Rock Revival's Time Capsule (1970): Four Solo Albums in a Row From Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

On March 11, 1970 Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young released their second album, the brilliant Déjà Vu, which hit number #1 on the Billboard Chart and featured the singles "Teach Your Children," "Our House," and "Woodstock." This album brought the supergroup to international fame and prompted four incredible solo releases by the band.

Four solo albums were to follow in quick succession, some featuring the cream of rock, taking the band and it's blend of folk-rock into the stratosphere;

1. The first was Neil Young's After the Gold Rush (Sept 19, 1970), his third solo album, featuring "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" and "When You Dance I Can Really Love."

Review were bad:

"Neil Young devotees will probably spend the next few weeks trying desperately to convince themselves that After the Gold Rush is good music. But they'll be kidding themselves. For despite the fact that the album contains some potentially first rate material, none of the songs here rise above the uniformly dull surface."(Rolling Stone)

and good:

"One of his least stylized efforts, the record gains its strength from not only the rock solid songwriting, but the array of musical personalities that Neil displays. ... The variety and quality of the songs causes After The Gold Rush to play like a greatest hits album, which unbelievably it is not." (InkSpot)

.......but by the end of the century it was considered one of his best, appearing on pretty much every top albums of all time list, from Rolling Stone to Time and Blender's

2. Stephen Stills self-titled album (Nov 16, 1970), featuring the popular CSNY song "Love the One Your With". The album featured Ringo Starr on drums, Howlin Wolf, and BOTH Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. This would be Jimi's last recording, he died before it's release.

3. Then came If Could Only Remember My Name (Feb 2, 1971), David Crosby's first solo album,. members of Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Santana all appeared on it (coined "The Great Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra") and featured the only recording by his talented brother Ethan

4. Songs for Beginners, Graham Nash's first solo album (May 28, 1971), marking his fame for pop-folk, filled with the sincerity and political activism of the "Woodstock Nation" (the standout trakc is 'Chicago")

Images: Courtesy Atlantic/Reprise