Crosby, Stills & Nash - Allies (1983)

“Allies” is the eighth album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, their second concert document, and released on Atlantic Records in 1983.
The album starts off with two studio recordings. The lead track, the up-tempo synth-laden rocker "War Games", written for the 1983 film War Games and was released as a single by the group. The second studio track, the comparatively tame ecologic and politically aware "Raise A Voice."
The rest of the album consists of live recordings from two different tours.
Tellingly, neither tune contained involvement from David Crosby, who was out of commission during most of the '80s. His presence was felt, however, in the concert recordings which were chosen primarily by Nash and derived from two different shows: a 1977 Houston, TX, performance and a more recent 1982 show at the New Universal Amphitheatre in Universal City, CA. From CSN's November 22, 1977, Houston show is one of the highlights of this package David Crosby's acoustic cover of Joni Mitchell's "(He Played Real Good) For Free." Crosby's interpretation gives a lonesome renegade quality to the composition that is subdued from Mitchell's own readings. During the final lines, Nash joins Crosby for some unmistakably gorgeous harmony vocals proving their inherent value as a duo. The band version of "Shadow Captain" that also hails from the 1977 show is indeed passable, if not a bit reserved, as it varies little from its studio counterpart. The entire Houston performance was simulcast throughout North America and truncated segments of the show have been rebroadcast on the King Biscuit Flower Hour syndicated radio program ever since. The remaining six performances come from a November 19, 1982, show that not only was simulcast live, highlights were compiled for the Daylight Again home video release. Again, the conspicuous absence of David Crosby's normally robust vocals and fretwork indicate the nonentity/liability his on-stage presence had sadly become. Among the highlights in this batch is the cover of Paul McCartney's "Blackbird" which easily bests the Beatles' White Album version with some surprisingly agile vocal blends from the trio. A rambunctious electric "For What It's Worth" closes “Allies” on a definite high note with Stills asserting himself as the preeminent electric guitarist that he was during this era.

Track listing

01. "War Games"   (Stephen Stills)  - 2:18
02. "Raise A Voice"   (Graham Nash, Stephen Stills)  - 2:31
03. "Turn Your Back on Love"   (Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Michael Stergis)  - 5:04
04. "Barrel of Pain"   (Graham Nash)  - 5:46
05. "Shadow Captain"   (David Crosby, Craig Doerge)  - 4:30
06. "Dark Star"   (Stephen Stills)  - 4:48
07. "Blackbird"   (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)  - 2:30
08. "For Free"   (Joni Mitchell)  - 3:48
09. "Wasted on the Way"   (Graham Nash)  - 3:04
10. "For What It's Worth"   (Stephen Stills)  - 5:38

Credits
David Crosby - vocals, guitars
Stephen Stills - vocals, guitars, keyboards
Graham Nash - vocals, guitars, keyboards

Additional
Danny Kortchmar - electric guitar
Michael Stergis - electric guitar
James Newton Howard - keyboards on
Michael Finnigan - keyboards
Craig Doerge - keyboards
George "Chocolate" Perry - bass
Joe Vitale - drums
Jeff Porcaro - drums
Efrain Toro - percussion
Joe Lala - percussion

Production
Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Stanley Johnston - producers
Ron Albert, Howard Albert - co-producers on "Shadow Captain" and "For Free"
Steve Gursky, David Hewitt, Stanley Johnston, Jay Parti- engineers
Producer - Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, Stanley Johnston, Ron Albert, and Howard Albert

Notes
Recorded: 1977 - 1983 at New Universal Amphitheatre, Universal City, CA; Houston, Texas and Los Angeles, CA
Genre:  Folk-Rock
Length:  42:32

© 1983 Atlantic Records