David Crosby dug himself quite the hole with his dismissive Eddie Van Halen tweet
Aux Features David Crosby
Last week, most of the modern music world collectively mourned the passing of iconic guitarist, Eddie Van Halen, a performer whose impact on rock and metal continues to resound. We say “most of the modern music world,” because this did not appear to affect David Crosby in the slightest. How do we know Crosby felt sorta “Meh” about Van Halen’s death? Well, because he literally tweeted “Meh ….” when asked about it.
Would it surprise you to learn that the internet, including a fair number of people in the industry, had strong reactions to Crosby’s casual dismissal? Testament’s Alex Skolnick criticized the tweet, and L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns called it “rude as fuck!!!” Others got downright vitriolic, piling into his replies with expressions of fury.
Despite earning Dee Snider’s ire (that one just rolls off the tongue), Crosby then managed to simultaneously walk it back and double down before transforming into “That College Guy Standing By The Beer Keg Giving His Music Opinions No One Asked For.”
No one expects everybody to be directly affected by Van Halen’s death. In fact, performative displays of mourning do a disservice to the actual mourners, as well as the deceased individual’s memory. That said, David, buddy, maybe hold back on verbally shrugging off someone’s loss next time. Or, at the very least, give it some time before emerging as the designated cynic, like you did with Fleet Foxes that one time.
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424 Comments
Let him finish!!! “Eddie Van Halen: meh favorite guitar player.”
Crosby digging deep into his Scottish roots I see.
I know Eddie Van Halen, and I ‘ate him! (Don’t ask Crosby about the mess he left on the rug.)
cronus dies a slow hard death….as is seen in todays world…
“I was saying ‘boo-halen’.” ~ Hans Moleman
MAN I needed a hearty laugh today. Thanks.
Just because you dont like the answer doesnt make him wrong.its not for you to decide how he should feel.
He. Larry. U.S.!
I mean, he’s already responded
I see what you did there.!
That guy is hated by his own band mates. I mean wasn’t it Graham Nash that said I don’t want anything to do with David Crosby.
So I mean this is kinda expected for a man with a bad mustache and no panache.
“Hendrix changed the world of guitar.”If you don’t think EVH had a similar effect then you weren’t paying attention (or were possibly too drug addled to notice)
Eddie PHYSICALLY changed the world of guitar too.https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a15615/how-eddie-van-halen-hacks-a-guitar/#:~:text=Van%20Halen’s%20wildly%20inventive%20innovations,roll%20music%20could%20sound%20like.
This is wonderful. Thank you for posting! Also I’m now looking forward to all the “Meh.” reactions on Twitter when David Crosby dies. Whether or not he loved EVH’s work, his comment was disrespectful. It just says much more about David Crosby than it does about EVH.
I mean he was asked about the guy’s music, not whether he cared about him being alive or not. Meh is a perfectly valid response when asked about someone’s music. And who’s being disrespected? The dead person with millions of mourners, who was rich and famous in life, who was widely lauded for his accomplishments in music? I mean so one other artist publicly said “Meh” in regards to his music, (should he have lied?) how is that disrespectful? It’s not like he said “His music sucked, I’m glad he’s dead, I’ll see him in hell! Also anybody who likes his music is a waste of a human!” or something.
“Meh” is not “I don’t have an opinion.” It’s passive aggressive. It’s saying “I don’t like it and I don’t even have enough respect to use actual words to say why.”
If Crosby didn’t like Van Halen’s music or the man personally and didn’t want to say anything polite… He could just not answer.
Thank you. This is exactly what I was trying to say when I mentioned this seemed disrespectful, but couldn’t find the words. No one was forcing David Crosby to answer the question, so by answering this the way he did, it was most certainly passive aggressive.
Which would be actual passive aggression.
Right, I never said he didn’t have an opinion. He clearly does. I don’t think it’s passive aggressive, it’s not really aggressive at all, it’s a statement of dismissal. But, so what? People dismiss stuff they don’t like all the time. The point is he wasn’t commenting on Van Halen being dead, he was answering the question on if he liked his music. (He later clarified he had no hard feelings, he just felt meh about his music).I mean he could have not answered, which just would have been a different action which could be perceived as rude by the person asking, but he chose to answer. Have you never felt meh about anything, and answered as such when asked? I mean I don’t even really see how it was rude, he was just shooting the shit on Twitter, it’s not like he jumped into a conversation people were having and shouted “Meh” at them. Why are people concerning themselves?
You’re delusional.
Meh.
Why do people love making defenses and justifications for shitty rude behavior so much?
I can’t speak to that. In this instance I don’t see what he did as rude, so it’s possible that answers your question. Why do you think in a conversation about music, saying you find the music of one artist “Meh.” is rude? Especially when you’re not saying it to that artist, or anyone who knows them.
“…or anyone who knows them.” Just FYI Twitter is a public forum.
So is the local pub, but the only reason it would get back to them is if someone takes it to them, or I dunno decides it’s just as news worthy as their relative’s death and decides it should be a headline so they can stir up a little bit of controversy for clicks. If he was alive this would still be dumb, but because EVH is dead suddenly it’s a grand offense, and that makes it doubly stupid. If it wasn’t for everyone getting all excited about it I doubt EVH’s family would ever know it happened, and I doubt right now they care that much, they almost certainly have more important things on their mind than what some stranger (even a FAMOUS) stranger thinks about the person they just lost.
“So is the local pub.” This would be a good analogy if the local pub’s capacity was 330,000,000 customers.
I mean it would matter more if there were less people in the pub, because more people would be paying attention, in a pub that large who’s going to hear what any body is talking about. But the physics of the pub don’t matter, he wasn’t holding forth, someone asked him a question in a public place, in this case twitter, but unless EVH’s family follows him, they’re not likely to notice one tweet amid the billions happening unless someone is bringing it to their attention. He stated something, but it wasn’t to them, and it wasn’t like a big announcement, if everyone didn’t get so upset on the behalf of the deceased, it almost certainly would have been forgotten by the next day.Let’s say it was the pub, he didn’t get up on a table and yell out “I think this guy’s music is meh!” someone in his corner asked him a question, and he answered it, then other people jumped up and started shouting “Oh shit, did you hear what Crosby said! HEy, hey, did you guys hear what he said about that man who just died?” Then they ran to where people where mourning and said, “Hey, Crosby said something disrespectful, did you guys hear that!” the some did, and in the middle of their mourning decided to say “Hey Crosby, WTF? Why would you say that to us?” to me that is far more fucked up than some musician saying in public that they didn’t care for another musician’s music, even if one of them just died.I dunno, I feel like if I got wind of that after someone I cared about just died I’d be like “Why are you showing me this right now, why is this being given attention? Who does that? Why would I care?” I assume they know some people don’t care for his music, it’s not like a revelation of grand proportions.
So, you’ve never been on Twitter. Why didn’t you just say so in the first place?
I have, but in my experience it’s pretty easy not to see things on Twitter you don’t want to, unless people actively try to shove it in your face.
If you are not famous AND are a single-issue user it is possible to reduce your time-line to a narrow point of view on that one issue. The exception to this general rule would be if your point of view is “insists on basic manners, empathy, and following traditional norms of polite behavior” then you will absolutely not be able to have a timeline that conforms to this point of view and the cavemen who fancy themselves Bukowski will be there sharing their banal “insights” as if offense were not something every toddler achieves everyday.
If that’s so, then it doesn’t matter what one individual, particularly one who’s in no way directing something at you, says, you’re already awash in a sea of noise. So who cares? If it’s not so, than you’re probably not going to get that one “offensive” tweet anyways unless someone you already know brings it to you. Basically if Twitter is such a hellscape, why is Crosby’s rather innocuous statement of more offense than the presumably million other people who are spitting actual bile? I don’t get the level of reaction. It’s either uncalled for because with the onslaught of horseshit thrown around anyone famous probably has seen far worse on a day to day basis. Or it’s overblown because it’s not that bad, and/or they have their own protections on who they get in contact with on Twitter, because again they’re famous. Either way, aside from a bunch of people being outraged over it, I don’t see this tweet rising above the noise, and thus being a disrespectful intrusion into the lives of Van Halen’s grieving family (which seems to be the most specific thing people can point to when asked why his comment was offensive). Basically it’s not that big a deal, and it never would have been if people didn’t overreact to it in the first place. But according to others in this discussion I lack the ability to empathize and need intensive therapy because I don’t find this offensive, so wtf do I know?
Ironically, I was going to say you should BECOME a therapist because you like to tell people how they should feel ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Honestly, it is highly likely that EH’s friends and relatives saw this tweet as it had the #vanhalen attached to it and was from someone with millions of followers. If you really think it is important to give your honest opinion even when it hurts the grieving then we’ll have to agree to disagree.
