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Crosby, Stills and NashAlbums ReviewedCrosby, Stills and Nash (1969)Deja Vu (1970) Stephen Stills (1970) Songs For Beginners (1971) Wind on the Water (1975) CSN (1977) Carry On (1991) Looking Forward (1999) Crosby, Stills and Nash(1969)Formed by members of The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and The Hollies, Crosby, Stills and Nash are probably remembered for their cultural impact and drug problems as much as their music. But when Crosby, Stills and Nash were at their peak through 1969 and 1970, few other groups could match their aura of effortless confidence. Music historians consider 1969's Crosby, Stills and Nash, their debut album, to herald the beginning of the singer-songwriter era, but while it is a mellow, acoustic and personal, it is also an intricate studio creation, far less raw than something like Joni Mitchell's Blue. Stephen Stills overdubs virtually all of the instruments, while the stunning harmonies reflect painstaking studio work rather than spontaneous singalongs; particularly notable is 'Helplessly Hoping', where Stills' lead vocal is supported by Graham Nash emitting from one speaker and David Crosby emitting from the other. Other innovations include the backwards guitar of 'Pre-Road Downs' and the stereo harmony organs of 'Marrakesh Express'. Despite the pristine treatment, the songs presented on Crosby, Stills and Nash are personal and passionate. The highlight is the opening 'Suite:Judy Blue Eyes', a multi-part tribute to Stills' special folk-singer friend Judy Collins, while the only song that isn't terrific is 'Lady of the Island', Nash's dull tribute to his special folk-singer friend (and Crosby's former special friend) Joni Mitchell. Crosby contributes the typically relaxed 'Guinevere', and the aggressive 'Long Time Gone', while Nash displays his pop sensibilities in 'Marrakesh Express' and 'Pre Road Downs'. If you're prepared to sit through an endless barrage of hippie references, you'll probably grow to love Crosby, Stills and Nash as much as I do. 
 Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: Deja Vu(1970)Neil Young, Stills' former bandmate in Buffalo Springfield, signed up with with Crosby, Stills and Nash for Deja Vu, a more varied and spontaneous record than its predecessor. After an appearance at Woodstock and an acclaimed debut, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young were arguably the four coolest men in the world, as figureheads for the counterculture which was at its height. Deja Vu sold two million copies in pre-release sales, and its embrace of hippie culture is evident in songs like 'Woodstock', 'Almost Cut My Hair' and 'Everybody I Love You'. Deja Vu is pretty much the opposite of the unified feel of debut; it's much more like a collection of solo tracks from each member, with only a few unified band jams like Crosby's 'Almost Cut My Hair' and 'Woodstock'. Therefore, there's a much wider range of moods captured; from the acoustic despair of Stills' '4+20' and the resignation of Neil Young's country ballad 'Helpless', to the upbeat rock cover of Joni Mitchell's 'Woodstock' and catchy singalong pop of Nash's 'Our House' and 'Teach Your Children'. It may be all over the place, but pretty much every song is memorable, melodic and well crafted; possibly the exception is Stills and Young's collaboration 'Everybody I Love You', which doesn't sound like it took very long to think up, but does explode with layers of harmonies to bring the album to a satisfying conclusion. 'Carry On' is another terrific mini epic from Stills, breaking down into a fantastic a capella section mid song before launching into a jam dominated by Stills' wah guitar. Young and Crosby also attempt their own mini epics, with 'Country Girl' and the title track respectively, and they're also pretty interesting. Temporary respite from the relentless hippie lyrics ("love is coming to us all," "we have all been here before," "I feel like letting my freak flag fly,") comes from Young, whose lyrics in 'Helpless' could be interpreted as an admission that the counterculture is fading. This correct hypothesis is articulated further in his solo album of the same year, After the Gold Rush. While Deja Vu lacks the atmosphere and consistent tone of Crosby, Stills and Nash, it is more varied and exciting. There is a sense of the members pulling in four different directions, so it's probably not surprising that the group splintered shortly after, never regaining their full cultural relevance or musical force.
