The Music of CSN

Crosby, Stills & Nash, also Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young when including occasional fourth member Neil Young, are a folk rock/rock supergroup. The band is known for their distinctive vocal harmonies and activist politics, and have a strong association with the segment of 1960s counterculture known as the Woodstock Nation. They are commonly referred to by their initials CSN or CSNY.

Initially formed by the trio of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, the genesis of the group lies in two 1960s rock bands, The Byrds and The Hollies, and the demise of a third, Buffalo Springfield. Friction existed between Crosby and his fellows in the Byrds, which came to a head specifically in 1967 over two issues: his substitution, at the invitation of Stills, for an absent Neil Young during Buffalo Springfield’s set at the famous Monterey Pop Festival in June; and the Byrds’ rejection of Crosby’s controversial “Triad” composition as either a single or an album track in August. As a result, Crosby was dismissed from the Byrds in the fall of 1967. By early 1968, Buffalo Springfield disintegrated over personal issues, and after aiding in putting together the band’s final album, Stills found himself unemployed by the summer. He and Crosby began meeting informally and jamming, the results of one encounter in Florida on Crosby’s schooner being the song “Wooden Ships,” composed in collaboration with another guest, Paul Kantner. Nash had been introduced to Crosby when the Byrds had toured the UK in 1966, and when the Hollies ventured to California in 1968, Nash resumed his acquaintance with Crosby. At a party at the home of either Cass Elliot of the Mamas and Papas, Joni Mitchell, or John Sebastian, depending on differing accounts, Nash asked Stills and Crosby to repeat their performance of a new song by Stills, “You Don't Have To Cry,” blending a second harmony on the spot into their singing. The vocals gelled, and the three realized that they had lucked into something quite special. The Hollies, who had enjoyed pop hits in the mid-sixties, had been struggling with the changing music scene in England due to the advent of psychedelia, and were planning to do an album of all Dylan covers. Seeing this as a step in the wrong direction, and creatively frustrated with the Hollies, Nash decided to quit and throw his lot in with Crosby and Stills. After failing an audition with the Beatles' Apple Records, they were signed to Atlantic Records by Ahmet Ertegün, who had been a fan of the Springfield and disappointed by that band's demise. From the outset, given their respective band histories, the trio decided not to be locked into a group structure, using their surnames as identification to ensure independence and a guarantee against the band simply continuing without one of them, as had both the Byrds and the Hollies after the departures of Crosby and Nash. Their record contract with Atlantic reflected this, positioning CSN with a unique flexibility unheard of for an untested group. The trio also picked up a unique management team in Elliot Roberts and David Geffen, who had engineered their situation with Atlantic and would help to consolidate clout for the group in the industry. Roberts kept the band focused and dealt with egos, while Geffen handled the business deals, since, in Crosby’s words, they needed a shark and Geffen was it. Roberts and Geffen would play key roles in securing the band’s success during the early years. Their first album, Crosby, Stills & Nash of 1969 was an immediate hit, spawning two Top 40 hit singles and receiving key airplay on the new FM radio format, in its early days populated by unfettered disc jockeys prone to playing entire albums at once. Other than the presence of drummer Dallas Taylor, Stills had handled the lion's share of the instrumental parts himself, a testament to his talent but leaving the band in need of additional personnel to be able to tour, now a necessity given the debut album’s commercial impact.

Listen to their songs.