Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young: C/D, S/D

Only CSNY song I like is "Pre-Road Downs" from that first album, with just the three of them. Otherwise, I can't stand 'em. Smug, and those harmonies bore into my brain like a dentist's drill.

i'm more interested in the fact that CSN(Y) (or whatever) were actually REALLY POPULAR and BIG -- as in springsteen in '85/outkast or britney spears BIG. that's such a radical sea-change in mass public musical taste that deserves some comment, no?

they seem like songs that want to appear "relevant" without actually saying anything at all (see also "ball of confusion" by the temptations).

no, that recording is utterly beautiful in every respect.

"teach yer children," OTOH, was just hippy sermonizing.

well, it would be if not for CSN harmonies. i guess we'll just have to agree to disagree here ... :-)

yeah i know the context, but the song still seems hopelessly equivocal and sometimes incoherent.

the reason i can't remember which one it is is because they look identical.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf300/f330/f33067crhvi.jpg http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd900/d947/d94749sn54p.jpg

what else would you recommend along these lines that isn't related to csn or y?

I found $41 on the ground today, so let's talk about Psychedelic Country!

and all the byrds related projects (even though that is related to c)

Still does, to me.

1. Rock and Roll Doctor
2. Two Trains
3. The Fan
4. On Your Way Down
5. Spanish Moon >
6. Skin It Back >
7. Fat Man In The Bath Tub
8. Oh Atlanta
9. Willin'

It's a really, really excellent quality Pre-FM broadcast recording. Out of my entire bootleg collection, this is the one show I keep coming back to the most. It's just so fuckin' good. Better than the studio recordings, even (IMHO). They're on fire, I tells ya! Now go get it! *pant pant pant* ;)

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dre300/e349/e34945e0x9d.jpg

I got to see them on a free ticket a few years ago and I was really amazed by how well they can hit those harmonies live.

Hating on CSNY is like making fun of your ex-hippy uncle that teaches middle school.

thats really good then? i always look at it in the store but am suspicious of it. maybe its the book cover packaging

CSNY is pretty great and I've been wanting to check out "If I Could Only Remember My Name" for awhile now

People be saying crazy things.

No thread just on Graham Nash, so I thought I'd just revive this instead.

I'm listening to Songs For Beginners and it's gorgeous. I can't get enough of the group of musicians surrounding CSNY around 1970, including Garcia, Lesh, Grace Slick, and so on; the PERRO thing. This record is part of this group. "I Used To Be A King" is a highlight.

Evidently Nash has a retrospective box set coming out later this year. Does anyone know anything else about this?

And did any of you pick up the Crosby box last year? And was it any good? I love the outtakes from "If I Could Only Remember My Name" (linked to earlier in this thread), but evidently these didn't come out on the box. I'd love a box of just the PERRO stuff.

and i'm listening to the self titled crosby/nash and there have been moments where i've literally had to stop writing/reading and just listen because they're so beautiful

Yes - this is a really really good record and I don't know anything at all about the rest of the CSNY universe. Search "Immigration Man" if nothing else.

ha. i was reading that quote right above ^ and thought i could've written it, and i did! been listening to that album again a lot lately

just picked up the '77 CSN album. so good. Dark Star is a fucking stormer

cathedral would make a good movie song

i bought "wild tales" by graham nash for $1 a couple months ago, it's pretty great.

someone upthread says that the harmonies on "Helpless" ruin the song, but I think it's the piano that's the problem. Turns Neil's raw lament into something sort of sickly sweet.
have been listening to a bootleg of a stills/young show from 76 that is interesting. even though young was reported to not be into the tour, he sounds kind of in to it here, singing backup enthusiastically on suite judy blue eyes. it's stills' band, so it's got a weird jimmy buffet cocaine vibe at times. but i kind of dig it.

I love this footage, extraordinary, young (I mean in years) and at their peak (no lsd pun intended):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QsSc95pPPY

It'll melt your face, dude!

"Simple Man" off of Nash's Songs for Beginners is such a beautiful little tune. I haven't really gotten into the rest of the album much yet.

There's a youtube clip floating around of Nash singing it unaccompanied on piano until Crosby creeps up on stage to add those incredible harmonies- gorgeous stuff.

Was just listening to this unreleased CSNY track from 1974 -- "Pushed It Over The End", which is pretty killer. Weird jazzy vibe, pretty different from the only other version I've heard of it, which is a Neil Young solo acoustic live thing. Not sure if anything they did really sounds like this ...

i would like to see a short film where david crosby creeps up on people singing in the shower and adds harmonies from the other side of the curtain and that's how they know their time is up. xp

God, when they were on, so classic:

i would like to see a short film where david crosby creeps up on people singing in the shower and adds harmonies from the other side of the curtain and that's how they know their time is up.

I would pay to produce this film.

i'd chip in some cash too ...
That clip above is pretty much where they peaked I think! Pretty rad. I've heard some pretty intolerable bootlegs of CSNY though. Mainly Stills' fault I think.

that 'deja vu' record is kind of nice, but is distinctly lacking a unified personality. a little bit sugary at times, could perhaps do with some more grit and unharnessed soul-searching.

you crazy, mang. he almost CUT HIS HAIR.

edd hurt otm way up there at the tippy-top: "pre-road downs" is A++.

i only have the first two and enjoy both but rarely listen to either. i'm probably partial to deja-vu tho.

came across a really good copy of that first Manassass record the other day for cheap and have been pleasantly surprised. i never thought i'd have much use for stills outside of BS or CSN& sometimes Y

i would like to see a short film where david crosby creeps up on people singing in the shower and adds harmonies from the other side of the curtain and that's how they know their time is up. xp

― rent, Tuesday, January 6, 2009 11:54 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol!! time's up in the shower? or like, on earth? because if that fat bastard snuck up on me in the shower i would certainly hope that all my worldly affairs were in order.

oh yes he's is a psychokiller. maybe blows a puff of cocaine from his cupped hand and whispers "deja vu, bitch" or something. haven't had much time to work on it tbh.

"Almost cut YOUR THROAT!"

"Why can't we go on as three---you, me, and the Grim Reaper?"

"Almost cut YOUR THROAT!"

^^^PRINT IT

haha. Nash could probably be his murderous sidekick, too. "Teach your children ... TO DIE."

Your grave will be a very very very fine grave.

Shit- this Crosby movie pitch is cracking me right the fuck up.

You could have the obligatory teen horror sex scene with "Triad" playing in the background, the girls refusing his advances before he murders them. "WHY CAN'T WE GO ON AS THREE!"

it's rich territory it's true

I can see the poster now:

HIS HARMONIES WILL ENTRANCE YOU.

HIS BULK WILL CRUSH YOU.

"What's Happening?!?!"

songs for beginners is so fucking catchy, love every song. i think the songs ppl have mentioned they love in this thread so far are simple man and i used to be a king. my fave is prob man in the mirror

military madness also owns

finally picked up 'songs for beginners' the other night for $1. it's incredible. sitting here listening to it and just zoning out.

I was really enjoying the CSN debut last night until the thought popped into my mind: "What's next, Bread?"

