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Crosby & Nash are a duo consisting of David Crosby and Graham Nash, better known for being two parts of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
After their first album together as a duo in 1972, Crosby & Nash both got up to some interesting things. Crosby took part in a short-lived reunion with The Byrds (producing 1973's Byrds album), and Nash released a second solo album. They also both joined their friend Neil Young on the road for his 1973 tour, which produced the live album Time Fades Away. They also found alot of work as backing vocalists, appearing on albums by Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Roger McGuinn, Dave Mason, and others. In 1974 a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunion happened, and the four of them went on tour. They attempted to record another album together, but it did not work out. And so Crosby & Nash recorded as a duo again, signing a new contract with ABC Records.
Wind On The Water was released in 1975, and compared to their first album it was much more consistent, with a stronger, maturer sound throughout, the strengths of both artists blending together perfectly. The closing track, "To The Last Whale", could indeed be considered their crowning glory. Backing musicians included guitarist Danny Kortchmar, keyboard player Craig Doerge and drummer Russ Kunkel (all of whom had been on the first album), plus guest appearances from pedal steel guitarist Ben Keith, multi-instrumentalist David Lindley and drummer Levon Helm, and backing vocals from James Taylor, Jackson Browne and Carole King.
Graham Nash/David Crosby (1972) <|> Whistling Down The Wire (1976)
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Crosby, Stills & Nash are a folk-rock 'supergroup', made up of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. They are sometimes joined by occasional fourth member Neil Young.
After the success of their chart-topping Deja Vu album, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young went on tour together for a second time, accompanied by Fuzzy Samuels on bass and Johnny Barbata on drums. Recordings were made form the concerts, and a live album was produced. Shortly after the tour all four members released high-profile solo albums, the debuts of Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and the third for Young. Many of the songs they had debuted on the tour appeared on record for the first time on these albums.
In 1971 the live album taken from the tour was released. Four Way Street was a two-LP set, divided between an acoustic disc and an electric disc. The acoustic segment featured all four members performing both by themselves and in various configurations, all of them getting to take the spotlight in turn. A notable inclusion was Neil Young's "On The Way Home", an old song he had originally written when with Buffalo Springfield (their version featured Richie Furay on vocals). He had been performing it in his solo set for years (usually as the opening song), but this was the first time his version had been released on record (the other three helping out with extra guitar and vocals). Crosby also sang "Triad", a song he had written and recorded when with The Byrds, but never released (Jefferson Airplane instead had released the first version of it), and "The Lee Shore", a number he performed with Nash for years, but did not see its studio version released until their 1991 box set (also available here). The electric half let Stills and Young resume the extensive electric guitar workouts they had originally performed with Buffalo Springfield, in particular on the long jams of "Southern Man" and "Carry On".
The album got to #1. However behind the scenes, tensions between the four members were high, and eventually they were stretched to breaking point. By the time of the album's release, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young had officially broken up, and they all went back to work on their respective solo careers (though Crosby & Nash continued to work as a duo). There would be various attempted reunions over the years, and they did tour again in 1974, but attempts to record together again took a long time to see any results. Crosby, Stills & Nash managed to release albums in 1977 and 1982, but another album credited to all four of them had to wait until 1988.
This version of Four Way Street is actually the 1992 expanded edition, which features four bonus acoustic tracks.
Deja Vu (1970) <|> CSN (1977)
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Crosby & Nash are a duo consisting of David Crosby and Graham Nash, better known for being two parts of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
After the massive success of CSNY's Deja Vu album, and all four members' high profile solo albums of 1971, David Crosby and Graham Nash went on tour together as an acoustic duo, to great success. As the CSNY name was pretty much abandoned and there was no hope for a follow-up album any time soon, they decided to record together as a duo. The result was 1972's Graham Nash/David Crosby.
Of the four of them, it has always been Crosby and Nash who have stuck together the closest over the years, being inseperable throughout most of their careers. Their musical styles are actually very different, Crosby having a penchant for the weird and abstract, and Nash's work being more accessible and commerical. But it turns out that the two complement eachother perfectly. Their first duo album tied both sounds together very well, their voices harmonizing together beautifully. Most of their instrumental backing came from guitarist Danny Kortchmar, keyboard player Craig Doerge, bassist Leland Sklar and drummer Russ Kunkel (ie The Section), plus appearances from members of the Grateful Dead (Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Bill Kreutzmann), bassist Chris Ethridge, guitarist Dave Mason, drummer Johnny Barbata and CSNY bassist Greg Reeves.
The album proved to be a success, reaching #4 on the album charts. Crosby & Nash would record two more duo albums before CSN ever got round to recording their Deja Vu follow-up.
|> Wind On The Water (1975)
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Crosby, Stills & Nash are a folk-rock 'supergroup', made up of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. They are sometimes joined by occasional fourth member Neil Young.
