On the topic of having long hair in that era, here’s a verse from Bob Seger: When you walk into a restaurant Strung out from the road And you feel the eyes upon you As you’re shaking’ off the cold You pretend it doesn’t bother you But you just want to explode Most times you can’t hear ‘em talk Other times you can All the same old cliches Is that a woman or a man And you always seem outnumbered You don’t dare make a stand
Stephen Stills and Neil Young playing guitar together….c’mon!!!! This actually IS a protest song. Don’t forget this was during Viet Nam when hair length was a social and political statement.
The reason this song doesn't sound as polished as their others is that it was recorded live in the studio. All the musicians were playing together live.
Back in the day, long hair was a visible indication of where you stood on virtually everything, both socially and politically. Even if you weren't an actual hippie, it showed that you were in solidarity with them.
And in much of the country, like the deep South, Midwest or any rural area, conservative folks were not accepting of long hair on men in any way. It could, and did, lead to fist fights and beatdowns.
Exactly. Andy nailed it, swing and a miss by Alex. This song was a perfect summation of the anti-war movement. Not giving in an inch to fear, but still dealing with the paranoia.
Neil Young is known as a Great guitar player, but I really feel that Stephen stills is one of the most underrated guitar players around. To hear them both going at it in unison is phenomenal and the song along with a great baseline keep it all moving
There are three electric guitars at work here. Crosby is generally just rhythm guitar. On this one, Stills did a lot of the lead work and Neil was reacting to it with response riffs and accent work. When they were contemplating adding Neil Young for CSN, everyone was dubious because of Neil's reputation for being unpredictable and tempremental, but Ahmet Urtegen told Nash, "You have to hear Stephen and Neil playing together." And he was right: the guitar chemistry between Stills and Young working off each other is amazing!
@@williamdalzell1553 Yes, 4 Way Street has a lot of that back and forth between Stills and Young in the electric parts. Love the guitar dialogue in Long Time Gone and Carry On.
@@w.geoffreyspaulding6588 he certainly understood a lot of the onstage chemistry that made Buffalo Springfield work. They had loads of talent, but Stills-Young was electricity.
As a young kid in the 70's, I used to get yelled at on the street by strangers because of my long hair. I was like 10 or 11 years old, getting accosted by old-ass strangers, screaming stuff at me like "are you a boy or a girl?" and the perennial fave "get a haircut, hippie!!!". Crazy times.
Andy is moving the right direction. this song was a cultural, and therefore political, statement for its time! "Ohio" is more incident specific, and Neil wrote it with as an angry backlash. "Almost Cut My Hair" speaks more to the general growing youth culture of the time. I love them both!
Gary Schill I still have my original Deja Vu vinyl album..purchased new the year it came out. Can still play it on the turntable I had back then. I will be 77 next month. Old school is cool.
I was born in a small town in the U.S. "deep South." In that environment, even in the mid-1980s, a guy having long hair ( *and* being into heavy metal, *and* wearing metal band T-shirts, and such!) was still scandalous. I was definitely ostracized, with bullies at school threatening me, putting chewing gum in my hair, and other nonsense. Very few people even tried to support me. Anyway, I'm 49, I still have my hair, and it's still long! :-)
@@cazgerald9471 Even in L.A., cops were horrible. Stopped us just to ridicule, terrorize and torment men with long hair in 1969. Glad that part has changed!!!!
@@terryanngallagher3605 I can appreciate that - I was referring to a decade or more later. I actually split between you and the original commenter - we got harassed by cops in late 70s / early 80s for the opposite of long hair, I was a skate punk into hardcore, but I can say we weren't exactly innocent either.
If Alex wants to get a better sense of the attitude confronting the “long hairs” at the time, y’all ought to do a video on “Signs” by the Five Man Electrical Band.
I think this song is about priorities, life choices, and self-expression. The fact that it's wrapped in a blues cocoon suggests to me that they are disappointed that how a person wears their hair is such a focal point in society. They can feel that pressure to conform and hate that it exists.
This song is essentially about vietnam and the anti-war movement hence cutting your hair both removes you from the hippie asthetic and also symbolizes going to war where they shave your head upon arrival to basic training.
"Helplessly Hoping," "Carry On / Questions," "Woodstock," "Teach Your Children"...there are still so many Crosby, Stills, Nash (& Young) songs you could cover.
This song was my older brother's anthem for the longest time. In the early 70's when he was around fourteen he grew his hair long. His hair went down to his ass. When he was in his early forties he finally caved in and cut his hair in order to get a job. My brother is no longer with us but every time I hear this song I think of my brother Harold.
I'm 64 too. Hair length was a contentious thing... one of my friends had really long hair and put it up under a short-hair wig in 8th or 9th grade, and I loved that! And I just remembered - when I was 15-16, a cousin said 'You look like a girl' in a derisive tone, and I thought 'whatever'.
I bought this record in 1970 and have played it so many times and this is my favorite song on the record after all these years it's got staying power it's definitely an S+
So many different guitar riffs and tones between Young and Stills. Trading off rhythm and lead and then playing off each other in dualing leads. Love it.
Love the dirty, bluesy sound of this song! From the same album, their cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock” is absolutely S-tier! But, as I’ve mentioned previously, Stephen Stills and an acoustic guitar are the recipe for pure magic. Check out the song “4 + 20,” also from this album. Stills wrote it and performs it completely solo. It’s sublime.
Stephen Stills is an incredibly talented singer, musician and song writer and criminally underrated. He was the driving force behind CSN and CSNY. There are so many I could recommend but suggest Carry On, Woodstock, 4+20. Wonderful days.
You guys have to get deeper with Stephen Stills. Yes, Neil’s guitar on this is fantastic but so is Stills. The combination of the two is of course incredible. The first album doesn’t have Neil on it at all so you can really see what Stills brings. He and Hendrix and Clapton were good friends. Both of them appear on his first solo album and he same year this album came out. 1970
This is an example of the two of them playing off each other -- Stills had the main leads and Young was accenting and riffing off Stephen's stuff - they were GREAT at that!
