# Stephen Stills thought his vocal was out of tune. 45 years later, Neil Young thinks it was “magic”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/stephen-stills-thought-his-vocal-was-out-of-tune-45-years-later-neil-young-thinks-it-was-magic/
- Published: 2026-10-29T22:46:46+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-29T23:54:43+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/stephen-stills-thought-his-vocal-was-out-of-tune-45-years-later-neil-young-thinks-it-was-magic/
- Topics: Music

## Key points

- Stills replaced a vocal he thought was badly out of tune.
- Neil Young preferred the original take’s rough energy.
- The disagreement highlights polish versus spontaneity.

## Summary

Stephen Stills replaced part of his vocal on Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s version of Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock” because he thought it was badly out of tune. Neil Young later argued that the original take had a rough charm that made the track feel “magic”, showing how the band’s pursuit of accuracy could clash with the emotional quality of a performance.

Young told Howard Stern in 2014 that the band had been nitpicking in the studio and that Stills’s first vocal was stronger. Stills said he replaced about one and a half verses that were “excruciatingly out of tune” and stood by the change. The disagreement reflects a broader tension between technical polish and spontaneity in the group’s music.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.