David Crosby's If I Could Only Remember My Name - C or D?

Joan Baez, from FB:

In 1965, Bob Dylan and I were discussing the state of the music scene. He said The Byrds, who had made a hit of “Mr. Tambourine Man,” were the only thing happening musically at that point in time. Perhaps an exaggeration, but certainly a tribute to the stellar musicians who formed the budding monster groups of the years to come like The Byrds and CSNY.

David Crosby was among the monster group icons who continued a solo career with the kind of success reserved for great musicians. And he could sing the hell out of a harmony.

He was also a friend to me. He was always, I repeat, always present for me, to defend my character and politics, and often included over the top (sometimes unwarranted) praise. He was funny, clever, and refreshing to be around. And I was honored that he chose my portrait of him as his last album cover.

He will be missed by millions, including myself. Sending my love to Jan and his family.

Some excellent Crosby bits in Harvest Time. He seems really focused as he works out backing harmonies with Young and Stills.

yeah that was a pretty incredible scene, loved seeing him at work like that

Crosby worked with members of Pink Floyd and Genesis, and was covered by Yes; it adds proof to Christgau's suggestion that the Byrds were the first art-rock band.

I mostly don't have anything complimentary to say about him, and quite a lot critical as such, but I'll say a couple of nice things now, and maybe in a couple of days we can have a nuanced discussion…

1. While it's well known he was in the middle in the CSN three part harmonies, in the Byrds, I think he was the high harmony? anybody know? Nash was always gonna be on top in any harmony arrangement, but it might have also been that in the Byrds, Cros hadn't quite fucked up his voice, whereas during the overwhelming majority of CSN, his proclivities would have precluded him singing high harmonies…

2. Jeff Beck is a name known to rock music enthusiasts/ aor-classic rock radio listeners for 50 years, but he had no next no presence in the larger culture with music under his own name, or say, after the Yardbirds, and so most of those listeners probly never his shit. But being that I think its demonstrably true that the CSN was the dominant american rock act in the early to mid 70s, Cros is absolutely part of the fabric of the lives of —truly— millions of normies/n0n aesthetes who were into rock music as it was understood for several decades. He's like Jerry Garcia.

xpost: never heard his shit

xpost also worked with Hootie. Proving something...

this guy's image rehab into some kinda avuncular stoner grandpa is really something jesus it's getting hard to take on twitter

haha yeah, i mean I love a lot of his stuff, but he was incredibly annoying on Twitter (occasionally funny, but it felt like the exception). I think I muted him at some point.

I'll add that I'm still taken aback by how many people love the album that inspired this thread. Greg Kot just called it a masterpiece and Elvis Costello of all people listed it among his 500 favorite albums. (Kot posted "Cowboy Movie," EC singled out "Laughing.") I was definitely not a fan, but I'll give the album another chance. After sampling "Cowboy Movie," it's possible I'll get into it as Crosby's take on what Neil Young was doing with Crazy Horse, as if Crosby set aside his initial dislike for them and drew inspiration from them (like he understood there was a lot more going on there that he had missed earlier).

I'll admit it's not for me but I've come around to several tracks. I can't bend my brain around Christgau's savage takedown, though; it's like Crosby poisoned his cats.

he was also a tremendous creep and asshole! like renowned for it

Not a fan of his post-Byrds work (I just tried listening to If I Could Only, and I couldn't), and I largely agree with the New Rolling Stone Record Guide (1983) assessment of CSN as "limpid adult bubblegum." I love "Helpless" and "Ohio," though, and he's responsible for one of my favorite moments in music: his foreboding open E string before McGuinn's 12-string kicks in on "Eight Miles High." Crosby's rhythm playing is that record's secret weapon, and the song wouldn't be half as good without it.

xps Jim O'Rourke is also on the record saying If I Could Only Remember My Name is one of his all-time favorite albums, hence:

pic.twitter.com/B4NUOGA69Y

— ジム　オルーク　ライブ (@steamroomlive) January 20, 2023

Anyway, huge RIP. His music and the whole CSNY axis was a cornerstone of my youth; I think my mom's vinyl copy of the first CSN album was the first album I ever became obsessed with, at age six. These days the first Crosby & Nash album is my favorite, with several of Croz's grooviest/moodiest tunes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0VfvOXnS8w

xp

i think both helpless and ohio are neil songs, right? you probably mean crosby's harmonies on them, though. i do enjoy the CSN harmonies but i have a hard time picking out who is who on them

Yeah Neil wrote both of those on his own

when scott seward posted on ILM, he often praised those Crosby-Nash albums.

and for a while they were staples of used record stores

I don't like CSN, I find them cloying, and I don't like much from that scene in general but I really like this album.

i think both helpless and ohio are neil songs, right? you probably mean crosby's harmonies on them, though. i do enjoy the CSN harmonies but i have a hard time picking out who is who on them

― Karl Malone, Friday, January 20, 2023 11:29 AM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Yeah, saying those are the two CSNY songs are the only ones I love was kind of backhanded -- I like the songs that Nash, Stills, and Croz had very little to do with! But their harmonies, and Crosby's ad-libbing on "Ohio," really do make them something that a straight Neil Young & Crazy Horse rendition wouldn't have been able to approach (and Young's solo acoustic "Ohio" falls flat for me).