I saw them do this live, around 2002. David Crosby is the vocalist & his voice was still spectacular! Such a strong song! Both Neil Young & Stephen Stills rock! Their guitar work, throughout the concert was stellar!
Alex, I couldn't agree more. Honestly always wondered if they were just jamming, and he wrote this song on the fly. Either way, glad someone was recording it!
As a guy with very long hair in the 70’s, it wasn’t just a style, it was a statement. It put you out there in a very visible way and there were sometimes consequences. The band I was in played this song - it was very important to us.
This song always reminds me of my mother sticking up for my brothers and their long ass hair. The neighbors were a bunch of conservative bible thumpers and my mom just blurted out "What's your problem? Jesus had long hair and he's all you ever talk about!" Thanks, ma.
I expect when one has long ass hair, that makes problems when wiping, and one should think about shaving it somehow. I mean, no need to go all "anus bleaching" about it, but c'mon we're talking basic hygiene here. And anyway how the freak did the neighbors know about how long your ass hair was?
There is a longer version that keeps going another 4 minutes after this fade out (creating the jam you want). This is S tier for me and imho Crosby's best tune of his long career. Great guitar work from all three plus a crack rhythm section featuring Gregg Reeves ( former motown player) and the late Dallas Taylor on drums. A freak flag was an actual flag of hippiedom. Glad you finally were able to hear this iconic tune.
An actual flag? Naw, kid. A "freak flag" was merely long hair, getting the word out that you were "counterculture". Against the War, in favor of individuality, and probably smoked marijuana. It's interesting hearing what kids think of the attitudes of the sixties.
Actually the "freak flag" refers to long hair itself not a flag- and I was there in SF at Hippie Hill in GG Park and all of it. Sorry wrong. Freak flag fly came from this song and referred to long hair that was hugely part of the ANTI VIETNAM WAR PROTEST CROWD.
Stills in one ear and Young in the other. With Crosby on vocals and rhythm guitar and Nash on organ. There's an eight minute studio version with an even longer jam in the middle. WOW!
Your hair conversation makes me wonder if you also picked up on Bob Seger's reference in Turn the Page " Is that a woman or a man". Still waiting for Neil Young "Like a Hurricane" my personal favorite guitar from Young
Neil Young's guitar work is immediately recognizable on this song and Deja Vu is one of the all time classic albums. I graduated from Winter Haven Sr. High in Florida back in 1974 and in those days the schools had a "dress code" that required hair to not touch the ears or collar of male students. There were a few of us hippies that actually had to wear wigs with our hair tucked into them to meet the dress code and so we could let our freak flag fly when we were out of school. 👍🤘✌️
Neil just filled in reactions to Stephen Stills. You guys and your reactions need to know more about thevsongs. You have zero understanding of context and who is playing in CSN&Y songs.
@@kurtiswichmann4699 dude, I am a 65 yr old rock n roll relic and I ✌️saw CSNY back in the day and Young, Stills, and Crosby all play guitar parts on this song. My comment was in reference to Neil Young's distinctive guitar sound on the track.
Thank you guys. Bout time. One of my favorite songs...ever. Absolute S for me. 71 years old. Lived it. Great song and production but anthemic to my life.
Came back from a 1970 summer hitching through Europe and went down to Swarthmore with my friend Nancy. I hadn't gotten into this song too much before, but when she sat on the couch opposite, then jumped up singing it... well, this is one of the great songs ever!
One of the BEST Albums of all Time! Ever. I grew up with this album and this song is NEVER heard on the airwaves...Nowhere! Glad you guys finally got to this one. It deserves the attention and Steven Stills with Neil Young (killed) the solo's! Thanks.
I was lucky enough to hear that sound bouncing around Wembley stadium (London) in 1974 … Crosby, Still, Nash & Young with Joni Mitchell and The Band … great, hot, very happy day. At least an A+ listen to this in a dark room lying on the floor big speakers or cans … ah when I was a lad ;)
Totally agree. Crosby blew me away with this song live during the CSNY2K tour. I liked the song just fine beforehand, but I never felt the power of it until Crosby angrily belted it clear through to the cheap seats and left me shaking and forever shaken.
@@DustyCrossties oh yes that was their angry political tour. He got everyone so energized that if he had told us to run out into the streets we would have.
You really need to listen to "Cortez the Killer" to round out your Neil Young seventies education. It is epic, for better or worse. You really need more, but that one is essential. along with "Tonight's the Night" "Lookout Joe" "Albuquerque" and :"Revolution Blues". but "Cortez" is the one to hear first.
My public high school had a dress code where a boy's hair couldn't be longer than the top of his collar. By the time I graduated in 1974 the dress code was almost universally ignored, the culture had changed.
Such a brilliant album. A lot of good cuts on it... 'Helpless', penned by Neil Young, or even 'Our House' written by Graham Nash. You can't go wrong with any track on it.
One of the best albums ever produced... IMHO.... Should definitely do an album review. So much more to discover from this band, it's a rabbit hole you'll never crawl out of ☮️
As I recall, the leads were mostly Stills but Young's accents and reaction riffs just added a ton to what Stills was doing. The two of them together on guitar were sensational.
Yay! Thanks for playing it! Sorry, but for some reason I think it's kind of funny that it triggered the biggest divide I have ever seen between you guys! I really was NOT expecting that! Love you guys. Keep doing what you're doing and making this old woman happy! IMHO," I feel like I owe it to someone" is one of the best lyric, (not ever. but generally).
In Bob Seger's "Turn the Page" he talks about being called "the same old cliche's, is that a woman or a man?" and that he "dare not make a stand". Men having long hair back then was truly rebellious and dangerous.
Another song from the era had a first verse dealing with the hair issue - Signs by 5 Man Electrical Band. Lyrics: And the sign said "Long-haired freaky people Need not apply" So I tucked my hair up under my hat And I went in to ask him why He said, "You look like a fine upstandin' young man I think you'll do" So I took off my hat and said, "Imagine that Huh, me workin' for you" Whoa
Absolutely one of my fave CSNY songs. They weren't titled a "Super Band" for nothing. This LP set the tone for an entire decade of rock music. IMHO Cheers A&A.
