Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young — New York, NY (6/4/70)
1. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, On The Way Home, Teach Your Children, Tell Me Why, Triad, Guinnevere, Simple Man, Man In The Mirror, Cinnamon Girl, Down By The River, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Black Queen, 49 Bye-Byes>America’s Children, Love The One You’re With
2. Pre-Road Downs, Long Time Gone, Helplessly Hoping, Ohio, As I Come Of Age, Southern Man, Carry On, Find The Cost Of Freedom
The funny thing about this show is that the band had already decided to break up shortly before the tour started. They had just released Deja Vu, which almost completely fractured the band. The story is, Steve Stills was head over heels in love with Rita Coolidge (The Raven) and along came the debonair Englishman, Graham Nash and crooked his finger and she ambled over to him, breaking Stills’ heart in the process. David Crosby wrote “Cowboy Movie” about the whole episode. Here’s a picture of Rita from the period and the lyrics from the inspired song.
“Me and my good partners
We were riding back to our camp
We were feeling very fine
The air was clear and slightly damp
We were riding back to have ourselves a party
To celebrate the robbing of the train
We were talking kind of low and lazy
’bout not having to go out soon again
You know we hadn’t been back at home two hours
We heard a hawk cry out in the night
And you know that’s a signal from young Billy who’s our sentry
Saying something here ain’t exactly right, oh
We quick grabbed some of our hardware
Stumbled out of our home
Two minutes flat we had found her
An Indian girl all alone
And Eli said let’s take her back to the cabin
I said you don’t know she might be the law, yeah
He said smiling kind of nasty it ain’t too damn likely
She’ll beat me to the draw, oh no
As we were walking back through the darkness
I heard the Duke he’s our dynamiter say
He said what’s your name sweet little Indian girl
She said Raven and she looked away
Right then I didn’t trust her no no I said so, oh no
Now Eli he’s our fastest gunner
He’s kind of mean and young from the South
He said Fat Albert you’re getting kind of old and weird now
You’d better get your 12 gauge shotgun right out and I did oh you know I did
Now Eli and the Duke they got down to it
They each wanted that Indian girl for their own
When they finally got around to asking her
You know she said she’d come to take young Billy home, oh no, no, no
Eli said he’d kill young Billy
He’d kill the Duke and probably me too, yeah
That Indian girl said go ahead now do it
I said stop and she bit my thumb nearly clean through, oh
And when they finally started to break down the door, yeah
I smeared my face up with blood from my thumb, yeah
I laid down on the floor and played real good possum
You know I’m crazy but I ain’t real dumb, oh no
Now I’m dying here in Albuquerque
I must be the sorriest sight you ever saw
You know the reason I’m the only one here to tell it
You know that Indian girl she wasn’t an Indian she was the law”
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young — “Wooden Ships”
Here are the “frozen noses” or, er, ah, CSNY performing “Wooden Ships” from ’74.
Crosby/Nash — “The Lee Shore”
From September of 1970. Beautiful, beautiful harmonies.
Crosby, Stills & Nash — “Southern Cross”
From 1982, shortly before David Crosby’s drug and gun arrest. Crosby eventually served 11 months in a Texas prison.
Crosby, Stills & Nash — Atlanta (8/17/09)
Last night we went and saw Crosby, Stills & Nash play Atlanta’s Chastain Park. I was pleasantly surprised to find that these late 60′s icons could still put on a compelling and entertaining show with equal amounts of both showmanship and love. Reaching into their back catalog of era defining tracks and grooves, the guys also pulled songs from Dylan, the Stones and the Dead. Both the acoustic and the electric portion of the evening was littered with the songs you’d expect, “Wooden Ships”, “Guinevere”, “Southern Cross”, “Just A Song Before I Go”, “Wasted On The Way”, etc., etc., yet their songs are comfortable and just make you feel good.
Nash and Crosby can still hit all the notes they could in their 20′s. Stills’ voice, on the other hand, possesses more gravel than honey, but he more than makes up with his soulful and inspired fret work and mere presence. Only the great ones can pull off a rainy Monday night show with such panache, class and relevance. These guys did it and did it well.
CS&N — 4+20>Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
From Dick Cavett’s show right after Woodstock and then into 1982.
CSNY — “You Don’t Have To Cry”
From the Tom Jones show (1970).
Helpless — Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young with Joni Mitchell
Neil rocking the White Falcon with brothers and sisters in arms in 1974.
Crosby, Stills & Nash — Footage from ’69- ’70
Here’s some really cool footage from ’69- ’70 that catches three likeminded musicians coming together around the age of Aquarius ca. 1969-1970. Crosby was fresh from The Byrds, Stills from Buffalo Springfield and Nash from The Hollies. This clip documents various television performances, interviews, etc., etc. Check it out, interesting and entertaining stuff.
