So Far (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album)

So Far is a 1974 compilation album by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Shipping as a gold record and peaking at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, it was the band's third chart-topping album in a row. It has been certified six times platinum by the RIAA, and is the second best-selling album by any configuration of the quartet in tandem after their 1970 studio album, Déjà Vu.

So Far
Compilation album by
ReleasedAugust 19, 1974
Recorded1968–1970
GenreFolk rock
Length42:36
LabelAtlantic
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young chronology
4 Way Street
(1971)
So Far
(1974)
CSN
(1977)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideB−[2]
Tom HullC−[3]

Content

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The album contains five of the band's six singles to date, omitting "Marrakesh Express", all of which had reached the Top 40. It is the first release on long-playing album of the single "Ohio" as well as its b-side "Find the Cost of Freedom", and the only place both can be found on one compact disc.[n 1] The other five tracks were taken from the band's two studio albums, Crosby, Stills & Nash and Déjà Vu, although the other singles appear here in their album-length versions and mixes.

The album's 11 studio tracks derived from a group that had only issued 22 to date. Graham Nash later insisted that the group was against the album's release, calling the concoction of a greatest-hits album from two LPs and one non-LP single "absurd". Atlantic Records wished to capitalize on the highly publicized and anticipated reunion tour of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in 1974, however, and such was the demand for any new product by the quartet that So Far topped the charts anyway and went gold immediately.

Young appears on only four of the album's 11 songs: "Ohio"; "Find the Cost of Freedom"; "Woodstock"; and "Helpless". He had only appeared on half the tracks of the Déjà Vu LP. The remaining songs without Young, with the exception of "Déjà Vu", also appear on Crosby, Stills & Nash's Greatest Hits compact disc of 2005.

The cover art was painted by the group's friend and colleague Joni Mitchell. The album was reissued on compact disc in 1988 and again in 1995 after being remastered by Joe Gastwirt at Ocean View Digital using the original master tapes. It was reissued yet again, with no apparent additional remastering, on September 30, 2008. The album has been rendered relatively superfluous with the appearance of the Crosby, Stills & Nash box set in 1991, which contains all of these tracks with the exceptions of "Helplessly Hoping", "Woodstock", "Guinnevere", and "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes", which are in either different versions or different mixes.

Track listing

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Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)SourceLength
1."Déjà Vu"David CrosbyDéjà Vu, 19704:10
2."Helplessly Hoping"Stephen StillsCrosby, Stills & Nash, 19692:38
3."Wooden Ships"David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Paul KantnerCrosby, Stills & Nash5:26
4."Teach Your Children"Graham NashDéjà Vu2:53
5."Ohio"Neil YoungNon-album single, 19703:00
6."Find the Cost of Freedom"Stephen StillsB-side of the "Ohio" single2:01
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)SourceLength
1."Woodstock"Joni MitchellDéjà Vu3:52
2."Our House"Graham NashDéjà Vu2:58
3."Helpless"Neil YoungDéjà Vu3:34
4."Guinnevere"David CrosbyCrosby, Stills & Nash4:38
5."Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"Stephen StillsCrosby, Stills & Nash7:24

Personnel

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  • David Crosbyvocals all tracks; rhythm guitar on "Déjà Vu", "Wooden Ships", "Ohio", and "Woodstock"; acoustic guitar on "Guinnevere"
  • Stephen Stills – vocals all tracks except "Guinnevere"; acoustic and electric guitars all tracks except "Our House" and "Guinnevere"; piano on "Déjà Vu" and "Helpless"; organ on "Wooden Ships", "Woodstock", and "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"; bass on "Déjà Vu", "Wooden Ships", "Teach Your Children", and "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"
  • Graham Nash – vocals all tracks; piano on "Woodstock" and "Our House"; acoustic guitar, tambourine on "Teach Your Children"; harpsichord on "Our House"
  • Neil Young – vocals on "Ohio", "Find the Cost of Freedom", and "Helpless"; acoustic guitar on "Find the Cost of Freedom" and "Helpless"; electric guitar on "Ohio" and "Woodstock"

Additional personnel

Charts

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Chart performance for So Far
Chart (1974) Peak
position
Canadian RPM 100 Albums[4] 1
UK Albums Chart[5] 25
Australian Album Charts 77
US Top LPs & Tape (Billboard) 1
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums[6] 1
US Record World Album Chart[7] 2

Year End Album Charts

Chart (1974) Rank
Canada Album Charts[8] 16
US Cashbox Album Charts[9] 50

Certification

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[10] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[11] 6× Platinum 6,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Notes

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  1. ^ "Ohio" and "Find the Cost of Freedom" can also be found on separate discs of the box set CSN.

References

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  1. ^ Eder, Bruce (2011). "So Far - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: C". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 23, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. ^ Hull, Tom (April 1975). "The Rekord Report: First Card". Overdose. Retrieved June 26, 2020 – via tomhull.com.
  4. ^ Canada, Library and Archives (2013-04-16). "The RPM story". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  5. ^ "CROSBY STILLS NASH & YOUNG | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  6. ^ "CASH BOX MAGAZINE: Music and coin machine magazine 1942 to 1996". worldradiohistory.com. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  7. ^ "RECORD WORLD MAGAZINE: 1942 to 1982". worldradiohistory.com. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  8. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". 2014-04-29. Archived from the original on 2014-04-29. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  9. ^ "CASH BOX MAGAZINE: Music and coin machine magazine 1942 to 1996". worldradiohistory.com. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  10. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – So Far". Music Canada. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  11. ^ "American album certifications – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – So Far". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 1 October 2012.