On Nov. 2, 1974, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young found themselves sitting atop the Billboard 200 for the third consecutive time, thanks to a compilation of their greatest hits up to that point.
The optimistically-titled So Far featured five of CSNY’s six singles up to that point, and while the sixth, “Marrakesh Express,” apparently didn’t warrant inclusion, there wasn’t any issue with quality with a collection that included “Teach Your Children,” “Ohio” (in its first appearance on an album), “Woodstock,” “Our House,” and “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” (The other included songs, in case you were wondering: “Déjà Vu,” “Helplessly Hoping,” “Wooden Ships,” “Find the Cost of Freedom,” “Helpless,” and “Guinnevere.”)
READ MORE: Back to the Garden: Must-Hear Outtakes from CSNY's 'Déjà Vu' Box
Even though it’s credited to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Neil Young only appears on four of the eleven tracks, but since the reason the album came into existence in the first place was that the quartet had reunited for a tour in ’74, it was always going to be credited to all four of them. Apparently, the album was something devised by the label, or at least not by Graham Nash, who pointedly called the idea of a greatest-hits album derived from two LPs and a non-LP single “absurd.” Still, the fans ate it up, sending it flying to the top of the Billboard 200 with some rapidity.
With cover art by Joni Mitchell, So Far is admittedly an album that’s only a must-own for those who haven’t yet decided if they want to pick up Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s proper albums, it’s also a truly great sampler of the work the quartet was doing in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.
In other words, it’s no wonder that it also ended up being a chart-topper.
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