I'm enjoying Looking Forward this morning, esp. the NY and Crosby songs, but wow are Stills' songs duds here. "Hard rock" guitars or "Latin" beats + and Stills' bleating = wreck. But if you enjoy latter day NY, this is on the whole worth your time.

some sort of Graham Nash tribute album coming out in a few months featuring lots of current psych/freak/etc bands, with some really nice names involved.

search "Helplessly Hoping" off the CSN debut: that album has its ups & downs (I think I've internalized NY's relationship with Stills) but this song is a very high up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA00VNhlnHQ

i would like to see a short film where david crosby creeps up on people singing in the shower and adds harmonies from the other side of the curtain and that's how they know their time is up.
has this movie been made yet or what

been really into the 4-Way Street double-live album lately (which the above clip might be from or at least the same Deja Vu tour). so great

Unfortunately that movie hasn't been made yet but I think this is the video that inspired the idea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfycUkxbnlk

I really like Stephen Stills lead playing on Wooden Ships. It has this really warm neck pickup sound with a bunch of tone rolled off, kind of a rock and roll jazz box sound which really fits in nice in the tune.

The movie poster:

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/rolling-stone/63-1.jpg

I listened to the "CSN" album the other day and actually find it rather fine. It may not be as essential as the first couple of albums, but it's still a nice late 70s softrock effort.

http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgu33ndVwj1qdf09mo1_500.png
this was supposed to be the cover of the second CSNY album "Human Highway" (which obv. never came out). pretty gnarly pic though.

are there bootlegs of that album or did the songs just make it onto other records?

there's a csny version of human highway on bootlegs, other than that, I don't think they actually recorded all that much. "through my sails" from zuma might be from those sessions? i think i remember reading that only neil had actually written songs.

human hairway

http://www.hulu.com/watch/244673/late-night-with-jimmy-fallon-neil-young-with-crosby-and-nash-party-in-the-usa

Sounds like "LA Pt.2".

Listening to any CSNY is a constant reminder of the vast gulf between talent and genius.

The late 70s s/t knocks all other CSN albums on their ass. (solo and otherwise). Great songwriting, outstanding backing band, and top production. Cathedral, man, what a thing; gorgeous ending.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kg0v0Er8Ak

CSNY & J

ha the looks crosby gives to tom

wish they'd replaced Stills w/ TJ

croz on the stil forthcoming CSNY 1974 live thing, via the twitter:
"It's going to be ....may well be the best Iive record ,certainly of us ..maybe you ever heard"

"It was a tour that reached a level of perfection the world had never before experienced--you know, just before Neil got bored and quit."

i like how he qualifies it with: "certainly of us" ... so, it's better than 4-Way Street, you say?

ha that tweet is great.

"It's going to be *takes bongrip* the best *cough cough* i mean, certainly of us... "

*long stoned silence*

"Maybe you've heard?"

a preview of what to expect...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mCKLt7A6sA

"It was a tour that reached a level of perfection the world had never before experienced--you know, just before Neil got bored and quit we split due to our sideburns newfangled 'artistic differences'."

― clemenza, Tuesday, April 9, 2013 2:48 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

fixed

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/crosby-stills-nash-young-to-release-long-awaited-1974-live-album-in-august-20130416

lol at this:
The 1974 tour wrapped at London's Wembley Stadium on September 14th. They filmed that night and at least one other, but don't expect to see any video footage in this package. "I don't think Neil's gonna go for that," says Crosby. "He doesn't like the way he looked. He doesn't like his haircut on that tour."

also kinda lol but also sad
"I'd love to be Neil's friend," says Nash. "We're great friends on some level and great acquaintances and musical partners on some level, but I can't call Neil my friend. I had never had his cell phone number. That's a small detail, but very deep."

Someone should tell Nash that Neil Young does not have a cell phone. He's been sitting by his rotary dial waiting for Nash to call.

Actually, I get the impression Neil Young spends pretty much all his time less than 50 feet from the few people he'd ever want to call him on his cell phone. If he had one.

(If Neil Young had a cell phone, surely we'd have gotten a smart phone concept album by now.)

neil has a cell phone, but it only accepts calls in PONO fidelity. PHONO.

The only way to get Archives II is to sign a three year service plan for Phono from Crazy Horse Mobile.

how many years has Nash complained about Young not hanging out with him?

pretty much since neil joined the band.

He doesn't like his haircut on that tour.

megalol never change Neil

http://neilyoungnews.thrasherswheat.org/2014/05/crosby-stills-nash-young-live-1974-box.html?m=1

looks good. missing unreleased neil song is "homefires"... otherwise, i'm looking forward to it.

awesome cover photo
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fdRnXm9hJtQ/U34XnwOOuHI/AAAAAAAAJrg/NKBOzhFq-mI/s1600/csny-1974-joel-bernstein-oakland.jpg

One issue they faced was Neil Young's intense focus on audio quality. "Neil Young, God bless his cotton socks, has always wanted the audio to get as close to the recording experience as possible," says Nash. "He wanted us to do it in 24/192, and that's what we did. Of course, that happened one-third of the way into the project, so we had to redo an awful lot of stuff. But it sounds totally amazing. There's 40 songs and they'll show people that we were a very, very decent rock band."

I can see from that picture why Neil wasnt happy with his haircut.

missing unreleased neil song is "homefires"...

lol misread as "homefries"

homefries are all right with me

Written for this film IIRC

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9c/Home_fries_poster.jpg/220px-Home_fries_poster.jpg

did Don 'n' Glenn see this tour?

"a very, very decent rock band."

as opposed to coke-fueled Stills declaration: "We were the best fucking band in the history of the world, and that includes the Beatles, and Paul could barely play bass anyway."

DON: The CSNY tour of 1974 changed the way we all did things. Never before could a group or performer who wasn't Elvis do this massive, anything goes stadium touring party with all their friends in tow. Not the Stones. Not The Who. Nobody had that power yet. We thought, "We've got the harmonies, the meaningful songs, all the right friends, great PA equipment--we can do this!"

GLENN: But there were downsides to that excess. Three Sets? Solo Segments? Four hour shows? Fuck that noise! Two hours, one encore, wine, coke & an Eagles handjob backstage, punch Felder in the nose in the limo, call Randy a dickweed in the lobby, chainsaw party with Walsh back at the hotel--that's a show!

DON: Well, yeah.

my inner 16-year-old remembers a massive neil/joni duet on "sugar mountain" at the roosevelt raceway show. doesn't look like it made the cut tho.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-oral-history-of-csnys-infamous-doom-tour-20140619?utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

haha that is great, so many quotable lines. there should be a whole book of this shit.

I would have been happy to read 200% more of that article (except for the goddamn typos, Jesus H. Christ).

"Stills: "I had just come back from coral diving in Hawaii. I was tan and really cut. There's an album cover of a solo album [1975's Stills] shot at those rehearsals. I look at it now and go, 'I want that body back!"I wore football jerseys before it was cool. People like Jann Wenner would always ask me, 'What's with the football uniform?' I'd say, 'We're in a football stadium and they're loud and colorful. And I like football.' The next year Mick Jagger shows up with a Philadelphia Eagles uniform at a show."

evidently still(s) on the rails

lmao @ stills throughout this piece:

Stills: "They didn't have video screens back then. I remember seeing the Beatles at Dodger Stadium. I thought to myself, 'There should be drive-in movie screens. What's wrong with these people?' Years later, I went to New York and tried to sell these pretty heavy-duty guys on how to do concerts. I said to them, 'You should have drive-in screens with a closed circuit feed of the show if you're doing things this big.' They looked at me like I was from Mars. Who knew that would become the standard for the industry? I was a very inventive twenty-three year old punk."