Well, I don’t think I’ve been telling people how they should feel, I’ve been stating why I don’t understand why they feel the way they do, and then finding their explanations unenlightening. “Honestly, it is highly likely that EH’s friends and relatives saw this tweet as it had the #vanhalen attached to it” Did it? How do you know that (I don’t see where that information is shown, so it could be my ignorance, but all I can see is the content of the tweet itself, which just has the tweet it’s replying to and “Meh…”)?As I’ve stated, I don’t think it was in anyway meant to get to the grieving, and it seems like an offhand comment in a chain of comments about a couple of bands, where people were asking him what he thought (apparently he’s also whatever about Thelonious Monk). “If you really think it is important to give your honest opinion even when it hurts the grieving then we’ll have to agree to disagree.”I mean it all depends on the context. In this case, I don’t think it’s a big deal. If he was at like a funeral or memorial service, yeah it’s inappropriate, but who’s asking him about his music tastes there? Given the context it happened in, I’m surprised anyone cares at all, especially as they were apparently strangers to each other. I don’t think anyone I know would be especially upset to find out some person they met once wasn’t a fan of our relative’s art, especially if that relative just died. Maybe we’re the minority.
It’s rude and inconsiderate to those who loved & admired him, as well as to his friends and family. David Crosby is hugely famous. This wasn’t a private conversation. It’s extremely public. You think EVH’s family won’t hear about this? If we did, they they most certainly will. Really, how is it NOT rude?? It’s only not rude if you lack basic empathy. Cool for you, I guess.
So? Who gives a fuck what they think? Nobody’s responsible for their feelings.
Yes, yes, we all know you don’t have any empathy or concern for anyone but you. It’s well documented on this series of sites. You joyfully take every opportunity you can to display that. We all know.
You’re a fucking liar. Also, should he have lied about his musical taste just because EVH is still warm in his grave or should he wait for him to cool down a bit?
Only in a world that’s black & white and that’s the only other option. Also, not sure where the lie is. You’re emotionally immature and think it makes you tough, strong and smart. Again, we know. We see it with your posts here every day.
Okay, so he is asked a question, it’s about EVH’s music, he replies with “Meh…”, then other people spread that reply around so it eventually gets back to EVH’s family (who I’m sure right now are suuper concerned with what David Crosby has to say about their dead relative). Why is Crosby the rude one? He should lie because other people are going to shove his words in the face of a grieving family? I empathize with EVH’s family for their loss, but notably, they haven’t said anything, it’s a bunch of other people who are pissed off, for something that really wasn’t offensive in the first place. Also, someone dying doesn’t suddenly mean you start pretending your opinion of them was better. He wasn’t interacting with the family, and nothing he said was inflammatory, or hostile, he just doesn’t care for EVH’s music. He in no way pushed for EVH’s family to know that, the fact that they heard about it is no different than someone saying something in a pub, and it getting spread around, or posted in a tabloid. Frankly the press is being rude by reporting on something that is a non-story, and drawing attention to EVH’s death just to get focus. It’s not rude, it’s just meaningless gossip.
The world is not a black & white place. There are more options than that. Did you know that you can tell the truth and not be a dismissive dick about it? You can! That’s an option! Are you aware that tact exists? Respect? Dialectics? He was rude, people called him out on it, and for some weird reason, you lot think he needs all of this defending.
I don’t think he needs defending, because I don’t think what he did was rude, that’s the center of our disagreement on the situation. I don’t think he was being a dick about it, he was just casually expressing his opinion, and that opinion was dismissive, he didn’t really care about EVH’s music, it didn’t move him. And I don’t see how given the circumstances of the interaction he was crossing the lines of tact, and I don’t get how dialectics comes into play, it wasn’t any form of debate, he was just asked an opinion. And I still don’t understand why so many people care so much. Why they feel disrespected, or umbrage on the behalf of the perceived disrespect of someone else, when if it wasn’t for their outrage, the supposedly disrespected would never know about it. In short I don’t think he thought his take on another musician’s music was that big of a deal, likely because it shouldn’t be.
Sounds like you have a lot of work to do, then. I suggest DBT. Really helpful stuff!
See now that is rude.
How else do you make new friends?
Perhaps the same reason people love acting outraged over an inconsequential tweet from a stranger they don’t care about.
Exactly. This Andrea person is just a piece of shit virtue signaler. Who gives a fuck if Crosby doesn’t like his music? If the guy who asked didn’t want a possible answer he doesn’t like then he shouldn’t have asked it. His opinion on his music shouldn’t change because he’s dead.
Outrage? Yes, pointing out that someone is rude and inconsiderate is oUtRaGe!!!1 Holding people accountable for being shitty is lOvInG bEiNg oUtRaGeD!! Grow up, sir.
He wasn’t rude or inconsiderate. He was asked what he thinks about his music and he said it. You pussies just didn’t like the answer.
Nah, you just have fucked up values and ethics. You’re so angry (anger is an emotion, btw) and bitter that you can only see empathy and ethical behavior as “virtue signaling.” That’s some teenage shit.
You’re a piece of shit, moron. This isn’t about his feelings on EVH or his death. It’s about his music. Fuck off, you piece of shit.
lol
some teenage shit That’s…a pretty apt descriptor for his output, honestly.
I said acting outraged, not being outraged.Learn how to read, madam.
Uh-huh. I said what I said.
Exactly. Hendrix never had a patent for the shit he changed on a guitar
Because Hendrix was a real musician not a capitalist clown.
Gotta love this patent figure!
Right?
Hendrix’s influences seemed to include LSD and Blues, whereas EVH’s seemed to be Cocaine and Bach.Very different approaches!
I’d have to say LSD had a bigger impact that any other option.
All I will say is that, as a person under the age of 40, I like one Van Halen song, and the most memorable part of it is the keyboard.
Considering Crosby had to have a liver transplant due to his “lifestyle”, I’d go with option number two.
Uh, Eddie died of cancer from his lifestyle.
Yes – I’ve always said: There’s Hendrix and Van Halen. And there you have it.And I know there are MANY wonderful and fantastic players and musicians, especially for guitar, the list just goes on and on – BUT ,sonically changing an instrument’s footprint? That only happens once or twice – this time twice.EVH just had the perfect blend of swing and chops.
Les Paul would like a word.
OH! I stand corrected: thrice.And after a bad accident that had him re-learning how to play (that’s what I’ve read).Declarations can be a dangerous thing.
Speaking of bad accidents and relearning how to play, there is Tony Iommi. I don’t think anyone would argue he has the technical skill of EVH or Hendrix, but he had just as much of an influence on guitar music as they did.
OK – I give. And I agree to a degree. You could just go on and on. Jimmy Page? Jeff Beck? Allan Holdsworth? Steve Howe?It’s really an unfair thing, it’s not apples to apples (Fenders to Fenders), right?Cheers
You could, and it’s obviously all subjective, but I also there there is a difference between being a great and a groundbreaking guitarist. Most groundbreaking guitarists are great, but not all great guitarists are groundbreaking. In my opinion someone like Jeff Beck, who you mentioned, is a good example of this. He’s unquestionably a great guitar player, and he has influenced countless others, but I don’t personally think he did anything that fundamentally changed the way others played or spawned a new genre. I was born in 1983, Hendrix was dead long before I was born. As a teen I liked his music, but because I’d had so much exposure to those who had come after I didn’t understand what was so special about it. It wasn’t until later that I really understood how he did things with the guitar that, at the time, no one else had done, or was really doing. I think EVH is similar to Hendrix in that way. He may not have invented all of the techniques he is known for, but he certainly brought them into the mainstream and exposed a lot of people to them. He undoubtable left some mark on all hard rock and metal guitarists that came after. Iommi who I mentioned did not invent the power chord or detuned guitars, but he definitely broke ground and popularized them. While there were certainly other pioneers, Black Sabbath undoubtable had the biggest influence on heavy metal of any other band, and it would not exist in its current form without them. There are obviously a lot of other greats and groundbreaking that haven’t been mentioned. One I would submit is Keith Richards. He’s never been known for lead playing, but his rhythm style and use of open tunings is unique and was groundbreaking in their best era from the late ‘60s to early 70’s. The Stones definitely spawned a lot of copycats.
YES! Keith, with all the tunings. G mainly. They call it the keith tuning.I’m 20 years older. I remember not getting Hendrix at first, it took a while, but EVH I got right away (so I was 16 or so and seriously playing, in bands, etc., it was just jaw dropping). True he did not invent tapping and Ritchie Blackmore was doing the classic music inspired thing, but it appeared the whole guitar world stopped spinning. Even Frank Zappa thanked him for “re-inventing rock guitar.” They were also just a badass band. Definitely part of the “whole is greater than the sum of the parts” thing. There are many who say without the other three EVH would still be a virtuoso, but not the same as we know it now.
Oh I’m well aware of Keef 🙂 I’m a devout Stones’ fan and a hack guitarist. Despite that I rarely learn open G Stones’ tunes because I’m too lazy to tune to open G. One of these days I’m going to buy myself a Tele, pull off the sixth string, and leave it in open G all the time! And not to make you feel old, but you’re the same age as my father who was obviously very young when I was born. I credit him for a lot of my taste in music.
Another asshole boomer who thinks 60s > everything else.
If you want to be technical Crosby was born slightly before the boomer generation while EVH was born right in the middle of it. I enjoy music made by both of them. Crosby has always been an ass, so I expect it from him. From many things I’ve read over the years it seems like EVH was also an ass, just not a publicly facing one.
did he write that from The Enchantment Under the Sea dance?
So many dumb things, 1) asking David Crosby about EVH’s death…like, who cares what David Crosby thinks about that… 2) the odd answer (again, to a question he clearly didn’t even care about) 3) other wildy-offended multi-millionaires immediately lashing out inane screeds upon him for not paying the respect they feel EVH should have been given in a Twitter comment 4) that I even wrote all this up in the first place. I need a rum drink.
