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Graham Nash David Crosby by David Crosby and Graham Nash (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Graham Nash David Crosby
  • Artist names: David Crosby and Graham Nash
  • Year: 1972
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Atlantic Records
  • Collection: Brenner / Gessner
  • Who owned it: I’m not sure who owned this, but I think I would guess that it was my mother’s.
  • Buy it on Amazon: $13.79

Graham Nash David Crosby by David Crosby and Graham Nash

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I don’t think I’ve ever heard this record before and don’t recognize any songs on it by name, but it’s the third that I’ll be reviewing specifically from the David Crosby and Graham Nash partnership. The previous two were:

It’s also the thirteenth that I’ll be reviewing that is by either Crosby or Nash, or Crosby and Nash, including groups in which they participated. The previous twelve were:

What I expected

Folk rock.

What it was actually like

Southbound Train was the most CSN-like song, especially in its vocal style, and the harmonica was pretty good and sounded like a Bob Dylan song.

Immigration Man in a was similar style, with hilariously goofy lyrics that could only have been written by Graham Nash[1]:

There I was at the immigration scene
Shining and feeling clean
Could it be a sin?
I got stopped by the immigration man
He says he doesn’t know if he can
Let me in-let me in-immigration man
…
There he was with his immigration face
Giving me a paper chase
…
Here I am with my immigration form
It’s big enough to keep me warm

Most of the rest of these songs were easy listening and I disliked a lot of them. Two of the worst were Page 43 and Games.

Frozen Smiles was slightly Oompa Loompa and relatively lively, complex and interesting. I considered it the best on the record.

Also, while I was listening, this news appeared in my RSS feed: Graham Nash Says David Crosby Died After Contracting COVID-19. So sad.

Grade

2/5: bad, but I was able to listen to the whole thing

References

References
↑1 Recall, for example, Be Yourself from Songs for Beginners.

Whistling Down the Wire by Crosby & Nash (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Whistling Down the Wire
  • Group name: Crosby & Nash
  • Year: 1976
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: ABC Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Scratched into side one of LP: ABCD-956-A 1
    • Scratched into side two of LP: ABCD-956-B 6
  • Buy it on Amazon: $49.99

Whistling Down the Wire by Crosby & Nash

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never listened to this record before, but it will be my second Crosby & Nash record, and my eleventh from the Crosby/Stills/Nash/Young music collective. The previous ten were:

What I expected

I did not like Wind on the Water very much, and Whistling Down the Wire is from just a year later, so I’m not entirely optimistic, but Nash looks far healthier on this album cover than the other one, so maybe that had an effect on his music.

What it was actually like

I guess I should have expected two things from a 1976 record: disco and reggae. Unfortunately, I got both[1].

The disco song was Spotlight, which was really not the worst of its genre – it was more rock than many disco songs – but was still bad, with a bizarrely misplaced harmonica. The reggae song was J.B.’s Blues, one of the worst reggae songs ever.

The two songs with the most “CSN” style folk rock sound were Taken at All and Out of the Darkness.

Foolish Man was a blues song, but extremely slow, and another extremely slow song was Mutiny, which was rock and had multiple electric guitar solos.

Broken Bird, Time After Time and Marguerita were pretty boring soft rock.

Dancer was a rock instrumental, except for some moaning sounds that were pretty jarring, and it mostly sounded as if they were just messing around on their guitars and practicing how to harmonize their voices.

Grade

2/5: weak, but I was able to listen to the whole thing

References

References
↑1 I love reggae, but I don’t love how all these rock bands in the mid to late 1970s suddenly had to include exactly one reggae song on a record. So weird!

Preflyte by the Byrds (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Preflyte
  • Group name: the Byrds
  • Year: 1969 (but recorded in 1964)
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Together Records
  • Collection: Brenner / Gessner
  • Distinguishing characteristics: “G” written on top left of album, indicating that my father owned it
  • Buy it on Amazon: $10.54

Preflyte by the Byrds

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve previously reviewed four Byrds records, including one just a few days ago that I already consider to be a favorite:

This appears to be a Byrds compilation, released in the late 1960s, of demos that they recorded in the mid 1960s.

What I expected

I’m curious how rough the recordings will sound, and I expect there to be a lot of Dylanesque vocals.

What it was actually like

It occurred to me during the first track, You Showed Me, that I doubted I’d be good at reviewing a demo of a song if I didn’t know its official version well, but this one sounded pretty well put together, basically just like a standard early 1960s folk-inspired rock song, with a British invasion sound.

Here Without You also had a British invasion type sound. I don’t know what the drumming technique was that Ringo Starr pioneered, but I think this song had it, though I guess they were a couple of years behind Lennon/McCartney in terms of songwriting sophistication. I liked it, especially the rhythm guitar. I’ve frequently described the Byrds’ sound as “rich” because they layered guitars so well, and this song was a good example of that.

She Has a Way was another song that sounded like any of a dozen pretty talented (but not Beatles level of talent) Beatles imitators from its era.