Nash: "Somewhere in the Midwest, I think in Minneapolis, we were at the hotel after the show and Bob Dylan came by. Stephen and Tim Drummond immediately corralled him into a different room and shut the door. That wasn't nice."

Drummond: "He played us all the songs from Blood on the Tracks on acoustic guitar. We were on twin beds, across from each other. Oh God, I can't tell you how great it was. At one point Stephen said something to him about the songs not being good. I was so Goddamn embarrassed. He was probably coked out. Dylan, being the arrogant man that he was said, 'Well, Stephen, play me one of your songs.' That was the end of it. Stephen couldn't even find one string from another at that point."

Nash: "Stephen walked out of the room and said to me, 'Bob's no musician.' In the back of my mind, I also remember Stephen buying a Precision bass for Paul McCartney and telling him it was time to start playing a 'real' instrument and not his old Hoffman. He's saying this to one of the greatest bass players in the world."

feel like drummond needs to write a memoir

Love Tim Drummond, but surely Macca was playing the Rickenbacker at that point.

McCartney has never retired the Höfner, apparently. At every point in his career, he has kept it around (although yes there have been Rickenbackers and Wals).

I would love to get this '74 set on vinyl but afaik the only vinyl version is that $500 boxset beast which does sound awesome. but no way.

is it like an eight-record set?

The Limited Edition Box Set of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Live 1974 is now available for pre-order on official CSNY | Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set site.

The Limited Edition Box Set includes:

All 40 tracks on six 180-gram 12” vinyl records, housed in a custom laser-etched birch LP folio case. LP folio case.
40 high-quality audio tracks on a Pure Audio Blu-Ray disc
Digital download of full 40 tracks.
Bonus DVD
Coffee Table size book of never before seen photos from the 1974 tour.

Set is limited to 1000 copies, individually numbered, and housed in a custom laser-etched birch wood box. $499 plus shipping and handling.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NEucFyJQm3I/U4eQpLJiAYI/AAAAAAAAJsQ/NaU5nGwI3Ks/s1600/CSNY-DELUXE-BOX-SET-DISPLAY1.jpg

No Joni-designed sleeves?

ultra special edition comes with a pair of neil young jorts
http://assets-s3.rollingstone.com/assets/images/story/the-oral-history-of-csnys-infamous-doom-tour-20140619/1000x600/20140618-csny3-x600-1403128269.jpg

jorts
i wear jorts
i keep wearing jorts

that was a rough haircut neil was sporting at the time

Six records, 2 DVDs, and a coffee table book for $500. Wow.

Stills: "I had just come back from coral diving in Hawaii

Have you ever been down deep?
I mean way down under the ocean

i think i have an issue of crawdaddy magazine with that csny photo on the cover with neil in shorts.

http://www.theuncool.com/journalism/crosby-stills-nash-young-crawdaddy-magazine/

“I’ve done it all. All of it,” Stills insisted. It seemed almost a penitent’s pride. “I’ve been the most obnoxious, arrogant superstar to walk the streets of Hollywood . . . I’m still arrogant. I can be an absolute bastard. I have a bad habit of stating things pretty bluntly. I’m not known for my tact. But look, I can see that I really got carried away with myself. Being a rich man at twenty-five is sometimes difficult to deal with . . . you make mistakes. I’ve made all of ‘em. But I’m thirty now and at this point it’s all very funny.

“Ever since I got married, life is just a gas. This tour should be incredible. Joni Mitchell and I had a great discussion about that a couple of weeks ago. I’m basically a blues singer and blues singers are supposed to suffer. I almost feel guilty. I’m trying harder than I have in years. I’m determined to do the best I can. I want to be good.”

holy shit

Don & Glenn were clearly taking notes.

Then, CSNY represented a sophisticated harmonic oasis amid the parching acid rock of the time. Now they are the Founding Fathers, the inspiration for the current generation of prosperous L.A. country rockers. “Hey, man,” Eagle Glenn Frey once said, “I bought that first album and freaked out right along with everyone else. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young are, in essence, The Great American Supergroup.” And the kids, more than the fanatical original wave of fans, seem compelled to examine the sweet-singing artifacts.

Years later...

DON: Stephen Stills was the key component amongst many key components in CSN. His vision always came through, be it in his guitar playing, harmonies, and outspoken political views. We took what we could from him--even working down to David Geffen as representation. You can't with 'em all.

GLENN: We had it all--the football jerseys, the French chicks, harmonies. But what threw us was the mutton chops. We tried and tried, but our afros and Fu Manchus didn't quite cut it.

DON: Well, yeah.

I saw both groups in '74, and while the Eagles' harmonies were thin and strained, they suited the butthurt macho wannabeeizm of their songs, well not all their songs, but a lot. CSNY were actually worse,like their voices were changing ("Sweet Judy Bloop Eyes", yeesh). But Crosby and Young were good solo, while Stills-Young guitar wars were worth the ticket and more.
In Stills' defense (!), Dylan did re-record those songs at the last minute, after receiving negative feedback from various sources (xgau said the original promo sounded like "a sell-out to the memory of Dylan's acoustic period," for instance.
Speaking of oral history, don't miss the Cros's autobio, which sometimes looks like the Synoptic Gospels, with ancient heads giving various accounts of the same incident, on the same page (of the book, that is).

christ i almost want to do a poll of stills' claims

For a few years of my solo career the bourbon king showed up and it was just messy. I don't run from it. I own it. It left my voice shot. It's cool now because I've gotten it back. I'm hitting the high notes again. The present for me is fine.

Rehearsing outdoors at Neil's ranch was my idea.

I wore football jerseys before it was cool. People like Jann Wenner would always ask me, 'What's with the football uniform?' I'd say, 'We're in a football stadium and they're loud and colorful. And I like football.' The next year Mick Jagger shows up with a Philadelphia Eagles uniform at a show.

I went to New York and tried to sell these pretty heavy-duty guys on how to do concerts. I said to them, 'You should have drive-in screens with a closed circuit feed of the show if you're doing things this big.' They looked at me like I was from Mars. Who knew that would become the standard for the industry?

I just listened to a piano solo from that tour. I could have sworn we didn't have a piano player on the stage and was I was like, 'What? Who? I can't play piano like that.' Turns out I can.

I saw the cards all lining up for Nixon to resign before they could impeach him. I had friends in Washington.

The last one, of course.

Of all the dynamic duos in rock, i can't imagine any beat stills/young in terms of Mutual Confidence That They're Doing The Other One A Favor.

for how many of you was Shakey the first time you ever thought more than a few seconds about CSN(Y)?

Re what I said about bad "harmonies," good solo shots, excellent guitar wars: all in the one show I saw, which may well have been an off night, and proved they weren't nearly harmony-dependent. Alfred, the way I remember it: for lots and lots of people, CSN and CSNY were a big deal before solo Neil. Harvest was big, yeah, but solo albums before and fairly soon after that, not as much (commercially, anyway).

well, I meant anyone born after 1972, say.