If Tracii Guns and Alex Skolnick are multi-millionaires in the year of our lord 2020, I need to reach out to them for investment advice.
There’s still two and a half months left!
Skolnick? Doesn’t he play Jesus rock?
Also, Alex Skolnick, according to INTERNET, is worth ~5 million dollars. He is expecting your call.
Minus five million dollars? Who does he owe it to? Did he screw up doing his taxes?
That’s…that’s a tilde, not a minus sign. :/ Maybe it is *you* that has had too many rum drinks!
I know, I was pretending to see it wrong to be funny. Partly because I’d only just noticed how shitty the tilde in this font is, with it’s indistinct squiggle and scrawny, scrawl-like thinness. Also, why even use a tilde there? Just say “around.”
I like the tilde! It’s fun! :D(also, i went back and forth way too many times on whether to even say anything because I wasn’t sure if you were kidding or not! Welp!)
I loved the version of the tilde I first encountered in a college philosophy logic class, where it was used to indicate negation (hey!), such that I never cared for the standard-math one that indicates similarity when I encountered it later, even though I know I’ve lost to the extent that logicians have replaced it with another negation symbol to avoid confusion, which annoys me still more. Finally, I just like words better, except when I need to get my troll on every now and then with a little bit of Trek>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Wars (a true statement, by the way).
A fact I know about Alex Skolnick: Testament is his FIRST band. He was a 17 year old guitar prodigy (who studied under Joe Satriani, another thing I know about him) who was signed to Megaforce and touring the country before his 21st birthday.Source: I read a joint interview with him and a bunch of other metal musicians in the early ‘90s (probably in Guitar Player or Guitar for the Practicing Musician) about their previous bands — everybody else had the standard story about the crappy garage bands they’d started as teenagers and their dumb names, and Alex just comes in a little sheepishly with, “Actually… Testament is my first band.” Everybody else reacted like they’d just met a lightning strike survivor or lottery winner. (None expressed resentment and all were happy for his success, at least in public.)An all-around good dude with a phenomenal talent.
Testament’s an underrated thrash band with some classic songs.
You need to reach out to Him.
Skolnick is estimated to be worth 5M; Guns about half a mil.
Yeah. That’s what sophomore slump said too, but I question how those online estimates are made.
Brotherhood of the Snake is awesome. Skolnick is a badass and always has been.
I believe one of the non-famous Guns’n’Roses is richer than all the others put together, because when he got off drugs (and out of the band, maybe?) he needed to find a new hobby and something to do with all the royalties; this took the form of taking those royalties and investing them in small local companies like Microsoft and Amazon.
I believe you’re referring to Duff
Duff or Dizzy or Izzy or someone, yeah. One of the ones that aren’t Axl Rose or Slash.
You just referred to my future-ex husband as non-famous. Been waiting years, Duff, you tired of swimsuit models yet?
As far as importance to the band. GnR only had one great album and the primary architect was Izzy. Huge difference without his input.
They didn’t even ask about his death, the inference was he was being asked about EVH’s music “I know you don’t like metal but…” It’s not like he was asked to give a eulogy and said “Meh.”
Yeah, the outrage seems way out of proportion to what Crosby actually wrote.
I need a rum drink.We don’t have any of those available. We only have a whiskey drink, a vodka drink, a lager drink, or a cider drink.
End of the day though, David Crosby did break the cardinal rule of How to Not Use Twitter to Burn Down Everything You’ve Created: he tweeted.
Except he didn’t actually burn anything down. Crosby and his career are doing just fine.
The guy’s had a lifetime of battling addiction. He’s probably really clear on what matters to him and what doesn’t, and the internet’s opinion doesn’t fucking matter. Not to him, and it shouldn’t to you either.
A reply mentions he should have said:He effectively does say this in his follow-up:Why is he even being asked this, and who cares what his answer is?
Why does he need to respond though? Does he have to respond to every rando who asks him something on Twitter?
No, he does not. However, in a case like this, he’d have been better off saying nothing, if he could think of nothing nice to say.
Why shouldn’t he? If you’re not prepared to accept someone’s answer to a question, don’t ask it.
No, he does not.But if he does, a modicum of respect for the deceased would be appropriate, unless the deceased were a wretched human being worthy only of scorn.
If he doesn’t respond, then that Alex guy calls him out for not responding. If he responds as he did, then he gets called out for being disrespectful or not mournful enough.
I wouldn’t be surprised if, in David’s mind, he decided to answer completely truthfully. He wasn’t moved by his music, but could understand why other people loved it. Hell, that’s the most common answer that most people have for music/musicians they’re apathetic towards.
The idea that just because two people are in the same genre of music that they should like each other’s music is silly, and while you might think it’s disrespectful of Crosby to respond with a truthful “meh,” I find it presumptuous that anyone would particularly care enough about his potential opinion to the point of denigrating him after he’s given it.
Why do you need to care about David Crosby? And why does he need to care about your feelings?
Why is he even being asked this, and who cares what his answer is?The same could be said of virtually any question asked of David Crosby, and especially so whatever his response might be. I have been a fan of The Byrds for decades, but even as a teenager I knew Crosby was a pompous fuckhead.
The Byrds were just a Bob Dylan cover band.
who cares about someone who cares about someone’s opionion of someonetwitter sucks
This Alex Skolnick is also pretty presumptive about what Patti Smith did and didn’t like. Her instagram is pleasantly laid back in its eclecticness, not at all “I was a seminal artist, therefore I’m going to gatekeep punk.”
A couple months ago she posted a 3-year-old picture with Flea, “This is with my dear pal Flea,” for example.
It was kind of a rude response, but it still feels like this whole thing got blown out of proportion.
I still think discussing people’s tweets at all blows them out of proportion.
You know what’s really meh, David Crosby?Your career post Crosby, Stills, & Nash.
Maybe so, but I still love this song.Shhhh…don’t tell anybody….they’ll take away my metalhead card…..
That last sentence could’ve stopped after two words.
If you say that within a week of his dying on Twitter I’m going to be outraged!
This was definitely worth reporting on.
Crosby has always been up his own ass about how important and meaningful his music was.Guys like him who got rich off 60s protest music will always look down upon bands that were more interested in a good time. To them, music can’t just be fun, loud, and exuberant.He can go fuck himself.
I saw him play with Stills a long time ago and they started the show with a lecture not to make any noise at all during the songs in order to fully experience them. The guy’s straight-up delusional about the importance of his music.
Does anyone besides Boomers really give a shit about Crosby’s music anyway?
I like the Byrds if only because they were Tom Petty’s biggest influence, but I’ll credit that to Roger McGuinn and not this jackass.
And their best work was a result of the great Gram Parsons. (Not to diminish Clarence White at all, of course)
I’ll allow it.
I’ve been getting into CSN&Y, CS&N, C, S&N, Y, and all the other combinations lately. I’d happily take a David Crosby over ten Eddies Van Halens.
I am a boomer and I don’t give a shit about his music. I also thought he died 30 years ago.
Nope. And yet we keep hearing about him.
And yet we keep hearing about him. And you keep clicking, reading and commenting about him. Time to let go of the sixties, dude.
I am not a boomer and I’m a pretty big fan of CSN/CSNY. That doesn’t change the fact that Crosby is an ass.
Saw CSN about 12 years ago and David made it a point to bitch at the crowd for bouncing a beach ball 100 yards away from the stage. Said it was “distracting”. Their set list was 30+ years old, and somehow he couldn’t remember the words if he saw something through his blurred vision? The guy has always been a notorious asshole, so none of this should be surprising.
Best part was, this show was on a college campus. As you can imagine the drunken crowd of late teens/early 20s wasn’t having it.
I would imagine protest singers’ ultimate goal would be that the message of their music was no longer relevant— that they had helped enact enough social change that that issue they sang about was no longer an issue anymore.
I don’t think artists are required to be overtly political or not, as long as they don’t do the whole “politics as a whole don’t matter” thing.
When a celebrity dies and I either don’t know who they are or have a negative opinion of them, I just say ‘condolences to their family’ if prompted. Because they probably meant something to someone, if not me.
He used to come to my high school every year to say hi and give us a little talk about drugs. He seemed pretty honest, the lesson i took from it was “you don’t want to go to jail in texas.”Never saw anything dickish about his demenour, talked to us and took pictures and stuff. But of course, that’s one anecdotal piece of information that is nearly 20 years old at this point. Celebrities are generally not dicks when they go to visit high-schools.
I can understand and appreciate his explanation.
David Crosby blocked me because I made some smart ass comment about him shitting on the late Ray Manzarek.
I would definitely consider this a badge of honor—like getting blocked by anyone in the Trump family. Good for you, seriously. He’s such a douche.
Apropos of nothing:I lived in Dallas when David Crosby was incarcerated there in the 80s. Every time me and my friends drove past Lew Sterrit, we’d honk the horn and one of us would lean out the window and yell “HI DAVID”We were high and stupid but we had fun.
So did David Crosby.
He used to come to my high school every year to basically tell us not to do drugs because “you don’t want to go to prison in texas.”It was a lesson i took to heart as I was always very careful to hide my drug use and never set foot in texas.
