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| image by Eleanor Stills |
Strong,
clear, and incredibly dynamic, David Crosby‘s
voice permeated the electrically-charged atmosphere of Brooklyn’s
Kings Theatre, bringing the sold-out
crowd to its feet time and again during the triumphant May 16 performance by Crosby, Stills and Nash. Graham Nash was equally as powerful in
his own right, and Stephen Stills
reclaimed a level of vocal strength not heard in years, but it was Crosby who
astounded the most. Like the young Byrd who flew into uncharted musical territory
in the 1960s, Crosby’s voice soared effortlessly to stratospheric heights, melodiously
swooping down, around, and through the voices of his two partners, creating
transcendent harmonies that left me open-mouthed in awe from start to finish.
Judging from the reviews of CSN’s recently-completed U.S. tour, the group has
reached deep into itself and found new reserves of energy and stamina,
delighting audiences from coast to coast. Speaking with David backstage after
the May 16 show, it was immediately apparently just how stoked he was with the
performance, citing the audience’s overwhelmingly positive response as the
catalyst that brought out the very best in the band. Including—as always—new
material with the classics, Crosby’s solo spot provided a tantalizing hint of
what is to come when he brings his summer solo tour to Town Hall
in New York City on June 25.
A lengthy
phone conversation with Crosby conducted on May 30, one week prior to the
tour’s launch on June 6 at the Kerrville Folk Festival, provided an opportunity
to revisit some familiar territory and explore uncharted terrain with a musical
legend.
Roy Abrams: Having seen
CSN on every tour since 1977, what I witnessed at Kings Theatre on May 16 may
well have been a performance
high. I’ve read nothing but stellar reviews of the shows. With the US tour
wrapped up, what was the general consensus from the three of you?
David Crosby: Well,
frankly, we’re kind of surprised at how well it’s going. We felt the same way
as you did. Those were stunner shows, the two of them there. We did two out in
New Jersey and we did two there. I was amazed. You know, we can deliver a
certain level 95% of the time but a great audience pulls us up. That was a
great audience. They were really into it. I think it’s partly because it was
New York and partly because it was Brooklyn, and partly because that theater
was so good. Is that a beautiful theater or what?! I don’t know if anybody’s
going to play the Beacon anymore! That place is a stunner!
RA: Definitely! As far as
the acoustics are concerned—
DC: —Fantastic!
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CSN, May 16, 2015, Kings Theatre
image by Roy Abrams |
RA: Going back to last
year’s performance at City Winery in Manhattan in support of your Croz
album, your voice just keeps getting better and better, defying both time and
logic. Although I asked you this question last year, how do you account for it?
Do you do vocal exercises or anything of that sort to keep it in shape?
DC: Like fine wine and
good cheese, it improves with age! I have no real explanation for it, man. If I
were religious, I’d say well, they have more work for me to do … but I’m not. I
can’t really find any sensible way to look at it except to be grateful. I go
for it in the middle of a song, and it’s there. I can hear it; I know it is, I
know I’m singing well. I don’t want to brag about it, because it’s not
something that I am really responsible for, as if I had cleverly written a
great song. I’m personally proud of it when I write a great song, that’s
something else. But to be given the gift of being able to sing the way I do at
this age, I can’t take personal credit for that; it’s just something that’s
there. The only sensible thing I can do about is be grateful … and I am
incredibly grateful.
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| image by Buzz Person |
RA: I’d like to talk about
the two new songs you unveiled during the tour: “What Makes It So” and
“Somebody Home” … What was the genesis of each of those pieces?
DC: In each case, they
came out of a tuning. I find a tuning on the guitar, I start playing, and words
would come. “What Makes It So” is me, once again, championing independent
thought and “think for yourself” and the other one, “Somebody Home”, that’s
sort of an apology from all men to all women. It’s me saying, “You know, we all
make this mistake of thinking that the wrapping paper is what’s important and
it’s not, it’s the gift inside.” We all do, man. We all look at a great-looking
girl and we think, “Wow, that’s a great-looking girl!” We don’t really think
about the person inside that girl, which is really where the pay dirt is.