Thank you. Your reactions are always refreshingly thoughtful. The Stills-Young guitar interplay is the highlight of this track for me. I'd be more than happy with another 3 minutes of that at the end.
Thousands and thousands of songs were released in each decade of the rock era. Never back down from an A+ or S rating because you think you’re giving out too many. For the most part, y’all are listening to the best of the best songs from each decade.
In the late 60's I was in a band and had long hair. At the time that meant to you were supporting the hippie culture and music and almost certainly smoked pot. Nobody had long hair who didn't smoke pot. It was a badge that you supported the counter culture. If you were "straight" meaning traditional conservative values, you wouldn't be caught dead with long hair. I was accosted at a bar because I had long hair and only escaped a fight because my friend told him that I was in a band in college (which was true) so he decided that was ok and he left me alone. True story.
my favorite CSNY song. The guitar work interaction between Stills and Young is at its best! Throw in David Crosby’s vocals with no harmony… speaks to the strength of his vocals. Amazing voice.
We were called Freaks. It was meant to be derogatory and dehumanizing. The media and politicians have not changed. Only become more ghoulish and evil. If they come after you , you know you are doing something right. These days we just line up for the gulag!
@@joannasunday I was a freak. I admit it. And it is true, that we embraced it. Just a word but, the ones using it were most sincere in their judgement and eagerness to destroy this part of our culture. In the end they just took it with money. Everyone had a price it turned out.
Believe me, the crowds they played to back in the day went nuts during this song. The cheers would drown them out. It was amazing. That said, I would agree it hasn't aged well. It was obviously, as Alex implied, a quick studio concoction. Someone probably walked into the session and commented that he almost cut his hair. This would have caused a commotion that could have melded into this song. I saw all the groups in the 60's and 70's, and no one held a crowd more in the palm of their hand than CSNY. Definitely not a masterpiece, but integral to understanding who this band was.
STill sounds awesome to me...but I was born and raised in San Francisco and graduated from high school at the start of the Summer of Love....so this still can get a huge reaction from me as is......
You convinced me to join Patreon just for A Hard Days Night. In the '90s when my kids were teens we rented every Beatle Documentary, Movie "Hard Day's Night" "Help" "Magical Mystery Tour" and an Independent film by Lennon. We know them word for word. Yeah🎶❤️🎵
@@DawnSuttonfabfour You too.🥰 We still watch them and chime in as if we were at the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The Beatles are funny. The music is a bonus.
@@aileenturrietta7553 We love that too! I saw the original stage show in London's West End around 77 or 76 maybe? We also love Little Shop of Horrors. Songs in that are fab (love that word, fab. Am trying to resurrect it),
This song really hit home for those in the counter culture. About 1967 I had a friend in high school who was jumped by the football team and had his head shaved just for letting his *sideburns* grow "too long" (school regs kept any of the guys from growing hair anywhere near a shirt collar). There was some discrimination against "long-haired freaks" into the mid 70s in places like Southern California and even later in other areas.
I was 7 when this song came out and too young to grow my hair long - my folks let me grow it out when I was 9. In the 80s, this became my theme song because there was a kind of backlash against the 60s and 70s in the age of Reagan and Thatcher. Everyone was becoming conservative, cutting their hair and pretending the previous two decades hadn't happened. I kept my hair long (and still do), and while I didn't have to suffer from being barred from public places or being beat up (which happened in the 60s and early 70s), I did find it harder to get certain jobs, and some people looked at me as if I was a low-class druggie. I'm with Andy on the A+.
Neil Young is a good guitarist; however Stephen Stills is much better. If you listen closely you can tell when Neil is playing and or Stephen. Great song guys
@@richardstewart1989 Young created a whole new style and way of playing guitar and that's where he tops Stills. Young has a very recognizable tone and style, Stills doesn't. You can pick Young out like you can pick out Gibbons, EVH, Gilmour, etc. from just a few chords. I've seen Young live improvising on guitar many times he's one of the best I've ever heard.
This is A+ because so much is happening musically in it. Most American bands don't push themselves. This song does. Embedding the intensity of the vocals in the equally intense "guitar choir" as Alex described it, it's easy to imagine taking this song to the UK and get respect for being 100% American and 100% art at the same time. Also, this song connects with A&A's jaw-droppingly brilliant reaction to "Highway 61 Revisited" on Patreon.
"UNEASY RIDER" (Charlie Daniels Band): great song, centered around having long hair, and being in the "wrong" place. Humorous, entertaining, well done - definitely give it a listen. Enjoy :) ...
Deja vu!! One of the best albums ever! Classic songs and awesome playing! Ya gotta remember when these were put out and it’s all awesome musicians, singers, not like some of the garbage out today!!! These guys were sooooo talented!! Not to mention the time they had to fight the culture but to break through with such awesome music! Crazy good!!
Every one of them is back on Spotify, so I felt free to watch this. Its not my favorite, but I wanted to see you hear it. Their beautiful (but short) song Helplessly Hoping has to have a lyric read-through, to catch all of the alliteration. I don't think you have done any of their songs with alliteration yet. Or I didn't notice if you have.
I love this song, but it is a beautiful demonstration of one of the most prevalent sins in late '60s-early '70s music: overindulgence! That attitude of everything one utters or plays is worthy of recording because "Yeah, man...I'm speaking truth to power...I'm not gonna let the Man get away with it, brother!"; and that the most spontaneous lyrics were the BEST because "that's total truth, man; it's pure and beautiful, man! Dig it!!" Well, sometimes it's not. And sometimes we need to maybe step away from the coke or the heroin to regain perspective and realize that maybe that idea was not quite as awesome as we thought it was. But I've still loved this song for 4+ decades because it's like having captured a certain moment of time in a bottle.
This song pre dated the era of hard core heroin and coke. Those drugs were brought into the country by our intelligence agencies to derail the counter culture movement. The hippie movement rejected the culture of war and hard core addictive drugs and was therefore considered a real threat to power. We can see today who won and what it has wrought upon us.