I think that applies to me. I was vaguely aware of them beforehand but always ignored them because everyone in it who is not Neil Young was awful.

shakey otm

haha i knew csn(y) were hugely successful and i was familiar w/ some of the music but yeah hadn't given them any thought at all and was generally anti-hippie enough that i'd never consider listening to them. the degree to which to the world neil young was neil young of crosby, stills, nash, & young and they wondered why he didn't work w/ csn more and kept wasting his time w/ crazy horse was some real 'o right' for someone from a generation where generally the only time you encountered that side of neil was the stuff on decade. i've mellowed enough and become more...hippie sympathetic to enjoy more while not being remotely tempted to dig deep. i think the avalanches working 'carry on' into some mixes was what turned the tide, i had liked 'southern cross' but i think i assumed it was by pure prairie league or something for the first twenty odd years i knew it.

da croupier you should include the stories about Paul McCartney and Dylan even if they're secondhand.

and wow these guys totally did set the stage for the eagles didn't they

'almost cut my hair' is grebt but damn

Every time I hear a tolerable tune like "Dark Star" garbage like "Just a Song Before I Go" and "Marrakesh Express" interferes.

I gave Crosby's If Someone Could Remind Me I Suck thanks to ILM last year, and, sorry, it blows. Maybe I have to like Animal Collective to appreciate the harmonies and echo and shit.

Nah I like all that other stuff and still think its terrible. My least favorite Byrd.

when I discovered Young in the nineties it didn't once occur to me to check out the CSN(Y) materiail; even then I thought it was embarrassing pay-the-bills shit

I really like CSN(Y) - the first 2 albums at least

i know it's not really all that defensible but it's kinda like the Eagles, I'm happy listening to them sing because it beats the hell out of them talking about how great they are

My parents had the CSNY hits album, so I heard that a lot. The best song on it was "Ohio," which set me up for further Neil explorations later.

I'm no great CSN(Y) stan but the first two CSN(Y) records run circles around any full-length the Eagles recorded.

After surviving the Eagles listening thread, deep in my heart I know this to be true

CSN each had one classic solo album in them imo. songs for beginners, if I could only remember my name, and manassas (which is hardly solo at all but I'll throw stills a bone.)

Crosby and Nash were a good duo. idk I think CSN overall had a pretty solid run.

nah

al leong otm, obviously 2 of these guys are buffoons, one of them is a genius who's still pretty easy to mock, but the sum of all their recorded output has truly awesome moments and a lot of pretty good ones.

I think that applies to me. I was vaguely aware of them beforehand but always ignored them because everyone in it who is not Neil Young was awful.

― Οὖτις, Friday, June 20, 2014 9:29 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Sorry but this is absolutely ridiculous. Makes no sense. Every guy in that band except for Nash had some transcendent moments. This kind of post does nobody any good.

lol

oh shit bill magill is otm

i want to elect bill magill sheriff of oldtimey ilxtown

I mean idon't post on a csny board is u think 75% of the group is "awful". I don't post on one direction or 5 seconds of summer boards, this clown should steer clear.

haha

bill otm though i do need to offer a rebuttal to that last point:

http://factmag-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/zeppelin19102013.jpg

is there really a band called 5 seconds of summer? how is bill magill more in touch w/ the streets than me????

Being a young Zep-head is why I initially resisted the dulcet harmonies of CSN, but thankfully I eventually began to enjoy music that didn't rock with a capital-R

no offense to Zep, legends forever obviously, and a group I still enjoy more than just about any of their contemporaries.

I'll take Nash's best songs w the Hollies over any shit Crosby or Stills ever wrote

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbgYwHEneP8

Plant and Bonham covering Stills pre-Zep:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq_7Dz4txY0

also: guitar riff in Zep's "Friends" = guitar riff from CNS&Y "Carry On"

Thanks. Little bit of "For What It's Worth" at the end of this: Zep with Neil playing lead, "When The Levee Breaks."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aFqjP1iuzY

http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2012/10/01/22_nystillsnash_co-2f31c432a2fa73d960e1c7e0012fffc01c42dbcc.jpg?s=6

I’m basically a blues singer and blues singers are supposed to suffer.

http://cdn.mos.totalfilm.com/images/j/jake-blues-the-blues-brothers-_142168-fli_1375801117.jpg

lol al

Would pay good money to see CSNY take on the Illinois Nazis.

Side 2 of led zep III is not that far away from the first CSN record. That was my entrance.

So the songs are copy and paste jobs...does it matter? Doesn't bother me but glad I know.

Also see link to Neil arcana at the bottom of this article:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/crosby-stills-nash-young-may-release-deja-vu-box-set-20140626?utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

Really like the long electric jams, which for a while were Down By The River but I think became something else later. I have one version of that by them that's 20 minutes long of 3 or 4 guitars blazing with a zen like repetitive rhythm instrument that keeps repeating. Think it may be a '69 Balboa Park set.

AQ lotof the '74 sets have been turning up on Dime recently. Haven't really taken in what the new '74 box set is, is that Wembley? Would explain why there wouldn't be overlap with US and Canadian shows being upped if so

Love the clip of them doing Down By The River from the Festival at Big Sur film. Don't really like the Stills scene elsewhere in that film, guess that would be 'telling it like it is' at the time or something.

Still not familiar with the 4 Way street set, saw that it used to not get much critical recognition but was taht because of the band or it not being a good live lp by them, since I do love them, at least the electric sets by them, elsewhere.

http://photos-e.ak.instagram.com/hphotos-ak-xap1/10488585_1441202232799508_246518657_n.jpg

Scored this yesterday for $1.50! I was flipping through pages randomly and it looks like the captions to the photos are all descriptions of what drugs he was on at the time.

Never forget

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti87WdGDGBY&feature=kp

Lots more to it than the captions though:

Speaking of oral history, don't miss the Cros's autobio, which sometimes looks like the Synoptic Gospels, with ancient heads giving various accounts of the same incident, on the same page (of the book, that is).

― dow, Friday, June 20, 2014 5:51 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
It's insidiously entertaining. Had me considering the actual purchase of old Cros albums I'd heard and knew were shit (but did I really know? If I could only remember my brane)

http://m.rollingstone.com/music/news/crosby-stills-nash-young-may-release-deja-vu-box-set-20140626

lol at Shakey itt. David Crosby is a musician's musician, if you actually give a shit about harmony your respect for him has to be at the level of respect you give Brian Wilson. I personally don't dig the Beach Boys, that's just me, but you'll never find me talking shit about B.W.'s actual musicianship, because I'm not a total moron. Any take other than "David Crosby is an outstanding musician" is straight ignorance

I did not disparage his musicianship fyi

For Cosby, musicianship plus voice. Guy has great pipes.

David Crosby burned brightly but briefly.

Any take other than "David Crosby is an outstanding musician" is straight ignorance

this is suspiciously close to:

http://www.wwlax.org/uploads/2/6/8/7/26877109/4259749_orig.jpg

http://domenicpriore.hollywoodhangover.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/scan0003-lg.jpg

He's my least favorite voice in the Byrds. (I have a harder time picking him out of CSNY)

Not that hard to pick him out

Guinnevere
Almost Cut My Hair
Deja Vu

I'm assuming he can't pick DC out because he can't stand to listen to CSNY for long enough.

crosby's great. it's too bad he didn't make at least four or five more records like if i could only remember in the 70s.

