Stephen Stills Change Partners: The Definitive Biography

by David Roberts

Stephen Stills is one of the last remaining music legends from the rock era without a biography. During his six-decade career, he has played with all the greats. His career sky-rocketed when Crosby, Stills & Nash played only their second gig together at Woodstock in 1969. With the addition of Neil Young, the band would go on to play the first rock stadium tour in 1974. Stephen Stills is the only person to have been inducted twice in one night into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Throughout 2016 Stephen Stills will be on tour with his new blues/rock trio The Rides.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography

326 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
David Roberts is an English editor and novelist.
Roberts worked for several years as a book editor at Chatto and Windus, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, and Michael O'Mara Books. Since 2000 he has been a full-time writer, best known for a series of crime novels set during the late 1930s, and featuring the joint adventures of Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Browne. The novels use actual historical events as a backdrop and there is an Author's Note at the back of the books briefly outlining what happened to the historical characters subsequently.
Publishers Weekly has described his novels as "well-researched" and "first-rate fun".

Reviews

[Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

If Stephen Stills fans are looking for a “definitive biography” they are still waiting.

This book is like a catalog of recordings and performances noting the songs, who wrote them and who performed, produced and critiqued them.

There are quotes (none footnoted) from the players, fans, and the music industry and press. The number of quotes, particularly from Stills, is impressive given that the author did no interviews.

There are maybe 5 pages total regarding Still’s 3 marriages. I’m not sure all of his children are mentioned.

I would not have stayed with it were it not a quick read.

[Randall Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen sums it all up with this one: “To become a decent lead player you’ve got to play rhythm first.” Stephen realized his best hits were his early ones which he attributes to being free and not trying to out-craft yourself or not “losing the point”. Amazingly, Stephen recorded all the instruments you hear on the first CSN record. Stephen says, “Graham doesn’t have a falsetto. He just sings really high. When we sing ‘Suite’ for example, I’m on top.” Pre-road Downs has that amazing backwards solo in it which Stephen worked out in his head beforehand. Helplessly Hoping is Stephen’s study in alliteration. Wooden Ships is exactly about that, written by Paul Kantner, David Crosby and Stephen Stills about the wooden boats they loved to be on in Florida. Bob Weir said after seeing the effect CSN’s harmonies were having on him and the audience, both he and The Grateful Dead got to work and spent a lot of time working on their vocal harmonies. Dave Mason said he would have never written “Only You Know and I Know” unless Stephen had taught him some cool open tunings. Listen to Stephen’s guitar and bass parts on Joni Mitchell’s ‘Carey’. Another helpful quote of Stephen’s “A wonderful thing happens when you turn 60. Some things just don’t bother you. You don’t care at all.” So true. If you are a Stephen Stills fan, you will be glad you read this book.

[Richard Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book and very well written.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stephen Stills: Change Partners by David Roberts (Red Planet Publishing Ltd. 2016) (780.4216609)(3431). What the heck? This is no biography; this is a puff piece! My antennae went up when I read in the intro that author David Roberts had never even talked to the Stephen Stills! How does one write a biography of a living breathing human being without meeting the subject face-to-face?

Simply put, one does not. It is one thing to write a biography without interviewing the subject when the subject is a person from history. Secondary sources are the only options in that case. However, writing about a living legend without ever interviewing the subject is like trying to describe color to a blind person or the act of sex to a virgin. Either David Roberts did not try hard enough to interview Stills, or the subject had a reason to decline the interview. Either way, I am skeptical at best of author David Roberts' bona fides in this instance; it makes me discredit the cites and quotes that Roberts has imported and attributed to other players.

There is very little (and I mean VERY little) information contained in this book that has not been published elsewhere.

If the reader desires further information about Stills, one must look to the autobiographies of David Crosby, Graham Nash, or Neil Young.

Perhaps Stephen Stills' position is that he actually intends to let his music do all of his speaking for him.

It is for certain sure that David Roberts has not added anything on Stills' behalf.

My rating: 6/10 (because this book is not a bad summation of Stills' career; it just adds nothing to the body of knowledge), finished 3/25/20 (3431).

[Pete daPixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The definitive biography as the front cover proclaims, has been assembled by David Roberts from countless media interviews, many other related music publications and the authors vast collection of all things Stills.
The man himself has a low opinion of rock and roll biographies, so Mr Roberts has filled the vacant void. It has to be said that Steven Stills' musical career is quite a void to fill, spanning over fifty years. Personally I quite liked this book. Although some of CSNY sounds have remained in my collection over the years and Stills' 'Manassas' has long been a favourite, there are many gaps in my knowledge of the man himself. 'Change Partners' (2016) has adequately filled in many gaps, particularly his time spent as a member of the 'Surrey set' in England in the early 1970's.
For a major rock artist to not have a publication of any kind on the bookshelves, it is inevitable that someone will publish something sooner or later and perhaps an avid fan is the next best thing to any official release. Although unauthorised and stitched together, which hinders the flow of the narrative, for those interested in the musical career of a great guitar man, here it is.

[Allan Heron · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable overview of Stills' career if short on any information or viewpoints that haven't been covered elsewhere.

It's disappoiningly vague on the breakdown of his first two marriages, or his notorious behaviour during the 1980's. What happened to the Stills that was so out of it he was concinced he had been to Vietnam?

As the only book that focuses solely on Stills' career it is of some value but you feel there's a better book to be written.

[Mary E]

I knew beforehand that this book was not really a biography of Stephen Stills. It was more of a biography of the songs he wrote, the people he sang with, with a bit of his personal life interjected. Tough to get through.

[David Healey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dull as dish water.

[Joe Nicholl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun look at the music career of Stephen Stills...Easy read...not Great but it is an enjoyable read...If you're a fan of CSNY give it a read...3.5 stars!

[Erik Steevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

'There's something happening here ... in this book!!!
I loved every letter of it, what a fantastic biography!!!
Very well done David Roberts.