RA: As evidenced by your
guitar playing on “What Makes It So”, you are obviously still uncovering new
places to go with non-standard tunings. I know that EBDGAD is a personal
favorite of yours.
DC: I have a bunch, man.
[chuckles] The most remarkable one is the one I found by accident, recently,
and so far I’ve got two entire pieces of music in it that are just amazing! And
not only that, but I showed it to my friend Marcus Eaton, and he’s got two songs,
finished songs with words, and it just happened by accident. I was trying to
reach another tuning and I did it wrong [chuckles] and I hit that one.
RA: When we chatted
backstage at the Kings Theatre show, you mentioned that you had 14 new songs
under your belt, which begs the question: Are there any new plans for a
follow-up to Croz, or maybe even a
less band-oriented record that mirrors your upcoming solo tour?
DC: Yeah! Let me count
them here, I’m looking at my computer. I’ve got one, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen … I
have fifteen sets of words here on my computer screen and two finished songs.
And then I have, I think, five pieces of music that I'm working on that don’t
have words yet. (So there are) nineteen things that I’m working on!
RA: Speaking of new music—
DC: Oh, I have another
finished one here! I just finished one with Michael McDonald. Amazing, amazing!
God, is he fun to work with! Holy shit!
RA: How did you cross
paths with him?
DC: I’ve idolized him. I
don’t know if you know this, but all these singers in the world, we all wish we
were Michael McDonald. He’s the best male singer of all, period. There isn’t
anybody close. The way Bonnie Raitt
is for women, he’s head and shoulders above the crowd, and I’ve always idolized
him. So, when I got a chance to meet him, I tried hard to befriend him, and we
did wind up being good friends. Now he lives here in Santa Barbara, near me, so
we got together at his house and my house, and got this song, and I think we’re
both going to record it. Now we decided that we’re going to write some more,
because it was a very good process.
RA: Speaking of new recordings, I
asked Graham if there were any plans after this frenetic year of touring to
reconvene for a new CSN studio album. He said that he felt the three of you
would probably sit down and discuss it at some point next year. What are your
thoughts on that?
DC: I don’t want to write
it off—never say never. But right now my focus is on solo stuff.
RA: Your views of the songwriter as troubadour
have always struck me as particularly on point, especially given your history
of speaking out when you have been sufficiently moved to do so, which has not
always been confined to the medium of song. Given your role as a community crier of sorts, I’m
curious to know your thoughts on the current political environment in the United States and our current standing in the global environment.
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| image by Buzz Person |
DC: You know that song of
mine, “What Are Their Names?” Well, that’s about who’s running things; who’s really running things. And here in the
United States, because of decisions like Citizens United … money talks. The
really wealthy people (and) the corporations have bought our Congress, with one
or two exceptions. But massive 98% of the Congress is completely bought, which
means that the system is completely broken; it’s no longer a democracy, it’s a
corporatocracy. That’s a very bad thing. We’re getting into another war in the
Middle East because—there’s no political or even religious basis for it—it’s
because they want to make a profit.
People who arm, train, house, clothe, feed, transport our army make a profit
(costing) trillions of our dollars in
order to do that. So they call up Congress to say, “Give us a war, we’d like to
have another war, thank you. And make it nice and far away, so it’ll cost a lot
to get our stuff there.” And Congress says, “Yes, sir!” That mess in the Gulf,
where the platform blew up and we killed eleven guys, that didn’t happen. And
nobody’s gone to court, by the way, and nothing really happens.
BP spent more money telling you how cool they were and how they were cleaning
up than they did on cleaning it up … and that’s corporations running things!
It’s not a good thing; it’s very bad for the American people. It means that the
Constitution is no longer the rule of law, and I’m very distressed by it. I
think any conscious American would be.
RA: Is there any
politician among this current crop of Republican contenders that stands out to
you as being particularly scary?
DC: Yeah, all of them!
