Thoroughfare Gap is a studio album by American singer-songwriter Stephen Stills, released in 1978. It was a critical and commercial disappointment that only charted at number 84 in the US. This album is now available as a three-album set on two CDs with Stills & Illegal Stills, having never been released on its own on CD.
Content
In a radio interview at the time, Stills said he worked extremely hard on the album, and there were 12 inch mixes of "Can't Get No Booty" ready to be released. He recorded some disco tracks after playing percussion on the Bee Gees' "You Should Be Dancing" through the Joe Lala connection. So he hired their arranger Mike Lewis and used the Bee Gees' younger brotherAndy Gibb on backing vocals. Stephen Stills described the record as "disco and swamp rock". Stills said The song "Thoroughfare Gap" was him drawing upon his history, and George Terry is quoted as saying he thinks it's about Neil Young's Lionel Trains. Stills said about the perceived negative reception of going disco. "There are elements of disco I like the percussion and the guitar. I have played on so many Bee Gees songs I don't which ones I played on and which ones I didn't. 'Cause Barry is an old friend of mine and I just sat in and played a chickum-chit, chickum-chit, a little wacka-wacka guitar, then said use them or dont use them, I had a great time. You dont even have to use my name." He continued on Thoroughfare Gap "Maybe some of the tunes weren't as good as others I've written but I am just messing around trying to find something new. I can't do the same thing for eight years. He said he "recorded "Not Fade Away" after seeing the Buddy Holly Story movie and went into the studio the next night to record it. Kind of a combination of the Stones version and the original version". The song "Thoroughfare Gap", dates back to 1972, with Chris Hillman remembering Manassas attempting to record it, but not being able to get the right take.
Reception
Critical reception was mixed, but generally negative. In a contemporary review, People magazine said "Stills succeeds handsomely in soldering his Southern Cal rock to an ultraswayed disco feel. Against great odds, it adds up to a fresh sound, thanks to stalwart studio work by drummer Joe Vitale, percussionist Joe Lala, bassist George "Chocolate" Perry and Eric Clapton's guitarist George Terry. Their efforts are particularly noteworthy on You Can't Dance Alone, What's the Game and Can't Get No Booty. Especially reassuring is the title track, an acoustic ballad with a haunting fiddle solo by Al Gould. It harks back to Stills' finest work over the years, songs like Helplessly Hoping, 4 and 20 and As I Come of Age." Trouser Press, in a largely negative review, called the songwriting "monotonous" and said he was enthusiastically "trying to renovate his sound for today's scene". They did have praise for "Thoroughfare Gap", but still noted that it was six years old, saying it was the only the song that had "the folksy funk style that once made him worthwhile".
Track listing
Personnel
Stephen Stills - vocals, guitar, horns & string arrangements, percussion, bass, acoustic guitar, synthesizer, Moog, piano, organ
Mike Finnigan - vocals, piano , organ
Albhy Galuten - piano
Andy Gibb - vocals
Al Gould - fiddle
Paul Harris - piano
Brooks Honeycutt - vocals
Gerald Johnson - bass
Kenny Kirkland - piano
Danny Kortchmar - vocals, guitar, percussion
Joe Lala - percussion
Paul Lee - drums
Mike Lewis - horns & strings arrangement, flute arrangement