Sorry for the derail, but not only is that video of CSNY with Tom Jones sweet, the linked video of Tom alone singing “Vehicle” is grebt too.

I've got mixed feelings about CSN&Y, including some of Crosby's songs - I think Neil definitely improved the group, but I think Crosby's contributions were better on the first album. His best post-Byrds song ("Long Time Gone"), a good one he co-wrote with Jefferson Airplane ("Wooden Ships") and a pretty number inspired by Miles Davis's Sketches of Spain ("Guinnevere"). Miles even paid Crosby the ultimate respect by covering it himself - by then Miles had already evolved into his fusion era, which made it all the more fascinating. I almost want to say it's like translating a poem into a different language, then translating it back into the original but with a very different dialect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y2d0t4PttE

Outside of that, they could be (but not always) great on-stage: I thought they were one of the great highlights of the Woodstock film, and this may be one of the few times I thought they achieved their potential with Neil Young:

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

^^^ that's great, and Crosby's chukka-chukka rhythm is just what it needs

Miles even paid Crosby the ultimate respect by covering it himself - by then Miles had already evolved into his fusion era, which made it all the more fascinating.

iirc, in the Croz documentary he repeatedly lamented the fact that, unlike Stills, Nash (counting "Chicago" here), and Young, he never had The Big Hit Single. But hopefully he took some solace in the fact that he was the only rock musician of his generation to have a song covered by Miles Davis.

FWIW, here they are in Woodstock (only their second gig ever):

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

I wasn't a fan at all at the time and the movie itself seemed way too long, so I was ready to completely dislike this. Instead I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, partly because the film got me to see them from a fresh perspective. It's 1969, you're among the counterculture, and three guys from a three groups you like (two you LOVE) come out to do a set during the acoustic part of the festival. Virtually no one's seen them perform together before. At that moment, I kind of get the hype.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcN1NVHY0G8

it's interesting to me that anyone would dislike If I Could Only Remember My Name, I was late in finding it but clicked immediately

the Croz doc from some years back (?) deal with his image rehab and iirc he's doing a lot of "all my friends are gone because i was a huge asshole, maybe still am"

csn debut is a joy

in the Byrds, I think he was the high harmony?

Yes, McGuinn and Gene Clark usually sang in unison with Crosby above. But even in his youth, he didn't have the kind of freakishly high tenor than Nash did.

Someone suggested that the three original singing Byrds each had a flaw in their voices that made them less than an ideal lead singers, but made for an excellent harmonic and textural blend. Actually, in terms of which Byrd has the nicest, clearest, most expressive voice, I might say Chris Hillman, who didn't even sing on their first three albums!

talked to my dad last night (who saw them at woodstock but cant remember much, shocker), i brought up If I Could Only Remember My Name and he started just ruthlessly clowning on me for liking it. "you can actually stay awake for the whole thing? he cant remember his name, i wish i couldnt remember that ALBUM, lolol!" etc. dunno if i'll ever recover from that in his eyes.

We've had CSN, CSNY, Stills & Young, Crosby & Nash ... have we ever had Stills, Nash & Young?

On "Words" on Harvest, it's the three of them singing.

We also had Nash & Young.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Song

Good song.

he cant remember his name, i wish i couldnt remember that ALBUM

For whatever reason, I heard Rodney Dangerfield's voice saying that.

Looks like there's a 1970 BBC live set by Crosby & Nash on BBC4 tonight.
9pm by listing I have

Some of the CSN records from Crosby's heavy drug period were actually GSN - Art Garfunkel recording the parts that Crosby would've if he were able.

The Garfunkel-Stills album is a hidden gem imo

That part of you that feels you're being attacked is your ego, it's your ego. It's not going to get you any more effing attention either. Try playing right!

I'm not mad on any of the CSN(Y) stuff - to the point that I couldn't honestly say I'd ever listened to anything longform all the way through. IOICRYN though is utterly transcendent. What a record. Also a fan of the Crosby/Nash albums.

IOICRMN, obvs. xp

Worst acronym since King Crimson's "ITCOTCK."

It's awful and I regret partaking in it.

lol

ITWOP isn't much better tbf.

So is the CSN (1977) worth resurrecting? It had "Wasted on the Way" but I didn't know it went 4x platinum; I guess it would've hit #1 if something called Rumours hadn't interfered. I know "Dark Star."

Yes it’s their best album

“Just a song before I go”, “shadow captain”, and yes “dark star”

“Cathedral” is something else too, re cros on that album

Oops, sorry -- I meant "Just a Song..."

xp sorry I’m stoned, “cathedral” is nash

lol Croz would approve, I think