49 Reasons and Three Legends about Stephen Stills

1) Stephen Stills used to live in Summerland.

False, though I saw him in 1977 at Sandpiper Liquor and again at Oscar’s nightclub, where he stole the stage for a riveting 45 minutes. “I was probably bored that night and wanted to pick up some chicks,” he laughed, speaking by phone from Seattle. “That’s why I have seven children, I guess. But I used to go up there a lot and visit James Brolin. He had a place up there and a membership at the Valley Club-only way I ever would’ve gotten to play that course.”

2) He was supposed to be a Monkee.

True, he auditioned, was offered a role, and then turned it over to roommate Peter Tork. Stranger yet, he was almost in the Jimi Hendrix Experience, which is like choosing between Pee Wee Herman and the Dalai Lama. “I didn’t know about Hendrix until Mitch Mitchell wrote his book,” said Stills, who befriended the “reticent, painfully shy” Hendrix in Jimi’s London days. “But I would’ve laid down my guitar for Hendrix and only Hendrix,” said Stills.

3) Stills will play the Marjorie Luke on Sunday, July 15.

True. The second half will rock, but Stills-who was inducted twice in the same night into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash-is more excited about the first half. “I’ll just stand there by myself for an hour,” he laughed. “Maybe make fun of my music between songs. But I’ll play solo acoustic, something I haven’t done since I played New York clubs that were one step up from open mike night. And that was a long, long time ago.”