UPDATE: Helplessly Hoping for Stills DVD-A Remaster?
With its scheduled release date now mere days away, has Rhino U.K. pulled the plug on the CD/DVD-A remaster of Stephen Stills’ 1970 solo debut of the same name?
As of the morning of September 4, the Amazon U.K. listing was revised to show the set as “Temporarily out of stock,” while the release date was baffingly changed to January 1 (!), 2010. By evening, the “DVD-A” of the title had been replaced with “DVD.” While the mystery isn’t yet solved, it’s likely that Stephen Stills won’t be shipping next week. When and if Rhino U.K. does release the set, it’s possible that the advanced resolution DVD-Audio could be replaced with a standard DVD containing DTS and/or Dolby Digital surround tracks. The project as originally solicited may still arrive at some later date; the 2008 CD/DVD-A release of Graham Nash’s Songs for Beginners is similarly listed by Amazon U.K. as “+DVD” so the absence of the “A” may or may not be a sign as to the reissue’s format.
Two other Crosby, Stills and Nash-related titles once announced by Rhino U.K. still linger in limbo: remasters of CSN’s 1983 Allies and Stills’ 1984 Right by You. These long out-of-print discs were set for a welcome release in 2009 as part of the “Rhino Encore” line of no-frills remasters (Nash’s 1986 Innocent Eyes slipped through the cracks and did see a reissue in this series) but never materialized. Let’s hope a similar fate doesn’t befall Stephen Stills. Watch this space for more information as it becomes available.
