It’s been 50 years since Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young unveiled their highly-anticipated debut album. To commemorate, the folk-rock luminaries will re-introduce Déjà Vu on May 4—reviving spirited classics from the 10-track collection, including “Carry On” and “Teach Your Children’,’ for a modern interpretation of ever-relevant principles.
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The expansive 4-CD/1-LP Anniversary Collection includes 38 unreleased demos, outtakes, and alternative takes. To herald the announcement, a previously unreleased demo version of “Birds” is now available along with a new line of CSNY Déjà Vu-themed, organic merch made from sustainably sourced materials on Rhino and CSNY50.
Notable highlights include the demo for Crosby’s “Almost Cut My Hair”; Stills’ outtake for “Bluebird Revisited”; and Young’s alternate version of “Helpless” featuring harmonica. Other unreleased content from the deluxe collection includes “Know You Got To Run,” the first song the quartet recorded during its first session on July 15 at the house Stills was renting from Peter Tork in Studio City. This set serves as the debut of a delightful version of “Our House” that features Nash singing with the song’s inspiration, Joni Mitchell.
Déjà Vu: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition will be available from Rhino on May 14, presented in a hardcover book brimming with rarely seen photos from the era and annotated by writer/filmmaker Cameron Crowe. His revealing liner notes detail the album creation process through stories told by the people who were there, including David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young.
From his notes, Crowe reflects “’Déjà Vu’ caught the zeitgeist perfectly” and “might just be the legendary band’s most accurate portrait of their fiery individualism.” Crowe lauds the luminaries debut masterpiece at this half-century milestone, and observes “50 years later, with the sonic aperture fully opened, it’s a wide-screen look at the big picture of ‘Déjà Vu,’ with more music, including a batch of surprises, unseen photos, and a lot more clarity.”
A deluxe vinyl version will also be available with the full content across 5 LPs of 180-gram vinyl. The deluxe vinyl version is available for digital pre-order exclusively at CSNY50 and Rhino. The music will also be available on digital download and streaming services and in high-resolution audio.