The Reason Why was not good because it wasn’t catchy or interesting in any way, but it was also the point at which I remembered that these were supposed to be “works in progress,” though they were all sounding more or less release ready to me. I didn’t like For Me Again either, for the same reasons.

Boston had a very pop sound, with a very distinct blues influence, and You Movin’ was somewhat similar, very much a dance song and clearly pop.

I’m not sure how to describe The Airport Song, which wasn’t rock, but might have been some kind of smooth jazz, and was definitely the worst song on the record.

You Won’t Have to Cry was the record’s most Beatlesesque song, primarily because of the musical style, but also because of the lyrics, while I Knew I’d Want You sounded a little like the Moody Blues.

Mr. Tambourine Man was the only song on the record that I actually knew well, and the only song that could seriously be considered Dylanesque, though it would have been difficult for a Dylan song not to sound like Dylan in any way. It also did sound like a demo, albeit still rather polished. The drumming was all wrong, and sounded like a marching band. Maybe the vocals were a bit off, but the guitars were pretty advanced.

Grade

4/5: would listen again

4 Way Street by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: 4 Way Street
  • Group name: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
  • Year: 1971
  • Number of discs: two
  • Label: Atlantic Records
  • Collection: Brenner / Gessner
  • Distinguishing characteristics: “G” written inside album sleeve, indicating that my father owned it
  • Buy it on Amazon: $39.99

4 Way Street by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve reviewed an almost absurd amount of Crosby / Stills / Nash / Young music over the past several months:

… (and I know there’s a lot more Young coming up, as well as some more Stills, and who knows what else?) but I believe this will be my first time listening to 4 Way Street.

What I expected

Folk rock, rock.

What it was actually like

Side 1

This side was a kind of acoustic folk mix. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes was a huge disappointment because it was… just a few seconds long? Who the hell had that idea? Teach Your Children was a high point, though; they were laughing with (or maybe at?) each other on stage, and the audience loved it.

The next two songs, Triad and The Lee Shore, were a David Crosby mini-set and were both incredibly boring, a rare accomplishment given the subject matter of Triad, Chinese organized crime.

But Graham Nash saved the day with a piano-heavy version of Chicago that leaned heavily into its Oompa Loompa tendencies.

Side 2

This side kept the acoustic sound, but had less Crosby to mess things up.

The Neil Young mini-set, featuring Cowgirl in the Sand and Don’t Let It Bring You Down, really knocked it out of the park, and his claim that the latter song “sort of starts out real slow and then it fizzles out altogether” was absolutely false: I love that song and how he played it.

It was great to have an upbeat Stephen Stills mini-set after a couple of Neil Young songs that, let’s be honest, can be downers. 49 Bye-Byes/America’s Children was a sort of weird medley singalong, but also, did I really need to be reminded about Nixon, Agnew and Daley? Love the One You’re With was outstanding, with great harmonies and pacing, and I kept thinking that it was about to fall apart into chaos, but actually it just sounded tight and well rehearsed.

Side 3

This side was much more rock and much more electric than the previous two sides.

Pre-Road Downs sounded great and I was so impressed that this guy who, just a few minutes ago was doing Chicago on the piano, and was now rocking out with an electric guitar solo.

The electric blues version of Long Time Gone was exquisite.

I never thought I’d need to hear a ~14 minute long live version of Southern Man, and wouldn’t have expected to enjoy it because it’s kind of preachy, but it actually rocked. Listening in stereo on my father’s floor speakers, it sounded like there were electric guitars everywhere in my apartment.

Side 4

This side kept the electric/rock sound from side 3.

On the subject of preachy songs… when reviewing So Far I mentioned that I “have always found Ohio somewhat catchy but also rather obnoxious,” and that’s still true! But this was a great version of it.

Carry On was really excellent, and they did a fine job with the percussion, and the part after the bridge. This very long (over 14 minutes) jam really ought to have been the final song on the record; ending it with Find the Cost of Freedom just seemed anticlimactic and disappointing.

Grade

5/5: love it

Daylight Again by Crosby, Stills & Nash (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Daylight Again
  • Group name: Crosby, Stills & Nash
  • Year: 1982
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Atlantic
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $21.98

Daylight Again by Crosby, Stills & Nash

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never heard of Daylight Again, probably for good reasons, but I’ve previously listened to and reviewed:

What I expected

I don’t want to be excessively cynical or anything, but:

  • This is a Crosby, Stills and Nash record from 1982. Who knew that those three were making studio records in 1982? Why were those three making studio records in 1982?
  • The album cover makes extensive use of neon.
  • Speaking of the album cover, it also features flying saucers.
  • The back cover of the album has pictures of each of the three group members, and in David Crosby’s, he is smirking under his walrus mustache as a cat is perched on his shoulder.

What it was actually like

Daylight Again was abysmal, and no one should listen to it.

Wasted on the Way was the least bad song. Into the Darkness was weirdly kind of metal.

Why does this record exist?

Grade

1/5: horrible enough that I couldn’t make it through