Saturday, January 21, 2023

Thoughts on David Crosby

      Deaths occurring in clusters of three usually belongs to how we cope with death. Two people meet, and they can usually come up with three recent deaths from their families, friends, acquaintances, and the news in general.

     Then in the music world there was Jeff Beck, Robbie Bachman (drummer from Bachman- Turner Overdrive), and now David Crosby, founding member of the Byrds and  Crosby, Still, Nash, and Young. (Although Young came after the first album.

     Crosby had his issues, but this is not the time nor the place to dwell on them. The tributes from his bandmates were sincere and heartfelt. 

     He was asked to leave the Byrds. Traumatic enough, but I cannot see the Byrds pioneering country rock with Crosby. His songwriting and performing skills led him in other directions. He evolved, I would say, rather than matured. In addition, he mentored upcoming musicians/singers and collaborated with so many others. 

     His first solo album was owned by a neighbor in my dorm at Penn State. I listened to it with him and was impressed. Appearing on that album were Graham Nash, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, members of the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Santana. That is a Who's Who of  FM radio of 50 years ago. 

     Being a poet/writer, I also focus on the lyrics. Scroll down for "Guinnevere" from the debut CS&N album. The link has many other examples of what I mean. 

 https://www.azlyrics.com/d/davidcrosby.html

That first solo album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1WAfbjyOoI

    My family saw CS&N in 1991 on their acoustic tour in an open-air Albuquerque setting. Sheer majesty! And that mustache!




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