Stephen Stills Interview on Howard Stern

[Jana]

Not word for word but a transcript of him in the studio with Howard:


"Stephen Stills Performs Live. 10/27/09. 8:40am

They finally got the headphones working so Howard asked Scott what happens there. Scott said that they had them working earlier.

Howard asked Stephen some questions but he said he had trouble hearing because he has hearing said. He said that he's had bad hearing since he was a kid. Howard asked him if his parents were upset that he was into music. Stephen said they weren't at all.

Howard said Stephen must have gotten a lot of girls when he was young. Stephen said hat wasn't the case. He said he didn't get a lot of girls. Howard asked if he locked himself in his room and just played music. Stephen said he was painfully shy. He said that he had sisters and they were loud and he just stayed quiet.

Howard asked Stephen if he was going to perform Sweet Judy Blue Eyes this morning. He said he wasn't because it was too early and the notes were too high.

Howard asked Stephen how songs appear to him. Stephen said he doesn't know, they just show up. He said these days he'll just start typing and the lyrics will come to him and then he'll put the music down. Howard asked how long it can take to write something like Sweet Judy Blue Eyes. Stephen said that one didn't take but a week or so.

Howard asked if he just brought it to the other guys and said he wanted to play them. Stephen said he had demos that he's turned into an album now. He had an autographed copy for Howard this morning.

Howard said he ranks Stephen in the top 10 guitar players of all time but he doesn't get that credit. Stephen said that he works with two of the biggest camera hogs in the business.

Stephen said that he used to be the leader of the group but when David Crosby got sober that stopped. Howard asked when he became a rock star. Stephen said when his confidence came up that came around. Howard said that Stephen has 7 kids and he has 3 different wives for those kids. Stephen said that the oldest one is 38 and the youngest is 5. He said he's close with all of them. He said all of his wives are still friends with him.

Howard asked Stephen about his divorces and how he worked all of those out. Stephen said that you have to avoid the lawyers and just learn the law for yourself. He said that he learned that the laws were based on statutes in the 1870s so you can talk reason to people if you tell them that. He said he had lawyers that he used but he was able to hold on to his money. Stephen said that none of them are deprived though.

Howard said that Stephen was trying to sell the Monkees some songs but they wanted to own all of them. Stephen said that he walked away when they said that.

Howard asked Stephen about the way the music business is these days. He said that it's kind of sad because the quality of the music in an MP3 is only about 10 percent of what it would be on a vinyl record. He said that it would also be better to keep people in business if they only sold records in stores. Stephen said he asked his daughter about it and everyone is downloading now.

Howard asked Stephen about working with Neil Young. Stephen said that they had a hard time with him at times. He said that they tried but Neil wanted to do what he wanted to do. He said that Neil sells out places that he can't sell out and it must be the luck of the draw.

Howard said that Stephen is a better song writer than the other guys in the band. Stephen said that he doesn't feel that way. He said he doesn't like to say things like that.

Howard asked Stephen about how he has written songs for the band that were turned down. Stephen said he has done that and then he takes them out and turns them into solo number one hits. Howard said ''Love the One You're With'' is an example of that. Stephen said that's not one of his favorites but it's a good one for Howard to bring up.

Howard asked Stephen how he met Jimi Hendrix. He said he met him when he was going out on tour with the Monkees. He said that he and Jimi went out to his house and played for a couple of days. Howard read that Jimi wanted him in his band but his manger didn't tell him about it. Stephen said that he and Jimi had been thinking about that and they didn't pass on the message to him. He said that was in the days when he was with CSN. He said he would have gone to that band if he had known about it.

Howard asked Stephen about the song ''White Nigger'' that he and Jimi collaborated on. Stephen said that they wrote the song together and it was about racism.

Howard said he thinks that when they recorded ''Tin Soldier's and Nixon's Coming'' he loved it. He said that Stephen must have worked on the song. He said he played on it and he thought that it needed another verse but they didn't think it did. Howard asked if he practices guitar on a daily basis. Stephen was plucking the guitar the whole time during the interview so he said he was doing that to distract himself from Howard's questions.

Howard asked Stephen who influenced him. Stephen said it was John Lee Hooker. He said he was living in Tampa, Florida and he would have to drive 100 miles to get to a record store. Howard asked if anything intimidates him. Stephen said that being in the studio with Howard was intimidating to him. He didn't know what was going to come from this loose cannon.

