The man has been in the trenches and emerged triumphant, a real guitar hero whose chops only get better as time goes on, and a man who has succeeded in fusing expansive lyricism with visceral music better than just about anyone this side of Bob Dylan. He can have anything he wants, and not just in terms of this morning meal. You know that.” “Yeah, I know that,” he says knowingly to me. “Can I get a breakfast menu, please?” he asks, and the waiter replies, “Sure, you can have anything you want, Mr. “This is all too complicated,” he says to the waiter about the elaborate lunch menu we are offered, featuring dishes like Osso Buco that seem especially heavy and convoluted at 11 a.m. “So I’d better write some more songs,” he says, and laughs. With a Groucho-esque glint in his eyes, he expresses admiration for the many long-legged women who pass by, and peppers the conversations with a variety of funny non-sequiturs, such as “I don’t know about you, but I am so over tattoos.” Asked if he’s been writing any new songs lately, he says no and explains, “It’s busy stuff with little kids.” He has two kids at home right now, one three years old and another 11, which he refers to as “the last litter.” He then adds that his total number of offspring is seven. And when Neil Young joined the band, not only did Stills have a new sparring partner on guitar, he had more songs to infuse with fire.
He scrutinized David Crosby’s abstractly ingenious chords, figured them out (usually) and created a solid groove for Crosby’s asymmetrical musings.
He took Graham Nash’s “Teach Your Children,” for example, originally a gentle and wispy ballad, and transformed it into a country-tinged masterpiece. His voice was one-third of their miraculous vocal blend, and his soul was thoroughly injected into all their records-in his passionate acoustic and electric guitar playing, and also in his arranging of their famous songs. He wrote a profusion of classic songs, including “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” “Love the One You’re With” and “For What It’s Worth.” He was also the architect of the Crosby, Stills & Nash sound. He’s got his own table under the sun-streamed windows, and the waiters all know him. One is more likely meet to Liza Minelli here than Stephen Stills, but I soon discover that he’s quite at home here. Today, Stephen Stills is happy and relaxed as he sits in his location of choice, the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
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