I meant I have a harder time picking his voice out from their harmonies

I know which horrible songs he wrote

Aww sadface!

Crosby's new album "Croz" is dope. Better than anything I expected out of dude at this date.

lol at this from first response:

I follow Strunk and White..."in the names of business firms the last comma is usually omitted."

Another preview:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-neil-youngs-only-love-can-break-your-heart-from-csny-1974-20140701?utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

the new david crosby album is kinda ok!!!

Never forget Stills' cover:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NinBbafMn3c

hahaha was that tracked at a japanese karaoke bar?

See how many songs you can finish from that album.

lol that is pretty unfortunate. love the cover art tho.
this is a little better
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSI49GwnvSw&feature=kp

though it is funny -- "the loner" is one of neil's riffiest riffs, but stills is like "here let me totally rewrite that riff for you."

^^Stills very much in character.

Live box in hand...188 pg. booklet wtf?

Only two songs in but not the vocals sound pretty ragged

Didn't notice until now that Stills and Crosby trade lines on Wooden Ships

Oh uh speaking of Stills, here he is, live with the Memphis Horns, L.A. '71:
http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=1888
27 tracks, including those titled labeled "tuning/talk", but they're all set up to be downloaded individually.

damn, Stills sounds fucking wasted when he opens his mouth on "black queen" from the new live box

he's thinking about his black queen

In the live box afterglow, Nash has been talking about maybe doing an expanded reissue of Deju Vu. Anybody heard boots from those sessions?

David Crosby, he tweets...http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/david-crosby-neil-young-is-very-angry-with-me-20141011

[Croz tweeted some more shade, "I know at least 20 better guitar players than Neil. 3 in Snarky Puppy alone ..Hendrix , Stevie ray, get a grip." Stephen Stills and Graham Nash have yet to respond to Young's CSNY comments

Looks like Neil is leaving the door open for a Stills-Young Band reunion.

B-b-but how does he feel about Richie Furay?

Ready for the next CHVP tour!

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5nxqxdQsk1qihm0xo1_1280.jpg

scary

stills looks like he's saying some foul shit

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Jail Bait

four way skeez

stills is doing the talking and yeah clearly saying something horrible, cros as per usual giving the avuncular creep stare, neil is estimating how much the gas mileage will decrease with one additional passenger, nash is shaking his head slightly as if to say 'you don't want to get in this car'

otm loooooooooooool

lolll

Ah damn! Rick Rojas recently, and now this:

Chris Barrus retweeted
Tom Ceraulo ‏@tceraulo 2h2 hours ago

RIP Dallas Taylor, classic CSNY (and Manassas) drummer. From MUSIC SCENE, 1970: http://youtu.be/F0NjZrPX-l0

Sorry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0NjZrPX-l0&feature=youtu.be

Tim Drummond too. Rule of three.

RIP

"Dallas couldn't play my shit for crap."--Neil Young, on why Taylor was fired from CSNY

He and Stills must have been tight, since he was back for Manassas, and remember too that like 90% of the instrumentation on the 1st CSN album is Taylor & Stills.

Prior to that, Taylor was in Clear Light with Cliff DeYoung, later of Shock Treatment fame.

oh yeah, Doug Lubahn, who played bass on some Doors tracks, was in Clear Light too. Interesting anecdotes in their Wiki(which also says Dallas was in a band with Lowell George), although it does refer to Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar, of The Section (James Taylor/Carole King/etc/ backing band), as an "ex-Fug," which is---news.

Anybody heard Clear Light? I only knew of their existence via Lubahn mentions in Doors coverage.

I have the Clear Light album on CD. There's some good stuff on it, and some not so good stuff on it. one of their better songs was a non-lp b-side that ended up (along with the band) in The President's Analyst.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTSf94gmmrY

Action-packed! I'll have to keep an eye out for that whole flick on TCM. Thanks.

kortchmar was a fug for pretty much all their reprise era lps, from memory (most surprising fug member: stefan grossman). i understood taylor got kicked out of csny due to his wanting his compositions included on their albums... need to check out the clear light lp sometime.

Wow! When Taylor, King and The Section got back together a few years ago, celebrating the anniversary of their early epochal tours, Rolling Stone did a big piece, with lots about the Section (incl. getting physically assaulted by Carole's terminally druggie husband, esp. after especially well-received shows: he was crazy jealous of their success, let alone Carole's). Don't think it mentioned DK's work with the Fugs (though may have); did indicate that he was more open-minded than many of his fellow mellow mafiosi. He liked punk and new wave, and I think even made some recordings (albums?) along those lines, or intended to be.

(should have edited that, sorry) Didn't Dallas also sue for royalties on Deja Vu, maybe others as well? Claiming that some of his contributions should be considered co-composing, or at least as important components of the arrangements?

In one account (the one in Shakey), Greg Reeves (the bass player on Deja Vu) was dismissed because he'd written a song he lobbied the band to record; Young was in favor, but Crosby felt he was just a sideman would overstepped his bounds. Another report (the one in his wiki says Stills fired him because Reeves flipped out on drugs and thought himself to be an Apache witch doctor.

Only room for ONE drug casualty who thinks he's an apache witch doctor, eh Stills?

"That guy's eatin my lunch!"

I never thought of this until looking at that 'river' clip but Neil Young and David Byrne share a certain facial resemblance when they sing, although the haircuts obscure it.

Somebody's gotta be an Apache witch doctor: bottom line.

http://cache.coverbrowser.com/image/rolling-stone/168-1.jpg

"We got a lot of little teenage blue eyed groupies
Who do anything we say
We got a genu-wine Indian Guru
Who's teaching us a better way
We got all the friends that money can buy
So we never have to be alone
And we keep gettin' richer but we can't get our picture
On the cover of the Rollin' Stone"

Just remembered another weird thing--Taylor, seen below on the back cover of the CSN debut, was photoshopped off said cover when it was given the expanded remaster treatment in the mid-2000's.

http://www.lpvinylmusic.com/images/csn.jpg

I got this box for my dad for Xmas and after he burned it to his computer he gave the physical thing back to me and I listened to the whole thing over the long wknd and man...as much as I love Neil, I cannot hang with CSN.

And speaking of Stills ego-gems: I also rewatched the Neil "American Masters" ep (it is up on YouTube) and Stills is talking about "Ohio" as being "almost as good as "For It What's Worth", Neil basically tried to do the same thing I did...I always thought it needed another verse to be great but what do I know?"

"Almost as good"

what does he know indeed

There was a piece on CSN cover photographer Henry Diltz on TV yesterday where he told this story:

On the cover the members are, left to right, Nash, Stills, and Crosby, for no particular reason, the reverse of the order of the album title. The photo was taken by their friend and photographer Henry Diltz before they came up with a name for the group. They found an abandoned house at 815 Palm Avenue, West Hollywood, across from the Santa Palm car wash that they thought would be a perfect fit for their image. A few days later they decided on the name “Crosby, Stills, and Nash”. To prevent confusion, they went back to the house a day or so later to re-shoot the cover in the correct order, but when they got there they found the house had been reduced to a pile of timber.

but when they got there they found the house had been reduced to a pile of timber.

taylor had to be the prime suspect

Croz fell asleep with lit cigarette iirc

haha i love the idea that everyone's been listening to "Ohio" all these years and being like, man song's okay but you know another verse that would really put it over the top

"coulda used a bridge that was all nash n me going 'dee dee doo deeeeeee!'"

this is the dude who said McCartney should stop using the Hofner bass or some shit

think i said it elsewhere, but listening to some of that buffalo springfield stuff you can see why stills could get away with his insane braggadocio. though i don't think he actually delivered on it, at the time he must've seemed wildly talented -- guitar hero, versatile singer, skilled producer, songwriter, etc. not sure who else was quite the entire package -- maybe mccartney is the only real comparison!

