Shit.
Just damn.
I know he was–to put it most gently–a strong personality. That voice, though, and the music…
We’re losing some great ones. Rest in power, Mr. Crosby.
This post is in: Absent Friends, Music, RIP
Shit.
Just damn.
I know he was–to put it most gently–a strong personality. That voice, though, and the music…
We’re losing some great ones. Rest in power, Mr. Crosby.
Comments are closed.
tobie
This one really hurts. David Crosby was a living reminder of the idealism of the 1960s and he kept it alive till his end. Just yesterday he posted a tweet saying how brave Greta Thunberg is. Make music in the great beyond, David Crosby. It might help make peace here on earth.
Grumpy Old Railroader
Amazing that even assholes give good advice
🎶Teach your children well
their father’s hell
did slowly go by🎵
Miss Bianca
Now I’m really feeling old.
Hungry Joe
Sometime around the late ‘80s I heard Crosby & Nash when they opened for Jackson Browne at the San Diego Civic Theater. The blending of their voices was … perfect. It seemed unreal. People were glancing around, catching each others’ eyes: Are you hearing what I’m hearing?
Jackson Browne wasn’t half bad, either.
MagdaInBlack
I feel blessed I saw CSN in Urbana, IL in ( i think ) 1984.
HumboldtBlue
I mentioned on the family text thread six months ago that you know you’re getting old when the soundtrack of your youth (and sweet Jesus weeping on a guitar I was formed in the absolute golden era of rock, soul and the birth of rap and hip-hop) becomes the soundtrack of advertising on TV.
My older brothers and sisters introduced me to so many ridiculously awesome bands and songwriters, and near the top of the list is Crosby, Stills and Nash (along with CSN&Y).
I almost cut my hair
Elizabelle
Really good article in the LA Times, written by Steve Hawkins. Covers David in all his facets; the talent, the difficult personality and drug addiction. Totally worth a click.
LA Times:
David Crosby, whose voice soared with the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, dies
One anecdote. David wrote a song, Triad, about sexual threesomes, which his Byrds colleagues recorded but did not include on an album. They chose a song by Carole King and Gerry Goffin instead.
Bring this up, because the LA Times article is very upfront about what Triad means.
Not so the Grey Lady (The FTFucking NY Times), which describes it as “an ode to free love.” OK. Whatevs. [Gift link to the NY Times article.]
Anyway: incredible that David Crosby had such a successful late life career, and maintained his creativity as well. That his voice remained pretty good, too.
The end of the LA Times article:
Elizabelle
From the LA Times article:
Traded mescaline for Medicare. It was a fun article.
OzarkHillbilly
Well, I know I’m not far behind.
Steeplejack
@Elizabelle:
Jefferson Airplane, “Triad.”
Spanky
@OzarkHillbilly: You’re not 81.
And do not attempt to skip ahead in line.
Elizabelle
@OzarkHillbilly: Awww. I hope you still have plenty of time with Mrs and the pups and the garden, and with us.
Steeplejack
David Crosby leaves behind a tremendous body of work.
Crosby, Stills and Nash, “Long Time Gone.”
His 1971 album If I Could Only Remember My Name was a mind-blower for me. Perhaps a fitting song for his passing: “Song with No Words (Tree with No Leaves).”
David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch
Carry on
Love is coming
Love is coming to us all
Elizabelle
@Steeplejack: Thank you for the links.
I only know the Byrds and CSN/Y stuff, so this is fresh to me, and he is very talented. (Looking for the lyrics to Triad before I listen to the Airplane’s version. So far it’s just instrumental …)
So many times, it’s other tracks on the albums that end up our favorites.
HinTN
@Steeplejack: Crown of Creation changed me in ways I’m still coming to understand. That mix is crystal clear. What a voice, what guitars, what lyrics!
Elizabelle
Prior to the LA Times article, had not known that he served a prison sentence. In Texas. For drugs and a gun. Guessing that no holds barred, recent documentary film about his life will be streaming broadly soon. Would like to see it.
AliceBlue
I’m saddened by the passing of Christine McVie and Jeff Beck but losing David Crosby is hitting me hard. I have a vivid memory of 16 year old me sitting on my bed listening to the first album by CS&N.