Stephen Stills: Stephen Stills(1970)Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young splintered after Deja Vu, each going on to solo careers, although Crosby and Nash would soon reunite and other various permutations of the four would come and go until the present day. The four were never completely independent from each other, all popping up on each other's solo records along with other assorted west coast counter culture celebrities from Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead. After being the token dominant figure, but working in tandem with other strong figures such as Young and Crosby in Buffalo Springfield and CSN, Stephen Stills finally made his own solo record in 1970. While it starts with the chirpy 'Love The One You're With', which features Crosby and Nash along with The Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian on backing vocals and could have been feasibly been the first single from a hypothetical third CSN album in precisely the same form, the rest of the album is less immediate with Stills exploring blues jams, Latin rhythms, gospel, overblown pop epics and other forms of music that had obviously informed his previous record making but that he'd never acknowledged so explicitly. One particularly important historical aspect of this album is that it marked the last recorded appearance of Jimi Hendrix, who guests on 'Old Times, Good Times', before his premature death at the rock star danger age of 27. According to Hendrix's friends, they knew that Hendrix was in trouble when he started turning up to parties without his previously ubiquitous guitar. It's kind of difficult to hear him because Stills' excellent organ work smothers his guitar, but the album is dedicated to him; Stills claims that his guitar skills increased exponentially following Buffalo Springfield after he spent entire days jamming with Hendrix. After Stills' work on the first two CSN records, this album is ever so slightly disappointing. There's nothing as intricately written as 'Suite: Judy Blue Eyes' or 'Carry On'; it's more like a series of genre exercises, as Stills explores styles that weren't really possible on CSN's more overtly commercial records. A solo acoustic rendition of 'Black Queen' is credited to Jose Cuervo Gold Label Tequila ("this is a song about a card game" he slurs in the introduction), while 'Old Times Good Times' and 'Go Back Home' dig deeply into blues with guest appearances from Hendrix and Clapton respectively. While the entire album is well written and executed, apart from 'Love The One You're With' it's not surprising that none of the other songs transcended the boundaries of the record; it's more personal and less culturally significant than Crosby, Stills and Nash's work. But Stills is on top of his game, and pretty much nails every target he aims at. 'To A Flame' is a gorgeous acoustic piano and string piece which manages to avoid genericism with its short length and unusual structure. 'Sit Yourself Down' is a concise pop winner, with a gospel chorus, a flavour shared by 'Church (Part of Someone)'. There are signs of his later bombast in the closer 'We Are Not Helpless', but it's not too far over the top. At this point in his career, Stills looked set for a far more promising career than what actually eventuated; based on this and his previous work with Buffalo Springfield and CSN it seemed as though the man could accomplish anything he attempted.
Graham Nash: Songs For Beginners(1971)It's hardly surprising that Stills, the musical driving force behind CSN, or Crosby, who provided most of the hippie vibes, were able to create successful solo albums in the wake of the group's initial demise. It was more questionable whether Nash, often dismissed as the lightweight pop fluffeteer and in the shadow in both The Hollies and CSN, would be able to achieve the same. So it's surprising how accomplished his 1971 solo debut is; full of solidly written, personal songs that are less cutesy and annoying than a whole album worth of 'Marrakesh Express' and 'Our House' would be. Several songs are obviously written in the fallout of his relationship with Joni Mitchell, most obviously in 'I Used To Be A King', an answer to Mitchell's 'I Had A King' (as well as a follow up to The Hollies 'King Midas In Reverse'). While it's stacked with guests like Dave Mason, Rita Coolidge and various members of the Grateful Dead, Nash is the dominant figure, even performing a couple of songs solo on acoustic guitar. The obvious anthem on the record, and the most CSN-like song, is 'Chicago', a political rallying cry which is kind of laughable in its naive idealism, but works musically with a dramatic arrangement and gospel flavour. And the nominal clunker is 'Be Yourself', a self-help hippie anthem with a dated computer reference that's pretty ingratiating. While he does struggle a little with the in-your-face material on Songs For Beginners, Nash is also able to pull off simple and charming material that would be banal in other hands. "I am a simple man," he proclaims in 'Simple Man', "so I sing a simple song"; it works way better in practice than it does on paper. 'Sleep Song' is a charming lullaby, with a gorgeous melody, and Nash only accompanied by a cello. There's not too much musical boundary pushing; the closest is 'There's Only One', which bizarrely doesn't sound too far away from Dark Side Of The Moon Floyd with its piano, gospel backing singers and sax break crammed into an arty rock song. Mason breaks out the wah guitar on 'Military Madness', a more convincing political effort, with Nash giving a narrative of how war has affected his life. The key track might be 'I Used To Be A King', where Nash turns on the emotion. Songs For Beginners is an understated record, which does make it somewhat underwhelming, but Nash's songwriting is superb throughout and surprisingly it's arguably the best of CSN's initial solo releases.