Shortly after the massive success of their Deja Vu album, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young quickly followed it by the fantastic single "Ohio". The song was written by Neil Young as a reaction to the Kent State shootings of May 1970, and it quickly made it to #14 on the singles charts. It is today both one of the band's and Young's best-known songs.However the song and its fantastic Stills-written b-side ("Find The Cost Of Freedom") were never actually released on an album, barring greatest hits packages and live albums. Therefore I've put this ten-song compilation together, both songs bookending a selection of outtakes. Four of these songs were released on the band's 1991 box set, whilst the other four are rarities.The best song here is surely David Crosby's "The Lee Shore". A live solo version of this song was released on Four Way Street, but this studio outtake (with full band arrangement) is really something else, and perhaps even one of the best ever CSNY recordings. There's also a fantastic version of Joni Mitchell's "Urge For Going", and acoustic readings of The Beatles' "Blackbird" and Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'" (the latter performed solo by Stills). For Neil Young fans, there is an early group version of "Human Highway", and a fantastic rocking studio cut of "Sea Of Madness" (a song which has never been released except the live version on the Woodstock soundtrack).
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David Crosby is an American singer-songwriter, best known for being a founding member of both The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash.
David Crosby was a member of the pioneering folk-rock group The Byrds, appearing on their first five albums between 1965 and 1968. He started out as rhythm guitarist and harmony singer, but from their third album onwards he began to contribute and sing lead on his own songs, demonstrating a distinctive style and penchant for weird, abstract forms of folk-rock. His increasing artistic presence in the group led to various personality clashes, and he left during the making of The Notorious Byrd Brothers. He then went on to form Crosby, Stills & Nash with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, and they released their debut album to universal acclaim. They were then joined by Neil Young, and 1970's Deja Vu proved to be an even bigger success. After the massive success of Deja Vu, all four members were given the opportunity to release solo albums.
Crosby's If I Could Only Remember My Name proved to be a perfect coming together of the sound he had been pursuing throughout his time with The Byrds and CSN. His songs always stood out for their strange, dream-like qualities, and now it was time for a whole album of them. Backing Crosby was an amalgamation of various hip west-coast rock bands and singer-songwriters (most notably members of The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane). Most of the instrumental backing came from various combinations of Jerry Garcia (guitar/pedal steel), Jorma Kaukonen (guitar), Neil Young (guitar) Phil Lesh (bass), Jack Casady (bass) Bill Kreutzmann (drums) and Mickey Hart (drums). Vocal support mostly came from Graham Nash, but there were also appearances from Joni Mitchell, Grace Slick, Paul Kantner and David Freiburg. Keyboard player Gregg Rolie and drummer Michael Shrieve (of Santana) also appeared on one song.
Crosby's greatest strength had always been his amazing voice, and the focus of If I Could Only Remember My Name was firmly on the vocals. He made use of overdubbing to harmonize with himself, and it reached its pinnacle on the final track, "I'd Swear There Was Somebody There", where a mass choir of David Crosbys sang a cappella. Many of the songs had no lyrics, and he mades use of his voice as an instrument, often in harmony with musical partner Graham Nash. And behind the stunning vocals were some seriously good instrumental backing - it's not often you hear Jerry Garcia and Neil Young trading guitar licks, or Garcia and Jorma Kaukonen jamming over an integrated Airplane / Santana rhythm section.
The result was a fantastic album of transcendental music, something which had a sound all of its own, almost spiritual. The fact that it was recorded seemingly just as some jamming between a loose group of musician friends makes it even more extraordinary. Still today it is this one record which defines everything about David Crosby's music (indeed he has had a seriously sporadic recording career and arguably has never come close to bettering this forty years later). Though it had nothing on it which could have been a commercially successful single, the album itself reached #12 on the charts.
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Crosby, Stills & Nash are a folk-rock 'supergroup', made up of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. They are sometimes joined by occasional fourth member Neil Young.
