Friday, October 2, 2026

Manassas - Beat-Workshop 1972


In 1972, with an already embarrassingly rich resume including Buffalo Springfield and CSN&Y, Stephen Stills’ finest hour was still to come. Along with ex-Byrd/Burrito Chris Hillman, Stills co-founded Manassas and issued a 2LP set that was called “a sprawling masterpiece”. Manassas was barely 6 months old when they convened at the film studios of Germany’s Radio Bremen to record this excellent 35+ minute live performance for the TV show Beat Club. Released on DVD in 2000 and reportedly the only visual documentation of the band, Manassas, with no audience, expertly fuses Stills’ musical passions (blues rock, Latin & country) into a distinctively potent blend. This set’s suite of songs begins with “Song Of Love” and runs uninterrupted through to “Jet Set (Sigh)”. Instead of concluding the run as originally recorded on the LP (with “Anyway”), Stills throws the band a live curve ball (you can actually see and hear the momentary confusion at the 20:45 mark) and, in front of the rolling cameras, kicks off an extended jam instead (at 22:00). The DVD is worth owning just to see Stills’ short-lived Manassas in performance mode, something most of us never got the opportunity to experience.  From: https://thefatangelsings.com/2014/12/20/stephen-stills-and-manassas-live-at-the-beat-club-march-25th-1972/