Crosby, Stills & Nash at Gathering Of The Vibes
If you missed the live broadcast last night, it was announced that living legends, Crosby, Stills & Nash will close out the GOTV festival this year. Here’s a classic clip of them performing “Long Time Gone” from 1977:
CSN&Y — New York, NY (6/6/70)
Set I
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
Blackbird
On The Way Home
Teach Your Children
Tell Me Why
Triad
Guinnevere
Simple Man
King Midas in Reverse
The Loner >
Cinnamon Girl >
Down By The River
Black Queen
4+20
49 Bye-Byes
America’s Children
Love The One You’re With/
Set II
Pre-Road Downs
Long Time Gone
Helplessly Hoping
Ohio
As I Come Of Age
Southern Man
Carry On
Woodstock
Find The Cost Of Freedom
Crosby, Stills & Nash — “Southern Cross”
From the L.A. Universal Ampitheatre in 1982. Such an amazingly beautiful and soulful song. Wiki with a little info:
Crux (pronounced /ˈkrʌks/) is the smallest of the 88 modern constellations, but is one of the most distinctive. Its name is Latin for cross, and it is dominated by a cross-shaped asterism and is commonly known as the Southern Cross because it is today visible mostly from the southern hemisphere, although it is sometimes visible near the horizon in the northern hemisphere at tropical latitudes during the winter months. Crux is bordered by the constellations Centaurus, which surrounds it on three sides, and Musca.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young — Long Island, NY (9/8/1974)
Reposting this from 3/11/09, as we prepare ourselves for the upcoming Crosby, Stills & Nash show that will be coming to town in mid- August. Check out this show that was performed when CSNY was on top of the industry fueled by cocaine and insanity, but also America’s 1970′s answer to The Beatles.
Disc One:
1. Love the One You’re With
2. Wooden Ships
3. Immigration Man
4. Helpless
5. Military Madness
6. Johnny’s Garden
7. Walk On
8. Almost Cut My Hair
9. Teach Your Children
10. Only Love Can Break Your Heart
11. The Lee Shore
12. Time After Time
13. Southbound Train
Disc 2:
1. Another Sleep Song
2. Our House
3. Hawaiian Sunrise
4. Long May You Run
5. Ambulance Blues
6. Old Man
7. Change Partners
8. Myth of Sisyphus
9. You Can’t Catch Me / Word Game
10. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
11. Deja Vu
12. First Things First
Disc 3:
1. Don’t Be Denied
2. Black Queen
3. Revolution Blues
4. Pushed it Over the End
5. Pre-Road Downs
6. Carry On
7. Sugar Mountain
8. Ohio
Crosby & Nash — Guinnevere
Haunting song here, performed 9/11/70 and taken from Crosby, Stills & Nash’s eponymous 1969 album. David Crosby’s take on the song:
“That is a very unusual song, it’s in a very strange tuning with strange time signatures. It’s about three women that I loved. One of whom was Christine Hinton, the girl who got killed who was my girlfriend, and one of whom was Joni Mitchell and the other one is somebody that I can’t tell. It might be my best song.”
Crosby, Stills & Nash — The Rundown
Rolling Stone with the scoop:
Rolling Stone recently sat down with Crosby, Stills & Nash to go track by track through their landmark 1969 debut album. Recorded before Neil Young joined their ranks, it contains many of their most enduring songs. “We were in love with each other at the time we recorded that album,” Graham Nash says. “We were new friends discovering new parts about each other and we had songs. And we had the ability to translate those songs into records that was astounding and we knew it. When we walked out of the studio with that two-track under our arm, we knew what it was going to do. We knew that it was going to be a hit. We knew that we had nailed something that wasn’t really that popular kind of then. It was all Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix and stuff and here comes this little acoustic record.”Here’s the story behind seven songs from Crosby, Stills & Nash: Continue Reading…
Woodstock — 39 Years Ago Today
As we metioned yesterday, the Woodstock Music And Arts Festival started on this weekend in 1969. The festival ran from the 15th through the 17th on Max Yasgur’s farm in the rural town of Bethel, NY. It’s widely regarded as one of, if not the most influential event in rock and roll history. Tickets for the three day event cost the princely sum of $18, but most didn’t pay for their tickets and for most intents and purposes, Woodstock has been considered a free event. Concert organizers had expected 200,000 patrons, but what they got was roughly 500,000(!). Obviously the festival was not prepared for such an enormous turnout, so water supply, toilet facilities, etc., were creature comforts the concert goers had to do without.
