Song:Long May You Run
Album:Decade
Long May You Run is a popular song in Neil Young's catalog. He still performs it today. But it wasn't on a Neil Young album. It was on what turned out to be the one off project The Stills-Young Band. Of course Young and Stephen Stills have worked together for years, most notably in Buffalo Springfield and Crosby Stills Nash & Young. Both guys have bad tempers so their relationship has always been mercurial. After the 1974 CSN&Y tour, the four guys couldn't agree on plans to record a new album. So David Crosby and Graham Nash formed Crosby & Nash and signed with ABC Records. They toured and released the 1975 album Wind On The Water. Young and Stills went back to solo careers. But in 1976, Stills and Young started working on a joint project. Crosby & Nash were supposed to participate and turn it into a CSN&Y album. But they were working on the 1976 Crosby & Nash album Whistling Down The Wire and decided to focus on that. They did participate in some of the sessions but their contributions were removed from the masters after they left. Crosby and Nash said they would never work with Stills and Young again. But they forgave Stills and Crosby Stills & Nash reformed in 1977. The Stills-Young Band was Stills' usual band of Jerry Aiello on organ, George "Chocolate" Perry on bass, Joe Vitale on drums and Joe Lala on percussion with Neil Young added. Long May You Run was released as a single but didn't chart. The album did well and was certified Gold. The Stills-Young Band toured but Young left halfway through claiming a throat infection and Stills had to finish the tour without him. Young quit the tour by telegram. Young wrote Long May You Run about his first car. He has continued to perform the song live including on the final episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien in 2010 and at the closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Young has never recorded it on any of his studio albums. The Stills-Young Band album is available as a budget CD. But Neil Young fans can get Long May You Run on the 2CD comp Decade. Here's Neil Young performing Long May You Run on MTV Unplugged 1992.
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