I mean, who doesn't already have that song anyway? That track's kind of a ripoff, and there is not nearly enough of Stills being heard, but "Black Queen" almost makes up for it. I may be a little biased, because I don't find many things much finer than a live Neil Young letting it all out. All in all, this is a pretty good album if you enjoy the live sound (which is certainly lacking in most of today's music). If you're looking more for a refined, produced sound like you hear on the radio, stick with one of their great studio albums.

As I have stated in other reviews, 4 WAY STREET along with STICKY FINGERS made the soundtrack to the summer of 1971. I listened to it over and over and when I left home for college in late summer I discovered thousands of others were doing the very same thing. Its influence cannot be overstated. Both the earlier CROSBY STILL & NASH and DÉJÀ VU were critical and popular successes; but this live album filled out the legend and presented CSNY as the band has remained in memory and imagination.

Many of my contemporaries hate this album. John Mellencamp has gone on record stating it is the worst record in the world. While this is unduly harsh, there is a grain of truth to one complaint. 4 WAY STREET is very much an artifact of its time. It was made in the shadow of social upheaval that included racial riots, assassinations, disturbances at several hundred colleges and universities, the divisive Vietnam War, and the "massacre" four protesting students at Kent State by the Ohio National Guard. It was a threatening and politically charged time. And CSNY were at the forefront of what was then called the youth counter-culture.

They were part of 1960's generation who believed they glimpsed a better moral code and way of life different the older generations before them. Outside of this context, some of what CSNY has to say makes little sense. For some this is precisely the trouble. All those events of the late 1960's-early 1970's are now only dry words in history books. Of larger import to the youth of that time, the next few years revealed that the long expected "Age of Aquarius" and the promise of new enlightenment and idealism would not come. That special, bright, shinning hope died.

If everything CSNY did were topical, then there would be little here of interest. With the exception of Graham Nash's "Chicago", Stills' "America's Children" rant and perhaps Young's "Ohio", CSNY's music was not so political that it retains little musical interest. True to Crosby's short monologue before "Triad", they mostly focused on what was going on in their lives and the lives of those around them. And the fact that they were so musically inventive and entertaining still inspires enthusiasm today.

What had struck many was the album's unique (for its time) format of one disc acoustic and the other disc electric. What is really interesting is that, of the twenty full songs, only five came the groups' earlier two albums. The rest of the material came from their earlier bands or from their solo work. The moment's focus moves from member to member as they traded off between each other doing each other's songs. In this fashion, David Crosby comes across surprisingly sweet and romantic. Stills is the master musician and entertainer. Nash, on the other hand, seems to be struggling to keep up with the exception of "Teach Your Children".

4 WAY STREET is important (if for no other reason) for introducing Neil Young to an eager young audience. Young had been an integral if quixotic pillar of the Buffalo Springfield and he had released three excellent solo albums. But to most, Young was an unknown and his performances on this album opened up a completely new world in songwriting and gave us the newly minted archetype of the reclusive, eccentric rock artist. His acoustic "On The Way Home", "Cowgirl In The Sand" and "Don't Let It Get You Down" were unusually warm and moving moments on the original LP. The inclusion of his medley of "The Loner", "Cinnamon Girl" and "Down By The River" only extends the wonder of his craft-it only remains a mystery why they couldn't find a way to put it on the original.

The CD version keeps the original set of the second LP found in the original edition. Again, we have the same trading off between each other's material. But, again, it is Young's "Southern Man" that is etched into your mind. It is not that Crosby or Nash's songs are bad-they just don't push the emotional echoes as Young does. The exception is Stills' "Carry On" followed by "Find The Cost Of Freedom". The first is a musical joy. The second is inexplicably arresting and moving.

This is one of those "essential albums" you owe it to yourself to purchase. This was CSNY when they were absolutely white hot. The rest of the 1970's should have been a lot more like this. It wouldn't hurt if today's music were a little more like this as well.

CSN&Y fans will love this double cd! The first cd is easy-listening, kindof acoustic, then it gets nice and heavy ("electric music" as they say at the end of track 10, disc 1).

I agree with the one reviewer who was upset at the measly 33 seconds of Suite: Judy Blue Eyes. And how in the world can you make Cowgirl In The Sand be less than 4 minutes long? That's like being served a club sandwich that has nothing but the bread. Wassup with all that? However, fear not! You get plenty of great stuff.

Neil Young's 9:41 minute blend of "The Loner" "Cinnamon Girl" and "Down By The River" is one you'll listen to over and over again. Yes, each one could be 9 minutes long live, but it is hauntingly smooth and like no other version.

In 1966, Stephen Stills wrote "For What It's Worth" with Buffalo Springfield, and he works it into disc 1 track 10.... "stop, children, what's that sound? Everybody look what's goin' down..." cool! and a valid message to any generation.

"Long Time Gone" is great. But "Southern Man" clocking in at 13:45 minutes, is fabulous! There's your whole commute to work! Crank it! Then Ohio gets cut short, to under four minutes, but it is well done. (The Isley Brothers did a rocking 12+ minute version shortly after, in 1971, blended with JH's Machinegun.)

As for the early '70s banter between (and in some) songs, we might all be surprised to hear that these supposedly anti-establishment guys actually told their audiences that America is great! Listen to the improvised lyrics on track 10, disc 1. (And if you're game, check out Steppenwolf Live, also from the early '70s. They did the same pro-American words, though they wanted things cleaned up. Awesome music there too!)

This version of "Carry On" takes the show! Clocking in at almost 15 minutes, it will get you home from work, unbothered by traffic! Go for it!