Stephen Arthur Stills, born on January 3, 1945 in Dallas, Texas, is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known for being a member of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, as well as a lengthy solo career.
Raised in a military family, Stills moved quite a lot in his youth, which exposed him to different cultures and music genres, including blues, folk, country, rock, psychedelia and Latin music, resulting in a highly idiosyncratic style. Although mostly recognized as a guitarist, his first instrument were actually drums, then the bass guitar and organ.
Starting with a folk group Au Go-Go Singers, Stills gradually emerged as a major figure in the West Coast rock scene of the late 1960s, first as a founding member of Buffalo Springfield, then Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. While his star somewhat faded in the 1980s (in no small part due to his alcohol issues), he is considered a very important creator in the history of American popular music of the twentieth century. Stephen Stills was the first musician ever to be inducted to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame twice the same evening, for his work with Springfield and CSNY, and his solo debut is the only album with performances by both Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, although they do not share a track.
In a 2020 interview he suggested his intention to retire, but Stills occasionally still appears live on stage.
- 1970 - Stephen Stills
- 1971 - Stephen Stills 2
- 1975 - Stills
- 1975 - Stills Live
- 1976 - Illegal Stills
- 1976 - Still Stills (compilation)
- 1978 - Thoroughfare Gap
- 1984 - Right By You
- 1991 - Stills Alone
- 2003 - Turnin' Back The Pages (compilation)
- 2005 - Man Alive
- 2007 - Just Roll Tape
- 2009 - Live At Shepherd's Bush
- 2013 - Carry On (compilation box set put together by Graham Nash)
- 1964 - They Call Us The Au Go-Go Singers (with The Au Go-Go Singers)
- 1966 - Buffalo Springfield
- 1967 - Buffalo Springfield Again
- 1968 - Last Time Around (also with Buffalo Springfield)
- 1968 - Super Session (with Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper)
- 1969 - Crosby Stills & Nash
- 1970 - Déjà Vu (with CSNY)
- 1971 - 4 Way Street (CSNY live album)
- 1972 - Manassas (with Manassas)
- 1973 - Down The Road (with Manassas)
- 1976 - Long May You Run (with Neil Young, as a Stills-Young Band)
- 1977 - CSN
- 1982 - Daylight Again (with CSN)
- 1983 - Allies (with CSN, live album)
- 1988 - American Dream (with CSNY)
- 1990 - Live It Up (with CSNY, a studio album)
- 1994 - After The Storm (with CSN)
- 1999 - Looking Forward (with CSNY)
- 2008 - Deja Vu Live (with CSNY)
- 2012 - CSN 2012 (live album)
- 2013 - Can't Get Enough (with The Rides)
- 2014 - CSNY 1974 (live album)
- 2016 - Pierced Arrow (with The Rides)
- 2017 - Stills & Collins (with Judy Collins)
Can't be with the one you troped, trope the one you're with:
- The Alcoholic: Had serious issues with drinking especially in the late eighties (CBS West 1987 profile on Crosby Stills & Nash showed him seriously intoxicated more than once), which heavily contributed to tensions within the band. He eventually managed to moderate his drinking.
- Amicable Exes: With Judy Collins, his girlfriend for a while. They even recorded an album together in 2017.
- Cover Version: "Woodstock" by Joni Mitchell is recognized more from the CSNY version sung by Stills. Also his part of Super Session by Bloomfield Kooper Stills is mostly covers, by necessity: it was meant to be a full Mike Bloomfield - Al Kooper album, but the guitarist suddenly left in the middle of the recording and Stills was hurriedly called in to fill the spot, with no time to prepare and rehearse any original song.
- I Am the Band: Plays guitars (acoustic and electric), bass guitar, keyboards, percussive instruments and drums. Recorded most of the instrumental parts for CSN's first album, except for some guitars and oddly, drums (the first instrument he learned to play). Averted with CSNY's reunion album American Dream, where he sticks to singing, guitars and occasional keyboards (due to his serious alcohol problems at the time, he was much less active in the studio than usual, to the point where Neil had to step in and complete his songs, as none of them were finished on time by Stills).
- Insufferable Genius: During the times of Springfield and CSNY, he was rather difficult to work with, which contributed to both bands breaking up due to internal strife. He mellowed since then a lot.
- Jerkass: He admitted he was one to his companions in CSN(Y), at least partially due to both his major ego and drug issues at the time. (In one case, knowing that Bob Dylan is in the audience, he performed three songs during his solo spot, instead of one like the other three guys, and since his solo spot was the last one, no one was able to interrupt him.). By a number of accounts he mellowed significantly over time.
- Military Brat: Comes from a military family and moved a bit in his childhood, mostly around Southern United States and the Latin America. This had a major influence on his music.
- New Sound Album: Thoroughfare Gap was Stills trying to do disco.
- Old Shame: Prefers not to discuss the Crosby Stills Nash & Young reunion album, American Dream (fans and critics mostly agree). Also his mid-1970s period, due to his dependence on alcohol and drugs.
- One-Man Army: Recorded most of Crosby Stills & Nash's debut album by himself, with other musicians contributing all the drum parts and some guitars.
- The Perfectionist: Is a demanding taskmaster in the studio, pushing other musicians to work until everything sounds the way he originally envisioned. Especially in regards to bassists - electric bass was one of the first instruments he learned to play, and he often shows studio musicians exactly how the bass line should be played. This contributed to conflicts during recording, especially with Neil Young.
- Supergroup: Hoo, boy. Starting arguably with Buffalo Springfield (which combined Stills, Richie Furay - a singing guitarist from the Au Go-Go Singers and Neil Young), then his collaboration with Al Kooper and Electric Flag's rhythm section on the Super Session album, his work with Crosby, Nash and Young, Manassas (including Chris Hillman from The Byrds and CSNY rhythm section), The Rides (with Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Barry Goldberg).
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Neil Young. Over the years the two constantly oscillate between a close collaboration and mutual dislike - personal, as professionally they share mutual respect and each of them called the other in interviews a genius.
- Vocal Tag Team: A trademark of Crosby, Stills, Nash (and Young).