In Stills world that's probably high praise!

"Hey Neil you did something that was almost as good as something I already did!"

as opposed to "Bob's no musician"

Xxpost, speaking of which you practically feel Stills thinking "man finally doing this song right!" when they do "Blackbird"

this is the dude who said McCartney should stop using the Hofner bass or some shit

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, July 6, 2015 11:46 AM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha yeah that's as great one, i think he said "we need to get you a real bass" or something lol

Internet killed Dallas Taylor again today.

think this is the first time he's died?

The rock drummer was a key sideman for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. He played at Woodstock, appeared on seven top-selling albums and bought three Ferraris. He also stabbed himself in the stomach with a butcher knife and drank so heavily that he required a liver transplant in 1990, five years after becoming sober.

http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-dallas-taylor-20150119-story.html

oh lol, you're right, 2015...

welp

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/graham-nash-i-dont-want-anything-to-do-with-david-crosby-20160308

"I don't like David Crosby right now. He's been awful for me the last two years, just fucking awful," Nash said. "I've been there and saved his fucking ass for 45 years, and he treated me like shit. You can't do that to me. You can do it for a day or so, until I think you're going to come around. When it goes on longer, and I keep getting nasty emails from him, I'm done. Fuck you. David has ripped the heart out of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young."

"The truth is, after being totally immersed in me and David and Stephen and Neil's music, I'm done. I've had 10 years of it. Leave me the fuck alone. I need to concentrate on me now."

...he said as he put on a robe and prepared himself for a House Hunters binge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOnZXeHRl40

sad

I'm sure he's had his moments given what a massive drama queen that band collectively is. But Nash seems like a genuinely good guy. Any sense of what he's mad at Crosby for? It sounds like the Croz did something directly to Nash.

According to Ultimate Classic Rock: "Passages that Crosby says were fabricated from Nash’s 2013 memoir Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life appear to have soured their relationship. “Graham’s book is full of inaccuracies and chock-full of misinformation,” Crosby said. “When he handed an advance copy to me, he said, ‘It’s too late to change anything, but here it is.’ I was very unhappy about it. It’s a very shallow, very self-serving book, and full of BS."

Apparently Nash was angry at Crosby's harsh words about Neil Young's relationship with Daryl Hannah, whom Crosby termed a gold-digger.

Well, he said that it was something personal beyond the Hannah stuff. But, over a memoir? I find that almost hard to believe. Yet at the same time, so very CSN(and sometimes Y).

He said something nasty? He did something nasty? He said something about something nasty he did?

It's Mr. Crosby if you're nasty...

Lol

Just heard "Carrie Anne" and was inspired to come back to thread to see if there were any new, just breaking developments.

One bar of "Carrie-Anne" or "Look through Any Window" is worth the entire run of CSN.

One note of "Bus Stop" or even "On a Carousel."

OTM

Bus Stop is all time. CSN are very much of a time.

although Scott Miller made me sort of respect Long Time Gone in that Music: What Happened? writeup.

Hey in this video Bobby Elliott is wearing a hat similar to one David Crosby might wear to upstage Roger and Chris in The Byrds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgA4-bLcoN8

Using male pattern baldness to upstage fellow band members, how low can someone sink?

I think Suite Judy is maybe the best thing they ever did
Who sings the high part on “how can you catch the SPARROW?”

And the advice “if you can’t be with the one you love, Love the one you’re with” is utter shit

haha yeah that never made sense to me

I remember hearing that suite for the first time and being very impressed with it, hadn't heard anything like it at the time

can't hang with all of "Deja Vu" but man do I love "Country Girl".

Do love the extended jamming bits of the electric sets. THought the big Sur Down By The River was pretty great when i saw the film, i think tht's 6 minutes there . it was often about 18 odd on the live sets I've heard. & I think the focu8s is a Bit different to Crazy Horse.

Have they made up yet? No? <checks notes> Well, at least we’ll always have this—their last performance—to remember them by:

https://youtu.be/-mLSMbKo-5w

"Country Girl" has always been one of my favourite Neil songs.

Have they made up yet? No? <checks notes> Well, at least we’ll always have this—their last performance—to remember them by:

https://youtu.be/-mLSMbKo-5w🕸

That "Silent Night" clip turns up in the Crosby documentary, but--I also checked another online version--a reaction shot of the Obamas, looking appropriately horrified, has evidently been edited out.

Wonder what’s in that Caitlín R. Kiernan book? Oh I see.

Aldiss is great when he is on though. Maybe somebody should do a POLL. I nominate you, Shakey.

Ha wrong thread.

On this thread wanted to ask if we have a dedicated thread for particularly out of tune harmonizing.

This band is an absolute monument to 60s and 70s excess – the drugs, in-fighting, tell-alls, and mostly underwhelming (and often embarrassing) product. And I say that as a guy who likes a few of its members somewhat intensely.

In that sense, that “Silent Night” clip is as note perfect a finale as you could possibly script.

You think?

stills is doing the talking and yeah clearly saying something horrible, cros as per usual giving the avuncular creep stare, neil is estimating how much the gas mileage will decrease with one additional passenger, nash is shaking his head slightly as if to say 'you don't want to get in this car'

― LIKE If you are against racism (omar little), Tuesday, November 18, 2014 5:22 PM (four years ago) bookmarkflaglink

ahahahahaaaa

I always thought _county gjrl_ was a scrap that fell off neils table that he picked up and gave to csn.

You think?

sorry, that was my way of saying "otm"

CSN > CSNY

fite me

Obv

Even the guitar playing is atrocious in that clip - they thought of everything

I just finished watching some 2:45 documentary on CSNY on Prime that took me three nights to get through. Here’s what I don’t get:

What made Neil Young want to be part of this band? Notwithstanding his century long dick measuring competition with Stills, the guy was clearly never really central to the CSN drama. He didn’t really fit their vocal thing. He pretty much wiped them off his songs on Deja Vu. And most important of all, he didn’t need them artistically or commercially a fraction as much as they needed him.

And yet ... he comes back to them over and over and over. In 1974 for that gross stadium tour. In 1976 for that Stills Young Band album where he literally left a note for Stills in the middle of the night that he was quitting the tour. In 1988 for that dogshit American Dream album once Crosby cleaned up. In 1999 when CSN were perfectly happy recording another dire trio album. And then in 2006 he even hires them to be his backing band on the Living With War tour. To my knowledge virtually every one of these experiences ended badly in some way or another.

What gives? It’s like some bad relationship with an ex- you can’t shake that gets progressively worse every time you go back to them. But in this case, I’m not sure I’ve ever understood the attraction.

I honestly don’t get it.

Agreed. It is odd.