Life lessons!
Yup, that and my step dads advice to “stick to the natural stuff” were two of the most effective drug talks I got in my formative years. Both were cautionary tales with an implied “I would’ve done things differently in retrospect.”
..was he aware that Van Halen died? If you’d asked me before his death what I thought of him and his influence on rock music my answer would’ve been a hell of a lot less polite than “meh”.
What the world needs now is another folk singer, like I need a hole in my head.
What the world needs now is another Frank Sinatra, so I can get you in bed
Sinatra’s got chunks of guys like you in his stool!
Sting’s finest moment:
Maybe his second finest moment
I WILL KILL HIM!
How many do you currently have?
One!
Do we count nostrils or just the nasal cavity?
Wow…I haven’t thought of Cracker since…well, when that song was in heavy rotation on alt-rock stations.
When I first saw his picture pop up, I immediately assumed the world now had one LESS folk singer.Especially after just scrolling past the “RIP Conchata Ferrel” headline.
If you’re going to ask David Crosby a question on Twitter you should really be prepared to not like the answer.
Also if he though EVH was Meh, he’s really not going to give half a fuck about Dee Snider and Tracii Guns opinions.
To be fair, who does?
I’m not really into Dee Snider’s music, but dude seems like a mensch. His testimony in front of Congress was acceptably epic.
Congress?
People with taste.
Well I do care about what Snyder has to say after watching that video of him testifying before the PMRC in those hearings, damn that guy was amazing and articulate, he demolished all the stereotypes of rock bands being morons. He also did a pretty good op-ed about the PMRC for Huffington Post.
I care more about Dee Snider’s opinions than David Crosby’s. However, I care more about crop dusting in walmart than I do about Dee Snider’s opinions.
Also if he though EVH was Meh, he’s really not going to give half a fuck about Dee Snider and Tracii Guns opinions.So you’re saying he’s not a complete moron.
Dee Snyder is pretty damn funny. He turns up randomly on TV every now and then and is just an enthusiastic, upbeat guy.
That doesn’t make up for inflicting the complete garbage that was Twisted Sister on an unsuspecting world.
Hey, we’re not going to take that, anymore!
You mean the legendary rock band Twisted Sister.
Try again.
Dee Snider has regularly told the PMRC and a particularly noxious Australian mining magnate to cram it. Regardless of what you think of his music, his opinions are generally pretty solid.
No one should give a fuck about the opinions of a man who chose “Tracii Guns” as a stage name…
Hey, now, Mr. and Mrs. Gunz spent a lot of time agonizing over Tracii’s name, though they have admitted they were disappointed when he replaced the “z” in their surname with a more correct “s.”
There was much arguing over it, as Mr. Gunz, ever the fastidious shaver, insisted on naming the newborn child after his favorite razor, the Gillette Trac II.
so we’re discounting people based on stage names now eh? REAL mature dumbass
If you want to see white male privilege in its lowest form, here’s a guy who stole a Las Vegas stripper’s stage name, which she came up with herself, and called it his own. Shame on that guy. He should be banned from all interaction with strippers.
If you’re going to ask David Crosby a question on Twitter you should really be prepared to not like the answer. Especially if that question is: “Are you working on a new album?”
Still a brutally cold response. It’s easy to say I didn’t really pay much attention to his music while also giving the first fuck that a man is dead.
Why say anything at all? Is Crosby fair game when he shuffles off (I don’t see him running off)?
He was asked. And while I don’t know Crosby all that well, sure seems like he would expect to be fair game.
It appears that he didn’t actually know that EVH had just died when he answered the question – which just makes him out-of-touch (not really too surprising) rather than callous.
While I have enjoyed and admired Eddie Van Halen’s talents as a casual fan, I couldn’t care less if Crosby or anyone else just said “meh.” Basically, I can’t stand Twitter outrage. The Twitter mob that hysterically moves from one thing to be outraged about to another is exhausting.
get lost troll
Yep. Delete and ignore Twitter and all related bullshit.
By that token, why should anyone care about what DC has to say? How hard is it to simply be quiet and respectful?
There was really no reason for Crosby to answer the question at all.
Maybe I’m old, but I don’t get the Twitter’s obsession with asking a stranger a question for which you’ve already decided that there is only one acceptable answer.
I guess you kind of hope that as a lifelong musical artist, he might offer some sort of unique insight.I definitely respect the role he had in the hippie musical scene back in the day, but even at the height of his creative powers and relevancy, he was kind of a huge dick.I’m old, too, and as the years pile up I’m increasingly bothered by the artistic temperament. I get where you have to follow your passion and all, but does the journey have to include being an asshole?Crosby surely must have been aware that a fairly sizeable number of people were bummed at EVH’s passing. Would it have been so hard to just say “met the guy once, he was nice, pretty talented too”. I don’t think that erodes any credibility he thinks he may have at speaking out against whatever it is he’s against.
exactly!
In the internet’s defense, it does simplify saying something about everything as if everybody cares.
Not every human is an insightful, contemplative person with a penchant for intellectual analysis. My grandfather was a master carpenter and wood worker, he made incredible pieces of futniture and even art with wood carvings. When I asked him how he does it or what he thinks about when doing his work he merely looked at me like I was a dummy, shrugged his shoulders and just said: “I can do it, I seem good at it. I do it. That’s it, dunno about nothin else”. He was a simple man, a master of his craft, but had no insight to offer anyone on his work – not everyone has the ability or the desire to give insight.
I respect that – your grandfather knew what he was about and the value of his work. Whether or not he had any insight about it is just part of his process, and it sounds like he was pretty instinctual about it. But did he crap on other people’s carpentry work or as he dismissive of different styles? I’m going to guess not.That’s the problem I have with Crosby. There’s a lot of artistic genres/careers that I don’t really dig, but I respect anyone with the drive and talent to be a master of whatever it is, and would express admiration for someone’s talent. This was a question about a guy’s life work and “meh” just seemed dismissive. But as others have said, people should have known not to ask Crosby about EVH. Of course, Crosby could have saved himself 3 seconds of his precious life and just not answered at all.
your grandfather knew what he was about and the value of his work. Whether or not he had any insight about it is just part of his process, and it sounds like he was pretty instinctual about it. But did he crap on other people’s carpentry work or as he dismissive of different styles? I’m going to guess not.I don’t think Crosby crapped on EVH at all. Or was “dismissive of different styles”.He certainly could have done either of those, but didn’t.
He didn’t have to be insightful. You don’t have to be insightful to offer a couple of words about someone who died. Even if you don’t like them, you can say you are sorry for the loss their loved ones are suffering. It’s really not a hard thing to do if you aren’t a narcissistic ass. Crosby is a few years too old to be a Boomer but he sure has a Boomer attitude.
If you’re getting more easily annoyed at human behavior as you get older, it’s going to be a long ride for you.
Still, it is David Crosby, making the guy asking him either a complete idiot or totally ignorant of what the guy’s like (in which case why is he following and asking him questions on Twitter?)
He types like my aunt who still signs her name after every text. I don’t think Twitter is really the platform to expect a well-crafted answer.
I get where you have to follow your passion and all, but does the journey have to include being an asshole?…all he did was tweet “meh.” He didn’t even say it. It probably took him all of three seconds. This is too minor an event to scrutinize as evidence of ‘artistic sentiment.’
“Would it have been so hard to just say ‘met the guy once, he was nice, pretty talented too’.”I think he’s old enough that he doesn’t care anymore. I can’t wait until I’m that old.
The luxury of not caring what other people think is definitely a silver lining of aging.It’s funny though – back in Crosby’s day, the attitude was “don’t trust anyone over 30″ and “I hope I die before I get old”. Time always gets the last laugh.
I never want to be an out of touch asshole like Crosby, guy probably longs for the days of segregation.
bless your heart
troll
Crosby never cared. That’s what made him a rock star — now an endangered species.
Yes, it would have been too hard for David Crosby to do that. That’s why he has spent the last 50+ years living as an rock star/outlaw who values free-thinking and truth-telling over courtesy and politeness. That’s how we liked our artists back when Crosby was relevant. Frankly, we could use a little more of it these days.
I think your hypothetical response would have garnered plenty of scorn as well, anything short of heaping on praise and feigning deep sorrow would. What’s the old saying, if you don’t have anything nice to say just shut the fuck up.
Yeah I’ve been thinking about that. At least if he said nothing he could just say he’s an old fuck and his AOL dial-up went down and he never saw the tweet asking him about EVH.
Innovation will bring down civilization. Twitter and Facebook tag team on who can get to the end of civilization first. I already have this feeling Twitter will be the winner when Trump tantrum-tweets the nuclear codes to settle election results.
After the initial wave, the comedy writer who asked the question only has 135 Twitter followers. I’m sure that number was less before he appeared in Crosby’s timeline and should be more tomorrow after the press.If a celebrity replies, it can draw clicks to your account.
More curiously, Twitters obsession with sharing all and any worthless opinion.I must be old too. I really don’t see the point of Twitter. Or at least not how it’s being used. I don’t want to read everyone’s random brain farts. Why would anyone even share them in the first place? It’s “first though that popped into my head unfiltered and not thought through”-central.
because talking to people online can really help others get through tough times and i’ve seen some genuinely insightful stuff on there, especially on black Twitter.
