Love the One You’re With

Greatly Appreciated

LOVE THE ONE YOU’RE WITH
 
 
“Love the One You’re With”  is a song by folk rocker Stephen Stills.  It was released as the lead single from his debut self-titled studio album in November 1970.  The song, inspired by a remark Stills heard from musician Billy Preston, became his biggest hit single, peaking at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1971.  David Crosby and Graham Nash, Stills’ fellow members of Crosby, Stills & Nash, provide background vocals on the song.  The song was also covered by a number of artists, including The Isley Brothers, Bucks Fizz, and Luther Vandross.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 

Crosby, Stills, Nash and/or Young have released any number of cultural and counter-cultural touchstones over the years:  “Ohio” (about the Kent State University shootings); “Woodstock” (written by Joni Mitchell based on what Graham Nash told her about the festival – Matthews’ Southern Comfort had a Number 1 hit in the U.K. with “Woodstock”); “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” (written about Judy Collins); “Teach Your Children” (featuring Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead on pedal steel guitar; the song actually made the country charts); “Helpless” (one of Neil Young’s loveliest songs); “Southern Man” (on Neil Young’s excellent solo album, After the Gold Rush, with Lynyrd Skynyrd good-naturedly answering the song in their hit “Sweet Home Alabama”); “Love the One You’re With” (first released on Stephen Stills’ debut solo album, Stephen Stills – live versions of the “Southern Man” and “Love the One You’re With” appear on the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young double album 4 Way Street); etc. 

 

(April 2014)

 

Last edited: March 22, 2021