Have always just considered it a loyalty thing on Neil's end. He had his first real success with Stills, so maybe he feels some sort of obligation to keep working with him.

Then again, he never showed up on any Poco albums, so who knows.

I like Deja Vu, btw. If I'm going to listen to the group, it's probably going to be that album.

Neil kind of answered this when he was interviewed during their last tour. He actually has a lot more fun on the CSN&Y tours than his own (at least later on, after they dealt with their personal issues I'm guessing) for one simple reason - he can relax. If it's just him or with Crazy Horse or any other backing band, he's more or less the show. It's a huge responsibility that's completely on his shoulders. But when he's with CSN&Y, it's four guys sharing that responsibility.

thank goodness for that gross stadium tour in 1974 -- i saw them twice as a teen, both times they hit long island. one was a mini-festival at roosevelt raceway that also included the beach boys and joni mitchell. neil's duet with joni on "sugar mountain" is stamped in my mind. those guys could sing, the guitar duals were fierce, neil got a nice long solo spot for his weirdo new songs, and he sure looked to be enjoying himself.

Also, I never like CSN(&Y) either, a massive disappointment considering how much I love the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield, and I've even grown to like the Hollies too. CS&N and Deja Vu are their best albums, and even then there's a lot I don't like about them. But "Helpless," "Long Time Gone" and especially the single "Ohio" are flat-out great, and on stage there were real glimpses of their full potential. Maybe not for a whole show, but more than a few times, they've lifted Neil's songs to greater heights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq2YSfkcURM

*liked

Holy shit, I've never seen that. Where's the rest of the song?

It's not just dutiful loyalty to Stills, I think he genuinely feels a flash of that 1966 feeling when they play together, even if no-one else can feel it anymore.

And most important of all, he didn’t need them artistically or commercially a fraction as much as they needed him.

Is this true, commercially speaking? I would have thought the CS&N sold more records and was a bigger concert draw than Neil.

I think you can make the case that in 1988 Neil’s commercial fortunes were not what they were or would be. And I believe that documentary said, though I may have been nodding off, that while the 1974 tour sold a boatload of tickets it wasn’t nearly as profitable as it should’ve been. So while not the slam dunk it was artistically after 1970, I think the commercial case for playing with them was mixed at best.

The simple answer to the OP: Young likes working with them in drib and drab.

Also, CSNY at least early in their tenure looked like the rare group whose members genuinely liked playing on each other's songs.

Holy shit, I've never seen that. Where's the rest of the song?

It's from a short-lived TV show called Music Scene, which had a unique 45-minute runtime (w/commercials!) that CSNY had to share with like six or seven acts, so they couldn't jam out completely.

one thing Neil claims at the beginning of waging heavy peace is that whenever he gets “a lot of money” he throws it into investments/projects with varying levels of success. Biodiesel, model trains, the bridge school probably... can’t remember specifics

Doghouses, iirc.

all the real heads know that the real shit is Crosby Still Nash Young & Jones.

(crosby's face in this, and his eyes....)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIDzA0YDso8

Damn Stephen with some high notes on that

I think you can make the case that in 1988 Neil’s commercial fortunes were not what they were or would be.

Part of the real tension in "Muddy Track" of the fractious 87 Euro tour is shows are getting cancelled and it is pretty clear Neil was a pretty low-ebb and to be fair to that stone cold piece of garbage American Dream (the cassette of which my dad had in his car and played when he would drive me to school, it is amazing I ever gave Neil a chance after that) is he did promise to make it if CROZ got his shit together, though of all the promises Neil has made over the yrs it does seem strange that is the ONE he decided to keep

Just listen to Crosby's "Cowboy Movie" and you'll see why these four are bonded for life.

Didn't realize that Music Scene clip upthread is edited. Here's the whole thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5icrWZnl_1w

is Coz playing that electric rhythm guitar or is it the coke

rereading shakey right now and just read about how embarrassed neil was at doing the tom jones show, ha

The thing that always kind of surprises me about all their fractious bullshit is that these guys were never building the Sistine Chapel. From the jump, their best stuff was mostly comprised of simple pleasures. Yes, Neil added some grit and substance but it was largely catchy acoustic ditties, slightly dippy lyrics, a little bit of light jamming, and those sumptuous harmonies.

I get that they all came from big time bands and the expectations that they maybe should’ve been more than that. But no one who goes to a CSN or CSNY concert or listens to one their albums is totally bummed if they don’t blow our minds with next level political statements or mindbending song structures. I mean, all they had to do was remake the first two records a few times over with the help of some outside writers and no one would’ve really complained.

And yet, there is a portentousness to almost everything they did after those records—the fights, tours, celebrated reunions, and blowouts—that suggests they were always on the cusp of ... something. All of which contrasts rather strikingly to the reality of their actual output, which ranges from intermittently satisfactory at best to uniformly pitiful post-1982.

I mean, drugs + money + ego. I get it. But still.

Dear Stephen, etc.

Pristine upload of Webley show during said gross 1974 tour:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3To8bmGLA-0

(Wembley)

As gross as that tour was, it was still a high-water mark of Rock'n'Roll Mutton Chops.

Been watching this in piecemeal form the past few days. Just got into the acoustic portion and on one of Croz's numbers (whatever the one is after "The Lee Shore") Still is singing WHILE HOLDING A BABY.

It's not a baby, fool: it's a doll stuffed with coke.

STILLS: We were the first band to do coke babies on-stage. I got the idea during some downtime in a little bar in Da Nang back in my special ops days. It took a little while to realize it though; Neil kept saying they didn't look and sound real enough. Crosby tried to eat one.

Well, yeah.

Surprisingly, they manage a convincing version of "Johnny's Garden", which is pretty delicate.

I want to know a tally and ranking of how much blow was done when the members were off stage. Somehow I think Nash comes in last

Back At It: Holy Shit, the second song in the second electric set IS A STILLS BONGO JAM.

IIRC,Santana was one of openers on the tour, more or less the same lineup that's on Lotus (ie, a bunch of pedigreed Jazz dudes). Having visions of Stills walking up to one of those guys and saying, "Outta the way! This is how we play drums...".

Back At It: Holy Shit, the second song in the second electric set IS A STILLS BONGO JAM.

Possibly!

Finished it up today, and mainly right now want to point out that "Pushed It Over The End" was completely cut out of the version linked here. There's another, longer upload of the same show that was added a week later, but for some reason there's less than a minute of the track before an awkward cut to the next song.

it seems a fairly obscure point to make now, but CSN/CSNY would have been considered the dominant American rock group in the early 70s up to 74. Pre Eagles, pre Mac, pre the rise of Aerosmith/Kiss/Nugent and the american hesher/butt rock/hard rock cohort; they had a certain gravitas, in that they emblemized the post hippie tropes and behavior that everyone understood was the way rock stars were supposed to comport themselves, against the war, shit tons of drugs, Cros getting a blow jobs from two women before a show while he was screaming orders at someone (per this Barney Hoskyns book from 2012); malcontents like the Stooges and the Dolls hated them, as did those bands acolytes who would soon emerge out of the CBs scene and then onwards…the mainstream rock band ideal was to be huge, and despite not making recordings past Deja Vu that many people were crazy about (although I suppose '77s CSN was pretty popular, generating radio fare that stood head to toe with the Eagles and Mac), they were the hugest american rock band. Before the developments I mentioned prior, who else was bigger than they? Dylan & the Band? The Dead? the Allmans? Doobies? James Taylor or any other singer-songwriters (which they more or less were part of)?…

Stills and Cros in particular appear to be utterly loathsome to me; Cros is fond of blaming Napster through streaming for his present financial woes, whereas anyone who was as successful as he was for as long as he was has not one single solitary person or activity to blame other than himself and the deeply stupid, selfish, heedless and blinkered behavior —not just drugs— that he has perpetrated for 55 fucking years.

yeah croz rebranding as a stoner gramps not one of the sleaziest l.a. predators is really grating

McDonough's Young bio alerted to me to just how huge CSN and CSNY were, and, yeah, they were, no question, the biggest rock band in the world after Zep but with the generational gravitas.