@@awen777 this was recorded in 1970, while Crosby first started heroin in '69, and coke was around, particularly in Hollywood. Remember that coke and heroin were not at all unknown in music, going back to the jazz scene in the 1920's, '30s and '40s. Think back to the famous Cole Porter song, or artists like Billie Holiday or Bird, on up through Chet Baker, Miles Davis, Ray Charles, Bill Evans, or Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton. Those drugs were all her in copious amounts before we had any intelligence agencies. However, I do agree with you that the alphabet agencies made up for lost time, certainly bringing opium in from Laos in the '60s and '70s and cocaine through central America in the '80s.
@@oboogie2 I remember when it came out. I was 18yrs. old. I also remember when Steppenwolf came out with "The Pusherman" which was against heroin and coke. I did not say those drugs were not around. I phrased it as such. What I was saying was the hard drugs did not become mainstream until the late 70's, 80's and early 90's. They remain mainstream today. There was resistance to them back then. As far as no intelligence agencies?! My father was undercover intelligence infiltrating the anti-Vietnam War movement in the mid-60's. The Vets brought home lbs of quality weed not heroin even though they used heroin while there in Vietnam fighting. They may have been the real beginning of the hard drug movement though. San Francisco was the same. Peace , love, weed until the heroin came in hard in the later 70's. The elite musician class has always throughout time indulged in these things. I was referring to mainstream society at the time.
Great song… I don’t feel like you guys give enough credit to Stephen stills. Neil Young was not the only guitar player, Stephen stills is a fantastic ,phenomenal guitar player. It seems like you leave him out sometimes, don’t give him enough credit…he’s doing a lot of those leads..😎
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On the topic of having long hair in that era, here’s a verse from Bob Seger:
When you walk into a restaurant
Strung out from the road
And you feel the eyes upon you
As you’re shaking’ off the cold
You pretend it doesn’t bother you
But you just want to explode
Most times you can’t hear ‘em talk
Other times you can
All the same old cliches
Is that a woman or a man
And you always seem outnumbered
You don’t dare make a stand
Also listen to the songs “Signs” and “Uneasy Rider.”
The famous "sequel" to David Crosby's anthem! Also an amazing piece of work.
@@moniphil “so I pulled off my hat
And said imagine that!
Me, working for you!”
They’ve reacted to that song I believe…quite awhile ago…
@@moniphil yes! i mentioned Signs over on the discussion video
Stephen Stills and Neil Young playing guitar together….c’mon!!!! This actually IS a protest song. Don’t forget this was during Viet Nam when hair length was a social and political statement.
The best part.
The reason this song doesn't sound as polished as their others is that it was recorded live in the studio. All the musicians were playing together live.
Spot on
Except they are NOW woke joni mitchell also
@@johnmusser8925 They're just still trying to be cool like the kids. 🤣
Nothing worse than a woke hippie.
Back in the day, long hair was a visible indication of where you stood on virtually everything, both socially and politically. Even if you weren't an actual hippie, it showed that you were in solidarity with them.
And in much of the country, like the deep South, Midwest or any rural area, conservative folks were not accepting of long hair on men in any way. It could, and did, lead to fist fights and beatdowns.
Weekend hippie
Grrrls we had to just have loooooonger hair.
Exactly. Andy nailed it, swing and a miss by Alex. This song was a perfect summation of the anti-war movement. Not giving in an inch to fear, but still dealing with the paranoia.
Or - the chicks were digging the long hair.
Steven Stills was probably one of the most under rated guitar players ever.
The only one to play with Clapton and Hendrix on the same album (not together unfortunately).
On HIS album, no less ... But this is Stills and Young, both with Crosby playing rhythm ...
EVER.
truth. not to take anything away from Neil Young, but Stephen always gets overlooked, and he's easily a peer.
@@Dr_Bombay wrong
Neil Young is known as a Great guitar player, but I really feel that Stephen stills is one of the most underrated guitar players around. To hear them both going at it in unison is phenomenal and the song along with a great baseline keep it all moving
Young wishes he were as good a guitarist as his friend Stills.
Stills is better. He's underrated today. He wasn't back then.
There are three electric guitars at work here. Crosby is generally just rhythm guitar. On this one, Stills did a lot of the lead work and Neil was reacting to it with response riffs and accent work. When they were contemplating adding Neil Young for CSN, everyone was dubious because of Neil's reputation for being unpredictable and tempremental, but Ahmet Urtegen told Nash, "You have to hear Stephen and Neil playing together." And he was right: the guitar chemistry between Stills and Young working off each other is amazing!
As in Southern Man from Four WAY Street.
@@williamdalzell1553 Yes, 4 Way Street has a lot of that back and forth between Stills and Young in the electric parts. Love the guitar dialogue in Long Time Gone and Carry On.
@@stpnwlf9 Those two songs are iconic...well, dang, so is the whole album!
The loss of people like Ahmet is what happened to popular music….He was an amazing presence the the music world….
@@w.geoffreyspaulding6588 he certainly understood a lot of the onstage chemistry that made Buffalo Springfield work. They had loads of talent, but Stills-Young was electricity.
As a young kid in the 70's, I used to get yelled at on the street by strangers because of my long hair. I was like 10 or 11 years old, getting accosted by old-ass strangers, screaming stuff at me like "are you a boy or a girl?" and the perennial fave "get a haircut, hippie!!!". Crazy times.
Absolute truth. Loggers in the NW were famous for grabbing anti war hippies and cutting their hair publicly .
Now I wish we could go back!
Yep. These young guys have no idea how polarizing it was for males to have long hair. It was not acceptable to millions of Americans.
55 and still have long hair!
Same for me. I was born in 60, and by middle school my hair was down to my shoulder blades. I didn’t catch to much grief for it, I guess I was lucky.
Andy is moving the right direction. this song was a cultural, and therefore political, statement for its time! "Ohio" is more incident specific, and Neil wrote it with as an angry backlash. "Almost Cut My Hair" speaks more to the general growing youth culture of the time. I love them both!
Gary Schill I still have my original Deja Vu vinyl album..purchased new the year it came out. Can still play it on the turntable I had back then. I will be 77 next month. Old school is cool.
