If one man epitomised and represented the massively influential counter-culture of 1960s America, David Crosby was that man. He had dropped out of education and headed for Greenwich Village in the early years of the 1960s. He was an early contemporary of Bob Dylan, the man whose musical direction had such a profound impression on his own. The early folk music of Greenwich Village which spawned the hippy movement has stayed integral to Crosby's raison d'etre. That David Crosby will be 75 on August 12th is a miracle in itself. By the age of 30, he had already achieved far more than most do in a lifetime.
After joining the Byrds in 1964, Crosby participated in the definitive sound of folk rock whose influence is still felt widely today. While Roger McGuinn played the distinctive twelve string guitar on "Mr. Tambourine Man", it was Crosby who lent the trademark harmonies. The end result was an iconic sound which sounds just as fresh today as when it was first released in 1965. It was Crosby who wrote the legendary "Eight Miles High". In short, the Byrds were the American equivalent of the Beatles. It is impossible to fully gauge their influence. Although the classic line up of McGuinn, Clark, Crosby, Hillman and Clarke was relatively short-lived (1965-1967), their output still stands the test of time. They were justifiably inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 having pioneered the "Folk Rock" genre. Comparisons with the British Small Faces are compelling. The latter were active from 1965 until 1968 and have left an equally impressive legacy albeit in a rather different genre.
Crosby is not an easy man to accomodate in any group but that is often the way with creative artists. As his back catalogue shows, here is a man always prepared to try something new. His songs have the common thread of social conscience flowing through them. Between leaving the Byrds and establishing the harmony trio Crosby, Stills and Nash, he was also responsible for discovering and producing the first album of a hitherto unknown musician from Canada; Joni Mitchell. He was famed for always having access to the most potent marijuana and was at the epicentre of the Laurel Canyon scene of the 1960s. It's denizens read like a Who's Who of classic rock music. The Doors, Mama Cass, Eric Burdon, Frank Zappa, Mickey Dolenz, Neil Young and various other members of Buffalo Springfield. With so much talent all living within such close proximity, it is easy to understand how such an incredible output of influential music was born.
Stories of how Crosby, Stills and Nash came to be vary considerably but the end result is in no doubt. With perhaps the exception of Art Garfunkel, Graham Nash was about the top harmony voice around. In Stephen Stills, they had a musician of prodigious talent. Crosby was the harmony that held it all together and gave us "Our House", "Teach your Children", "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes", "Almost cut my hair", "Guinnevere" and so many more. Until their zenith in 1974 when their stadium tour broke all records, Crosby, Stills and Nash were the dominant force. Such was their influence, even the mighty Led Zepellin fashioned their third album on their pure folk sound with songs such as "Going to California". By 1974 though, marijuana had long since given way to cocaine as the Woodstock generation woke up to the harsh realities of of their brave new world.
In those heady years, the various personnel of Crosby, Stills and Nash had all embarked on side projects. Crosby has been a part of the initial Jefferson Starship project: Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra. It featured among others Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead), Grace Slick, Paul Kantner and Jack Cassady (Jefferson Airplane), Carlos Santana and Graham Nash. Drugs had become an ever more dominat part of Crosby's existence and the future of Crosby, Stills and Nash was in the balance for a long time. It culminated in his arrest and imprisonment in 1982 for possession of class A drugs and firearms. A nine months prison sentence was followed in 1985 by another arrest this time for drunk driving. By 1994, the hard living had caught up with him and a liver transplant ensued. In 2000, it emerged that David Crosby had been the sperm donor for Melissa Etheridge and her partner Julie Cypher.
At 75, David Crosby shows few signs of slowing down having recently released the widely acclaimed solo album, Croz. It was a far cry from his first effort "If I could only remember my name" in 1971. He still advocated freedom, peace and equality. He has regularly demonstrated outside Wall Street and the capitalism which his generation tried so hard to break down through their music. Mere mortals would have long since deceased with a fraction of the self imposed physical abuse of David Crosby. As his unlikely 75th birthday beckons, he has proved a great many people wrong and let his music do the talking. An entire generation grew up with the hope which he and his fellow troubadours expressed so eloquently.
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