[chuckles]
RA: Moving back to the
music, for the solo tour, given your extensive catalog, what was the song
selection process like? As a follow-up question to that, is the set list going
to be relatively static or are you planning on making each performance somewhat
of a unique entity?
DC: You know, I don’t know
what’s going to happen. I have way more songs that I need for the song list. I
do have a song list in mind; I did a little experimenting in Italy with solo
acoustic; I did a few gigs there just to try it out and see if I still could do
it. I did one test gig here in the States, a benefit for a club here that I
want to keep in business. How it will turn out after I get comfortable with it,
after the first four or five gigs, I expect I’ll probably be switching songs in
and out pretty frequently, because I have more than I need by a long shot.
RA: How do you go about
narrowing it down?
DC: Well, think about it …
acoustic guitar and one voice. I’m probably not going to try “Wooden Ships”
even though it’s one of my best songs, because it’s a band song and it really
depends a lot on the three-voice harmony. But I have a ton of other ones; clear
back to probably my first decent song, “Everybody’s Been Burned” … I’m probably
going to do that. I’ll probably do everything from that to stuff I wrote last
week.
RA: How does one keep the
fire burning underneath songs that you have performed literally thousands of
times during your career? I remember hearing James Taylor speak about his
relationship with songs of his in that category, such as “Fire and Rain” … what is
that like for you?
DC: The answer is that you
just don’t do them the same each time. It’s harder with a band than it is by
yourself. When I do them by myself, (a) they’re completely different than when
I do them (with) a band because when you’re singing with other people, you have
to sing in lockstep with those people. By yourself, you can take liberties with
the melody and go anywhere you want.
It’s a lot more expressive in telling the story. One of the reasons I’m doing
this is because that’s where I started out.
RA: Full circle! Speaking
of the writing process, you mentioned that it became easier for you being
drug-free. In fact, the quote was “I got the drugs out of the way, which gives
me consciousness.” It was somewhat of an ironic statement, given the atmosphere
of the ‘60s and mindset of “expanding one’s consciousness” through certain
substances …
DC: Here’s the key to that
whole subject. All drugs are not the same. That’s one of the mistakes the
government’s made right from the get-go. They just say “drugs”, period. They
don’t understand, or they seem to not understand, that they’re all completely
different. Hard drugs—cocaine, heroin,
speed, stuff like that—absolutely destroy your ability to write. They destroy
your creativity along with destroying your life. I wouldn’t say that was true
about weed. Weed, if you smoke it in the morning, you’re not going to get
anything done that day! I’ve always written in bursts, and when this latest
surge hit, it hit so intensely and it’s lasted so long that I stopped even
smoking weed, because I want to be able to really pay attention. If the Muse is
going to stop by the house, I want the doors open and the lights on; you know
what I’m saying? Currently, I’m completely sober. I probably am going to smoke
(well, not smoke, but vaporize) again, you know; I live in California, so I
can. But right now, no, I would rather write songs and would rather be really
on top of my game when I’m doing this.
RA: Last year when we spoke,
we went through a short list of some artists with whom you’ve crossed paths,
and you provided some memories, opinions, and insight. I have a new short list
for this year, if that’s okay.
DC. Sure!
RA: We talked about your
days with The Byrds and your thoughts
about bandmate Roger McGuinn,
but we never got around to two others, Gene
Clark and Chris Hillman.
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| Byrds-era David Crosby |
DC: Well, Chris and I are close friends. We like
each other. Our politics are on opposite ends of the spectrum but I really
respect him, and I think he’s a dedicated musician and a really good one. I
don’t know if you’ve ever heard him and Herb
Pedersen together? It’s stellar. If I had to pick who I like in country
music, it would start with Alison Krauss and
Union Station, and the very next one would be Chris and Herb. It’s that good!
RA: Recommendation taken!
I will definitely seek it out.
DC: Try to see them live.
They’re just amazing! Frankly, I would love to work with Chris. I would love to
work with Roger (McGuinn). Roger’s very happy doing what he’s doing, a folkie.
