Thoroughfare Gap

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.

This article is about the album. For the mountain pass, see Thoroughfare Gap (Bull Run Mountain).
Thoroughfare Gap
Studio album by
Stephen Stills
ReleasedOctober 31, 1978
RecordedJune 1978
StudioCriteria Studios, Miami, The Record Plant, Los Angeles, The Record Plant, Sausalito
GenreRock, Disco
Length35:32
LabelColumbia
ProducerStephen Stills, The Albert Brothers
Stephen Stills chronology
Still Stills: The Best of Stephen Stills
(1976)		 Thoroughfare Gap
(1978)		 Right By You
(1984)
Singles from Thoroughfare Gap
  1. ""Can't Get No Booty" / "Lowdown""
    Released: 1978
  2. ""Thoroughfare Gap" / "Lowdown""
    Released: 1978
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

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.[2] 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 brother Andy 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

the title of the album was named after an escape route used during the Civil War. Mosby's guerrillas used to run through Thoroughfare Gap when they felt harassed. They'd just disappear into the Blue Ridge Mountains. For me, the record represents a little gap between one part of my career and the other, a cut in the pass.[3]

George Terry is quoted as saying he thinks it's about Neil Young's Lionel Trains.[4]

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 (Gibb) 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."[5]

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.[3]

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".[6]

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 (scorching guitar, lavish harmonies, introspective lyrics) to an ultraswayed disco feel (thudding drums, Caribbean cowbells, congas, high-volume strings and horns). 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."[7]

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".[8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Stephen Stills except where indicated.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."You Can't Dance Alone" 4:14
2."Thoroughfare Gap" 3:31
3."We Will Go On" 2:41
4."Beaucoup Yumbo"Stills, Joe Vitale3:33
5."What's the Game" 3:32
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Midnight Rider"Gregg Allman3:39
7."Woman Lleva" 3:13
8."Lowdown" 3:46
9."Not Fade Away"Buddy Holly, Norman Petty3:26
10."Can't Get No Booty"Danny Kortchmar, Stills3:44
Total length:35:32

Personnel
  • Stephen Stills - vocals (1-10), guitar (1-10), horns & string arrangements (1,4-8), percussion (1), bass (10), acoustic guitar (2), synthesizer (3), Moog (7), piano (10), organ (9)
  • Mike Finnigan - vocals (8), piano (1, 3, 6, 8) , organ (7)
  • Albhy Galuten - piano (7)
  • Andy Gibb - vocals (1, 5)
  • Al Gould - fiddle (2)
  • Paul Harris - piano (2)
  • Brooks Honeycutt - vocals (8)
  • Gerald Johnson - bass (7)
  • Kenny Kirkland - piano (5)
  • Danny Kortchmar - vocals (10), guitar (10), percussion (10)
  • Joe Lala - percussion (1, 3, 6, 10)
  • Paul Lee - drums (2)
  • Mike Lewis - horns & strings arrangement (1,4-8), flute arrangement (3)
  • Dave Mason - vocals (1,5 6)
  • Joey Murcia - guitar (1)
  • Richard O'Connell - drums (7)
  • George Perry - vocals (8, 9), bass (1, 3-6, 8-9)
  • Kitty Pritikin aka Kitty Woodson Terry - vocals (name misprint) (8)
  • Verna Richardson - vocals (8)
  • Lisa Roberts - vocals (8)
  • Whitt Sidner - flutes (3)
  • George Terry - guitar (3, 5, 7)
  • Gerry Tolman - guitar (6)
  • John Sambataro - vocals (1, 3, 5)
  • Joe Vitale - vocals (9), drums (1, 2-6, 8-10)

Technical Personnel
  • Producers - Stephen Stills and The Albert Brothers
  • Engineers - The Albert Brothers, Michael Braunstein, Steve Gursky
  • Design - Stephen Stills & John Berg
  • Photography - Jim McCrary
  • Mangement - Michael John Bowen

Special thanks to Guillerma Giachetti, Gerry Tolman, Armando Hurley, Harper Dance, Home At Last

Charts
Chart performance for Thoroughfare Gap
Chart (1978) Peak

position

US Billboard Top LPs & Tape[9] 83
Canadian RPM 100 Albums[10] 82
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums[11] 135
US Record World Album Chart[12] 140

Tour

This tour including Stills' backing group the California Blues Band. The 1979 run at The Roxy, Los Angeles, was professionally recorded.

