When Tom Jones Joined Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young for ‘Long Time Gone’

Tom Jones featured “Long Time Gone” on his variety program, This Is Tom Jones, joining a lineup comprising Neil Young, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills and David Crosby. Jones’s brassy, full-throated pop-soul lead contrasted with the musicians’ layered folk-rock harmonies and driving rhythm while fitting naturally into the performance. The collaboration combined mainstream television showmanship with countercultural rock through its vocal force and shared intensity.

The song had originally been recorded by Crosby, Stills & Nash, before Young became part of the group, so the television performance expanded upon that arrangement. For the broadcast, Young played electric guitar and Stills was on electric piano. Jones traded vocal passages chiefly with Stills, connecting the participants’ markedly different musical worlds.

“Long Time Gone” had appeared earlier in 1969 on the self-titled debut album Crosby, Stills & Nash. Crosby wrote it following the June 1968 assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. His urgent words expressed grief, frustration and concern about the period’s political upheaval, adding a serious undercurrent to the performance’s energetic musical setting.

Watch the full performance on page two