American Dream (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album)

American Dream is the ninth album by the band Crosby, Stills & Nash, their fifth studio album and their second with Neil Young. Released in 1988 on Atlantic Records, it peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. To date, it is their final album of original material to receive either a gold or platinum citation by the RIAA.[2] It is the highest-selling album by Neil Young in the 1980s.[3] The album is dedicated to Jan Crosby, Anne Stills, Susan Nash and Pegi Young.

For the Mike Jones album, see The American Dream (Mike Jones album)

American Dream
Studio album by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Released	November 1, 1988 (U.S.)
Recorded	April 24, 1987 – September 16, 1988
Studio	Redwood Digital, Woodside, California; mixed at A&M Studios and Record One, Los Angeles[1]
Genre	Rock
Length	57:31
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Niko Bolas, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Neil Young
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young chronology
Allies (1983) American Dream (1988) Live It Up (1990)

Background

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 up.[4] Five months in prison for Crosby at the Texas Department of Corrections in Huntsville during 1986 accomplished exactly that, and good to Young's word the quartet assembled to record the second CSNY studio album at Young's ranch in Woodside, California.[5][6]

The title song, written by Neil Young, was a satire of sensational political scandals involving Oliver North, former presidential candidate Gary Hart and televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. Released as a single, it missed the Billboard Hot 100 completely, as did three of the other four singles released from the album. The only single to chart, "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 (now Mainstream Rock).

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."[7] 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.[8]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[9]
Robert Christgau	C+[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]

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."[12]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording date	Length
1.	"American Dream"	Neil Young	March 3, 1988	3:15
2.	"Got It Made"	Stephen Stills, Neil Young	July 28, 1988	4:36
3.	"Name of Love"	Neil Young	February 25, 1988	4:28
4.	"Don't Say Goodbye"	Graham Nash, Joe Vitale	September 15, 1988	3:23
5.	"This Old House"	Neil Young	May 4, 1988	4:44
6.	"Nighttime for the Generals"	David Crosby, Craig Doerge	March 24, 1988	4:20
7.	"Shadowland"	Rick Ryan, Graham Nash, Joe Vitale	April 24, 1987	4:33

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording date	Length
1.	"Drivin' Thunder"	Stephen Stills, Neil Young	March 2, 1988	3:12
2.	"Clear Blue Skies"	Graham Nash	March 28, 1988	3:05
3.	"That Girl"	Stephen Stills, Joe Vitale, Bob Glaub	May 10, 1988	3:27
4.	"Compass"	David Crosby	March 22, 1988	5:19
5.	"Soldiers of Peace"	Graham Nash, Craig Doerge, Joe Vitale	September 16, 1988	3:43
6.	"Feel Your Love"	Neil Young	July 21, 1988	4:09
7.	"Night Song"	Stephen Stills, Neil Young	July 28, 1988	4:17

Personnel

• David Crosby – vocals; acoustic guitar on "Clear Blue Skies" and "Compass"
• Stephen Stills – vocals; guitars on "Name of Love", "Don't Say Goodbye", "Nighttime for the Generals", "Drivin' Thunder", "Clear Blue Skies", "That Girl", "Soldiers of Peace" and "Night Song"; keyboards on "American Dream" and "Got It Made"; bass synthesizer on "Don't Say Goodbye"; bass, synthesizer and handclaps on "Night Song"; percussion on "Drivin' Thunder"
• Graham Nash – vocals; piano on "Don't Say Goodbye"; electric guitar on "Nighttime for the Generals"; sound effects on "Shadowland"; keyboards and harmonica on "Clear Blue Skies"
• Neil Young – vocals; guitars on all tracks except "Compass"; all instruments on "This Old House"; piano on "Don't Say Goodbye"; harmonica on "Compass"; percussion on "Name of Love" and "Feel Your Love"

