Friday, January 09, 2009

My preacher buddy, Mike Cope, asked me for a couple of brief comments on Crosby, Stills, Nash (and Young). Big mistake.

Here's what I said, with only a few edits...




Well...

I'm all over the place on CSN/CSNY. I like it all, the collaborative stuff and the solo stuff, although I like Nash least (odd, considering he wrote "Teach Your Children," "Our House," and several others of their bigger hits).

Young was always kind of the wild card. He brought some great stuff to the group, but he kept a lot of his best stuff for himself.

Yes, Crosby was a major addict, especially in the late 70s-80s. In his defense, he never got over the death of his girlfriend in the late 60s. But he just about killed himself on coke before he finally got sober... and started using again... and got sober... and started using again... I think he's been pretty clean since his liver transplant, except for a little weed. He's scary smart, though, and wrote the most sophisticated music, harmonically, of any of the four.




Stills has always been a bit of a problem for me. I loved him/hated him. I probably admired him most of the four during the 70s, but I'll never forget staying up late one Friday night to watch him with Manassas on ABC's "In Concert" series, and he was coked out of his mind. Couldn't even find the shoulder strap on his guitar. Very disillusioning. The last few years, I've begun thinking he can't write a melody. Most of his songs just kind of go up and down a two or three note scale. Think about it: "For What It's Worth" (when he was with Buffalo Springfield) literally has a three-note range. "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" may have actually been the peak of his songwriting career, and it works only because of the harmony (which, I admit, is a little like saying that Mount Everest only works because it's high). He never wrote anything on the lyrical order of Nash's "Our House" or the unique creativity of Young's "Heart of Gold." Having said all that, I'm itching to do the definitive biography of Stills. He's the only one of the four who ever lived in Texas.



Young: what can you say? The guy is a machine. Probably has written more songs in his lifetime than any four other people you can think of; has released a mere fraction of his actual creative output (until the Archives Project goes public). Doesn't care what anybody thinks, most of the time, including his record company. Especially his record company.




Nash: hands down, the nicest guy of the four; they would've split up even more than they did if it weren't for him. Too bad he's the one I relate to the least, musically. But if you're ever in a mood to indulge your doubts, listen to his "Winchester Cathedral" (no, not the one by the New Vaudeville Band). It draws an elegant tension between wanting/wishing to believe and being unable to because of all the crap in the world.

Probably more than you wanted to know...




You should check out Mike's blog: PreacherMike.com.

3 comments:

Doctor Don said...

You think "he's been pretty clean since his liver transplant, except for a little weed. "

Nice...

Anonymous said...

Thom, how is it that I don't remember knowing you were so much into music? I always loved CSN and CSN&Y mainly because of their great harmonies.
Speaking of great harmonies, have you heard Clint's A Capella group Legacy? Check them out at Legacymusiconline.com. They are hoping to go into full time ministry soon. Glad you started the blog as it will be ice to keep in touch this way, Kent

Karen said...

It's the harmonies mostly for me, too. And then there's just something about Neil Young. Sexy ugly, as the movie KISSING JESSICA STEIN puts it. Whew. Works for me!