Thoroughfare Gap

 ( Stephen Stills Albums ) 

Thoroughfare Gap is the fifth studio album by United States 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.

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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", and subsequently hired their arranger Mike Lewis and used the group members' 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

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 that "there are elements of disco I like - the percussion and the guitar. I have played on so many Bee Gees songs: I don't know 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 'em or don't use 'em, I had a great time. You don't 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. That's called artistic suicide."

Stills said he recorded "Not Fade Away" after seeing The Buddy Holly Story 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.

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Reception Critical reception was mixed, but generally negative. In a contemporary review, People wrote that "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." 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 song that had "the folksy funk style that once made him worthwhile". Record World said Stills was experimenting, and "You Can't Dance Alone" was geared for the Top 40.

In support of this album Stills formed the California Blues Band and toured throughout most of 1979.

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Track listing

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Personnel

• Stephen Stills – vocals, guitars (1, 3–10), percussion (1), horn and string arrangements (1, 4–8), acoustic guitar (2), bass (2, 10), synthesizers (3), Moog synthesizer (7), Electric organ (9), acoustic piano (10)
• Mike Finnigan – acoustic piano (1, 3, 6, 8), organ (7), backing vocals (8)
• Paul Harris – acoustic piano (2)
• Kenny Kirkland – acoustic piano (5)
• Albhy Galuten – acoustic piano (7)
• Joey Murcia – guitars (1)
• George Terry – guitars (3, 5, 7)
• Gerry Tolman – guitars (6)
• Danny Kortchmar – guitars (10), percussion (10), backing vocals (10)
• George Perry – bass (1, 3–6, 8, 9), backing vocals (8, 9)
• Gerald Johnson – bass (7)
• Joe Vitale –drums (1, 3–6, 8, 9, 10), backing vocals (9)
• Paul Lee – drums (2)
• Richard O'Connell – drums (7)
• Joe Lala – percussion (1, 3, 6, 10)
• Al Gould – fiddle (2)
• Whit Sidener – (3)
• Mike Lewis – horn and string arrangements (1, 4–8), flute arrangements (3)
• Andy Gibb – backing vocals (1, 5)
• Dave Mason – backing vocals (1, 5, 6)
• John Sambataro – backing vocals (1, 3, 5)
• Brooks Hunnicutt – backing vocals (8)
• Kitty Pritikin (aka Kitty Woodson Terry) – backing vocals (name misprint) (8)
• Verna Richardson – backing vocals (8)
• Lisa Roberts – backing vocals (8)

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Production

• Stephen Stills – producer, album design
• Howard Albert – producer, engineer
• Ron Albert – producer, engineer
• Michael Braunstein – engineer, recording (4, 6–9)
• Steve Gursky – engineer
• Mike Fuller – mastering at Criteria Studios
• John Berg – album design
• Jim McCrary – photography

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

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Charts

+Chart performance for Thoroughfare Gap !Chart (1978) !Peak position
US Billboard Top LPs & Tape	83
Canadian RPM 100 Albums	82
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums	135
US Record World Album Chart	140

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Tour Stephen Stills California Blues Band Tour 1979 was a concert tour by American musician Stephen Stills. It was in support of his 1978 album Thoroughfare Gap. During the tour he also recorded another album that was rejected by his record label, many songs from this projected album were played on this tour. On this tour Stills was backed by his group the California Blues Band. The 1979 run at The Roxy, Los Angeles, was professionally recorded.

Dave Zimmer (2025). 9780306809743, Da Capo Press. . ISBN 9780306809743

4 September 1978	Los Angeles	United States	Greek Theatre			Bread and Roses Festival
25 January 1979	Los Angeles	United States	The Roxy		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			2 Shows
9 March 1979	Chicago		Auditorium Theatre
10 March 1979	Ohio		Kent State University
11 March 1979	Louisville		Louisville Gardens
13 March 1979	Indianapolis		Indiana Convention Centre
14 March 1979	Michigan		Centre Stage	1,628	$22,228
16 March 1979	Chicago		Auditorium Theatre
17 March 1979	Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania		Tower Theatre
18 March 1979	New York City		The Palladium	3,300	$27,000
19 March 1979	Ohio		Columbus Veterans Memorial Auditorium
22 March 1979	Boston		Boston College
23 March 1979	Passaic		Capitol Theatre	3.456	$28,172
24 March 1979	Pittsburgh		Stanley Theatre	7,442	$71,545	2 Shows
26 March 1979	Maryland		DAR Constitution Center
27 March 1979	Middletown		Wesleyen University	3,010	$22,116
29 March 1979	Reading		Albright College
30 March 1979	Atlanta		Fox Theatre
1 April 1979	Blacksburg		Cassell Coliseum
3 April 1979	Atlanta		Fox Theatre
4 April 1979	Nashville		The Grand Ole Opry House
7 April 1979	Kansas City		Memorial Hall	2,880	$23,040
8 April 1979	St. Louis		Kiel Opera House	2,607	$21,997
4 June 1979	Irvine	United States	Crawford Hall
6 June 1979	San Diego		Pechanga Arena
8 June 1979	Santa Barbara		Santa Barbara Bowl	4,888	$32,633
9 June 1979	San Francisco		Warfield Theatre	2,248	$44,960
10 June 1979	Los Angeles		Greek Theatre
11 June 1979
12 June 1979
15 June 1979	Ohio		Blossom Music Center
16 June 1979			Hara Arena
17 June 1979			Pine Knob Music Theatre
19 June 1979	Edwardsville		Mississippi River Festival
20 June 1979	East Troy		Alpine Valley Music Theatre
23 June 1979	Holmdel		Garden State Arts Centre
24 June 1979	New York		Belmont Park	15,000
26 June 1979	Broome		Broome County Arena
27 June 1979	Buffalo		Kleinhans Music Hall
28 June 1979	New York		Saratoga Performing Arts Centre
30 June 1979			Norfolk Scope
1 July 1979	Columbia		Merriweather Post Pavilion
2 July 1979	New York		Wollman Rink
7 July 1979	New Jersey		Garden States Arts Centre
7 September 1979	New York	United States	Woodstock '79
8 September 1979	New York		Parr Meadows Racetrack
16 November 1979	San Diego		Casino Theatre
17 November 1979	Sacramento		Freeborn Hall
18 November 1979	Stanford Uni		Memorial Hall
9 December 1979	Northridge		Cal State University
15 December 1979	Costa Mesa		LeBard Stadium
16 December 1979	Santa Barbara		Allen Hancock College Sports Pavilion
31 December 1979	Riverside		Ben H. Lewis Hall
5 April 1980	Laguna Beach	United States	Irvine Bowl
1 June 1980	Concord		Concord Pavilion
2 June 1980	Los Angeles		Greek Theatre
3 June 1980
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
16 August 1980	Illinois	United States	Ravinia Fest De Kalb
19 August 1980			Meadow Brook Music Festival
23 August 1980	Indianapolis		Hilton U. Brown Theatre
27 August 1980	Passaic		Paramount Theatre
29 August 1980	New York		Central Park

Stephen Stills and the California Blues Band

• Stephen Stills – guitar, percussion, vocals
• Dallas Taylor – drums (Roxy Theater 1979 only)
• Mike Finnigan – keyboards, Vocals
• Joe Lala – percussion, vocals
• Billy Meeker – drums
• Michael Sturgis – guitar
• Trey Thompson – bass
• Bonnie Bramlett – vocals
• Graham Nash – appeared during some dates of the European 1980 tour

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" (Mike Finnigan)
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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