MUSIC HISTORY:
JAZZ / ROCK / BLUES / ETC.
Reviews, News, Commentaries
and Music Biographies by Randy
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(Left to Right) Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, Neil Young and David Crosby.
Commentary
(March 1999)
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young:
Circa Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Nine
The news about the proposed upcoming CSN&Y album and tour is out, and the band's considerable fan base is excited. It's been a long time coming. With all the reunions that have cropped up in recent years (The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, The Who) which all delivered very little new material for considerable capital, one hopes Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young will buck the trend in live performance by regaling their fans with an abundance of new songs, as well as delivering an album that contains far more than a glimmer of past glories. That is of course, if they get that far. Not to add a dour chapter to everyone's fairy tale band reunion, but one must keep in mind that we have been here before, i.e., where a proposed album and/or tour was touted as being eminent, only to dissolve shortly thereafter.
A promising note is the news from Graham Nash that the quartet has already recorded eight tracks together, which is more than they usually get to before the infamous dissent sets in. In retrospect, fans should still consider reserving all wordless shouts of enthusiasm until the CD and/or tickets are in hand (Young's 1976 "Eat a peach" note to Stills notwithstanding).
The reunification of CSN&Y is in the end, a good thing. After the relative disappointment of the somewhat misguided (though still engaging) American Dream in 1988, it's time the once-monikered “American Beatles” stood together and reclaimed a bit of what has been wasted on the way. The recent works of Crosby (“Morrison”), Stills (“No Tears Left”), Nash (“Lost Another One”) & Young (“Slowpoke”) contain much promise for the foursome, and could result in one of the finest albums of their careers, together or apart.
Is it for the money, one asks? If that were the case, one imagines they would have done this before now. It's been twenty-five years since the band toured together, and this fact has hurt them artistically in terms of their position among the most important rock acts in the music's history. During the period from 1969-1974, there was hardly any other artist or band who could touch them in terms of range of influence, and they could easily be mentioned in the same breath as the Beatles, the Who, and the Rolling Stones. If this were not the case, the band's fan base would not be as large, or as loyal, as it is today. Unequivocally, the fans remember, and they have told their children. David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young were clearly responsible for drawing up the blueprint and clearing the ground for what was later built by Loggins & Messina, Fleetwood Mac, Seals & Crofts, and particularly the Eagles, who seemingly ran off with the “golden chalice” with the blank inscription plate reserved for CSN&Y.
Without the others, Young forged ahead making a career out of eclectic, impulsive musical choices which showed off his range while both thrilling and frustrating his audience. Still, he kept the fans on their toes, and usually kept them interested. From the staggering On The Beach (1974) to Sleeps With Angels (1994) Young has always stayed true to his musical vision, with no compromises. After multiple recent offerings with Crazy Horse, Young is once again at a crossroads.
CSN grappled with the drug/health problems of Crosby and Stills, had many peaks (1982's Daylight Again, 1977's quadruple platinum CSN -- considered by many to be their finest work), many valleys (1990's Live It Up, their artistic nadir), as well as plateaus (1994's overlooked After The Storm). They each had some solo or duo success, but arguably none to match that of their work together (for those looking to have exceptions noted, there was 1970's Stephen Stills and 1975's Crosby-Nash album, Wind