I think my introduction to Crosby was through the merciless shellacking he got as a '60s burnout who barely made it to rehab. When I finally looked into the Byrds, I was surprised that he not only was a member but that he did indeed have a substantial musical legacy. (I thought CSN was the only band he was associated with, and I don't remember anyone in school listening, much less liking, their music.) I can't emphasize enough how much of a surprise that was. The first time I saw his cameo on The Simpsons, the joke with Barney had NO set-up to me - like why on earth would he be a hero to anyone for his music? I never heard anyone talk about anything he's made, just his drug intake. Well, I did know "Turn! Turn! Turn!" (which was featured in an earlier episode), but it was made by a faceless band for all I knew.

he was way third banana to mcguinn and clark songwriting wise tho

TRUE. Docked another notch for fucking "Mind Gardens."

definite case of lost potential. the solo debut and the box set covering all the rest are really all you could need:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyage_(David_Crosby_album)

i like the debut far far more than any solo stills (inc manassas) or nash and probably better than the majority of Neil solo lps. a shame it's so solitary.

saying that, his recent few jazzy things with his son in the band are not terrible listens. not strong songs but he still sounds nice.

Crosby gave a free show at Lincoln Center two summers ago. The first and only time I've gone to any of his solo shows - I mean, it was FREE, and by the end, I was standing more or less right in front of the stage. Anyway, it was surprisingly good - not only was the band good, but his voice held up really well and the setlist hit all of the high points from the Byrds and CSN&Y ("Long Time Gone" and especially a pissed off "Ohio" that closed the show). The one disappointment was "Eight Miles High," which had a poor arrangement. Coincidentally, Roger McGuinn played a show a few months earlier - his first solo show in NYC in quite a while (his only other recent show was the Sweetheart of the Rodeo 50th anniversary tour stop), and it was at a venue that was within walking distance of Lincoln Center. The highlight of that show was "Eight Miles High," and even with just McGuinn on acoustic with no backing, it was amazing to hear as he turned it into an extended improvisation. No surprise, his guitar playing always made that record.

it seems a fairly obscure point to make now, but CSN/CSNY would have been considered the dominant American rock group in the early 70s up to 74

Their main competition for that honor would have been Grand Funk Railroad, who amazingly scored five platinum and two gold albums during that time frame plus broke all kinds of live attendance records, though seemingly without accumulating any gravitas along the way. It's kind of a mystery where all the Grand Funk fans went, and why they're a non-entity to younger generations. Contrastingly, it appears that the CSN(Y) catalog has had a long commercial afterlife.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXKmsvRXE4A

I'm not a fan, but Dez Dickerson was, so they did influence some of my absolute favorite music. Maybe not the primary influence, but Dez had some great guitar solos ("Little Red Corvette" in particular).

https://resources.mynewsdesk.com/image/upload/t_open_graph_image/xzzq35exgfiudfsrt90o.jpg

"LET'S FOLK ROCK!"

OMG

'No Nukes: Muse Concert For a Non-Nuclear Future' publicity shot, NYC, 1979 (with David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Jesse Colin Young, John Hall, Phoebe Snow, Carly Simon, Michael McDonald, James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt) pic.twitter.com/WpqJ7l7VXJ

— Barney Hurley (@barneyhurley1) April 18, 2021

Nuclear weapons: bad!
Now let’s party

JT not sure which one is his wife.

Carly's plaid jumpsuit is quite something.

Seeing Crosby, Stills and Nash & Cypress Hill in the same event sounds like a dream tbh.

— VIKKA/LILSATAN 👁👅 (@lil_satan_) April 21, 2021

(The event in question being Woodstock '94)

ALSO: Just noticing in that No Nukes pic that Crosby appears to be wondering why he's both at the side w/Stills, but also on the other end standing next to Nash.

"Marrakesh Express" is f-ing awful, so much that when I tried the first CS&N album without playing that track, the whole thing actually improved immensely - a more cohesive and unified album that managed to stay afloat and keep me engaged the whole time. I guess having it in the #2 slot always derailed the whole thing for me.

The LP still doesn't feel like a *great* album, but when I think of it as a one-off lark rather than the core music of any of those three (similar to the Traveling Wilburys later on), it at least feels like a commendable side project, as long as I ditch that awful track.

Agree
Wasn’t that the “single” to boot?

Not sure why I put that in quotes

Yup, the first single and peaked at #28. In retrospect, "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" should've been the first (it was the second and peaked at #21), and they could've tossed "Marrakesh Express" on to the B-side as a non-LP release.

I like it, although I will concede it's easily the cheesiest hippie-dippy thing on the debut. IIRC, it--along with all the other Nash tracks on that album--was rejected by the Hollies in favor of their Dylan album. It probably was the first single because at that point Nash had the most hits to his name than the other guys.

what do y'all have against piffle?

it--along with all the other Nash tracks on that album--was rejected by the Hollies in favor of their Dylan album

You had taste, Hollies. You had taste.

I always disliked this song til I heard the latter-day Hollies records with Nash, and then I was at least able to see what he was going for. I find this similar, a lot better, quite charming:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiflXrTsKLU

Hollies >>>>>>>>> Crosby, Stills & Nash

Nash is easily my least favorite member of CSN and sometimes Y. “Just a song before I go” from CSN is lovely, though.

That “black keys” song of his seems …lazy

Like yeah, anyone who’s ever played piano knows the sharps and flats have a nice harmonic resonance with other

I think he made it up on the spot, in his defence.

ok, recast csn - who would you replace graham nash with? for americans i'd probably go with someone like tandyn almer or curt boettcher. can't think of a britisher who would fit in the role tho!

John Sebastian?

how about a female singer? Oh, right -- these guys were pigs.

Mama Cass? She didn't write songs though. But how about Dave Mason?

how about a female singer? Oh, right -- these guys were pigs.

― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)

right, i mean, we're assuming that they're basically pigs, also, we start getting women involved and crosby/stills are pretty quickly outclassed

mike patto might be interesting. dave mason! yeah, that's definitely gotta be it, it'd have to be dave mason in that role.

Duh, Mike Love.

Although in reality it would have been Stills' buddy Peter Tork.

Richie Furay would have fitted in pretty well but then it would just have been Buffalo Springfield.

Rick James

the thing is that Nash’s voice is a really vital component of their gorgeous awesome vocal harmonies… Dave mason sounds too much like stills, imo

Art Garfunkel actually substituted for Crosby on CSN albums for awhile.

Crosby, Stills, Parsons, and Garfunkel