After the success of Crosby, Stills & Nash, the trio had to think about going on tour. However to perform as a full electric band they needed extra members. In the end they chose to bring in Neil Young, who had played with Stills in Buffalo Springfield, and had recently started out on his own solo career. Now a quartet, they became Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Stills and Young gave them a formidable double lead guitar attack, and between the four of them they could handle all acoustic and electric guitars as well as keyboard duties. And with four practicing singer-songwriters on board, they already had a huge repertoire of material. They kept drummer Dallas Taylor on board, who had played on their debut album, and brought in 19-year-old Motown bassist Greg Reeves to complete the touring outfit. Young's contract allowed him to continue with his solo career whilst he performed with the group. They went on tour in summer 1969 - their second ever gig together was at the Woodstock Festival. The folk-rock supergroup were becoming a huge success, and expectations were high when they came to record their next album.Deja Vu proved to differ somewhat from the first album. The group broadened their pallette, resulting in a more diverse collection of songs (and perhaps a less consistent record for that reason). More so than the first album it sounded like a coalition of four singer-songwriters rather than a band. Crosby and Nash's signature songwriting styles become even more apparent. Crosby contributed the hippie blues lament "Almost Cut My Hair" and the surreal, dream-like title track, whilst Nash came up with the radio-friendly country-rock of "Teach Your Children" and the whimsical ode to domesticity of "Our House". Stills contributed the opening song "Carry On", which defined the archetypal CSNY sound, and the quiet solo number "4+20". Young wrote two songs, the slow, aching "Helpless" (which became one of his best-loved songs) and the three-part suite "Country Girl". They also recorded a rocking version of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock", and "Everybody I Love You" was a collaboration between Young and Stills. Most of the instruments were played by the four of them with Taylor and Reeves, but there were also guest appearances from Jerry Garcia on pedal steel and John Sebastian on harmonica.However, was the album actually the perfect coalition that the record sleeve would have you believe? Crosby & Nash added their superb vocal harmonies to all the songs except Stills' solo number, and Stills himself is on every song playing some instrument or another even if he's not singing. But what of Young? Apart from his own two songs he doesn't sing anywhere else, and just adds guitar to three others. He was always the outsider in the foursome (perhaps because he didn't rely on the others - he had by far the most successful solo career), and his presence on Deja Vu is really as a guest guitarist who gets to sing two of his own songs. Various personality clashes and power struggles meant the group eventually imploded after their 1970 tour, and despite numerous sporadic reunions over the years that continue to the present day, they have never come close to the quality of their first two classic albums, upon which their whole reputation as folk-rock's first and foremost supergroup rests.Because despite the group's hidden flaws, Deja Vu was a commerical success. It reached #1 on the pop album charts, and "Woodstock", "Our House" and "Teach Your Children" all reached the Top 40 on the singles charts.
Crosby, Stills & Nash (1969) <|> Four Way Street (1971)
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Crosby, Stills & Nash are a folk-rock 'supergroup', made up of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. They are sometimes joined by occasional fourth member Neil Young.
The roots of folk-rock's first supergroup goes back to the genre's first popular group - The Byrds. David Crosby had been a founding member of The Byrds, where he sang harmony and played rhythm guitar. However as he began to develop as a songwriter and artistic force in his own right he started to fall out with the rest of the group. After five albums, he was dismissed from the band in Autumn 1967. Buffalo Springfield, another top folk-rock group from L.A., had fallen apart by 1968, leaving guitarist/singer/songwriter Stephen Stills at a loose end. Stills and Crosby were already friends, as both their bands had toured together, and they began to jam in '68. They decided to form a group together, and the trio was filled out by Englishman Graham Nash. Nash was a member of British group The Hollies, but he had begun to grow creatively frustrated, and was eager to embrace the changing musical directions happening in America. He left the Hollies, and folk-rock's first supergroup was formed - Crosby, Stills & Nash (otherwise knows as CSN). They were not just a band, but a coalition of three already successful musicians, each a skilled songwriter and talented singer in his own right. As all three of them were already famous, expectations were high, and when their self-titled debut album came out it did not disappoint.What made it so unique were the vocal harmonies - the sound of the three of them singing together made for something truly magical. Built on a bed-rock of acoustic folk-rock, their harmonies took the genre to places it hadn't been before. All three of them brought their own unique songwriting styles - Stills fused folk, country and blues together in a rock context and produced archetypal CSN songs ("Suite: Judy Blue Eyes", "You Don't Have To Cry", "Helplessly Hoping", "49 Bye-Byes"), whilst the other two contributed the polar extremes of this sound. Crosby wrote the surreal, dream-like "Guinnevere", whilst Nash produced the melodic radio-friendly "Marrakesh Express". "Wooden Ships" was authored by Stills, Crosby and Jefferson Airplane's Paul Kantner, and the Airplane recorded their own version the same year on their Volunteers album.This debut album was very much dominated by Stills. He played almost all the instruments himself (acoustic and electric guitars, bass, organ and percussion), apart from the drums which were played by Dallas Taylor, and it is his songs which define the CSN sound best. However without Crosby & Nash it would never have been anywhere near as special. The album rocketed the three of them to the very top of the American rock & roll counter-culture, reaching #6 on the charts. In their long career together (on and off throughout the years, but still working together to this day), their classic first album has never been bettered.
|> Deja Vu (1970)
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