Howard asked Stephen if he was heavily into drugs back in the day. Stephen said that he never got himself into trouble but he's not sure what the definition of heavily was. He said that he had some problems with booze back in the 1980s. He said he would talk very loud when he was drinking. Howard asked if he would get into fights while drinking. He said he had a few.

Howard asked Stephen about the young kids coming up and who he likes. He said he likes Brandy Chandlis. He said he likes Snow Patrol too. Stephen said he likes a lot of the people who are turning back to folk music. Howard said there aren't people harmonizing like Crosby Stills and Nash did. Stephen said that it's something that's coming back.

Howard read that Stephen beat prostate cancer. Stephen said that he had an operation to get rid of it. Stephen said they go in through your belly button and they cut the whole thing out of there. Howard asked if he can get it up. He said he can but it takes a while but it does come back. Howard said that he has a few friends who lose their prostate and they can't get it up. Stephen said that it all depends on your wife helping out. He said his wife is 42 and she can make it happen.

Howard asked Stephen if he can cum with the prostate gone. Stephen said that you can but it's a different kind of cum. Howard wanted him to get into details but Stephen wasn't interested. He said that it takes about 18 months before it comes back. He said that it wakes up a little bit at a time. He said that it's better than being dead.

Howard said that Stephen has a new CD and DVD out now. He asked him to play something for them. Stephen broke into the Allman Brothers' ''Midnight Rider'' after that.

After the song Howard asked what the connection was there. Stephen said that one of the guys was his buddy. He said that they used to play together. Howard asked if he ever banged Bonnie Raitt. Stephen said no and said that Howard is so vulgar and rude. Robin told him he's been getting away with that for many years.

Howard asked if he ever had any famous women. Stephen said he refused to answer on the grounds of protecting their dignity.

Howard gave Stephen some plugs for his album ''Pieces'' and asked him to play some of his single ''Treetop Flyer'' since that's the song that's out. Howard asked if he picks the song or does the record company. Stephen said he doesn't pick the songs. He said he just performs the songs.

Stephen played ''Treetop Flyer'' for the guys. After playing that Howard said he has to learn to play the guitar. Stephen said you need about 10,000 hours of practice to play like that. Howard said that he was born into the right family too though.

Howard asked Stephen if his father was a tough guy. Stephen said he was tough but it was just his tone of voice and not beatings or anything. He said that his mother was harsh with him. Stephen changed subjects and asked if he wet his bed. Howard said of course he did.

Howard asked Stephen if he's upset that he didn't get to collaborate with Jimi Hendrix. He said that is one of the things that upsets him. Howard told him that he had tickets to go see him but he didn't get to go. He said that a lot of guys worshiped Jimi and his guitar playing.

Howard asked Stephen if his father got to see his great success. He said that he did. Stephen said that he may have worried about it too much though. He said that he misses his dad but Howard didn't think he was sincere about it. Stephen said that he didn't want to talk about it because he's blowing material for his book.

Howard asked Stephen how he plays ''Love the One You're With.'' He showed him how he plays but Howard told him he was doing it wrong. Howard said he can play it but it's much differently. Stephen performed a little bit of the song but cut himself off saying that's the reason he doesn't play so early in the morning. Howard told him he was great and he can see that he wants to wrap up so he was going to let him go.

Howard asked how much it would cost him to get him to show up at his house to perform. He said it would be about a million but only because he knows what Howard is worth. Howard said he saw Fleetwood Mac playing at a guy's house this summer in the Hamptons.

Howard asked Stephen what the biggest thing he ever bought was. He said it was a 1964 Stratocaster guitar... and a Ferrari. Howard said he can't tell him what it meant for him to be there today. Howard said he was blown out by his talent and thanked him for the million hours of listening he's given to him. Stephen said that Howard is a very nice guy and he's full of shit trying to make people think he's not. Howard gave Stephen some more plugs and went to break a short time later."

[larryfromnextdoor]

[(Crazy)Dulce Lady]

thx Jana!!!

I REFUSE to listen to Howard Stern so I would have never seen this.

I listened to Stephen Stills EVERYDAY in high school. Dang hippie that I am. Tin Soldiers and Nixon's coming, we're finally all alone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7XnVQjRSHc