Additional personnel

• Joe Vitale – drums on "American Dream", "Got It Made", "Name of Love", "Don't Say Goodbye", "Nighttime for the Generals", "Drivin' Thunder", "Clear Blue Skies" and "Night Song"; all instruments, sound effects and vocals on "Shadowland"; keyboards on "Clear Blue Skies", "That Girl", "Compass" and "Soldiers of Peace"; synthesizer on "Don't Say Goodbye"; percussion on "Drivin' Thunder" and "Feel Your Love"; vibraphone on "Feel Your Love"
• Craig Doerge – piano on "Soldiers of Peace"; electric piano on "Nighttime for the Generals"
• Mike Finnigan – organ on "Nighttime for the Generals"; keyboards, backing vocals on "Soldiers of Peace"
• Bob Glaub – bass on "American Dream", "Got It Made", "Name of Love", "Nighttime for the Generals", "Drivin' Thunder", "Clear Blue Skies", "That Girl" and "Soldiers of Peace"
• Joe Lala – percussion on "Got It Made", "Shadowland", "Clear Blue Skies" and "That Girl"; drums on "Soldiers of Peace"
• Chad Cromwell – drums on "That Girl"
• The Bluenotes: Tommy Bray, Claude Callilet, Larry Cragg, John Fumo, Steve Lawrence – horns on "That Girl"
• Brian Bell – synthesizer programming on "This Old House"
• Rhett Lawrence – synthesizer programming on "Soldiers of Peace"
• Niko Bolas, Tim Mulligan, Tim Foster, Brentley Walton – handclaps on "American Dream"
• Bill Boydston, Don Gooch, Bill Lazerus – sound effects on "Shadowland"
• The Volume Dealers Choir: 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, Paul Williamson – backing vocals on "Soldiers of Peace"

Production

• Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Niko Bolas – producers
• Tim Mulligan – assistant producer
• Gary Long, Tim McCollan, Brentley Walton – engineers
• Tom Banghart, Bob Vogt – mixing engineers
• Gary Burden – art direction and design
• Henry Diltz, Aaron Rapoport – photography
• Delana Bettoli – border illustration

Charts

Chart performance for American Dream Chart (1988–89) Peak position US Top LPs & Tape (Billboard) 16 Canadian RPM 100 Albums[13] 5 Australian Kent Music Report Chart 47 Dutch MegaCharts Albums[14] 58 West German Album Charts[15] 48 Swedish Album Charts[16] 26 US Cash Box Top 100 Albums[17] 15

Sales chart performance for singles from American Dream Year Single Chart Position 1988 "American Dream" Canada Singles (RPM)[18] 3 US Modern Rock (Billboard)[19] 4 UK Singles Chart[20] 55 "Night Time For Generals" US Modern Rock (Billboard)[19] 39 1989 "Got It Made" US Billboard Hot 100[19] 69 Canada Singles (RPM)[18] 16 US Top Singles (Cash Box)[17] 58 US Modern Rock (Billboard)[19] 1 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[19] 11 "This Old House" US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[19] 92 "That Girl" US Modern Rock (Billboard)[19] 25

Year-end charts

Chart (1989)	Position
US Billboard Year-End[21]	76

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[22]	Platinum	1,000,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. https://www.discogs.com/Crosby-Stills-Nash-Young-American-Dream/release/2069464
2. RIAA Gold and Platinum searchable database retrieved 23 August 2015
3. "RIAA - Soundscan". Greasylakes. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
4. Zimmer, Dave. Crosby, Stills & Nash The Biography. Da Capo Press 2000, ISBN 0-306-80974-5, p. 264.
5. Four Way Street The Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Reader. Da Capo Press 2004, ISBN 0-306-81277-0, pp. 275-276. Article by Dave Zimmer, originally in BAM April 22, 1988.
6. Zimmer, Dave. op. cit., pp. 263, 266.
7. Zimmer, Dave. op. cit., p. 266.
8. Setlist.fm website retrieved 23 August 2015
9. Ruhlmann, W. (2011). "American Dream - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
10. "Robert Christgau: CG: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young". Retrieved 21 October 2012.
11. Decurtis, A. (2011). "Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: American Dream : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on January 16, 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
12. Rolling Stone review retrieved 23 August 2015
13. Canada, Library and Archives (2013-04-16). "The RPM story". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
14. "Dutch Charts - dutchcharts.nl". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
15. "Suche - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". www.offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
16. "Sverigetopplistan". Sverigetopplistan (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-12-11.
17. "CASH BOX MAGAZINE: Music and coin machine magazine 1942 to 1996". worldradiohistory.com. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
18. "RPM Top Singles Chart" (PDF). RPM. RPM archives. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada. January 30, 1971. OCLC 352936026. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
19. Whitburn, Joel. Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Eighties. ISBN 0-89820-079-2.
20. "CROSBY STILLS NASH & YOUNG | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
21. "Billboard Year End Charts 1989" (PDF).
22. "American album certifications – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – American Dream". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 1 October 2012. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.