Whether I’m restoking the CD carousel at home or filling up my car console with fresh music, I want to be happy with whatever I grab from the rack.  An old Jackson Browne or Eagles or Moody Blues or Beatles never gets shoved back, but face it, we all have lots of good-not-great albums……I don’t even keep the stinkers.  Snapper Tunes, for the most part, tries to recommend the keepers – consistently excellent and timeless CDs that are always appreciated.  It’s especially gratifying for me to be with kindred spirits while listening to these classics.  Good music equals good memories.  I don’t plan to outgrow the buzz.

I buy a lot of old stuff because, frankly, it’s almost always better.  One such recent purchase is Stephen Stills – his solo debut from 1970.  If you want to instantly get carried away to a place you haven’t visited in a while, catch this groove.  Beginning with that old radio staple Love the One You’re With, the CD explodes with original comfortable rock.  And I love it more with each listening.  The second song, Do for the Others, could easily have been on the first CSN album.  It’s a totally outstanding peace and love anthem.  A couple of fine tunes, Church (Part of Someone) and We are not Helpless have a big choir sound and feature guest singers like Rita Coolidge, Mama Cass Elliot, John Sebastian, David Crosby and Graham Nash. And just when you think it’s passed the test, it gets better with Old Times Good Times featuring Stills wailing on a big Hammond organ and Jimi Hendrix providing the sizzling guitar parts.  What a great song.  The next tune Go Back Home highlights yet another Stratocaster legend – Eric Clapton.  He and Stills trade leads throughout this mild start-big finish powerhouse.  I’m not kidding – if you turn this CD up loud and listen to it without interruption, you’ll be 19 again and you will be smiling.  But I digress.  Other fabulous songs include the somewhat well-known Sit Yourself Down, the slow beautiful burn of To a Flame and the cool-jazzy Cherokee.  If you like blues, there’s Black Queen and it’s a lot better than the “Four Way Street” version.  All in all, it’s such a great find that I strongly recommend that you dust off the album or buy the CD.  It’ll thrill your hippie soul.      GD