R.I.P. David Crosby, founding member of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash
Crosby, one of the most influential music superstars of the 20th century, was 81
Aux News David Crosby
David Crosby has died. As a founding member of The Byrds, and then later Crosby, Stills & Nash (and the subsequent Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), Crosby was one of the most influential figures in 20th century music, helping to bridge the gaps between folk and rock, and co-crafting the image of the politically conscious music superstar. Per Variety, Crosby died this week after a long illness. He was 81.
Born in Los Angeles, Crosby initially studied as a drama student before moving into music; while living in Chicago, he connected with Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke, eventually forming The Byrds in 1964. Although never the band’s primary songwriter, Crosby contributed to several of their early hits, providing harmony vocals on hits like “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Turn! Turn! Turn!” (He also played rhythm guitar on “Turn!”, while the instrumentals on “Tambourine Man” were infamously performed by session musicians.) “Tambourine Man” launched the band into the stratosphere; critics coined the term “folk rock” to describe the song’s blend of old-school folk sounds and rising rock rhythms, and the single hit the top of the charts.
As the ’60s progressed, The Byrds pushed deeper into the sounds of psychedelic rock, even as their commercial performance began to slip. Tensions within the group began to build around the recording of 1967's The Notorious Byrd Brothers. Said tensions arrived, not coincidentally, with Crosby’s steady emergence as one of music’s great loud, opinionated guys; his bandmates were not, by all accounts, especially happy with Crosby’s increasing insistence on giving speeches about JFK assassination theories and the medicinal benefits of LSD in the midst of concerts. (Ditto his insistence on avoiding covers and focusing on original material, including the commercially dire “Lady Friend.”) The crisis reached a head in October 1967, when McGuinn and Hillman fired him. And although he’d re-collaborate with the band for their final album in 1973, the Byrds portion of Crosby’s life was clearly over. He took his settlement money and bought a sailboat.
Meanwhile, Crosby began playing with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, both also established folk rockers at the time. (Their combined names were big enough that the newly formed Crosby, Stills & Nash’s second live gig was Woodstock.) Their collaborations saw Crosby come into his own as a songwriter; Crosby-penned tracks from the early eras of CS&N include “Guinnevere,” “Almost Cut My Hair,” and “Wooden Ships.” With the addition of Neil Young, the band’s line-up solidified into Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. And while Crosby’s second big band would ultimately be as fractious, if not moreso, than his first, the four men managed to stick it out for decades: Even in the last few years, amidst periodic bickering and public denunciations, Nash admitted Crosby’s talent and said he was potentially open to one more reunion. (It never came.)
Said bickering wasn’t helped by Crosby’s increasing struggles with drug use; after the sudden death of his long-time girlfriend in 1969, Crosby reportedly delved deeper into substance abuse. He’d ultimately serve several months in prison, in 1985, on weapons offenses—Crosby was a life-long and enthusiastic gun advocate—as well as possession of heroin and cocaine. Crosby emerged from prison clean, although he’d later describe it as a “shitty way to do it.” (And, obviously, not counting pot; his cannabis brand, Mighty Croz, is still in operation; he also spent part of his COVID lockdown evaluating people’s joint-rolling skills on Twitter.)
Although he continued to play with CSN&Y—when they weren’t screaming at each other—and had a successful and prolific solo career, Crosby’s later years were occupied both by health problems, and by his apparently instinctive cultivation of his status as an elder statesman of the weird, loud folk-rock lifestyle. (There was a certain, “Oh, yeah, that makes sense” vibe to it all when Melissa Etheridge announced that she’d chosen Crosby to be the sperm donor for her and her partner’s artificial insemination; he was, not surprisingly, a natural on Twitter.) In later years, he also mellowed: In 2019, Cameron Crowe—who’d been talking with Crosby, at various points in his life, since 1974—released David Crosby: Remember My Name, a retrospective documentary about his life. Directed by A.J. Eaton, the film drew strong reviews for its vision of the aging Crosby as he reflected on his failures, his music, and his life—all of which, it seems, were inextricably intertwined.