Crosby and Nash: Wind on the Water(1975)Because Stills was the leader on the early Crosby, Stills and Nash albums, and supplied the more rock-oriented material to balance Crosby's dreamy ballads and Nash's pop, I was interested to hear how Crosby and Nash coped without him. On Wind on the Water it is largely up to Nash to supply the few rock songs, which means that the album does not have the symmetry of the early CSN albums. While Wind on the Water suffers from the lack of a Stills or Young to provide muscle, it does gain strength through mature songwriting and a lovely integration of traditional forms; the inspiring opener 'Carry Me' is gospel tinged, 'Cowboy of Dreams' is straight country, while 'Critical Mass' shows Crosby and Nash indulging in monk-like acapella. Crosby is in top form with the lovely 'Carry Me', as well as the more typical opaqueness of 'Bittersweet' and 'Homeward Through the Haze'. Nash is also solid, especially with the ecological title track. The disappointing aspects of Wind on the Water are that Crosby and Nash have largely lost their political fervour and their charming do-it-yourself musicianship. While Wind on the Water is nice, it falls short of the standard established on Crosby, Stills and Nash and Deja Vu, a lazy appraisal that has presumably haunted assorted Crosby, Stills and Nash ventures since 1970.
CSN(1977)After a failed attempt at a CSNY reunion album in 1976, which eventually became The Stills-Young Band's Long May You Run, the original trio released only their second album. In the eight years since their debut, Crosby, Stills and Nash seem far less unified in their concerns. There's no politicism on CSN and the counterculture is a long time gone; the closest to activism is Nash's simultaneous attack on the church and recollection of an acid trip in 'Cathedral'. Instead, Crosby, Stills and Nash's lyrics are largely focused on relationships, and they seem like a looser conglomerate than before. It's tempting to draw parallels with Fleetwood Mac of the same era; Crosby's loose and rambling songs are equivalent to Stevie Nicks', Nash's pop instincts and piano leanings are equitable with Christine McVie, while Stills and Lindsey Buckingham provide the most instrumental power, grit and angst in their respective bands. The group have also lost their charm; the biggest misses on CSN are Nash's 'Cold Rain' and 'Carried Away', which rely on the slight cuteness of an 'Our House' or 'Teach Your Children' but come up uninteresting. Conversely 'See The Changes', with just Stills' acoustic guitar providing support to the trio's vocals, is the closest to capturing the original spirit. Elsewhere the group offer more mature compositions which fit them perfectly and are generally well written; the opener 'Shadow Captain' may be David Crosby's finest moment, with evocative lyrics like "blacked out like a city/awaiting bombers in the night" and studio pianist Craig Doerge's jazzy piano work. Nash cranks out the albums single (the tuneful 'Just A Song Before I Go') while despite my aversion, 'Cathedral' probably stands as his most substantial composition ever. It's hard to imagine anything more offensive from my perspective; Nash, generally the meekest and mildest of the trio, manages to gratuitously record his drug use ("I'm flying in Winchester cathedral") and slam Christianity in the very same song. Stills overdoes his Latin leanings in 'Fair Game', but elsewhere his writing is very solid. 'Run From Tears', 'I Give You Give Blind' and 'Dark Star' enliven CSN with some necessary muscle and variety; the latter is surprisingly funky. On balance, CSN is surprisingly accomplished; it wisely doesn't try to rebottle the spirit of the trio's original recordings, but instead transplants them to pastures that are less colourful but vaster.