Because we are all different and some people enjoy things that you don’t enjoy.I’m tired of people blaming their inability to understand that not everything is for them on being old. I’m fucking 50 and I can understand that, just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s crap. If we were all alike, the world would be boring as shit.
It’s the Virtual Fascists’ version of call and response.
Looking through the various comments, I think I’m in this camp. Everyone wants thoughtful commentary on shit and they want it stated publicly. And when they don’t, people act like someone pissed in their coffee.
I don’t like how Crosby was so dismissive (lack of awareness, whatever), but I do agree with you on this.
Thank god there are some people with a brain left on this Earth. That is the best comment here. Generation outrage and cancel culture on all sides of the political fence is ridiculous. Now we’ve got kids that never listened to VanHalen and don’t know who David Crosby is getting their undies in a bunch because they’re just chomping at the bit to be outraged about anything. It’s pathetic. The internet has built a society of thin skinned pussies that deserve everything they’re going through now. Get a hobby, assholes.
So if you mention someone died recently, how many acceptable responses are there? If you say anything besides some version of “sorry to hear that,” then you are a rude asshole and fuck you.This is not complicated.
Exactly, why should it be demanded that everyone has to say something nice about someone when they die? Would it be “nice”? Yeah sure. But if you do not know the guy or did not like him, and are asked, why should you pretend otherwise? If you are not prepared to dislike a response, do not ask a question or ask someone for their opinion.
You know, if you really hate someone, then I guess I can give you a pass at saying dickish things about them after they die (unless you are saying it directly to someone who loved them.) But, if you just barely know him, you could at least have some empathy for the people who will miss them in their lives. Or don’t say anything.
True. But the thing is is that we don’t know if Crosby knew him. Maybe Crosby DID know and hate him? Also, again, not to speak ill of the dead, but many people did think Van Halen was a bit of a dick. Especially after he fired Sammy Hagar since that was the second lead singer he pushed out. It also did not help that both David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar were pretty much known to be great guys and were very well liked. Sammy Hagar has talent (he wrote and played his own songs for years before Van Halen and had hits) and also made Cabo Wabo tequila that he sold for like 60 million dollars, so he was fine. But David Lee Roth did not have talent outside of Van Halen and was purely a frontman and his career was effectively over, and many musicians did not like Eddie Van Halen for that. (especially after Hagar was fired and proved that Roth was not the problem, Van Halen was) This was compounded when Eddie Van Halen then fired longtime bassist Michael Anthony in the 1990’s
I think it’s clear from Crosby’s other comments that he didn’t know Eddie Van Halen. I set a higher bar for reasons to loathe someone enough to not at least be able to have some empathy for their loved ones upon their death.
Why even ask him? Anyone who’s seen/hear/read him asked anything about music from so much as five minutes after his time should know better (the closest he ever gets to positive is to act all smug about R.E.M.’s Byrds influences). I once saw someone ask him something about the (had to have been calculatedly chosen) least-accessible song on some Pixies album, and he grumbled about it being “angry noise” like the crotchety old fart that he is and has been for some years now. I’m actually more annoyed at the stupidity of people asking him a question with such a predictable response than I am that he reacted the way he inevitably was always going to.And, for the record, I was never into VH, never owned an album of theirs (and I was of an age to be there during their heyday) the guy was obviously a phenomenally talented guitar player, but the band’s sound, including his guitar sound (to do more with his choices in effects and amp settings than his playing) was just never my thing. But I’ve tried to not say much during the recent mourning (because it is still a tragedy, and he never seemed like any less than a good dude overall), and never anything harsher than what I’ve just said.
including his guitar sound (to do more with his choices in effects and amp settings than his playing)Yes, because most rock guitarists play like this…
Dismissed grey: way to miss the point. Irrelevant.
To be fair, David probably saw the tweet while he was smoking crack & speeding down the 405. Graham Nash won’t have anything to do with the guy anymore, if that gives you any idea about Crosby’s warm personality.
Gotta say I’m similarly mystified, he didn’t seem to be that great a person as far as I know? This is like when Scott Weiland died all over again.
I listen to a lot more Testament (or even the Alex Skolnick trio) than Crosby, Stills & Nash and I think Eddie was a very talented guitarist, but my feeling was also “meh”. I just didn’t tweet about it.
What, no one can have opinions about anything anymore? None of that seems offensive, or rude frankly. Should it have been left unsaid? Yeah, probably, but of all the things to care about, this doesn’t make the list.
He should have just said “Oh shit, I didn’t realize he died, my bad”
I didn’t realize David Crosby was still alive,much less on Twitter,my bad.
Real rock stars aren’t afraid to give honest opinions. Deal with it.
things i dont care about number 10871504:eddie van halen.
So much so, that you had to mention it.
No. 10871505David Crosby’s opinion of Eddie Van Halen.
No. 10871506 i didnt care too much to actually write that down. but i did this note. i kind of figure, that i can say “what? i dont give a shit about david crosby’s opinion of eddie van halen.”
[Incoming hot take}David Crosby did exactly what David Crosby meant to do: Get people talking about him. Let’s face it: How many of us wondered if he was still alive until just now?
This “Henrik Persson” dude’s a fucking moron for asking the question expecting any other response in the first place.
Unpopular opinion: I agree with David Crosby. Eddie is a very overrated guitarist who mostly took techniques developed by better guitarists* and applied it to Rock and Roll. His work generally bores me. Was he innovative? A little bit, but not as much as some of his contemporaries.* Like Roy Clark, Chet Akins, Glen Campbell, and Les Paul. In his defense, Eddie did give a lot of credit for his style to Roy Clark who could play anything with strings.(But why would the opinion of anyone on the internet interfere with your enjoyment of any particular artist? I’m just pointing out that David Crosby’s opinion isn’t an isolated one, and it’s just as valid as anyone else’s. He shouldn’t be castigated for it.)
“Meh” at time of someone’s death? Diplomacy goes a long way.And to say Eddie van Halen was overrated is ridiculous. You are mixing up innovation and talent here. And because he borrowed techniques from other genres and made it his own, in his genre, makes him an innovator. That is innovation in the world of arts.
Heretic!
At every opportunity.
I will admit I don’t know enough about the technical guitar wankery that made him a revered musician, but I will agree that Van Halen’s music just never moved me much, either. I grew up in their heyday, but it didn’t really resonate with me even in my youth. You can blather on all day about his showmanship and his musical prowess to try and convince me, but this is just one of those matters of taste. Every time one of their songs come on the radio, it just registers as more hair-band blandness.That said, he seemed like a decent guy and dying to cancer isn’t a fate I would wish on many people. No man is an island…etc. RIP
Douglas? Douglas Malmsteen?!?
Nobody has ever called me “Doogie” ever.
Entitled to his own opinion. Though I wouldn’t have been so dismissive with a one word and said more to “not a fan of his music but he was talented” or something.Still, even I can say any loss in music is a loss. I have yet to find anyone I could say was a meh…ok maybe the people that invented Kids Bop or the disneyfing of hits.
I find the “Wrong answer as fuck” quote way more offensive than the “Meh”.Anyway the reason for all the performative mourning is that the generation/ race/gender that made up his fanbase is currently riding high being a coveted demo.
Okay, boomer(kidding)
No, I agree with the “meh” response. There’s some celebrities that I’d mourn the loss of, and some I’d celebrate their death, but I’m ambivalent to the vast, VAST majority. EVH lands solidly in the latter category, which I’d classify as “meh.”
In fairness to Crosby there is nothing about the question asked that pertains to his death or how anyone feels. Now given them the context of the circumstances he probably should have given a more tactful reply as suggested by Skolnick, but overall the reaction by some seems unwarranted.
That was always my reaction to his music.But Crosby is way colder than I am to “meh” his death.
I saw David Crosby front and center stage with CSN back in the 80’sMeh.
I saw Van Halen 3rd row.Not Meh.
I don’t think it should come as much of a surprise at David Crosby is a dismissive jerk-off. He didn’t give a crap about the son he fathered with Melissa Etheridge’s ex-wife, who died last year.He’s just some bitter old druggie ex-hippy, who’s seen that that world has passed him by a long time ago.
His son died or Melissa Etheridge’s ex-wife died?
I’m shocked! Dumbfounded! Speechless!
David Crosby is on Twitter?
“That College Guy Standing By The Beer Keg Giving His Music Opinions No One Asked For.”What? Someone literally asked for his opinion. You can roast him for what he said but you don’t get to change reality and say no one asked for his opinion.
The Floyd sucked after Syd left.
Oh, my God, someone agrees with me on this one! I don’t think they started sucking exactly when he left, but they were much better when they were four unwashed hippies high on Mandrax and acid and British whimsy. Sixties Floyd is prime freakout material. The rest is for people with really expensive stereos to get excited about.
Is it weird that I think Obscured By Clouds is like…good?
No. A lot of their early-seventies soundtrack work doesn’t exactly jump out of you, but it’s still a good listen.
Most of it’s just fine background music. But I think that weird garage/proto-punk “Nile Song” is on one of the soundtrack albums.
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge YOU, David Crosby!
Crosby is 105 years old, is probably taking Metamucil laced with mescalin, has pissed off almost every one of his ‘60s contemporaries, so the fact that he didn’t genuflect to a guy he probably views as his lesser (regardless that most think he’s wrong) doesn’t strike me as a faux pas of the highest order.