A Crosby classic
I was born in a small town in the U.S. "deep South." In that environment, even in the mid-1980s, a guy having long hair ( *and* being into heavy metal, *and* wearing metal band T-shirts, and such!) was still scandalous. I was definitely ostracized, with bullies at school threatening me, putting chewing gum in my hair, and other nonsense. Very few people even tried to support me. Anyway, I'm 49, I still have my hair, and it's still long! :-)
66 and grew up a Yankee...so hard to imagine! Rock On! I'm a chick & sti think of Croz when I get my hair cut! 😁
Good for you☮️👍🏻
I grew up in LA, but my cousin tells me stories about growing up in Texas panhandle.
@@cazgerald9471 Even in L.A., cops were horrible. Stopped us just to ridicule, terrorize and torment men with long hair in 1969. Glad that part has changed!!!!
@@terryanngallagher3605 I can appreciate that - I was referring to a decade or more later. I actually split between you and the original commenter - we got harassed by cops in late 70s / early 80s for the opposite of long hair, I was a skate punk into hardcore, but I can say we weren't exactly innocent either.
If Alex wants to get a better sense of the attitude confronting the “long hairs” at the time, y’all ought to do a video on “Signs” by the Five Man Electrical Band.
Yep, another great song!
Wow you are so right. I don’t think they’ll ever truly grasp what it was like back then.
I think this song is about priorities, life choices, and self-expression. The fact that it's wrapped in a blues cocoon suggests to me that they are disappointed that how a person wears their hair is such a focal point in society. They can feel that pressure to conform and hate that it exists.
And in 1969, that pressure was dangerous and deadly, no matter where you lived.
This song is essentially about vietnam and the anti-war movement hence cutting your hair both removes you from the hippie asthetic and also symbolizes going to war where they shave your head upon arrival to basic training.
You should try “Long Time Gone” from the first CS&N album, another great lead vocal performance from David Crosby.
"Helplessly Hoping," "Carry On / Questions," "Woodstock," "Teach Your Children"...there are still so many Crosby, Stills, Nash (& Young) songs you could cover.
and to think, all these songs (inc. Almost Cut My Hair) are on one album: Deja Vu
@@chrisjohnson3694 Best album of its time!
All fantastic songs! My top fave is Carry On. Incredible album...blew me away at age 16.
Helplessly hoping is a must
This song was my older brother's anthem for the longest time. In the early 70's when he was around fourteen he grew his hair long. His hair went down to his ass. When he was in his early forties he finally caved in and cut his hair in order to get a job. My brother is no longer with us but every time I hear this song I think of my brother Harold.
I remember that reality. I’m now 64. Back in the day I only dated “long hairs”. My dad was a cop. Very stressful and unfair times.
I'm 64 now too. Sadly, my "hair" is all flesh colored and smooth now. 😪
I'm 64 too. Hair length was a contentious thing... one of my friends had really long hair and put it up under a short-hair wig in 8th or 9th grade, and I loved that! And I just remembered - when I was 15-16, a cousin said 'You look like a girl' in a derisive tone, and I thought 'whatever'.
I am now 67...same. My dad used to wonder if they were trying to be girls. 🤦
My dad was DOJ undercover at the anti war demonstrations. It was hard on me as a long hair hippy.
My dad was a cop too and I had hair past my buttocks. Now it is maybe halfway down my back but I just took 6 inches off
One of David Crosby's best vocals
You beat me to it... Couldn't agree more.
Funny, couldn't disagree more, he sounds so generic here
I bought this record in 1970 and have played it so many times and this is my favorite song on the record after all these years it's got staying power it's definitely an S+
So many different guitar riffs and tones between Young and Stills. Trading off rhythm and lead and then playing off each other in dualing leads. Love it.
Love the dirty, bluesy sound of this song! From the same album, their cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock” is absolutely S-tier! But, as I’ve mentioned previously, Stephen Stills and an acoustic guitar are the recipe for pure magic. Check out the song “4 + 20,” also from this album. Stills wrote it and performs it completely solo. It’s sublime.
The last line of that song is heartbreaking. I won’t give it away here, people who don’t know the song will have to listen for themselves.
@@ontheroad5317 yes, absolutely gut-wrenching. It’s a blues song without question.
@@ontheroad5317 his picking on that song is so reminiscent of Mississippi John Hurt.
👌😊
Hey, @@Shadowrider1872!
A classic album, every track is a winner. I still have my copy, played so often the groves are just about flat.
The Mighty Croz!
Dennis Hopper’s character in Easy Rider was inspired by Crosby
I can't think of any album more worthy of patreon then deja vu.
Fantastic album. And I love the first, Crosby Stills and Nash (no Young)
Their harmonies we're incredible even live, what incredible songwriters and players.
Thei'r harmonie's were incredible' even live, what incre'dible songwriter's and player's.
This hi-lights the brilliance of Young/ Stills together. They play off each other so well
Stephen Stills is an incredibly talented singer, musician and song writer and criminally underrated. He was the driving force behind CSN and CSNY. There are so many I could recommend but suggest Carry On, Woodstock, 4+20. Wonderful days.
You didn't mention David Crosby's vocals or as the songwriter, I think this is probably the greatest vocal singing of the 60s/70s. It's immense.
Supergroup to the max. Crosby was with the Byrds,Stills and Young-Buffalo Springfield and Nash The Hollies. Phenomenalest.
When Stills and Young play guitar together magic happens.
You guys have to get deeper with Stephen Stills. Yes, Neil’s guitar on this is fantastic but so is Stills. The combination of the two is of course incredible. The first album doesn’t have Neil on it at all so you can really see what Stills brings. He and Hendrix and Clapton were good friends. Both of them appear on his first solo album and he same year this album came out. 1970
I am still in utter amazement that no one has ever reacted to anything off of Still's "Manassas" album!
Have always loved this song. Really encapsulates David Crosby for me. Impeccable work all round and very evocative of the times.
Guys u keep thinking Neil is playing all the solos..Still one of the great guitarists ever
This is an example of the two of them playing off each other -- Stills had the main leads and Young was accenting and riffing off Stephen's stuff - they were GREAT at that!
I saw them do this live, around 2002. David Crosby is the vocalist & his voice was still spectacular! Such a strong song! Both Neil Young & Stephen Stills rock! Their guitar work, throughout the concert was stellar!
