Long May You Run


Long May You Run is a studio album credited to the Stills-Young Band, a collaboration between Stephen Stills and Neil Young, released in 1976 on Reprise Records. It peaked at #26 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold in the United States by the RIAA. The album is the sole studio release by Stills and Young in tandem.

Background

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. 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. The telegram read: "Dear Stephen, funny how some things that start spontaneously end that way. Eat a peach. Neil." 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.
The album's advance single, "Long May You Run", peaked at #71 on the UK singles chart. The song was an elegy for Neil Young's first car, a 1948 Buick Roadmaster hearse that died in 1962 when its transmission blew in Blind River, Ontario. 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. On January 22, 2010, Young performed "Long May You Run" on the final episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. 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.

Track listing

Side one

Side two

Personnel

Additional musicians
Technical personnel

The Stills-Young Band Tour

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.
DateCityCountryVenue
23 June 1976ClarkstonUnited StatesPine Knob Music Theatre
24 June 1976ClarkstonUnited StatesPine Knob Music Theatre
26 June 1976BostonUnited StatesBoston Garden
27June 1976SpringfieldUnited StatesCivic Center
29 June 1976PhiladelphiaUnited StatesThe Spectrum
1 July 1976UniondaleUnited StatesNassau Coliseum
2 July 1976UniondaleUnited StatesNassau Coliseum
4 July 1976Niagara FallsUnited StatesConvention Centre
5 July 1976RochesterUnited StatesCommunity War Memorial Auditorium
7 July 1976ProvidenceUnited StatesProvidence Civic Centre
9 July 1976LandoverUnited StatesCapitol Centre
10 July 1976LandoverUnited StatesCapitol Centre
11 July 1976HartfordUnited StatesColt Park
13 July 1976RichfieldUnited StatesRichfield Coliseum
14 July 1976CincinnatiUnited StatesRiverfront Coliseum
15 July 1976PittsburghUnited StatesCivic Arena
17 July 1976GreensboroUnited StatesGreensboro Coliseum
18 July 1976CharlotteUnited StatesCharlotte Coliseum
20 July 1976ColumbiaUnited StatesCarolina Coliseum
21 July 1976AtlantaUnited StatesOmni Coliseum
23 July 1976JacksonvilleUnited StatesCivic Auditorium
24 July 1976MiamiUnited StatesMiami Baseball Stadium
25 July 1976LakelandUnited StatesLakeland Civic Center
27 July 1976MobileUnited StatesMunicipal Auditorium
28 July 1976ShreveportUnited StatesHirsch Memorial Coliseum
29 July 1976MemphisUnited StatesMid South Coliseum
30 July 1976DallasUnited StatesDallas Memorial Coliseum
31 July 1976NormanUnited StatesLloyd Noble Center
2 August 1976HoustonUnited StatesSam Houston Coliseum
3 August 1976San AntonioUnited StatesConvention Center
10 August 1976ChicagoUnited StatesChicago Stadium
13 August 1976St. PaulUnited StatesSports Centre
14 August 1976MilwaukeeUnited StatesSummerfest Mainstage
17 August 1976San FranciscoUnited StatesCow Palace
19 August 1976ConcordUnited StatesConcord Pavilion
21 August 1976San DiegoUnited StatesBalboa Stadium
24 August 1976InglewoodUnited StatesThe Forum
29 August 1976DenverUnited StatesRed Rocks
30 August 1976DenverUnited StatesRed Rocks
31 August 1976DenverUnited StatesRed Rocks
2 September 1976VancouverUnited StatesPNE Coliseum
4 September 1976SeattleUnited StatesSeattle Coliseum
8 September 1976EdmontonCanadaUnknown Venue
10 September 1976CalgaryCanadaUnknown Venue

Tour Personnel