As long as I’m on the subject of music, I want to talk about another of my favorite groups, Crosby, Stills, and Nash. That is after they were Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. CSN, as they are known, has the most unique, euphonious sound I have ever heard. Euphonious means smooth, clear, and lovely to hear. Mellifluous is probably a better term, though, because it adds a musical quality to the sweet, smooth sound. Their harmony is so sweet and smooth that if they added a bass it would be ruined. Their harmony, conspicuous by Graham Nash’s high tenor voice, was the distinctive trademark sound that is CSN.
The band was made up of 3 men who were performers in other groups/bands before they joined together to form the band we know as Crosby, Stills, and Nash. American David Crosby with flowing hair and a walrus mustache had been with the Byrds until he was “fired.” American singer, composer, and guitarist Stephen Stills had been with Buffalo Springfield, and English-American singer, song-writer and guitarist Graham Nash had been with the Hollies. They were joined off and on by Canadian singer, songwriter Neil Young who also had been with Buffalo Springfield.
In the mid 1960’s, in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, popular music was experiencing a renaissance heavily influenced by the anti-Viet Nam war movement, the ever-increasing psychedelic drug culture, and the power of the sexual revolution. Most of the musical groups of that era were deeply involved in those activities, and in addition to musical performers, were political and cultural activists. CSN(Y) was no exception.
David Crosby was the poster child for “sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll.” He was described by. Wikipedia as “a sex machine.” He fathered at least four children with four different women. He had multiple arrests and time in jail for drug possession and other illegal activities. From IV drug addiction, he acquired Hepatitis C and had a liver transplant in 1994. He was diabetic, an alcoholic, and amazingly lived to age 81, dying in 2023.
Graham Nash was a British citizen and co-founder of the Hollies (“He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother,” “Bus Stop,” “Long cool woman in a black dress,” “All I need is the Air That I Breathe”). While on tour in California, he met Crosby. From that encounter, they agreed to form with a duo, then later added Stephen Stills, an accomplished guitarist and vocalist. At an informal performance, CSN found their voices blended uniquely and appealingly, and the group took root. Nash and Stills were involved in the sex and drug culture as well, but never as deeply as Crosby. This trio was joined off and on by Neil Young, but a contentious relationship with Crosby led Young to come and go from the group on several occasions.
CSN has volumes of incidents involving behaviors that were the culture of musical artists of that era. Like many bands, who despite drug use and abuse, they were still able to perform at a high level night after night in front of thousands of fans. Fans ignored their lifestyle and activism, and let their music be the endearing quality.
Speaking of their music, most of their compositions had a philosophical or cultural message. Their biggest hit, “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” was about Stills’ breakup with folk singer Judy Collins with whom he shared a one-sided love affair. “Teach Your Children Well” is about devoting your efforts toward instilling values of peace, love, tolerance, and avoiding conflict in your children as well as learning from them. “Time We have Wasted on the Way” sends an apology to fans wasting time arguing, fighting, and abusing drugs because it detracted from their performing and creating efforts. “Southern Cross” was about a sailing trip taken to distract from the memory of a painful divorce.
I now know more about those songs than I ever did in the last 60 years. Their more popular songs were written in response to personal traumas they experienced rather than the promotion of drug use and promiscuity. My admiration comes strictly from the loving the melodies they composed and performing them with a sound and harmony I never tire of.
Reference: www.google.com/crosby-stills-nash-young