I am sure plenty of people will have the same feeling for him when he’s
in the ground. I’ll certainly answer with “meh” when that happens.
“Despite earning Dee Snider’s ire (that one just rolls off the tongue), Crosby then managed to simultaneously walk it back and double down before transforming into “That College Guy Standing By The Beer Keg Giving His Music Opinions No One Asked For.””Actually, they did ask for his opinion. He gave it. Move on with life.
David Crosby doing what David Crosby has been doing since 1964.
Eddie was a well-known obnoxious prick as well. I think if you have to ‘go there’ it’s at least as ‘offensive’ as him saying “Who cares if I played on that kid’s album” about an artist who was having hits when Ed was fucking around with his brother’s drum kit.
Old Meme Perfectly Encapsulates Predictable Answer By Crotchety Fuck!
It also perfectly encapsulates the journalistic value of this news article.
Was he yelling?
OTOH, he’s seen-and-heard them all.He once (and very correctly) dismissed Jim Morrison and the Doors as “the most over-rated ever”.Every time I hear the screeching, droning, repetitive “LA Woman” fire up on the radio, as I reflexively change stations, I think of David Crosby. Speaking truth to glower.
David Crosby has, sadly, just become a troll in his old age.I love his music but he has some pretty terrible takes and doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.
Sure, but anyone asking him a question like this and expecting any other kind of answer is kind of an idiot.
everyone doesnt have to like everyone else. who cares.
I liked some of Van Halen’s stuff (as in a couple of the band’s more popular songs) when I was a kid, but it didn’t move me like it did others. When my son (who doesn’t know the man beyond that he was a metal star when I was young) texted me about Van Halen’s death, I texted back that “He’ll be greatly missed by his fans and those who loved him”. There are certainly better ways to say it doesn’t have much of an impact on you than “Meh …”. Then again, I’m not the idol of millions like David Crosby so maybe I just don’t get it.
Another example of old people using social media.
TRUMP . . .
CROSBY . . .
The Twitter Debates!
Person, Trump, Crosby, camera, TV
Crosby is known for being bad at interacting with literally everyone (and bad at having money for more than 5 minutes).
If someone doesn’t like (or at least appreciate) Van Halen, or think Eddie is among the greatest guitarists ever, then there is no need to waste my time with them.
“So reggae survived beyond Bob Marley?”-my dadLove ya Boomers.
Well there’s a bus Bob wasn’t looking to be thrown under today.
Totally with David Crosby. It’s not rude or unkind to say a musician doesn’t move you. And empathy has nothing to do with it.
Is it possible, considering this old man, that he didn’t know EVH was dead and he thought someone was just asking his opinion of his music?
Wait. David Crosby is still alive?
Eh, curmudgeon’s gonna curmudge.I’m a lot more put off by the huge wave of RIP’s to the effect of “Much respect to the innovative and influential Eddie Van Halen, BTW I have nothing but contempt for all the players and genres he influenced.”
It’s not that EVH is a meh guitar player. He’s a great guitar player. The issue is that most great guitar players are in Meh bands like Van Halen, because “Check Out This Fuckin’ Solo” guitar playing makes songs shitty.
He’s gone on to clarify that he didn’t know EVH had just passed away when this went down. Imagine how surprised he was by everyone’s responses before he found out.
NOTE TO SELF: When Eric Clapton dies, answer no questions about him. the blowback you get is bad enough when you say “he’s pretty good” now.
he’s old, angry, got God know how many replacement organs and did I say angry?
he’s on the level of Gary Moore or Rory Gallagher
he’s NOT a creator on the level of clapton or hendrix or JERRY GARCIA he’s not Lightning Hopkins or Elmore Leonard or Blind Lemon Jefferson he’s a guy who played good enough to GET PAIDif not, then WHY all the covers that went up the chart?that is the mark of a SALESMAN, not an artist
I shall now imagine that Henrik Perssson is some lesser demon of chaos, puttering about on social media and asking targeted questions of celebrities in order to make them the focal point of social media ire for saying something stupid when they’d have been better off just shutting up. If we look back, I bet that he asked Rowling what she thought about gender identity not that long ago.
“i know you’re not into metal david, but what’s your opinion on eddie van halen?”He didn’t ask about his death. He just asked what he thought about him. Crosby might not have even known he was dead.
Asshole. I appreciate both Crosby’s music and its/his place in history, but saving that comment for the occasion of its object’s death is just asshole.
Asshole.
He didn’t “save” it. He was asked a question and gave his honest opinion. Get over it.
“Hendrix changed the world of guitar.”
So did Eddie Van Halen. Eruption comes right before Metal takes off in the 80’s. Inspiring so many guitarist in metal bands to do hammer ons.
Fight me!
We really make so much out of nothing if we’re bored enough. Genuinely, who actually gives a fuck? This is usually the response you get if you ask a fucking 80-year-old man ANYTHING. While I’m sure the author thought that his “That College Guy Standing By The Beer Keg Giving His Music Opinions No One Asked For.” line was just HILARIOUS, in his excitement he seems to have forgotten that he wrote, just paragraphs earlier, that Crosby was indeed asked for his opinion. What no one asked for is a bunch of fucking babies crying about absolutely nothing.
Why the backlash? I understand, but he was being honest and didn’t mention anything derogatory or used foul language. Sure, any fan would have written more out of admiration for Eddie, but obviously Crosby doesn’t. How many of you would also be like “Meh” if Kenny G died? I bet the Pope was like “Meh” when Prince died too. To each their own…this whole Twitter thing really puts a lot of feet in mouths…lol
Crosby proves it is possible to be both a great singer/songwriter, and a horrible human being. Convicts tend to have trouble using social media.
Hendrix changed the world of guitar. Nobody else reallyWRONG.
The entire history of music is fueled on the ideas of rivals and competitiveness.
To this day, we still got plenty of musicians at each other’s throats.
Why the hell do people feel the need to force these musicians to be friendly with one another and praise one another?
If you’re idolizing people who were high on drugs for a 1/3 of their career, why would you be foolish enough to think their reply would be any better than what Crosby said?
Irrelevant, Fat Walrus Exposes Self as Dimwitted Asshole for Thousandth Time
god the sixties were awful groups of outloud dopeheads who only charged the straight however naive public…against saving south vietnam against the government against lots of things while stoned wasted having dirty cheap lives and due to be that awful carried that love heals bs…sorry david you made too much money and lost it…your an old bitch no one cares…your music is not so great that fake love faith thing never did work because the actual writers and players were total spoiled assholes..give it up by chance it worked..but it was bs full of pride and fake got that fake promise…so your word prove your old lost mind…nothng but dopeheads and a romanticized by dumbasses with worthless educations all to charge with your puny stupid cry baby personality….go rot do the world a favor
Crosby has no fucks left to give.
nothing but an old crony full of spite and worthless ways….about as talented as the next guy….csn never even needed him….fat filler nothing more
Doesn’t that bloated gasbag know: if you don’t have anything nice to say, say it anonymously on the internets!
I feel a little sorry or David Crosby. In my opinion, he was (and I repeat, was) a talented guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. But in that talent got a lot of messed-up ego and behaviour that frankly, drugs just won’t excuse. It’s a little like Ezra Pound: Huge talent betrayed by a massively overinflated ego and the incredible ability to take one and one and come up with (in Crosby’s case, literally) Three.
What the ASS Crosby. Besides, most CSN songs are really pitchy. A lot. Vinyl/tape gave a lot of mediocre singers leeway back in the day. For example, put “Bohemian Rhapsody” against “Marrakesh Express” or “Find the Cost of Freedom” and you’ll note one group has stellar vocals even though they were overdubbed and one was just kinda a lot of vocals that scoop and sway.
*was in swing choir in the 80s, you can trust my critique
Wait… David Crosby’s still alive?
I don’t even know how guilty I should feel… In the comments about someone Tweeting a comment, beneath an article about those comments, about the passing of a guitar hero, that is somehow not really about him dying, are some of the funniest things I have ever seen – and I sometimes watch FOX News for fun! Sorry, I can’t stop laughing and I think EVH would love this.
I thought he died about 1992.
Meh.
sick burn!
Alex Skolnick is one of the nicest, most humbly talented people in music. Also, he does a passable job playing Eruption.
He also fronts The Alex Skolnick Trio, a jazz side project.
Which is also really good, as is his solo world music album. Obviously coming to know him as a Testament fan I more naturally gravitate towards his heavier fare.
I saw Crosby perform a couple of years ago. He is a hell of a musician, but also a grumpy old man who gives zero fucks what anyone else around him thinks. I’m more surprised at people being surprised he’d say something tone deaf.
that Crosby doc that came out last year, he says hes all alone, has no friends. Everyone he has ever worked with hates him and wants nothing to do with him. But it’s never explained why. Shrugs
Who the fuck cares? Tastes vary, and just because someone happens to be successful or even just technically proficient doesn’t mean that everyone else within that industry has to act as if they’ll be pining for the lost opportunities to feast on their ass, just because they’re dead.
He was a 65 year old drunk and addict that had been circling the drain for at least 5 years. This wasn’t a surprise, nor was it some untimely tragedy that befell some young rising star, beloved by all, that never got to fulfill their potential.
