Neil Young promised David Crosby in 1983 that he would reunite with Crosby, Stills & Nash if Crosby could solve his problems with drugs and clean himself up.[4] Five months in prison in 1986 for Crosby at the Texas Department of Corrections in Huntsville following his 1985 arrest for possession of illegal drugs and a semi-automatic firearm in West Palm Beach, Florida accomplished exactly that, and, good to Young's word, the quartet assembled to record the second official CSNY studio album at Young's ranch in Woodside, California with his handpicked production team.[5][6]
The title song, written by Neil Young, is a satire of then-sensational political scandals involving Oliver North, former presidential candidate Gary Hart and televangelistJimmy Swaggart, and was promoted with a filmed music video directed by Julien Temple that featured members of the band portraying exaggerated caricatures of North (Stills), Hart (Nash), and Swaggart (Crosby) with a disguised Young acting as narrator to their "downfall" and a Punk Rocker. Released as a single, it missed the Billboard Hot 100 completely, as did three of the other four singles released from the album but managed to peak at No. 4 on Album Rock Tracks Chart (now Mainstream Rock). The only single to chart in the US, "Got It Made", peaked at No. 69 on the Hot 100, though it charted much higher on two format-specific Billboard charts— #11 on Adult Contemporary and #1 on Album Rock Tracks. In Young's native Canada, the single "American Dream" was a substantial hit, peaking at #3, while "Got It Made" peaked at #16.[7]
Recording
David Crosby recounted, "The whole thing, the recording of American Dream, it got stretched out. And we did not have, really, the best group of songs to work with. Then, even though we did not have enough good songs, we ended up putting fourteen of them on the album! I think that was stupid."[8] For the first time in the group's history, none of the songs from a studio album became standard items in the group's live repertoire.[9]
Writing in Rolling Stone, critic Anthony DeCurtis wrote that "Despite pleasant melodies, the occasional interesting song, and the signature harmonies, American Dream is, for the most part, a snoozefest."[13]
Niko Bolas, Tim Mulligan, Tim Foster and Brentley Walton
Sound effects on "Shadowland"
Bill Boydston, Don Gooch, Bill Lazerus, Graham Nash and Joe Vitale
The Volume Dealers Choir on "Soldiers of Peace"
Kelly Ashmore, Betsy Aubrey, Tom Banghart, Cha Blevins, Niko Bolas, Craig Doerge, Scott Gordon, R. Mac Holbert, Stanley Johnston, Bill Krause, Debbie Meister, Tim Mulligan, Susan Nash, Jay Parti, Steve Perry, Vince Slaughter, Joe Vitale and Paul Williamson
Production
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – producers, mixing
Niko Bolas – producer, recording, mixing
Tim Mulligan – assistant producer, recording, mixing, digital editing
^Zimmer, Dave. Crosby, Stills & Nash The Biography. Da Capo Press 2000, ISBN0-306-80974-5, p. 264.
^Four Way Street The Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Reader. Da Capo Press 2004, ISBN0-306-81277-0, pp. 275-276. Article by Dave Zimmer, originally in BAM April 22, 1988.