Date City Country Venue Attendance Gross Notes
4 September 1978 Los Angeles United States Greek Theatre Bread and Roses Festival
1979 California Blues Band Tour
Date City Country Venue Attendance Gross Notes
25 January 1979 Los Angeles United States The Roxy[13] Sold Out
26 January 1979
27 January 1979
28 January 1979
3 March 1979 Havana Cuba Havana Jam
7 March 1979 Cincinnati United States Cincinnati Music Hall
9 March 1979 Chicago Auditorium Theatre
11 March 1979 Louisville Louisville Gardens
14 March 1979 Michigan Centre Stage 1,628 $22,228[14]
17 March 1979 Upper Derby Tower Theatre
18 March 1979 New York City The Palladium 3,300 $27,000[14]
23 March 1979 Pittsburgh Stanley Theatre 7,442 $71,545[15]
24 March 1979 Passaic Capitol Theatre 3.456 $28,172[15]
27 March 1979 Middletown Wesleyen University 3,010 $22,116[16]
29 March 1979 Reading Bollman Center
1 April 1979 Blacksburg Cassell Coliseum
4 April 1979 Nashville The Grand Ole Opry House
7 April 1979 Kansas City Memorial Hall 2,880 $23,040[17]
8 April 1979 St. Louis Kiel Opera House 2,607 $21,997[17]
4 June 1979 Irvine Crawford Hall
8 June 1979 Santa Barbara Santa Barbara Bowl 4,888 $32,633[18]
9 June 1979 San Francisco Fox Warfield Theatre 2,248 $44,960[18]
19 June 1979 Edwardsville Mississippi River Festival
20 June 1979 East Troy Alpine Valley Music Theatre
24 June 1979 New York Belmont Park
27 June 1979 Buffalo Kleinhans Music Hall
1 July 1979 Columbia Merriweather Post Pavilion
2 July 1979 New York Wollman Skating Ring
7 July 1979 New Jersey Garden States Arts Centre
7 September 1979 New York Woodstock '79
8 September 1979 New York Parr Meadows Racetrack
9 December 1979 Northridge Cal State University
31 December 1979 Riverside Ben H. Lewis Hall
1980 European Tour
4 July 1980
14 July 1980 Milano Italy Stadio San Siro Supported Angelo Branduardi
15 July 1980 Turin Stadio Comunale
17 July 1980 Nyon Switzerland Parc Du Lac Nyon Folk Festival
18 July 1980 Turin Italy Turin Municipal Stadium Supported Angelo Branduardi
21 July 1980 Rimini
22 July 1980 Nyon Switzerland La Prairie De Colovray
23 July 1980 Italy Bolzano Stadium
24 July 1980 Munich Germany Olympiahalle
26 July 1980 St. Goarshausen Freilichtbuhne Loreley
27 July 1980 Stadium Wurzburg
29 July 1980 Naples Italy Stadio San Paolo
4 August 1980
1980 United States
23 August 1980 Indianapolis United States Hilton U. Brown Theatre
29 August 1980 New York Central Park

Personnel

Stephen Stills and the California Blues Band

Typical setlist

All songs written by Stephen Stills, except where noted.

  1. Precious Love
  2. For What It's Worth
  3. You Can't Dance Alone
  4. Cuba Al Fin
  5. Go Back Home
  6. How Wrong Can You Be
  7. Love The One You're With
  8. Make Love To You
  9. Cherokee
  10. Rock And Roll Crazies/Cuban Bluegrass (Stills, Dallas Taylor/ Stills, Joe Lala)
  11. Jet Set (Sigh)
  12. Thoroughfare Gap
  13. Come On In My Kitchen (Robert Johnson)
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References
  1. Chrispell, J. "Thoroughfare Gap - Stephen Stills | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
  2. Stephen Stills 1978 Radio Interview, retrieved January 18, 2020
  3. Roberts, David; Gedge, David (October 28, 2016). Stephen Stills: Change Partners. This Day In Music Books. ISBN 978-1-78759-101-1.
  4. Roberts, David; Gedge, David (October 28, 2016). Stephen Stills: Change Partners. This Day In Music Books. ISBN 978-1-78759-101-1.
  5. Roberts, David; Gedge, David (October 28, 2016). Stephen Stills: Change Partners. This Day In Music Books. ISBN 978-1-78759-101-1.
  6. Roberts, David; Gedge, David (October 28, 2016). Stephen Stills: Change Partners. This Day In Music Books. ISBN 978-1-78759-101-1.
  7. "Picks and Pans Review: Thoroughfare Gap Gap". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  8. "Trouser Press Magazine Archive". Trouser Press. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  9. "Stephen Stills". Billboard. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  10. Canada, Library and Archives (April 16, 2013). "The RPM story". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  11. "CASH BOX MAGAZINE: Music and coin machine magazine 1942 to 1996". worldradiohistory.com. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  12. "RECORD WORLD MAGAZINE: 1942 to 1982". worldradiohistory.com. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  13. "Billboard Concert Review" (PDF).
  14. "Billboard Magazine" (PDF).
  15. "Billboard Box Office" (PDF).
  16. "Billboard Box Office" (PDF).
  17. "Billboard Box Office" (PDF).
  18. "Billboard Box Office" (PDF).
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