I get that, I understand that, I respect that.
You can’t legislate somebody into playing a particular kind of music.
Roger and I have come to a sort of agreed upon friendship and truce about it; I
don’t bother him about it. I know that he knows I would love to do it, and if
he ever wants to do it, all he’s got to do is say so. But I respect him, man.
The guy’s a terrific talent. He and Chris .. I understand that they’re
different than me and that they’re doing what they need to do, and I kind of
like of them. Gene … I miss Gene. He didn’t know the rules. He grew up
completely outside of Hollywood and the music business and all that crap, and
he was as talented as he was because he didn’t know. He heard The Beatles and
said, “Oh, I can do that!” He did!
RA: How about Jimmy Webb?
DC: Oh, man, what a
talent! What a wonderfully crazy, wonderful guy! I’ve recorded Jimmy’s songs in
the past and I have great respect for him. If I was looking to write a Broadway
musical, I’d hire Jimmy. He’s one of the best writers we’ve got. I think he’s
right up there with Randy Newman and James Taylor and people like that. He’s
been hugely influential and he’s done incredible work.
RA: James Taylor was the next on my list …
DC: James is … he’s the
King James Version! He’s certainly one of the top three or four
singer-songwriters of all time. He’s a fantastically talented guy; an
incredible writer, incredible player, incredible player. He has this about him
also: he’s a gentleman, a nice man. He’s
polite, he’s well-mannered, he’s extremely intelligent, and he’s paid lots of
dues.
RA: How about David Gilmour?
DC: I think Fender
guitars should erect a monument (to him)! He does more with touch, and with
hands, than most people could do with an entire pedal board. One of the reasons
I love him so much is that he can play melody off the top of his head, not just
blues licks. He can play pure melody right off the top of his head so
brilliantly. He also happens to be a fantastic singer and a fantastic writer.
He, again, is a gentleman and a nice, decent guy. He’s a wonderful cat to hang
out with because he’s extremely well-educated and well-read and can talk to you
about anything at any time on any level.
RA: The final name: The Jitters,
a/k/a The Section …
DC: Ah! The Jitters and The
Section overlap; they’re not quite exactly the same thing. The Section was
a band in L.A. (with) Danny Kortchmar
on guitar, Craig Doegre on keyboards, Leland
Sklar on bass, and Russ Kunkel on
drums. In the Jitters, we had Craig Doegre and Russ and Danny Kortchmar. We did
not have Leland on bass, we had Tim
Drummond. The Jitters was the original Crosby/Nash band,
live, and it was a fantastic band.
RA: David Lindley was with you, correct?
DC: David Lindley was
there as well, at the complete opposite end of the guitar world from Danny
Kortchmar. And they loved each other and they played off of each other. They
were completely different; as different as chocolate and cheese. They were
wonderful together and it was a fantastic band.
RA: Is there any one memory of your time spent
with the Fab Four that particularly
stands out?
DC: Yeah. The “Day in the
Life” experience. That was a shocker. I was hanging out with them, they were
making Sergeant Pepper. One of the
nights that I was there at Abbey Road, they sat me down and played me “A Day in
the Life”, which they had just finished, and I don’t think I’ll ever be quite
the same.
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| At Abbey Road Studios with The Beatles |
RA: It’s been more than 50
years since your creative journey began. The creative fire has been burning
brighter and hotter—
DC: It’s burning extremely
hot. I’ve had a couple of other points. Right when I first met James and we did CPR, that was a great
writing period, and right when we were just starting Crosby, Stills, and Nash
was a great writing period, and this is …. I just don’t know what to tell you.
Every day is like a shocker. I found stuff last night on the guitar (that’s)
good as anything I ever thought up, musically. I’m sitting here trying to
figure out how I’m going to get the words!
RA: Parting thoughts?
DC: Hopefully, we’ll be able to keep doing it for
a little longer here. I thought it was really good myself. I can’t explain it
to you, and I can’t take credit for it; I’m just grateful for it, I can tell
you that!
© Roy Abrams 2015