Crosby’s wife, Jan Dance, released a statement to the press today about his death:
It is with great sadness after a long illness, that our beloved David (Croz) Crosby has passed away. He was lovingly surrounded by his wife and soulmate Jan and son Django. Although he is no longer here with us, his humanity and kind soul will continue to guide and inspire us. His legacy will continue to live on through his legendary music. Peace, love, and harmony to all who knew David and those he touched. We will miss him dearly. At this time, we respectfully and kindly ask for privacy as we grieve and try to deal with our profound loss. Thank you for the love and prayers.
65 Comments
I just told Mrs. F. and she responded that Melissa Etheridge’s son he famously donated sperm for died a couple years ago from addiction issues. All very sad.
I hadn’t heard that. I remember when they went public with Crosby being the father with the Rolling Stone cover story that people were like “do you really want to gamble genetically by choosing something with addiction issues?” Sad, only 21.
I remember that too, with Etheridge saying something like they’d looked into the addiction/hereditary thing and that they’d found it wasn’t a risk.
It was a sad situation, obviously, but I recall thinking at the time, “that can’t be right…”
Damn, so long.
I love The Byrds, Deja Vu and If I Could Only Remember My Name.
Now who’s going to dunk on Gen Zers that can’t roll a proper joint?
Willie Nelson is currently being sworn in.
Or how Edward wasn’t such a hot shit guitar player?
All this is irrelevant with the advent of vaporizers. David was a bit of an asshole, but we will miss him, dearly.
So…this means Phoebe Bridgers wins, right?jk RIP, without him smoking bales of weed, fucking everybody, and starting and leaving bands, the summer of love basically wouldn’t have happened. A true part of music history is gone.
Damn, Beck last week now this. But Keith Richards will outlive us all!RIP—-I love this song. And i’m a metalhead.
Now, if you were a punk, that would be acceptable:
I’m surprised somebody hasn’t done a Death Metal version of Judy Blue Eyes.
They could make it hard.
I had the tremendous good fortune to see David Crosby play live…twice. Once with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash at the “Us Now Festival” (I think summer 1982 at the Los Angeles Coliseum) and at the Philadelphia Spectrum Arena (the one with the “Rocky” statue) in 1993 performing solo at a radio station’s big anniversary bash (along with Warren Zevon!!! (also sadly departed), The Hooters, Jethro Tull!!!, and others).Man, this one really hurts. And I know, I know, it’s only going to accelerate as all my ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s and even ‘90s heroes are only getting older. David really spoke for more than just a single generation.Damn.
Echo in the Canyon is not a perfect documentary or anything, but it does give a sense of the whole musical ecosystem around the Byrds, and how extensive and important it was. Following the threads to CSN and all that is Y, Buffalo Springfield, Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers, the solo work of Crosby and Gene Clark is a lot of fun. Don’t know why Joni Mitchell wasn’t included, though she may have been unwilling to participate. Anyway, the guy’s voice is part of the collective musical DNA, which is probably as close to immortality as anyone gets. RIP. Keep that freak flag flying on the other side.
I was always shocked no Joni in that. She had an album called Ladies of the Canyon for godsake.
You sort of figure she was either like, “I’m right here!” or, literally, “Get off my lawn!”
Maybe someone said they liked Judy Collins. Joni hates Judy almost hilariously deeply.
You know, there’s a very, very remote possibility, and I certainly don’t believe it, but still a possibility that, and stay with me here, Joni Mitchell might sometimes be just a tiny, tiny bit petty.
She is among my favorite artists alive, yet oh she is supremely, incredibly petty.
“ ‘Sweet Judy Blue Eyes’ my Aunt Fanny,” Joni was once heard to say. (Because she was not one to curse like a sailor.)
Hey, hey, you, you…
This was a pretty good one too.It was shown on Epix, now MGM+.
Thanks for the rec!
Can’t remember if it comes up in that doc, but I love the stories about CSN first getting together and exploring the possibilities at various Laurel Canyon parties, where they’d just drift out to a patio or back yard and start working on some arrangements, and the rest of the party goers – all great musicians and singers – would come listen, minds totally blown by how well the guys sang together.
