Crosby, Stills and Nash - Demos

(Muso's Guide, June 5, 2009)

Reviews album

“Influential”, “legendary”, “era-defining” - music journalists are all too eager to bandy about phrases of ageless, timeless wonder in reviews without having any actual certainty of how many have been influenced by the act under scrutiny.

So, accept with a pinch of salt but a sizeable degree of certainty that Crosby, Stills and Nash are the real deal.

Those of you who know them (and their sometime band colleague who features here, Neil Young) will be exploding with indignation (”Of course they’re legendary!”) but if you haven’t a baldy who they are, here’re some Cliff’s Notes.

California native David Crosby came from The Byrds, Brit Graham Nash from The Hollies and Stephen Stills from Buffalo Springfield, along with Neil Young a little later.

All accomplished musicians with a nice line in folky, soulful, melodic pop, and all came together at one magical time when the stars aligned and everything seemed right. Otherwise known as 1968. The members were all equally committed to political rabble rousing, and their central conceit is “love thy neighbour”, which might be a bit hippy-dippy Woodstock for some, but which resonates for others even now.

Demos kicks off handsomely, opening with the Nash-composed ‘Marrakesh Express’. Crosby, Stills and Nash are at home in the rich harmonies of this track. The acoustic guitar-led demo is less psychedelic than the eventual single, but this version takes the tuneful essence of the simple song and makes it rich with sweetness and swagger in equal measure.

Because of the individual successes of the band members before the foundation of Crosby, Stills & Nash, many of the demos on display here are solo works which would go on to become solo hits after the release of a couple of CSN records.

Highlight of the record is definitely David Crosby’s anthemic anti-war ‘Almost Cut My Hair’ - more than five minutes of the most soulful, husky-voiced folk that anyone could imagine. The resonance of Crosby’s voice, and the depth of feeling in the counter-culture lyrics like, “I feel like letting my freak flag fly”.

Also worth noting is the Real Radio favourite, 1970’s ‘Love The One You’re With’. Stephen Stills’ complex guitar arrangements shine in this demo version more than the more-recognised studio recording, and its straightforward soulfulness mocks the myriad inferior cover versions which have surfaced since. The song ended up on Stills’ solo debut album and remains his biggest hit.

Neil Young’s trademark falsetto tenor is apparent on ‘Music Is Love’, a three-way collaboration between himself, Crosby and Nash which packs more of a soulful punch than the studio version on Crosby’s 1971 debut solo record.

Collections of demos, rarities and B-sides are usually only for the fans. After all, who but the die-hards can tell the difference in the chord progression of a 1969 hit, or pick out the harmonies which didn’t make the cut.

Crosby, Stills and Nash’s Demos, is, if anything, an introduction to songs written by musical masters. In their purest form, the songs on show here are imaginative, breathtaking and splendid. They speak of a different time, but their ethos was the same then as now, and the whole record ends up leaving just a hint of sadness for this lost time and these lost talents.