their Buffalo Springfield-era guitar explorations, a decade after the inception of the band. Crosby and Nash signed on as well, and briefly Long May You Run looked to be the awaited CSNY reunion album. However, on a deadline Nash and Crosby left Miami to finish the sessions for what would become their 1976 album Whistling Down the Wire, and Young and Stills reacted by removing the duo's vocals and other contributions from the master tapes.[3] Crosby and Nash vowed never to work with either again, although less than a year later they would regroup with Stills for a new CSN album in 1977.

The Stills-Young Band, comprising Stills' then-current touring band behind the pair, began a tour in 1976 prior to the album's release. The tour commenced in Clarkston, Michigan on June 23, but after nineteen dates Young dropped out after July 20 via a telegram to Stills, forcing Stills to complete the concert tour solo through October.[4] The telegram read: "Dear Stephen, funny how some things that start spontaneously end that way. Eat a peach. Neil."[5] Young would later cite cryptic personal reasons for his departure, namely that he had "voice issues" but he has since stated the tour "wasn't working" and that the "balance was off in some way" as it progressed. During the tour, critics were writing harsh reviews of Stills while praising Young, titled "Young Hot, Stills Not". Stills began drinking heavily and started to take out his frustrations on tour personnel thinking they were purposefully making him look bad. However, even after Young told Stills not to read the reviews, he would not accept the advice, so Young left.[6]

The album's advance single, "Long May You Run", peaked at #71 on the UK singles chart.[7] The song was an elegy for Neil Young's first car (which he nicknamed "Mort"[8]), a 1948 Buick Roadmaster hearse that died in 1962 when its transmission blew in Blind River, Ontario.[7] Mort was a different vehicle from the 1953 Pontiac hearse, nicknamed Mort 2, that Richie Furay, traveling with Stills, saw Young driving in a Hollywood traffic jam in 1966 that led to the formation of Buffalo Springfield.[9] On January 22, 2010, Young performed it on the final episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.[10] A few weeks later, Young performed the song during the closing ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, accompanying the extinguishment of the Olympic cauldron.[11]

• Stephen Stills – vocals, guitars, piano, production, mixing
• Neil Young – vocals, guitars, piano, harmonica, string synthesizer

Additional musicians

• Jerry Aiello – organ, piano
• George "Chocolate" Perry – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Joe Lala – percussion, backing vocals
• Joe Vitale – drums, flute, backing vocals

Technical personnel

• Tom Dowd – associate production
• Don Gehman – production, mixing, recording
• Steve Hart – recording assistance
• Michael Lasko – recording assistance
• Alex Sadkin – mixing
• Tom Wilkes – album design

The Stills-Young Band tour lasted until July 20 1976, when Neil Young pulled out. Stephen Stills carried on for three more dates through July 23–25, when the rest of the tour was cancelled.

• Long May You Run at Myspace (streamed copy where licensed)