BTW – and this seems to be as good a place as any to ask – did the phrase “letting [someone’s] freak flag fly” originate with Crosby’s lyrics to “Almost Cut My Hair”?
I’m pretty sure it originated with Jimi Hendrix on “If 6 Was 9,” (1967)
“They’re hoping soon my kind will drop and die/ But I’m going to wave my freak flag high”
At least, that’s where I heard it first!
Thanks for this.
David Crosby plays almost all the guitar heard in @2_More_Bits’ video (post 38, I think). Graham Nash plays a barely audible rhythmic pattern on muted strings (notice that his fretting hand doesn’t change or actually finger any chords). Impressive playing and a beautiful voice.
That’s impressive for a guy who wasn’t even allowed to play on his first record.
Yes, it is. I had to watch twice to be sure. Never knew he was such a good guitarist. To tell the truth, I’d wondered about him for decades until seeing this video just now. because I’d always heard him play and sing with others and couldn’t single out his parts. Great talent. RIP.
RIP, an icon of the era that’s for sure. Quite anti-union though so can’t say as I’ll lose any sleep over it.
I’ve been very attentively listening to some CSN (and sometimes Y) today. I find myself blown away all over again from the sublime harmonies.
mmm
My all-time favorite.
Helplessly Hoping (2005 Remaster) - YouTube
Despite their recent differences both Nash and Stills put out classy statements.
I was wondering about his son James Raymond. He is the one that was put up for adoption and they didn’t meet until he was an adult and already a musician in his own right. They had a band together for a while but stopped playing together. Most of the statements just mention his son with his current wife. Did Crosby have a falling out with James at some point? He also had two daughters not in the public eye, one he was on good terms with and the other he didn’t speak to.
Any word from Neil Young yet? Like everybody in CSN&Y, they had fights and falling outs and said mean things about each other in interviews and songs, but I don’t know how the current relationship between Crosby and Young was before Crosby’s death. If Neil still holds grudges, I wouldn’t put it past him to not comment on Crosby’s passing.
Ah, thanks, that’s good to hear. I thought that he might still be pissed about Crosby’s words about him from a 2021 interview:
From here:
That mostly answered my question. At the time of the article he was still writing music with James Raymond and seems to have had a good relationship with him
If Young ghosted everybody who’s ever said that about him, who would be left?
True that. I’ve always had the impression that CSN&Y was a group of three assholes with colossal egos and one rather normal guy (Graham Nash). At least I’ve never read a bad word about Nash. And Joni Mitchell wrote some wonderful songs about him.
I’m sure the rest of them thought Graham Nash was the lightweight but it was a lot of his songs that gave them the AM radio hits that in turn increased their album sales many times over. “Marrakesh Express,” “Our House” and “Teach Your Children” were all Nash compositions. And yes, he’s always seemed like a down-to-earth sort in any interviews I’ve read with him. The other guys, not so much.
Forthcoming book title: “The CSNY Story: Three Assholes and a Willy”?