Hippies were called “freaks” … so we loved the line “I feel like letting my freak flag fly”
That's Crosby singing in the opening line ...classic rock voice and brilliant singer over all !.....Peace & love :)
Alex, I couldn't agree more. Honestly always wondered if they were just jamming, and he wrote this song on the fly. Either way, glad someone was recording it!
As a guy with very long hair in the 70’s, it wasn’t just a style, it was a statement. It put you out there in a very visible way and there were sometimes consequences. The band I was in played this song - it was very important to us.
This song always reminds me of my mother sticking up for my brothers and their long ass hair. The neighbors were a bunch of conservative bible thumpers and my mom just blurted out "What's your problem? Jesus had long hair and he's all you ever talk about!" Thanks, ma.
“Freak flag” was slang for long hair
I expect when one has long ass hair, that makes problems when wiping, and one should think about shaving it somehow.
I mean, no need to go all "anus bleaching" about it, but c'mon we're talking basic hygiene here.
And anyway how the freak did the neighbors know about how long your ass hair was?
Stills and Young have so much fun going back and forth on the leads.......they always do when they get together
There is a longer version that keeps going another 4 minutes after this fade out (creating the jam you want). This is S tier for me and imho Crosby's best tune of his long career. Great guitar work from all three plus a crack rhythm section featuring Gregg Reeves ( former motown player) and the late Dallas Taylor on drums. A freak flag was an actual flag of hippiedom. Glad you finally were able to hear this iconic tune.
Yes, the long version must be heard! Here it is: th-cam.com/video/FK3TIYG9mqM/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=Vin%C3%ADciusThomazini
Right! It's on the box set. It goes into double-time near the end.
Greg Reeves was only 16-17 years old I believe when he was in the band.
An actual flag? Naw, kid. A "freak flag" was merely long hair, getting the word out that you were "counterculture". Against the War, in favor of individuality, and probably smoked marijuana. It's interesting hearing what kids think of the attitudes of the sixties.
Actually the "freak flag" refers to long hair itself not a flag- and I was there in SF at Hippie Hill in GG Park and all of it. Sorry wrong. Freak flag fly came from this song and referred to long hair that was hugely part of the ANTI VIETNAM WAR PROTEST CROWD.
Stills in one ear and Young in the other. With Crosby on vocals and rhythm guitar and Nash on organ. There's an eight minute studio version with an even longer jam in the middle. WOW!
Your hair conversation makes me wonder if you also picked up on Bob Seger's reference in Turn the Page " Is that a woman or a man". Still waiting for Neil Young "Like a Hurricane" my personal favorite guitar from Young
Cinnamon Girl is also pretty damn good. First band I was in covered that.
I don't think they got it at first, but someone left a comment explaining it.
I'm glad I grew up with this music. 💕💕👍👍🎸🎸🎶🎶
Neil Young's guitar work is immediately recognizable on this song and Deja Vu is one of the all time classic albums. I graduated from Winter Haven Sr. High in Florida back in 1974 and in those days the schools had a "dress code" that required hair to not touch the ears or collar of male students. There were a few of us hippies that actually had to wear wigs with our hair tucked into them to meet the dress code and so we could let our freak flag fly when we were out of school. 👍🤘✌️
No Young on this song!
Neil just filled in reactions to Stephen Stills. You guys and your reactions need to know more about thevsongs. You have zero understanding of context and who is playing in CSN&Y songs.
@@paulcherry5962 yes there is Neil Young on this song. Young, Stills, and Crosby all have guitar parts.
@@kurtiswichmann4699 dude, I am a 65 yr old rock n roll relic and I ✌️saw CSNY back in the day and Young, Stills, and Crosby all play guitar parts on this song. My comment was in reference to Neil Young's distinctive guitar sound on the track.
This on of my all time favorite songs. Still's and Young's guitar work , is outstanding! Love Crosby's voice, you can feel every note.
Stills and Young trading licks is always amazing.
Southern Man from 4-Way Street. Neil and Stills jamming, dueling for 13 minutes. Plus, it’s an iconic song.
I still have that album from when it came out. I get chills listening to this. Back in the 70s!!!
Thank you guys. Bout time. One of my favorite songs...ever. Absolute S for me. 71 years old. Lived it. Great song and production but anthemic to my life.
Fire guitar work
Came back from a 1970 summer hitching through Europe and went down to Swarthmore with my friend Nancy. I hadn't gotten into this song too much before, but when she sat on the couch opposite, then jumped up singing it... well, this is one of the great songs ever!
One of the BEST Albums of all Time! Ever. I grew up with this album and this song is NEVER heard on the airwaves...Nowhere! Glad you guys finally got to this one. It deserves the attention and Steven Stills with Neil Young (killed) the solo's! Thanks.
I was lucky enough to hear that sound bouncing around Wembley stadium (London) in 1974 … Crosby, Still, Nash & Young with Joni Mitchell and The Band … great, hot, very happy day.
At least an A+ listen to this in a dark room lying on the floor big speakers or cans … ah when I was a lad ;)
I've seen them live many times. Saw this live at MSG, Crosby blew the roof off with this.
Totally agree. Crosby blew me away with this song live during the CSNY2K tour. I liked the song just fine beforehand, but I never felt the power of it until Crosby angrily belted it clear through to the cheap seats and left me shaking and forever shaken.
@@DustyCrossties oh yes that was their angry political tour. He got everyone so energized that if he had told us to run out into the streets we would have.
TOTALLY!!!
You really need to listen to "Cortez the Killer" to round out your Neil Young seventies education. It is epic, for better or worse. You really need more, but that one is essential. along with "Tonight's the Night" "Lookout Joe" "Albuquerque" and :"Revolution Blues". but "Cortez" is the one to hear first.
Was thinking the same thing
@@richmuckey6827 i have been trying to convince them to listen to that song for 2 years lol - glad you agree!
When It Comes To Classics Including Hair,, Rebellion,, Etc.,, This One Is A MUST HEAR,,
The Five Man Electrical Band "Signs"
My public high school had a dress code where a boy's hair couldn't be longer than the top of his collar. By the time I graduated in 1974 the dress code was almost universally ignored, the culture had changed.