Carry On(1991)A filleted version of the Crosby, Stills and Nash boxset, this 2CD retrospective draws on the obscene number of albums released by various permutations of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash since 1969. With so much material to choose from, it's not surprising that Carry On is full of fantastic songs. Sensibly, Carry On draws heavily on the group's seminal first two albums, 1969's self-titled debut and 1970's Deja Vu, as well as including the 1970 single 'Ohio'/'Find The Cost Of Freedom', recorded in response to the shootings at Kent State University. The focus is on the trio's work together, but there are also some excellent solo efforts, particularly Stills' countrified 'Change Partners', 'Johnny's Garden' and 'As I Come Of Age'. For completists, there are plenty of interesting outtakes and alternate versions; Crosby's dreamy 'The Lee Shore' and Nash's 'Horses Through A Rainstorm' were fine songs that didn't make the cut for Deja Vu, while Stills and Nash contribute an expansive version of Traffic's 'Dear Mr. Fantasy'. While some of the alternate versions are questionable, particularly the crappy eighties live recording of 'Dark Star' and an electric 'Helplessly Hoping' that removes the subtleties of the original, Carry On also uncovers a stunning Crosby demo of 'Guinnevere', a full live in studio take of 'Almost Cut My Hair' with several miscued starts and an embryonic version of 'You Don't Have To Cry' which captures Crosby, Stills and Nash singing together in the studio for the first time. The sequencing initially seems arbitrary but actually makes sense with the hit oriented material like 'Woodstock', 'Love The One You're With' and 1982's terrific 'Southern Cross' on the first disc, and the more complex material like 'Suite: Judy Blue Eyes', 'Shadow Captain' and 'In My Dreams' on the second disc. This review has read more like a press release than a critique thus far, but every song on this set is heartily endorsed (we don't endorse the lifestyles expounded in 'Love The One You're With' and 'Change Partners', but we like the tunes), with three notable exceptions. The three selections from 1990's Live It Up are ridiculously outclassed in such illustrious company; Stills' 'Haven't We Lost Enough' flies under the radar with a low key arrangement, but 'After The Dolphin' and worst of all 'Yours And Mine' are lyrically overwrought and musically irrelevant. With 36 songs to choose from, however, it's easy to ignore the latter three. Crosby, Stills and Nash were never particularly consistent, perpetually distracted by women (Nash famously remarked "Women are the most important thing in the world next to music"), imprisonment (Crosby for a couple of years during the 1980s) and drugs, but when they got their collective acts together their songwriting and harmonies were frequently sublime.
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: Looking Forward(1999)I found Looking Forward cheap and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was nowhere as bad as I expected, containing at least half a good album. Both of Nash's songs are tuneful and pleasant, Stills rocks out well on 'No Tears Left', Young contributes the title track and the spooky 'Out of Control', while Crosby supplies the highlight 'Dream For Him'. 'Dream For Him' represents David Crosby in prime form, with a gentle melody and unconventional phrases like guff and John Wilkes Booth. Counteractively, Crosby also contributes the shocking 'Stand And Be Counted', which nobly and awkwardly asserts "I want to stand alone in front of the world and that oncoming tank/like that Chinese boy we all have to thank/he showed us in a picture I have mounted/exactly what it means to stand and be counted." The song attempts to be a rock anthem but lacks hard production or intelligent lyrics. Stills' opener 'Faith in Me' is marred by overproduction, while Young's 'Queen of Them All' is spoiled by an irritating little riff that sounds like a xylophone. In other places, the material is too derivative: the sleeve notes admit that Stills' 'Seen Enough' is a rip off of Dylan's 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' while Young surely creates a precedent by stealing his own 'Heart of Gold' to make 'Slowpoke'. Looking Forward's closer 'Sanibel' is commercially oriented meaningless sentimentality, but provides a good platform to launch harmonies from. While Looking Forward is woefully inconsistent, if you enjoy their earlier work it is mildly fun to see the old hippies back in action
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Written 2001-2009, Graham Fyfe
