This style of music has aged well and is perfectly relevant to today.
It combines singer-songwriter ruminations, melodic catchiness, rural and country flavours, observation and social (albeit mild) criticism.
Everything that an alt-country troubadour or indie kid going acoustic aspires to.
The difference is that this music was in the charts and now is just marginal or a non-commercial footnote to a more successful indie career.
That may be because of changing tastes in the audience or a changing industry, which needs more control of production, or a bit of both.
But, one thing for certain, it is decisively marginal now.
That's not to say it wont come back, and I suspect it will, though as is often the case.
The space it occupied is now occupied by middle brow, emotive and obvious pop singers masquerading themselves as meaningful singer-songwriters … Ed Sheeran, James Blunt, Mumford & Sons etc.
But, they are rubbish*.
They are clear examples of less than meets the eye and technique over content.
Why, when they seen to have similar attributes?
I suspect, it's because time and place affects how you look at things.
Crosby and Nash were toddlers in the war years (1941 and 1942, USA and England respectively), grew up in the social upheavals (USA) and economic upheavals (England) of the 1950s, matured during the counter cultural forces of the 1960s and hit their stride in the socially, environmentally and economically chaotic 70s.
Generational forces of course don't apply exclusively as there are people with different social standing on either side so the affluence and security spectrum at any given time but, generally, time and place can dictate how you approach a song.
Look, I'm not expecting everyone to be Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs or Woody Guthrie but even a love song is affected by time and place. Declarations of love, or, songs of love lost, differ greatly in tone before and after the Second World War, in the 1950s , 60s, 70s and so on.
That's because the singer is affected, subliminal or cognizant, by external concerns. ie: A love song written in the middle of a war by a person who may be called up is going to be different to a love song written by a kid in his bedroom, in his middle-class suburb in a time of relative peace.
Also, the more dramatic the external historical events the more they will creep in and rub shoulders with personal concerns.
And, you can hear that here.
Love songs, topical songs, "who am I?" songs, where are we going songs are all included.
And, ultimately, that's why many of these songs have (will have) a longer life than some of the songs by the current crop of commercial singer-songwriters mentioned.
Because these are concerns and observations that are still relevant that goes beyond pop considerations.
Don't get me wrong, I love pure pop but these contemporary singer-songwriters are trying to import meaning into pop ballads which isn't there. It's all narcissism surrounded by wordplay without substance.
Crosby and Nash may fail occasionally but there is something else at the heart of their music.
This is their first album.
Check out my other entries on Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, individually and collectively, for some background to them ….
Wikipedia, "After the split of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the summer of 1970, all four members would release solo albums over the next twelve months. Neil Young and Stephen Stills would both pursue independent band projects through the early years of the decade, Young working with Crazy Horse and the Stray Gators, with Stills assembling Manassas. Both If I Could Only Remember My Name and Songs for Beginners respectively by Crosby and Nash fared well in the marketplace, and in the autumn of 1971 the duo embarked on a series of concerts together, unable or unwilling to include Stills and Young. The success of the tour led Crosby and Nash to take the new songs auditioned on the road into the recording studio".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Nash_David_Crosby
The joy here is that Crosby and Nash have met in the middle musically (they both have fantastic harmonies) but they also concentrate on opposites. Nash is more plain spoken and pop oriented whilst Crosby is more obscure and ruminative. The beauty is they support each others endeavours and by contributing give a bit of their strengths to the other.
These songs are not collaborations (Nash wrote six, Crosby wrote five) but they sound as if they are from one voice.
This wonderful harmonious voice of Crosby and Nash is not surprising as harmonies were central to Crosby Stills & Nash, Crosby Stills Nash & Young as well as to their earlier bands where they made their names, The Byrds (Crosby) and The Hollies Nash). They are centre stage vocalists by default only and are much more comfortable in a (vocal) group.
And they are backed by crack early 70s California musicians.
This was always going to work.
That doesn't mean every song works but when they do they still resonate.
Tracks (best in italics)
Side One
- Southbound Train – (Graham Nash) – the harmonica in this setting always sounds like Dylan is being channelled and that is the case here … Dylan with a vocal group pop sensibility
- Whole Cloth – (David Crosby) – this is very Crosby. I'm not sure what it is about.