And they measured how many inches above the knees a girl’s skirt was. Plus no jeans or tee shirts.
@@lambokarabeekian6192 Yes, in the 60's jeans were considered a hippie thing and tee shirts were only underwear.
Three of the greatest guitarists. All four musical genius’.
One of the best albums of the decade, probably of the entire genre.
One of their best songs to just groove to.
Definitely one of my top 5 albums ever.
Such a brilliant album. A lot of good cuts on it... 'Helpless', penned by Neil Young, or even 'Our House' written by Graham Nash. You can't go wrong with any track on it.
Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Masters of the guitar......
One of the best albums ever produced... IMHO.... Should definitely do an album review. So much more to discover from this band, it's a rabbit hole you'll never crawl out of ☮️
TWO great guitar players. Stills does all the mix and finish work.
Steven Stills plays a lot of guitar on this track
As I recall, the leads were mostly Stills but Young's accents and reaction riffs just added a ton to what Stills was doing. The two of them together on guitar were sensational.
Yay! Thanks for playing it! Sorry, but for some reason I think it's kind of funny that it triggered the biggest divide I have ever seen between you guys! I really was NOT expecting that! Love you guys. Keep doing what you're doing and making this old woman happy! IMHO," I feel like I owe it to someone" is one of the best lyric, (not ever. but generally).
In Bob Seger's "Turn the Page" he talks about being called "the same old cliche's, is that a woman or a man?" and that he "dare not make a stand". Men having long hair back then was truly rebellious and dangerous.
Turn the Page
@@modmary3527 Thanks! (duh, lol) Corrected.
They were so freaking high when they recorded this song!
I'll. always LOVE it.
Another song from the era had a first verse dealing with the hair issue - Signs by 5 Man Electrical Band. Lyrics:
And the sign said
"Long-haired freaky people
Need not apply"
So I tucked my hair up under my hat
And I went in to ask him why
He said, "You look like a fine upstandin' young man
I think you'll do"
So I took off my hat and said, "Imagine that
Huh, me workin' for you"
Whoa
Absolutely one of my fave CSNY songs. They weren't titled a "Super Band" for nothing. This LP set the tone for an entire decade of rock music. IMHO Cheers A&A.
This entire album is one of my favorites plus the Bands music from big pink
Of all the great songs by this group, this may be one of the best. Impeccable 😍
Thank you. Your reactions are always refreshingly thoughtful.
The Stills-Young guitar interplay is the highlight of this track for me. I'd be more than happy with another 3 minutes of that at the end.
True, this actually falls shorts as a jam song because it's not as long as Down by the River or Cowgirl in the Sand
One of my absolute favorite CSN&Y songs! Love David’s voice and Neil Young and Steven’s playing!! Awesome! Such feeling and emotion!! Love it!!!❤️
This whole album is impeccable!! You’ve gotta check it out.
Thousands and thousands of songs were released in each decade of the rock era. Never back down from an A+ or S rating because you think you’re giving out too many. For the most part, y’all are listening to the best of the best songs from each decade.
In the late 60's I was in a band and had long hair. At the time that meant to you were supporting the hippie culture and music and almost certainly smoked pot. Nobody had long hair who didn't smoke pot. It was a badge that you supported the counter culture. If you were "straight" meaning traditional conservative values, you wouldn't be caught dead with long hair. I was accosted at a bar because I had long hair and only escaped a fight because my friend told him that I was in a band in college (which was true) so he decided that was ok and he left me alone. True story.
my favorite CSNY song. The guitar work interaction between Stills and Young is at its best!
Throw in David Crosby’s vocals with no harmony… speaks to the strength of his vocals. Amazing voice.
Glad you hit this one - I'd forgotten just how good it is. Yeah, great guitar work by Young, but also by Stills.
Graham Nash singing lead vocals with the Hollies… “ he ain’t heavy he’s my brother “
An amazing song you guys will love
Great tune, but it was recorded after Nash had left The Hollies.
Letting my freak flag fly. Love it!!!!
We were called Freaks. It was meant to be derogatory and dehumanizing. The media and politicians have not changed. Only become more ghoulish and evil. If they come after you , you know you are doing something right. These days we just line up for the gulag!
@@awen777 those i knew who were called "freaks" took the word, embraced it, and made it their own.
@@joannasunday I was a freak. I admit it. And it is true, that we embraced it. Just a word but, the ones using it were most sincere in their judgement and eagerness to destroy this part of our culture. In the end they just took it with money. Everyone had a price it turned out.
Believe me, the crowds they played to back in the day went nuts during this song. The cheers would drown them out. It was amazing. That said, I would agree it hasn't aged well. It was obviously, as Alex implied, a quick studio concoction. Someone probably walked into the session and commented that he almost cut his hair. This would have caused a commotion that could have melded into this song. I saw all the groups in the 60's and 70's, and no one held a crowd more in the palm of their hand than CSNY. Definitely not a masterpiece, but integral to understanding who this band was.
STill sounds awesome to me...but I was born and raised in San Francisco and graduated from high school at the start of the Summer of Love....so this still can get a huge reaction from me as is......
You convinced me to join Patreon just for A Hard Days Night. In the '90s when my kids were teens we rented every Beatle Documentary, Movie "Hard Day's Night" "Help" "Magical Mystery Tour" and an Independent film by Lennon. We know them word for word. Yeah🎶❤️🎵
Awesome. I brought up my daughter on The Beatles. You are a fab mum.
@@DawnSuttonfabfour You too.🥰 We still watch them and chime in as if we were at the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The Beatles are funny. The music is a bonus.
@@aileenturrietta7553 We love that too! I saw the original stage show in London's West End around 77 or 76 maybe? We also love Little Shop of Horrors. Songs in that are fab (love that word, fab. Am trying to resurrect it),
@@DawnSuttonfabfour After all, the Beatles are the "Fab Four". Your Fabolous.!!
