By Louie Ferrera

Throughout Stephen Stills’ much celebrated love affair with Judy Collins I’m sure she was many things to him: talented, intelligent, beautiful and most certainly sweet. When first hearing “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” announced on the radio, one would naturally think the title to be Sweet Judy Blue Eyes, referring to one of Ms Collins’ many positive attributes. Of course, the “suite” in the song’s title refers to a collection of distinctive musical sections that make up a whole song. Naturally this can be confusing, with “suite” and “sweet” being homophones. To avoid confusion, I suppose Stills could have simply titled his song  “A Suite For Judy Blue Eyes” (insert laugh emoji here). In any event…

What a thoroughly original and inspired song  Suite: Judy Blue Eyes is. When Crosby, Stills and Nash’s eponymously titled debut album was released in the Woodstock summer of 1969, Stephen Stills was at the top of his game as an instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. On this timeless album, Stills is clearly the driving force, playing acoustic and electric guitars as well as keyboards and bass. His nickname throughout the sessions for this album was “Captain Manyhands”.

The centerpiece of Crosby, Stills and Nash is Suite: Judy Blue Eyes. On ”suite” the sections of the song fit together like puzzle pieces to create a perfectly realized musical vision. The song kicks off with a ringing acoustic guitar lick followed by the trademark CSN harmonies. The three verses of this first section rock, Stills provides the grit with nifty fuzztone electric guitar licks behind the vocals. After the third verse an acoustic guitar interlude signals the first change of tempo. The song slows way down for the gentle Friday evening, Sunday in the afternoon section of verses. The harmonic blend of their voices here is a delicious musical gumbo of flavors and textures. A second acoustic interlude, featuring crystalline harmonics and a looping, melodic bass line by Stills, and the tempo shifts again. The energy begins to build with the chestnut brown canary, ruby throated sparrow verses and concludes with the beautifully alliterative lacy lilting lyric, losing love lamenting. After the final line, change my life, make it right, be my lady, yet another descending acoustic guitar lick leads us to the joyous final section of the suite with Crosby and Nash singing the infectious and unforgettable do, do, do ,do, do’s while Stills counters behind them with a verse… in Spanish! It’s all so raucous and celebratory and I always sing along at the top of my voice. This climactic section leaves me breathless every time!

With Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, CSN takes us on an unforgettable rollercoaster ride. Throughout the course of this 7:09 musical masterpiece, Stephen Stills somehow manages to convey to us the ups and downs, the joy and heartbreak, the longing and loss that is a love relationship. A sweet suite indeed!