- Blacknotes – (Graham Nash) – a note of a song … it's 57 seconds long.
- Stranger's Room – (Graham Nash) – another winner
- Where Will I Be? – (David Crosby) – more obscurity from Crosby. It works well as a mood piece though.
- Page 43 – (David Crosby) – another solemn mood piece but quite affecting.
Side Two
- Frozen Smiles – (Graham Nash) – Bob Dylan meets The Beatles (which sums up The Hollies at certain times in their career). Excellent
- Games – (David Crosby) – an arty mood piece.
- Girl to Be on My Mind – (Graham Nash) – if the Beatles had paired off after "The White Album" we may have got something like this
- The Wall Song – (David Crosby) – walls, internal and between people.
- Immigration Man – (Graham Nash) – still relevant today. And, a great song to boot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Man
And …
A little of this goes a long way but this is very good and strangely compelling. It gets better with repeated listening… I'm keeping it.
Chart Action
US
Singles
1972 Immigration Man #36
1972 Southbound Train #99
Album
1972 #4
England
Singles
—
Album
1972 #13
Sounds
Southbound Train
live
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk2kqkSbiyg
Whole Cloth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzLTzIWHqes
Stranger's Room
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP2b2k0y_tE
Page 43
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odWFvcn5rN4
Girl to Be on My Mind
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_6wnQU8Jh8
Immigration Man
mp3 attached
Others
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWEd1bdufOQ
Full concert
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvAmsBJloEM&t=38s
Review
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Nash_David_Crosby
https://www.allmusic.com/album/graham-nash-david-crosby-mw0000738541
Bio
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crosby_%26_Nash
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Crosby
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Nash
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/crosby-nash-mn0000846357/biography
Website
Trivia
- Personnel: David Crosby – vocals all tracks except "Blacknotes"; electric guitar on "Whole Cloth", "Page 43", "Frozen Smiles", "Girl to Be on My Mind", "The Wall Song" and "Immigration Man"; guitars on "Southbound Train", "Where Will I Be?" and "Games" / Graham Nash – vocals; piano on "Whole Cloth", "Blacknotes", "Stranger's Room", "Frozen Smiles", "The Wall Song" and "Immigration Man"; organ on "Girl to Be on My Mind" and "The Wall Song"; harmonica on "Southbound Train", "Stranger's Room" and "Frozen Smiles"; guitar on "Southbound Train" / Danny Kortchmar – electric guitar on "Whole Cloth", "Stranger's Room", "Page 43", "Frozen Smiles", "Games" and "Girl to Be on My Mind" /Jerry Garcia – pedal steel guitar on "Southbound Train"; electric guitar on "The Wall Song" / Dave Mason – electric guitar on "Immigration Man" / Craig Doerge – electric piano on "Whole Cloth", "Where Will I Be?" and "Frozen Smiles"; piano on "Page 43", "Games" and "Girl to Be on My Mind"; organ on "Stranger's Room" / Leland Sklar – bass on "Whole Cloth", "Stranger's Room", "Where Will I Be?", "Page 43", "Frozen Smiles", "Games" and "Girl to Be on My Mind" / Chris Ethridge – bass on "Southbound Train" / Phil Lesh – bass on "The Wall Song" / Greg Reeves – bass on "Immigration Man" / Russ Kunkel – drums on "Whole Cloth", "Stranger's Room", "Page 43", "Frozen Smiles", "Games" and "Girl to Be on My Mind" / Johnny Barbata – drums on "Southbound Train" and "Immigration Man" / Bill Kreutzmann – drums on "The Wall Song" / David Duke, Arthur Maebe, George Price – French horns on "Stranger's Room" / Dana Africa – flute on "Where Will I Be?" / Crosby & Nash, Bill Halverson – producers.
- To date Crosby & Nash have recorded another three albums together since this (plus two live albums) as well as a couple of others with Stephen Stills and / or Neil Young (as well as solo albums of course)
*even rubbish throws up a good song or two though here one would have to look hard.