The Moar You Know
I met Mr. Crosby back in 1994 when he toured my employer’s guitar factory. He was about three weeks out from getting his new liver.
I was in my late 20s and it made quite an impression on me. He was pure, bright yellow, head to toe, from liver failure and had very little idea where he was.
I have no idea if he was a nice guy or not, and wouldn’t expect to under the circumstances. All I know is that guy must’ve done a fuckton of booze and hard-ass drugs, and he paid a heavy price for it. I am amazed he lived as long as he did, considering.
raven
@MagdaInBlack: The year I left.
Steeplejack
@Elizabelle:
That version of “Triad” is the full song, with the lyrics capably sung by Grace Slick (of course).
I highly recommend If I Could Only Remember My Name. The whole album is here. My one (very minor) complaint is that the second song, “Cowboy Movie,” is an outlier from the rest of the album. I might have put it at the end of the album.
Many A-list people helping out on the album. Wikipedia article here.
raven
@Elizabelle:
All those day-glo freaks who used to paint the face
They’ve joined the human race
raven
@Elizabelle:
MagdaInBlack
@raven: It was at/in the Mushroom, of course.
wenchacha
He seemed unable to keep from saying the wrong thing about his friends. Difficult personality, for sure. But also a real poet and musician.
raven
I wonder who they are
The men who really run this land
And I wonder why they run it
With such a thoughtless hand
Tell me what are their names
And on what street do they live?
I’d like to ride right over
This afternoon and give
Them a piece of my mind
About peace for mankind
Peace is not
An awful lot
To ask
Almost Retired
I met him (sort of) briefly at the old Cat and Fiddle Pub in the 80’s – for LA folks, the original one in Laurel Canyon and not the later version on Sunset Boulevard. I said something gushy about being a fan. He nodded and then tried very hard to disengage from having any further conversation with me. Quite rightly. He had better things to do then tolerate an interruption from a dumbshit 20 year old with a fake ID. Masterful musician!
raven
@MagdaInBlack: Not Mabels?
Leslie
My favorite concert ever was CS&N at the Hollywood Bowl. Perfect fit between venue and performer. Glorious sound.
sxjames
Yes, this one hurts. I’ve learned a couple of his tunes on guitar (Guinevere with its really odd open tuning, and Wooden Ships with those high neck cords) and what blew me away was the shear innovation and creativity of his music. No one voiced or composed songs like he did….you can instantly recognize a David Crosby tune.
God Speed my man.
karen marie
Dear Tom Levenson: Did you LISTEN to that Tiny Desk video before you posted it?
It made my cat flee the room and I had to quickly remove my headphones.
What a stinker!
If that Tiny Desk concert is representative of his current work, his timely death has saved him embarrassing himself further. I have very fond memories of ’60s and ’70s Crosby music, and I’m grateful that he existed, but his antics on twitter (his unnecessary, nasty remarks about fan art shown to him, sneering at perfectly fine joints, etc.) made me block him. His music will live on for people to enjoy, ignoring that he was an asshole.
raven
I saw CSN in Phoenix in 1993, sadly. . . well you know.
raven
@karen marie: That’s, like, your opinion man.
Old Dan and Little Ann
I’ve got an answer. I’m going to fly away. What have I got to lose?
OzarkHillbilly
@Spanky: It ain’t the years, it’s the mileage. I’ve got a lot of mileage.
@Elizabelle: So do I, I’m not pushing it, but… (who knows, I might live to 92 like my grandfather…. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…. gasp…. wheeze…
Seriously tho, I have danced with death more than a few times and have watched too many others take that last tango. I know I am closer to the end than I am the beginning but surely can’t say how close. One thing I can say, 20 years? It’s the blink of an eye. I am far away from where I was at 44 and can’t even imagine 84.
Life is good, there is much I still want to experience and know that there is several life time’s worth I am no longer capable of experiencing. That’s OK, I’ll take what I can get.
And when I know longer can? It’s not a sad end. It’s the beginning of a whole new adventure.
lowtechcyclist
@Elizabelle:
Huh? To me, it’s a song about him being a jerk.