I read extracts in The Guardian many years ago from a book called Canyon of Dreams which pieces the story together from first-hand accounts by lots of the artists. It’s out of print and I’ve never been able to justify £100 for a second-hand copy, but based on the extracts I’d love that book.Just before COVID hit I was working in the US, and had a trip to LA. I booked a music-themed sunrise walking tour of the canyon for my last day there, but on the day the weather was poor and the guide offered to refund me. At the time I thought I’d be back out again soon so took the refund, but I wish I’d just done it in the rain now.
That sweet Laurel Canyon sound …
Meh.
RIP a real one
I remember when this came out, there seemed to be some criticism. But I will always love this.
There was criticism of Southern Cross?? It’s an almost perfect song.
On which Crosby doesn’t perform….
Kind of impressive he made it this long.
I never would’ve have picked him to make 80.
Saw a doc he made recently, and it seemed like every single person he’d ever been friends/bandmates with hated him now. It was sad.
That doc was great in a ‘chickens come home to roost’ sort of way. He alienated most all of them and lived long enough to regret it. He seemed really sorry about it but utterly lost as to how to fix anything.
Yeah that’s the one where Graham Nash said he’d take him back as a friend if he even tried and Crosby is all its too late guess I’ll die lonely.
Yeah but Nash can be a bit of a dick too. His interview with the Guardian last year was a car crash.
Oh god what interview was this? I was under the illusion Nash was the least assholeish of the group.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/may/03/graham-nash-on-families-joni-mitchell-and-toxic-masculinity-if-you-could-kill-putin-would-you-i-wouldHighlights were talking about his kids’ shortcomings in reference to them being unhappy about him leaving their mother for a woman 37 years younger than him, and wanting credit for not asking Joni Mitchell for money after sending her a batch of photos he took of her back in the day.
Oh noooooooo. The stuff with Joni is really bad. Damn.
I think the stuff with his kids is worse. And the Michelle Phillips bit.
IIRC, he regrets they all hate him, but he doesn’t really regret anything he did to cause it.
My guess is any attempt to actually reconcile would have been a failure. He was a curmudgeonly guy right to the end.
Just listen to the fucking music, assholes.
Wooden Ships is absolutely transcendent.Sincerely,66 year old hippie
Saw CSN at a winery show in 2008. A couple of songs in, Crosby chastised the audience for bouncing a beach ball around, saying it was “distracting”. They’re playing the same songs for 30+ years, and they can’t remember how if there is a ball bouncing around? What a beautiful voice for such a misanthropic man.
Hey get it you hate hate Crosby’s politics. And I agree with you. But boooooo on this obituary. Do better man. This sucks as someone who contributed to the arts and who was who you guys write about. And quite frankly count on to write content on. Do better. Yuck.
Bob Weir said a couple years ago that Crosby wrote the lick that turned into Playing in the Band/Main Ten. Not sure I believe him 50 years later, but also not sure why Bobby would lie about it either.
Its kind of a miracle he made it this far. I hope he managed to reconcile with Graham Nash.
I saw the two of them play while in college and it was hilarious. Before the show Crosby told everyone to remain quiet during the songs and to applaud only once each one was concluded. He couldn’t understand how a university auditorium fully of drunk college kids would find this completely ludicrous and utterly ignore the request. They stopped a couple of songs for him to lecture us. There was no encore.
Well that sounds utterly miserable and equally in character for David Crosby.
A guy next to me shushed us at one point. He was there with his kid, who was probably 10, and I asked him exactly where the hell he thought he was. The kid had clearly never seen his dad spoken to like that.
Nash can’t even reconcile with his own kids.
That never happened. Everybody lives so long, but I am heart broken.
Who will music journalists play a loud song to in order to provoke a cranky response from now?
Clapton?
“Crosby was one of the most influential figures in 20th century music”Um, no.
Yes, he absolutely was. Without question.
That’s clearly Doctor Gero from Dragon Ball.
No mention of the absolutely prolific output for the last few years of his life? Five albums between 2016 and 2021 after a more than two decade hiatus?Those albums contains some of the best songs he’d ever written
“Meh” – Van Halen’s ghost
They don’t get much bigger than this. My my favorite musicians are all either old or dead. It’s all quite depressing.
Lionel Hutz’s AA sponsor
I guess you guys need to make a new People Who Died In 2023 slideshow
He was my third favorite member of CSNY.
RIP.
When they show pictures of the Byrds I still can’t figure which one of them is him