Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

[winston]

Perhaps one of my all time favorite bands (another fave is the Eagles) are in the news again, but for all the wrong reasons.

Get well soon Stephen.

From Excite News:

Stephen Stills Recovering From Surgery

Jan 4, 2:05 PM (ET)

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Stephen Stills, who had surgery for prostate cancer on his 63rd birthday, was expected to return home Friday, his wife said.

Stills, of Crosby, Stills & Nash (and sometimes with Neil Young), had the operation Thursday in Los Angeles, Kristen Stills, said in a statement.

"Stephen's procedure went remarkably well and he couldn't be better," she said. "He will be home by noon tomorrow and the pain will be minimal."

The two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame artist is scheduled to attend the Sundance Film Festival in Utah for the Jan. 25 world premiere of "CSNY/Deja vu," the statement said. The movie was shot during the 2006 Freedom of Speech tour by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Stills is scheduled for a North American solo tour this spring in support of his recent "Just Roll Tape" album.

[jps]

I saw CSN & Y in '74, part of a festival type show that also included Jessie Collin Young, The Band, and Santana. There were only about 110,000 poeple at Cleveland Municipal Stadium for that concert.

[Scastles]

Caught the same tour, except instead of Santana, it was the Beach Boys and Jesse Colin Young. It was summer, and it was held in Texas Stadium. Don't think we had 110K, but it was about 110 on the field that day.

[Scastles]

BTW, as a Stills' fans. One of my faves of his is, Stills' Alone. He does some real good covers, as well as some remake work. Just a good acoustic album.

[charlyg]

Crosby spilled the hash and bong?"

[charlyg]

On a more serious note, David Crosby was one of the best middle harmony singers in rock. I never paid any attention to the individual voices in CSN&Y,just the overall sound, but I heard an interviews with either Stills or Nash, who made mention of that fact, and that it is the hardest part to sing, and not many can.. Since that time, I have tried to just listen for Crosby's voice, and it is weird how it blends in and gets kinda lost in the other harmonies, but every once in a while you can notice that his part is a great big part of their sound. That might sound contradictory, but it is the foundation of their sound. maybe someone else has a clue what I am trying to say and has a clearer way of putting it?

[winston]

Charly,

For me this band was in much the same situation as the Beatles were. Remove any one singer of the three main singers and they will no longer sound exactly like "The Beatles" should or as in this case no longer Crosby Stills and Nash should. Young was an additional "texture" singer but in reality his voice was nowhere near as strong or "on pitch" as the others. His guitar playing was and still is, rudimentary and coarse. That's part of his appeal IMO. David Crosby is a great singer, there is no doubt in my mind about that fact. He is also a very good guitarist. Stephen Stills is the anchor to this band IMO. He is also the foundation that the others were able to build their incredible vocal harmonies on.

This is one of those bands that when placed together they are world class and they have a mystique about them. Individually as artists they are all very good but perhaps less interesting when they play on their own.

[charlyg]

IIRC, weren't they considered the first American Supergroup? Cream would be the first worldwide supergroup but we hadn't coined the phrase yet....... In the early seventies, a bunch of supergroups emerged. BTO, Foghat, and Bad Company were all considered supergroups, unless my memory fails. I think Starship tried to be, but I am not so sure anyone accepted them as a supergroup, just a reiteration of Airplane.

[Scastles]

They likely were the first American 'supergoup'. Their success, IMO, was really centered around their first three albums, released between 1968 and 1971, CSN, Deja Vu and Four Way Street. They never reached the same magic again, but they continued to be a big concert draw. More so if Young managed to hang around long enough. And to think, they didn't pass the audition for Apple Records. Let's see, which would have been better for Apple, CSN or Mary Hopkins?

[tamborineman]

I saw CSN & Y in '74, part of a festival type show that also included Jessie Collin Young, The Band, and Santana. There were only about 110,000 poeple at Cleveland Municipal Stadium for that concert.

In 1973 on my first visit to L.A.,Calf I saw Jesse Colin Young at a neighborhood corner bar in La Canada or maybe it was Tahunga. I thought he was great. It made me realize it might be somewhat difficult for a kid like me to get a gig in L.A. with that level of competion Oh well, back to the woodshed for another ten years.

[winston]

Suite Judy Blue Eyes is an amazing collection of short songs pieced together to make a very coherent masterpiece.

Sourse Wikipedia:

"Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" is a suite of short songs written by Stephen Stills and performed by Crosby, Stills and Nash. It appeared on the group's self-titled debut album in 1969. It was also released as a single (edited and in mono), going to #21 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. The song is ranked #418 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The group has performed this song many times, most famously at the Woodstock and Live Aid festivals. The title is presumably a play on words for "Sweet Judy Blue Eyes".

The acoustic guitar for the song is tuned to a very unusual tuning. Rather than being tuned to the traditional EADGBE, they are instead tuned to EBEEBE, which is also known as "Bruce Palmer Modal Tuning". Stills used this same tuning for "4+20". He uses a similar tuning for "Carry On" but drops the notes a half step (EbBbEbEbBbEb).

Interesting tuning for these songs I would say.

[lyle_from_minneapolis]

Interesting tuning for these songs I would say.

Try it! It's a lot of fun to play with. I used to perform "4+20" and that tuning is a blast.

[mfb]

IIRC, weren't they considered the first American Supergroup? Cream would be the first worldwide supergroup but we hadn't coined the phrase yet....... In the early seventies, a bunch of supergroups emerged. BTO, Foghat, and Bad Company were all considered supergroups, unless my memory fails. I think Starship tried to be, but I am not so sure anyone accepted them as a supergroup, just a reiteration of Airplane.

Oh, come on now!

Simply EVERYBODY knows that the first North American supergroup was "The Monkees".

[jps]

Simply EVERYBODY knows that the first North American supergroup was "The Monkees".

What, it wasn't The Partridge Family?

[charlyg]

Simply EVERYBODY knows that the first North American supergroup was "The Monkees".

What, it wasn't The Partridge Family?

Battle of the Bands time!!!