People are not required to feign feelings just to appease the faceless masses that they genuinely, do not give a fuck about.
stop caring what an out of touch old man thinks about something that was not in his wheelhouse.
“How do we know Crosby felt sorta ‘Meh’ about Van Halen’s death?”I have no love for David Crosby, but he was clearly talking about Van Halen’s music, not his death.
Oh good golly, he’s of the “HENDRIX IS THE ONLY GREAT GUITAR PLAYER THERE EVER WAS OR WILL BE” camp. Hendrix has been dead for many years now. There have been others who have innovated in ways he couldn’t have conceived of. Guitar playing didn’t end when Hendrix died.
He’s not wrong. At this point I remember Eddie chiefly as the dude who gave us David Lee Roth.
I accept that he wasn’t a fan of his music. We’re in the same boat there. He may even have hated the guy enough to wish death upon him and suffering upon his family. I’ll allow that too, even if it seems harsh just for someone who made music I don’t listen to. But he’s allowed his twisted opinion.BUT WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU BROADCAST IT TO THE WORLD?!? Fucking Twitter has the whole world thinking anyone even cares about their opinion and that every thought you have should be shared with the world because we all care so fucking much about your view on anything at all.
Where is it written that everyone needs to feel bad when someone dies? If he did not know him or like him for whatever reason, why should people care. It is not like he just said this out of nowhere, someone asked him and he gave an honest answer.This is one of the worst things about social media. The virtue signaling police demand that everyone feel bad that someone died or else!BTW, Eddie Van Halen was a guitar god, but he bounced not one, but two singers from the group because he did not like them getting more glory than him. He was hardly some saint. he played guitar very well, he was not Nelson Mandela.
Just to add to that, there’s a difference between “What do you think of x?” and “How do you feel about x dying?” That might be considered splitting hairs, though I don’t think that it is—when the time comes, if someone asks me “What did you think of Paul Reiser?”, I imagine I’ll have a similar reaction to Crosby’s, without feeling the need to begin with a treatise on the value inherent in every human life.
I gotta say, my answer to “What did you think of Van Halen’s music?” would also be “meh”.Eddie was a talented guitarist, no doubt. But the music that band built around his excellent playing was … pretty boring really. A huge part of that was personal distaste for both vocalists.
Who are some musicians that you like?
“Both vocalists.”
You forgot Van Halen III had Extreme’s former lead singer Gary Cherone.
Also many people just listen to “Eruption” or “Panama” and think that’s the entirety of their sound. Stuff like “Girl Gone Bad” and “Tora Tora/Loss Of Control” show more of their strengths as a group. Tora Tora/Loss Of Control’s got tons of difficult drum fills and has this weird mix of punk, prog rock, and the cock rock ‘80s Van Halen is known for before everything got perfected in Diver Down.
Oh my, you are correct, I DID forget that brief dabble. 😉 Cherone wasn’t quite the knob that the other two made it their purpose in life to be … but the Van Halen ship had already long sailed for me by then.
And their terrible covers.
This story is much ado about nothing, really. Crosby definitely could have been more respectful but considering the premise of the question was “I know you’re not much into metal”, in that context, the answer was not that disrespectful either. It confirmed he doesn’t really care about that particular style of music.
David Crosby: so much bile he needed MULTIPLE livers.
Let’s cut him all a little bit of slack, he’s quite clearly on the record as having been an extraordinary douchebag for most of the last half-century
Mike Bloomfield was the best. Hendrix, meh.
…this is such a non-story. Crosby has given similar flippant responses to dead rock stars in the past and no one blinked an eye. He’s not a twitter user – he’s a grandpa with an opinion who someone asked “what do you think of EVH?” and he said , “Meh”….it’s 2020 people – if you feel that you need to go out of our way to look for something to be offended by, maybe you are paying close enough attention to the world right now.
Who cares what some Jell-O commercial guy says? He probably didn’t like Van Halen because it woke up the women he drugged and was trying to rape. I thought this guy was in prison.
A) It doesn’t matter what David Crosby thinks.B) David Crosby does not care what you think.
I guess people are somehow familiar enough with EVH to mourn him, yet unfamiliar enough with David Crosby to be unaware of his personality, yet aware enough of him to care about his EVH take? Hm.
For a moment I thought David Cross had said that.
Crosby’s liver: MEH.
Can you even cancel an 80 yo hippie?
Crosby’s a folkie – no technique required here. Gawd, how’d he express his indifference when Coltrane died?
Breaking news. Famous asshole does asshole thing. More at 10.
Who writes his tweets, Chuck Grassley?
Crosby’s attitude is pure rock ‘n roll, though
if someone does not interest you..you can just..like..not post a comment. its like, if something doesn’t apply to you, just post something else or don’t post something, you aren’t paid per post.
Paid per post? lolYou really think David Crosby’s behavior is motivated by money? smh
David Crosby has been an asshole for longer than many of us have been born. Rich and successful and couldn’t be more angry about it.
So they ask an opinion about a person from a guy who clearly doesn’t care for said person and then wanna cry about how he answered lol.
Thou shalt expose only Authorized Opinions lest ye be cancelled.
Where are the Dead Milkmen and their Thing That Eats Hippies when you need ‘em?
Awww moustache Meg made some words.Ok Boomer, you next.
I’ve met a lot of David Crosby’s in bars throughout the years.
Unless it’s a moral issue, you probably shouldn’t ask for someone’s opinion if it has to be the “right” opinion.
People really do need to get lives.
When I think of David Crosby, the first thing I think of are his junky-genetics. I held my tongue when his invitro-baby with Julie Cypher and Melissa Etheridge died of a drug overdose earlier this year. And now, I really couldn’t give a shit what his opinions are on anything after that tweet.
Thank you for your opinion, weakest link of every group you’ve ever been in.
I’d rather be the weakest link in CSNY than the resident genius in whatever irrelevant group you’re in.
prezelpie is the achingly earnest David Crosby stan I never knew I needed to see today.
He sure showed me!
Crosby could have just not said anything.
Obviously you don’t know about David Crosby.
Good point. He couldn’t help himself.
I don’t think he could keep an opinion behind his teeth if you put a gun to Melissa Ethridge’s kid’s head.
People who need their opinions validated by celebrities on Twitter deserve the trolling they get.Meh, indeed.
True, the idiot who asked the question deserves half the blame for Crosby’s answer.
Often, not sometimes, people should just STFU. Just because you have a thought or a mental fart doesn’t mean you have to instantly share it with the world at that exact instant .
Ive NEVER liked the Crosby asshole myself! Now I know why!! Go “fuck” yourself ..you cant and wont EVER hold a candle to EDDIE!! R.I.P. EVH!!!
Apparently his brain cells held on longer than his original liver did, but they’ve been dying off lately.
And this is the guy Melissa Etheridge and her partner chose as their sperm donor. Maybe his addiction is why the young man conceived with that sperm died of an addiction. He was equally a dick about that.
Distill it down to its essence and it’s simply about either being a dick or not being a dick. If, for example, I were to hear that famed musician David Crosby had died I would probably think “meh, he was never my thing” then move on with my day. I would just ignore the glowing online tributes and thought-pieces on how much his music meant to a generation and so forth, as I was never really a fan.
What I wouldn’t do is go online and let my friends and/or followers know that I heard about David Crosby but meh, I don’t really give a shit as he was never my thing, man. Because to me, being a dick just makes me feel uncomfortable and bad about myself, like it should, or so I was always led to believe.
He doesn’t care and neither should we.
People need to learn, “don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to”. Seems like the person asking wanted the response they got and everybody else was mad.
Pleas sign thanks Petition to Keep the Tribute channel honoring Ed and his musical genius his love of music education as well as his tech side.Enclosed is the petition . Please sign and share. What a great way to continue the Van Halen legacyhttp://chng.it/tqHvfNLqWB
I mean honestly the guy was asking him about Eddie Van Halen in the context of him not liking metal. He asked no question regarding EVH as a person or his death.
People are reacting like this because they haven’t rightfully processed the concept of mortality. David Crosby is 79 years old. I imagine people are kind of expecting to die at that point. Death isn’t as big a deal to him as it is to others so if you don’t specifically ask him about it, why would he jump to that topic? Especially when you were talking about the fucking genre of music!
And, of course, it’s 2020, so at the end of the day people are sensitive little bitches so what are you gonna do.
You know whose music was far – FAR – removed from EVH? The Beach Boys.You know who was a musical genius far and above anything David Crosby could aspire to be? Brian Wilson.You know who managed to write a really nice tweet about EVH’s passing?Yeah….
This article is straight trash. Nobody gives a damn what David Crosby has to say about EVH passing when the world is desperately waiting to hear what Ja Rules thinks about EVH death. Tell us Ja pleez!
Honestly, I thought it was kinda funny. I mean it’s David Crosby. What did you expect?
If you’re old enough to know who David Crosby is. You’re old enough to know he’s always been an asshole.
So someone asked a person known for being a cantankerous and terse old man about opinions on like, anything, and people are surprised that they got the answer they did?
Either way, WHO gives a shit?
Fuck Twitter.The world would be a better place without that hell-hole where everyone thinks they’re right and everyone feels superior over those who have an opinion that doesn’t match theirs.
