Biographer of Stephen Stills on the life and times of an American rock legend

STEPHEN STILLS is one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters of all time as part of Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills and Nash and as a solo star.

Author David Roberts told Murray Scougall the Honest Truth about his new biography on Stephen, called Change Partners.

What’s your background?

I’ve been in the book business nearly all my working life. I was editor of The Guinness Book Of British Hit Singles And Albums for a few years before working freelance as a writer. Now I write while publishing other novelists’ books.

Why did you write a book about Stephen Stills?

It was a labour of love. I’ve always been a fan and although Crosby, Nash and Young all have biographies or autobiographies, no one had tackled Stills.

As he doesn’t like interviews and isn’t fond of memoirs of rock stars, he’s not the easiest subject. But that was my challenge.

Who did you interview?

There were plenty of interviews out there with music legends I could research, so I concentrated on talking to managers, producers and people he’d worked with. I even found his school teacher when he was in South America.

Also, it’s great to have insights into what other music people not associated with him think of his songwriting, so having Tim Rice comment was interesting. Everyone, particularly musicians, was pretty complimentary.

What’s your earliest memory of Stephen?

Buying his solo single Love The One You’re With. A friend of mine recommended I have a listen and I was hooked. I went out and bought Buffalo Springfield and both CS&N and CSN&Y albums soon after.

How did he start out as a musician?

He was a folkie, singing for his supper like a lot of young kids with a guitar and playing in any bars he could get a gig.

When he got to New York’s Greenwich Village folk scene he started to meet all the right people to help him make his way in the business.

Who are some of the more surprising artists he’s worked with?

This is where he differs from most musicians. He seems to have played with pretty much everyone. Jimi Hendrix was a close friend. Clapton, Ringo, George Harrison – they all feature quite a lot in the book. He’s also guested on some classic records by people like Joni Mitchell, Bill Withers, Judy Collins and even The Bee Gees.

Any little-known facts you discovered?

When he moved to England in the ’70s he bought Brookfield, a Surrey Elizabethan estate and house, from Ringo Starr (previous owners included Peter Sellers and Britt Ekland). The house – said to be haunted – was where Billy Preston once counselled Stephen about his love life at a party and told him to Love The One You’re With. Having scribbled down the phrase, Stephen used it to write his biggest solo hit and recorded it soon after. Stephen later wrote a song about the estate’s eccentric gardener called Johnny (Johnny’s Garden), which appeared on the Manassas album.

How did he get mixed up with The Monkees?

It’s a myth that he auditioned for The Monkees and got rejected because he had a missing tooth.

He turned up at auditions to try to sell the songs he’d been writing and ended up recommending his good friend Peter Tork for the show. Tork, who looked a lot like Stills at the time, landed the job.

Do you think he’ll be able to heal the rift between Crosby and Nash and have CSN play together again?

The various rifts between them have always mended before. Graham Nash has generally been the peacemaker but it would seem even he has had enough. So this time it really does look like the end. Stills doesn’t seem too concerned, though. His new blues band, The Rides, is going down a storm.

Stephen Stills: Change Partners is out now from Red Planet.