This song really hit home for those in the counter culture. About 1967 I had a friend in high school who was jumped by the football team and had his head shaved just for letting his *sideburns* grow "too long" (school regs kept any of the guys from growing hair anywhere near a shirt collar). There was some discrimination against "long-haired freaks" into the mid 70s in places like Southern California and even later in other areas.
I was 7 when this song came out and too young to grow my hair long - my folks let me grow it out when I was 9. In the 80s, this became my theme song because there was a kind of backlash against the 60s and 70s in the age of Reagan and Thatcher. Everyone was becoming conservative, cutting their hair and pretending the previous two decades hadn't happened. I kept my hair long (and still do), and while I didn't have to suffer from being barred from public places or being beat up (which happened in the 60s and early 70s), I did find it harder to get certain jobs, and some people looked at me as if I was a low-class druggie. I'm with Andy on the A+.
I've always taken David Crosby as being tongue in cheek with this song. He's poking fun at himself. But I agree that this is the finest song by CSNY.
Neil Young is a good guitarist; however Stephen Stills is much better. If you listen closely you can tell when Neil is playing and or Stephen. Great song guys
I agree Stills has not been given his due but he's not a better guitarist than Young.
and that’s apparent when you see them live…Stephen Stills had 7 guitars lined up at one concert. Amazing!
@@alphajava761 I will have to respectfully disagree with you friend. Keep on rockin
@@richardstewart1989 Young created a whole new style and way of playing guitar and that's where he tops Stills. Young has a very recognizable tone and style, Stills doesn't. You can pick Young out like you can pick out Gibbons, EVH, Gilmour, etc. from just a few chords. I've seen Young live improvising on guitar many times he's one of the best I've ever heard.
Watch My Back Pages 35th Anniversary Live show for a real touch of Neil's playing.
This is A+ because so much is happening musically in it. Most American bands don't push themselves. This song does. Embedding the intensity of the vocals in the equally intense "guitar choir" as Alex described it, it's easy to imagine taking this song to the UK and get respect for being 100% American and 100% art at the same time. Also, this song connects with A&A's jaw-droppingly brilliant reaction to "Highway 61 Revisited" on Patreon.
"UNEASY RIDER" (Charlie Daniels Band): great song, centered around having long hair, and being in the "wrong" place. Humorous, entertaining, well done - definitely give it a listen. Enjoy :) ...
This is without a doubt an S tier song. Please listen to it a few more times.
Can’t wait to see this reaction, I love this song
And that's Neil's guitar in the left channel. Stills in the right. Great tone on both.
Deja vu!! One of the best albums ever! Classic songs and awesome playing! Ya gotta remember when these were put out and it’s all awesome musicians, singers, not like some of the garbage out today!!! These guys were sooooo talented!! Not to mention the time they had to fight the culture but to break through with such awesome music! Crazy good!!
Every one of them is back on Spotify, so I felt free to watch this. Its not my favorite, but I wanted to see you hear it. Their beautiful (but short) song Helplessly Hoping has to have a lyric read-through, to catch all of the alliteration. I don't think you have done any of their songs with alliteration yet. Or I didn't notice if you have.
No. They are not. I can't access any Neil Young songs. Or Joni Mitchell.
The stereo mix on this is simply AMAZING!
Easy to get lost in the sauce!! Try “Ah! Leah!” By Donnie Iris!!🤘🔥
Total banger
Great singing by David Crosby. One of his songs. Very cool song!
A classic from David Crosby
@@michellerichardson6135 Yeah just remembered that, old age
One of my most favorite songs of all time due to its bluesy grit.
I love this song, but it is a beautiful demonstration of one of the most prevalent sins in late '60s-early '70s music: overindulgence! That attitude of everything one utters or plays is worthy of recording because "Yeah, man...I'm speaking truth to power...I'm not gonna let the Man get away with it, brother!"; and that the most spontaneous lyrics were the BEST because "that's total truth, man; it's pure and beautiful, man! Dig it!!" Well, sometimes it's not. And sometimes we need to maybe step away from the coke or the heroin to regain perspective and realize that maybe that idea was not quite as awesome as we thought it was. But I've still loved this song for 4+ decades because it's like having captured a certain moment of time in a bottle.
This song pre dated the era of hard core heroin and coke. Those drugs were brought into the country by our intelligence agencies to derail the counter culture movement. The hippie movement rejected the culture of war and hard core addictive drugs and was therefore considered a real threat to power. We can see today who won and what it has wrought upon us.
@@awen777 this was recorded in 1970, while Crosby first started heroin in '69, and coke was around, particularly in Hollywood. Remember that coke and heroin were not at all unknown in music, going back to the jazz scene in the 1920's, '30s and '40s. Think back to the famous Cole Porter song, or artists like Billie Holiday or Bird, on up through Chet Baker, Miles Davis, Ray Charles, Bill Evans, or Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton. Those drugs were all her in copious amounts before we had any intelligence agencies. However, I do agree with you that the alphabet agencies made up for lost time, certainly bringing opium in from Laos in the '60s and '70s and cocaine through central America in the '80s.
@@oboogie2 I remember when it came out. I was 18yrs. old. I also remember when Steppenwolf came out with "The Pusherman" which was against heroin and coke. I did not say those drugs were not around. I phrased it as such. What I was saying was the hard drugs did not become mainstream until the late 70's, 80's and early 90's. They remain mainstream today. There was resistance to them back then. As far as no intelligence agencies?! My father was undercover intelligence infiltrating the anti-Vietnam War movement in the mid-60's. The Vets brought home lbs of quality weed not heroin even though they used heroin while there in Vietnam fighting. They may have been the real beginning of the hard drug movement though. San Francisco was the same. Peace , love, weed until the heroin came in hard in the later 70's. The elite musician class has always throughout time indulged in these things. I was referring to mainstream society at the time.
I have seen this classic performed by C.S.N.Y. three times live. In Cooperstown N.Y. last time from 20 feet away.... AWESOME
Great song… I don’t feel like you guys give enough credit to Stephen stills. Neil Young was not the only guitar player, Stephen stills is a fantastic ,phenomenal guitar player. It seems like you leave him out sometimes, don’t give him enough credit…he’s doing a lot of those leads..😎
Stephen Stills is better than Neil Young.
I agree…