Album Reviews

CSN&Y played and sang live better than ever during this 2006 “Freedom of Speech” tour as you'll hear on this 16 track document, none of which was overdubbed. The only “overdub” was of a 100 voice choir recorded at Capitol studios, Hollywood before the tour that was added to the live shows as well.

I saw the show at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ and it was as good live as on this double LP set, pressed on 200g vinyl in Japan.

If you are politically conservative you may have a problem with Young’s didactic but spirited “Let’s Impeach the President.” Young’s lyrics indict Bush, backing them up with sound bites you can hear and video clips you can’t see on vinyl. Anti-Bush partisans, which made up the majority of the audience in the show I saw and one used here, cheered lustily, while Bush supporters booed strongly, many while on their way out to the parking lot.

Too bad for them: they missed a fantastic show that merged the political message with some of the sweeter, more positive songs in the group’s oeuvre. Young dominated the tour and song selection but Nash’s “Military Madness,” and “Teach Your Children,” were germane to the theme as was Crosby, Stills and Paul Kantner’s difficult to sing “Wooden Ships” that was flawlessly performed and thrilling to listen to as was the even more difficult to perform live title track by David Crosby, who was in excellent voice. While Stills’ “For What It’s Worth” (written with Richie Furay) was anemic and off kilter, his harmonic contributions elsewhere were strong.

Young was the powerhouse on “Living With War,” “After the Garden,” “Shock and Awe,” “Families” and “Roger and Out.” Young reprises the “Living With War” theme twice to pad the final album tally, recorded in a Honolulu studio.

With Rick Rosas on bass, Chad Cromwell on drums, Ben Keith on pedal steel and the legendary Spooner Oldham on keyboards, plus Tom Bray’s haunting, stately trumpet, the group was equally enticing instrumentally.

The recording is excellent but you can be sure it was done digitally so why release it on vinyl? Well we can only hope a high-resolution file was used to cut the lacquers and if not why not? But given Young’s long standing sonic meticulousness, one can only hope. However it was done, the sound will not disappoint you overall, though you’ve heard more spacious live recordings. Chris Bellman gets mastering credit but his “CB” isn’t to be found on the “deadwax” so I’m not sure he actually did the cutting.

It’s three years later and Bush is gone but this period piece marks a time of great turmoil and protest in America. So would a live set recorded today, unfortunately, come to think of it. If God forbid, we’re hit again by a terrorist attack, while Bush got a pass on 9/11 (even though he was clearing brush when he should have gotten his slacker ass in gear), you can bet the jackals on the right will be calling for Obama’s impeachment. They’d even come up with their own “Let’s Impeach the President” if any of those jackasses could sing. Who’s going to perform it? Gary Sinese? Jon Voight? Dennis Miller? Tom Selleck?