He’s cheating on each of these women with the other one, and when they find out and confront him, he suggests that they become a threesome. Woohoo, a solution combining absolution and male fantasy time! And let’s all just forget about the fact that he’s given both of them ample reason not to trust him.
I always skip past this song, just so I don’t have to actively despise him.
HinTN
@Steeplejack: Who knows what goes on in the male late-teen emotional, hormonal, intellectual chaos but I do know that I was a Jefferson Airplane rock and roller and yet I bought and was transfixed by this record and, at the same time, was captured by Coltrane’s Africa Brass. Ain’t life grand?
raven
@HinTN: Fuckin A.
HinTN
@raven: Amen!
raven
@HinTN: I put “Up Against The Wall Motherfuckers” in my dissertation!
Omnes Omnibus
RIP. Always thought CSN was at their best when they worked with Neil Young. He provided them with a needed edge. That being said, Crosby was one hell of a talent and had one hell of a life.
HinTN
@raven: And Ed Sullivan had no clue it was coming. 😎
Steeplejack
@HinTN:
Same. And I was discovering Wes Montgomery around that time.
raven
@HinTN:
Joni Mitchell, Jefferson Airplane and David Crosby Discuss Woodstock Festival | The Dick Cavett Show’
They flew directly from Woodstock to the studio and still had mud on their boots from the show!
Cameron
I used to be a fan of his, although I never got to hear him live.
raven
@Steeplejack:
Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes
Elizabelle
@lowtechcyclist: Interesting. The LA Times didn’t mention that aspect.
Omnes Omnibus
Guinnevere. One of the songs Crosby wrote.
Raoul Paste
@Hungry Joe: You can hear that same, perfect blending of voices on the DVD: David Gilmour, Live at the Royal Albert Hall
Crosby and Nash are guest artists, and it is extraordinary
Raven
@Elizabelle: Who gives a shit, it was over 50 years ago.
Dorothy A. Winsor
CSN&Y: “Four Dead in Ohio”
OverTwistWillie
A big thumbs up to everyone quoting Graham Nash and Steven Stills songs.
HumboldtBlue
@raven:
Wow, thank you!
HinTN
@Steeplejack: Wes Montgomery came much later to me. Frank Zappa on the other hand… Uncle Meat was ridiculous and yet…
Brown shoes don’t make it.
Quit school, why take it?
Be a jerk and go to work.
Do you love it do you hate it?
There it is, the way you made it.
Memory may also be underserving my purpose.. (fixed)
ETA – Yes, I know that’s from Freak Out, not Uncle Meat.
Raven
@OverTwistWillie: So what, he was in the group mr know-it-all.
HinTN
@raven: Jeff Beck and Wes both were masters of thumb picking.
Raven
@HinTN: I gotta get out of here.
Barbara
@Elizabelle: Read all the way through to discover that Crosby and Nash nearly got into a fist fight backstage at a White House Christmas performance after botching Silent Night (during Obama presidency). Not hampered by convention seems to have been his motto for living. CSN and Deja Vu were among the first albums I ever bought.
Elizabelle
@Barbara: Yes. Fisticuffs over Silent Night. OK, David.
Yes. Played Deja Vu constantly one summer. Never saw CSN, but did see Neil Young in concert a few times.
The Thin Black Duke
Some weird energy happening right now.
zhena gogolia
@The Thin Black Duke: Yeah. I think I’ll sit this one out! I have no strong opinions on this one. I remember a few songs, that’s about it.
raven
@The Thin Black Duke:
This Party Took a Turn for the Douche (Official Video) by Garfunkel and Oates
Elizabelle
NY Times reader comment:
J R in WV
So many songs.?.
Don’t I recall one about the constellation Southern Cross?
