Classic Music From CSN!
Crosby, Stills & Nash created some of the greatest music of our time…amid a LOT of internal squabbles, drug addictions and more…
Of course, they were ALSO Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – the first “supergroup” in the early 70’s, but the trio released a lot of great music without Neil Young as well…
Let’s Talk “Daylight!”
Crosby, Stills & Nash were making music and performing together in the late 70’s. Stills and Nash also released albums as well.
Stephen Stills and Graham Nash were recording new music in 1980 and 1981 and the album was originally slated to be a Stills-Nash project. Art Garfunkel and Timothy B. Schmitt of The Eagles recorded with them…
Unfortunately, their record label had other ideas…
According to wikipedia:
“Executives at Atlantic Records, however, had little interest in anything but CSN product from any member of the group, and held out for the presence of Crosby, forcing Nash and Stills to start paying for the sessions out-of-pocket. They began to turn toward the company’s point of view, however, and decided to invite Crosby to participate at the eleventh hour.”
NO NUKES, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, 1980, (c) Warner Brothers
So that’s how we got CSN’s “Daylight Again!” Even though Crosby arrived late to the sessions, he contributed the song “Delta” and a cover of Judy Henske and Craig Doerge’s “Might as Well Have a Good Time” along with some additional vocals on other tracks.
The album was released to great acclaim and big sales, with Nash’s “Wasted on the Way” at top ten single at #9, and Stills’ great “Southern Cross” which made the top twenty at #18.
The album was also a top ten hit, reaching #8 on the Billboard charts when released in 1982.
Let’s Give It A Listen!
With that background information, let’s listen to this terrific album, beginning with the opening track:
“Turn Your Back on Love”
The album kicks off with a great song, and a great video that sets up the friendship and musical partnership of the group:
“Wasted on the Way”
Next up is Graham Nash’s great song, which perfect CSN harmonies.
It was their first top 10 hit in five years…
“And there’s so much time to make up everywhere you turn
Time we have wasted on the way
So much water moving underneath the bridge
Let the water come and carry us away…”
Here is a great live version, where they talk about their issues as a band before kicking into an absolutely gorgeous live version of the song:
“Southern Cross”
This is one of my favorites as well, Stephen Stills’ story of, well:
“When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
You understand now why you came this way
‘Cause the truth you might be runnin’ from is so small
But it’s as big as the promise, the promise of a comin’ day…”
Here is a terrific live version of the song:
“Into the Darkness” is next, which leads into one of the two Crosby originals, the hauntingly beautiful “Delta”…written almost like a poem…
“Waking
Stream of consciousness
On a sleeping
Street of dreams
Thoughts
Like scattered leaves
Slowed in mid-fall
Into the streams
Of fast running rivers
Of choice and chance
And time stops here on the delta
While they dance, while they dance…”
Here is a terrific live version from 2010 – much longer than the album cut – an absolutely beautiful song:
“Since I Met You”, “Too Much Love to Hide”, “Song for Susan”, “You Are Alive” are all great songs, leading into the other Crosby contribution, “Might As Well Have a Good Time”
This leads into the title track that goes back to their initial album a decade earlier:
“Daylight Again”
The song “Daylight Again” evolved out of Stills’ guitar-picking to accompany on-stage stories regarding the South in the Civil War, and it segues into their anti-war chant “Find the Cost of Freedom,” which had been the b-side of the “Ohio” single in 1970.
The song “Ohio” was written by Neil Young after four students were murdered by National Guardsmen on the campus of Kent State University…this shocking act was during the violent Vietnam War protests – here is the story behind this song:
If you want to see how violent this demonstrations were, here is a movie that actually was filmed during one of the protests:
Legendary Cinematographer and Director Haskell Wexler filmed his fictional story of a news photographer caught up in the Chicago anti-war riots DURING the Chicago anti-war riots! Check it out here:
The entire album is a great example of the strong songwriting and terrific harmonies of Crosby, Stills and Nash…let me know your favorites!
