CROSBY, STILLS, NASH AND YOUNG

Story time: One day three hippies decided to start a band. But these were no ordinary hippies. One had been a Byrd, one had been a Hollie, and one had been a Buffalo in Springfield. Just to make sure we knew who they were they decided to name their band after themselves. They released a hippy-loving debut which lots of hippies liked. But they weren't greatly talented hippies and the Buffalo hippy remembered he used to be in a band with a much more talented man. Unfortunately, this person did not like hippies much and was a bit grumpy and hippies don't like grumpy people. But the grump joined up anyway and the three hippies and the grump recorded another album. Everyone liked the new album even more and the grump ended up becoming a world famous star and one of the most venerated artists of modern times. The hippies weren't too happy about it and spent most of the rest of their careers taking drugs and banging on about how great they are when everyone knows they ain't worth shit without the grump's help. The End. Now to be fair there is debate over the worth of Mssrs Crosby, Stills and Nash with their talent usually descending in that order with some people even raising Crosby to genius standard. All three did write some good songs and Dave Crosby's first solo album is pretty natty, all things considered. However, Neil Young IS a genius - no debate - and towers over the other three like Wayne Rooney having a kickabout with his old school friends. Given CSN needed Y far more than he needed them it is quite interesting that he often returned to help them out (although whilst dissing them in song form, cf. "Thrasher"). Although they existed as a supergroup they kept very defined roles and placed themselves at a recognisable distance from each other. They wrote songs separately and always sang lead vocals on their own compositions so their albums often end up more like an even compilation of four solo performers with the others occasionally contributing harmonies. Of the ten tracks, each member gets to contribute two of their own, with an ensemble performance of fellow hippy Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock" and a joint Stills-Young composition "Everybody I Love You" rounding things out. Gregory Reeves and Dallas Taylor are the hired gun rhythm section and the hippy wank-fest is completed with Jerry Garcia adding his stoned steel guitar to Nash's "Teach Your Children". Despite the dodgy artistic ground continually trode by the three members that weren't Neil Young everybody's contribution on here is of a reassuringly high standard and it is little surprise that this became such a massive selling album. Not only does it capture the spirit of the times, it does so with a bunch of cracking pop tunes. Furthermore, I would wager that each member ended up writing one of their greatest songs for this release. Although Neil Young's mini-epic "Country Girl (I Think You're Pretty)" does not sound like much of an improvement over the slight material on his debut the gorgeous, aching, anthemic "Helpless" is easily one of his Greatest Hits and was no doubt a massive factor in turning the more fickle of fans onto his melodic masterpieces After the Goldrush and Harvest. Dave Crosby's scathing hippy rant "Almost Cut My Hair" perfectly encapsulates his unique habit of combining unintentional hilarity with impassioned sincerity, even if "Deja Vu" is probably a little bit too deliberately weird. Stephen Stills's "Carry On" contains probably the most impressive combination of harmonies from the group and his low-key acoustic "4+20" is nicely understated. It would take a keener CSNY fan than me to argue over CSN's relative merits with the necessary depth but I can honestly say I have never been a Graham Nash fan (despite him also coming from the North West of England). "Teach Your Children" and, obviously, "Our House" are two of his most famous and popular songs and whilst it would be churlish to ignore their McCartney-esque melodicism I simply find them too twee and saccharine. Due to their individual approach to writing and performing the material the cover of "Woodstock" is one of the only truly ensemble pieces on the album and, although I have to admit to not knowing the original, they kick out a rather rockin' version, with some typically excellent harmonies. The band did not stay together in this incarnation for long, though, with Young on the cusp of commercial and artistic superstardom and it was usually left to the remaining three to reunite when they fancied making some easy money. Despite that, there is no doubt that this album perfectly cashed in on a time and place in music and served as a concise filter with which to present only the best elements of each member's oeuvre.

Surprisingly, despite the global commercial success of Deja Vu, CSNY went on hiatus afterwards with all four members choosing to concentrate on their solo careers for most of the rest of the decade (and with one member of course being more successful in that respect than the others). Their period of productivity lead them on a large-scale tour and it was therefore an easy way to capitalise on their success through capturing their gigs together on vinyl. Credit to the band, though, in that this is no cash-in live compilation, playing through the old favourites for the fans. The first, acoustic CD, like the previous album, is more like a joint showcase with which to display each talent individually whilst the second is all electric and mostly dependent on two blistering fifteen minute guitar jams between Stills and Young. Both "Southern Man" and "Carry On" are superbly enjoyable, if still somewhat anachronistic, and the second CD is one of the few times you will find all four members contributing together with group performances of Neil Young's excellent "Ohio" (the studio version was left off Deja Vu but included on So Far and Decade) and "Pre-Road Downs", "Long Time Gone" and "Find the Cost of Freedom" (all old CSN hits). The second CD is certainly the more straight-forward although the first is the more interesting, if less consistent. The fact that it opens with the very end of the CSN classic "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" makes it explicit that it will not just be a Greatest Hits exercise, although including it as a track no doubt suckered some people into buying it. Neil Young's contribution is not as immaculate as it might have been with "Don't it Let it Bring You Down" unmemorable compared to his striking solo performances of "On the Way Home" (a song he wrote for Buffalo Springfield but often performed in his live shows) and "Cowgirl in the Sand". The CD issue includes four bonus tracks democratically selected by Graham Nash but Young's medley of "The Loner", "Cinnamon Girl" and "Down by the River" do not change shape in the same way his pared-down "Cowgirl in the Sand" does. The respective talents of the quartet perhaps become more obvious in this solo setting, with Crosby coming closest to rivalling Young, Nash sounding like James Taylor-lite (now there's an almost paradoxical concept), and Stills sucking. Indeed, Stills is almost consciously complicit in his downfall with him butchering one of the only good songs he ever wrote ("For What It's Worth") with the cringeworthy political boogie "49 Bye-Byes/America's Children". Like "Almost Cut My Hair", one of my favourite tracks is Crosby's ludicrously offensive "Triad". It is testament to the man's uncompromised sexism that he can think it is perfectly reasonable to mock a girl for being 'square' because she won't have a threesome with him and another girl. Personally, I've yet to use the line 'c'mon, do it because your parents won't approve' but I somehow suspect I'd get rather short-shrift. Of course, the obvious answer is 'alright then Dave let's have a threesome with another man 'cause YOU'RE not square, are you?' but somehow I think he would be rather non-plussed with the suggestion. The song itself has a curious history with Crosby leaving the Byrds because they wouldn't include it on The Notorious Byrd Brothers but the performance on here is invested with so much misplaced sincerity and power (gotta dig the bit where he yelps 'sister lovers!') that it almost seems convincing (not that I'd be joining him, of course). The bonus tracks include a sparse verion of "Laughing" (soon to appear on his solo debut album) which is also quite impressive. As before, Nash does little but sound pretty but, again, on the bonus tracks a version of "King Midas in Reverse" appears (apparently an old Hollies tune) which is rather nice. (That said, the 'he's King Midas with a curse' line kinda suggests Nash didn't quite understand the point of the original tale - unless he thought 'who cares if Midas has to live without comfort and love, he can turn everything into gold! What else do you need?'). Anyhow, the bonus tracks obviously serve to increase what was already a pretty interesting and impressive album. Each member gets a turn to shine and at least Stills can show he can play a mean guitar on disc 2. It is not without its faults but that is almost quintessential to the legacy of the band and it is all the better for offering something different rather than pandering to the scores of fairweather fans who just wanted a regurgitation of their first two albums.

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