Never saw/heard him in concert, but loved his music…
Steeplejack
I saw CSN&Y once, in Atlanta in the early or mid-’90s. An old friend from my newspaper days had tickets and took me and a couple of other friends. I thought, “Okay, icons of the golden age, past their prime, we’ll get a tour of the hits, nice to put on my list.” Holy shnikeys, it was one of the best concerts I ever saw—definitely top five. It was long, almost four hours, no opening act, and they were really on. They did a lot of their hits, also a lot of deep cuts, and they traded in and out in different configurations. Stills and Young both did some separate acoustic stuff, and Nash and Crosby did a whole mini-set by themselves. An amazing night that I’m glad I experienced.
Anotherlurker
@HinTN: I saw C, S & N at Woodstock. What a transformative musical experience!
You mentioned Zappa. Give a listen to “Trouble Coming Everyday” from the “Freak Out” album. Social conscience meets commentary in mid mid-60s USA. Wow, Frank could write some powerful lyrics that are very relevant today!
Steeplejack
@raven:
Good selection! Thanks.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
Hypnotic.
Steeplejack
@J R in WV:
Crosby, Stills and Nash, “Southern Cross.”
Barbara
@Steeplejack: I saw Paul Simon a few years ago and had the same kind of expectations, and ended up seeing a fantastic, energetic concert with incredible musicians. I felt like he loved us as much as we loved him.
Steeplejack
@Barbara:
Yeah, those unexpected occasions are gems.
Manyakitty
@Steeplejack: that’s the one that gets me every time.
Steeplejack
@Manyakitty:
🙏
StringOnAStick
In the era of autotune, it’s impressive to listen to these harmonies and marvel at how good they are.
Ruckus
@Steeplejack:
Without a word you still know who that is even if you’d never heard it before.
Did they ever create a song that wasn’t good? I can’t think of one. One of the best groups of their very long and very good era.
Steeplejack
@Ruckus:
I’ve been going through comments on Twitter and elsewhere and saw an interesting item: Roger McGuinn said that David Crosby was the best harmony singer ever. High praise indeed.
lowtechcyclist
@Ruckus:
I’m gonna say, sure they did. Crosby had an amazing voice, but most of the songs he wrote fall flat with me. Their tunes kinda wander (“Triad,” “Almost Cut My Hair” come to mind) without really seeming to have any idea where they’re going, and the first time I heard “Almost Cut My Hair” back in 1971, the lyrics made my eyes roll so far back in my head I should have been able to see behind me.
I’m sure there were still places then where keeping one’s hair long was still some sort of defiant gesture, but that moment had passed years earlier where I was growing up. A few years more, and even the rednecks in the small town in Kansas where my relatives lived were sporting shoulder-length hair.
David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@The Moar You Know:
how did you know what his toes looked like?
JML
@Steeplejack: Crosby is the best harmony singer in rock & roll, IMHO. His voice was absolutely a marvel and he was just as skilled at using it to support and uplift another’s voice as to take the spotlight. He’s truly one of the great singers in rock history, and his voice remarkably stayed strong and vibrant for so long, even with all of the very hard living he did.
He was never the songwriter his partners in CSNY or The Byrds were, and he was always at his best when he had a true singing partner which limited his solo work I think. But it’s also why he was such a welcome present doing guest vocal on some many tracks on other people’s albums of the years. Brilliant voice and remarkable performer.
Steeplejack
@JML:
Great comment!
Uncle Cosmo
IIRC he was the one who said,
I think I wasn’t there enough not to have to spend 10-15 years finding my way back from wherever there was.For all the good that did me…
Back in the daze I loaned my GF two hot off the disc-press albums – Sweet Baby James and Deja Vu – saying, See what you think. I figured she’d prefer the former. Hah! Who is this James Taylor when you have CSN&Y? Shows how well I knew her. And probably why she dumped me a couple years later for one of her med-school instructors. (Funny thing, we all ended up friends. Sharp person, left this plane way too soon.)
Paul in KY
@Hungry Joe: Saw CSN at Riverbend back in 90 or so. Did their usual great set and then for encore (cause he had a show the next night), Neil came out and joined them for ‘Ohio’.
Was pretty killer!
Subsole
@raven:
Some things never change.
Paul in KY
@Elizabelle: I would assume he could have made a good one. Was probably given a howto by old weathermen back in the day.
Paul in KY
@J R in WV: ‘Southern Cross’ is one of their great ones.