The festival started with Richie Havens plucking and singing his version of soulful folk music and wove through several different genres and styles throughout the weekend. Some of the highlights were: Crosby, Stills & Nash- performing an acoustic set and an electric set, Canned Heat, Janis Joplin, Santana, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Sly And The Family Stone, The Who (Yippie Activist, Abbie Hoffman stormed the stage and stole the microphone before it was regained), The Grateful Dead (whose set was marred by technical difficulties), Jefferson Airplane, Ten Years After, The Band, Paul Butterfield, and of course, Jimi Hendrix’s career defining early morning set.
The Beatles were asked to play, but John Lennon refused unless Yoko’s Plastic Ono Band could play as well. John and Yoko were turned down…Cold. Others that declined for various reasons were: The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Frank Zappa, Spirit, Bob Dylan, etc., etc.
The festival was filmed and released in 1970 as “Woodstock”.
Santana’s Soul Sacrifice:
Janis Joplin’s Try:
Joe Cocker’s With A Little Help From My Friends:
Ten Years After’s I’m Going Home:
Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit:
Crosby, Stills & Nash’s Suite: Judy Blue Eyes:
The Who’s Pinball Wizard:
Sly And The Family Stone’s I Want To Take You Higher:
….. and of course, Jimi Hendrix’s Voodoo Child:
Deja Vu — Neil Young’s Movie Documenting CSN&Y 2006 Tour
Neil Young’s tries his hat once again as film director (credited as Bernard Shakey), in the 2008 release, Deja Vu, which documents CSN&Y’s 2006 tour.
Review from the Sundance Film Festival: In 2006, rock ‘n roll icons Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young played a “Freedom of Speech” tour to protest the war in Iraq. The band that wrote Ohio, one of the most famous protest songs of the Vietnam era, decided that the country needed a wake-up call, some of the same spirit of protest and activism that once shook national policy and changed our nation forever. CSNY Déjà Vu is a documentary based on this tour.
Being a rock star must be the ideal profession because you get all the girls when you’re young and somehow you’re never too old. David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young were an average of 62 years of age on the tour, but still audiences gave them license to “get down” on the stage, and generally applauded wildly with love and admiration. But don’t expect the typical fawning fans of a concert movie. This is all about the tour, about why they hit the road, what they believe, and how fans, concertgoers and the American public reacted.
Writer and ringleader Neil Young deserves tremendous credit for being candid and revealing. He quotes the glowing press reports of course, but also the negative ones and even the stinging mockery. He also shows both sides of the audience reaction, with the most antagonistic occurring in the southern (red) states, where many fans walked out of the concerts in disgust, coming for the music without realizing they were in for incessant politicizing, including a song entitled “Let’s Impeach the President.” And he even shows Stephen Stills falling off the stage, looking every bit like the fat old man that he has become. (Only Graham Nash really looks good. David Crosby looks like your uncle. And Neil Young just looks a little craggy, until he takes his hat off. Then he looks like his age as well.) It is fun and nostalgic to see the old footage interspersed, and to follow the band as they meet people, and introduce those that affected or were affected by the experience. CSNY Deja Vu is not a great movie by any means. There’s not enough music to make it a concert film, and not enough action to pick up the slack. But there is nevertheless something admirable, even touching, about their breed of 60′s style activism, their belief that people are dying needlessly, and their genuine heartfelt desire to make a difference. As they repeatedly demonstrated, they have profound respect for the servicemen overseas, but don’t see continuing the war as the best answer. Agree or not, it strikes me as the sincerest form of patriotism.
Sundance Moment Someone in the Q&A said that he had lost a brother in Iraq, and told Neil Young that “you have no idea what you’re talking about.” It was a tense moment in the very liberal Sundance crowd. I’m guessing that Young has dealt with this kind of thing dozens of times on the tour, and he chose to handle it by, essentially, backing down. “I think you’re right,” he said. “We’re just trying to get people to talk about it.” Well, that might be an easy answer, but I’m not sure it’s honest. A song like “Let’s Impeach the President” is something more than an invitation for dialogue, it’s a political statement of the strongest kind. I respect the band’s sincerity, but was disappointed they were something less than forthright when challenged.
Crosby, Stills & Nash — Suite Judy Blue Eyes
Performed at Woodstock in 1969:
New CS&N
My favorite trio, Crosby, Stills & Nash, recently announced that they’re working on a new album of “well known” covers with producer Rick Rubin. This will be their first studio album since 1994.
I am so, so excited. I’m a fan of Johnny Cash’s American Recordings, which Rick produced (and yes, I’m on a first-name basis with good ole’ Rick), so I expect great things!
Graham Nash said, “Rick Rubin’s a brilliant man, and what he wants is an album with no CSN songs. He wants to do an album of all the songs we love, all the songs we wish we’ve written.”