Shit job internet.
What a bunch of whining sheeple we’ve become. So he didn’t like Van Halen. So what? He’s not the only one. Are we expecting conformity in every f-ing thing today?
Crotchety old man voices crotchety old man opinion shock!
Here’s the thing though. I’ve never quite bought the whole idea that whenever someone dies, they instantly become a saint, worthy of universal praise and love. Nothing on Eddie Van Halen and I’m sure he was a great guy but everyone ought to be entitled to their own opinion and dying doesn’t mean you automatically love everything that person did and love them to pieces. Should Crosby have kept his mouth shut? Not sure. All he said was “meh” and honestly so would I. I never much cared for Van Halen’s music. So, he’s dead now. He’d had cancer for years. His death was inevitable or did we honestly believe he was going to beat it at this point? No, very much doubt anyone did.So, I come back to… what’s the big deal here? I’d say “meh” too because I pretty much could care less. I’ve got my own problems and celebs seem to be dropping like flies this year. Should I erect altars to all of them? Or should I get on with my life because I’m fairly certain no one else gives a damn about my life.
fuck this decrepit has been. he’ll be far less missed when the evil sorcery that keeps him shambling about gives out.
Oh my god. The boomer ellipses tech. Haven’t seen that in a while.Instead of typing… with proper grammar you type like………drawing dots during pauses….you know?
#meh2
He was asked a question that was posed with the goal of getting him to say something people could be demonstratively offended by and he provided said answer.Tracii Guns? Nobody gave a fuck about you back when you were almost, but never quite, a thing and I promise you, nobody gives a fuck about you now.And Testament? Even the dirtbags drinking in the convenience store parking lot had better taste then to listen to fucking Testament.
I saw LA Guns at a local Hair Metal festival about 20 years ago. They were the opening act and there were, maybe, 20 people in the audience while the rest were still filtering in. Phil Lewis (the lead singer) took it upon himself to throw a few temper tantrums because no one was applauding them. Then some guy yelled out, “Do Ballad of Jayne!” That sent him into another tizzy fit, “We’re not fucking going to fucking do Ballad of Fucking Jayne! Fuck you!”
Why is Hulk Hogan being so dismissive of Eddie van Halen?
but what does BING Crosby think?
Some people are emotional pussies. Who cares he giant give a shit? Grow up.
But it feels so delicious to be self-righteous, outraged, and offended, doesn’t it?
It’s not really necessary to venerate someone after they’re dead.
I mean, if someone had asked David Crosby if he liked Van Halen while Eddie was alive and he said “meh” nobody would have batted an eye. Presumably if they disagreed, they would have done so, recognized that opinions are subjective by nature and left it at that.
I get that it’s customary to say nice things about people after they die, but David Crosby isn’t required to change or withhold his opinion when asked just because EVH died.
AVClub: “How do you feel about this post where an aging recording artist comments on a dead recording artist?”Me: “Meh.”
Is outrage and cancel culture really gone fully pussy like this? Growing up my mother and a business partner owned a music store and her business partner taught guitar lessons. He taught me how to play guitar and we’d go to the trade shows in the early to mid 1980’s. Eddie was often there and I even have some photos of my family with him and he’s carrying me on his shoulders while they got caught up. He was an amazing talent and a nice guy. And I don’t care one single percentage point if David Crosby likes him or not. I don’t care if he respects his legacy or not. I respect that he’s an honest human being and just said “hey, it doesn’t really mean anything to me”. People die every day and David Crosby doesn’t owe Eddie Van Halen a damn thing. Cancel culture is just as big a threat as the extreme right wing. EVH was a guitar player in a band. He’s not owed a farewell parade, a statue, or some solemn respect. He’s the same as all of us. He’s here for a bit, then he’s dead and nobody owes him or his memory a god damned thing. Chill the fuck out and get a hobby, generation snowflake. If this is something that sets you off you have zero chance surviving the real world and it’s real problems.
Grumpy old man is rude, news at 11.
Who gives a shit? David Crosby doesn’t have to care and we don’t have to care about what he thinks. Stop making something out of nothing just to try to cancel somebody.
Besides, DC is an asshole anyway – even DC thinks DC is an asshole.
Please elaborate on this “hole” that Crosby dug again?
I guess Crosby doesn’t get to voice on opinion?
On Twitter.
Where everyone else has one too?
To be fair, we don’t know the nature of the relationship between the 2. David Crosby may have have valid reasons to be dismissive.
But, then again, that’s a personal matter. Why air dirty laundry?
Man, fuck Eddie Van Halen. Prince was better.
To be fair, he wasn’t asked how he felt about Van Halen’s death, he was asked how he felt about Van Halen. “Meh” is a perfectly appropriate response to that question.
Why does everyone have to give a fuck whenever someone else dies? If you didn’t like them alive, maybe you still don’t like them after they pass?
Turns out he forgot that Eddie died . The tweet directed at him didn’t note it, assuming he’d remember such a thing from a few days ago. Dude is on a permanent trip. Don’t expect him to remember shit, unless it’s Jimi Hendrix from 50 years ago.
As an old man who gives zero fucks how do you feel about this guitarist who you don’t know and don’t care for the music of?Not at all surprised or offended by this. Yes it was cold but who cares sometimes people are cold. Could he have been more sensitive to the fact the dude died? Sure but he didn’t have to. Eddie was one of the greatest and had immense technical ability but if David Crosbie isn’t a fan I don’t need him to fawn over Eddie just because he’s dead. An old man was insensitive, and that’s just not that big of a deal or even something wrong. I know he looks like Santa but he’s actually a real man who’s perfectly allowed to not care about a strangers death.
99 times out of 100 it’s best to keep your mouth or fingers shut when someone famous (but you dislike) dies.
But see, this is informative, because I honestly thought Crosby died a decade ago.
You’re thinking of Denise Crosby. Common mistake.
Was Van Halen big in the U.S?Hardly heard of them here in Europe.Besides Crosby is dying…he doesn’t give a damn.
My reaction to David Crosby tweeting:
So… “meh”? Irony. Awesome.
Also, remember he’s the sperm donor to Melissa Ethridge’s (now dead) kid.
Well if the bar is Hendrix then who the fuck is david crosby? Van Halen’s music hasn’t ever really been my thing but the guy is a legend and absolutely brought a new style and sound to playing the guitar. GTF outta here old man.
I love it, that’s a great answer. He didn’t know the guy, he didn’t listen to his music. He didn’t say he hated him, he just has no opinion one way or the other. How in depth of an answer can you get about someone you knew nothing about? And sometimes it’s just fun to mess with sensitive people when you’re famous, he’s in the news here, I’m sure he’ll make some money off the controversy. I think it’s pretty silly, it would be like telling me some famous country music star just died and I’m supposed to be upset, well I don’t listen to country music and maybe the guy was a great guy, but you’re asking the wrong man, I personally don’t give a shit, and I don’t think that’s a wrong thing to say.
It makes no sense why the massive uproar over Crosby’s answer. If it had been asked and answered before Eddie had died, no normal person would have given 2 shits about it. There is no reason Crosby’s opinion has to change after Eddie’s death. Eddie’s music didn’t suddenly become better or worse because he died, so there is zero reason why someone’s opinion needs to change just because the person in question died, no matter how recently. Dead is dead, the recently departed isn’t getting offended.
100% Team Crosby here …
David Crosby is a self proclaimed asshole.
He has always known it.
He really really does not give a fat fuck if you are just waking up to it now.
What I remember is seeing him with the Byrds a few days after the Doors got kicked permanently from the Whisky. And, yeah, David pontificated to everyone in the house in front of both sets that there must be complete silence during all of the songs. David singularly coming off as a mouthy self important jackass. (Well, I’m sure that he must of inherited it from the heavy hitter oh-so biggie star scene at Ciro’s, where the Byrds had been the house band for quite a while: Sonny & Cher, Frank Sin, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, The Fondas, etc.. And from that hugely self-important music scene at the Golden Bear didn’t help either.
Never mind. David Crosby is an a totally self involved asshole. Always was, always will be. And he really doesn’t give a one lid sized shit if you know it too.
And, he never will.
Much ado about nothing. Outrage gonna outrage though, amirite?(this coming from someone who grew up with, and still enjoys some, Van Halen)
I think it is entirely possible that he missed or forgot that EVH had recently passed. If he thought the man was still alive then the response (while totally ridiculous and unnecessary) wasn’t nearly as callous. He was just stating that he never cared for EVH’s style… Most of the outrage comes from the timing and the assumption that he knew EVH had just died. Based on the response and an assumption that most people would have the common decency and sense to just shut up or respond diplomatically… I think he really just didn’t realize EVH had just died.
Basic rule of being a human : When another person dies, there is a time period where if you can’t say anything nice about them, you say nothing. Example : If Donald Trump were to die, I’d keep my mouth shut (Online and off) for at least a week before saying what I really think about him. It’s bad karma to speak ill of the recently deceased.
I mean, if you can’t say that Eddie Van Halen was a mediocre musician and songwriter who could do some flashy guitar tricks, then this isn’t America
Meh …
Holy Fuck. All he had to say was “Holy shit. I hadn’t heard Eddie had died. I’m so sorry.”It would’ve been a lie. But it would’ve been better.