7/14/2023 0 Comments The byrds 1967![]() McGuinn deserves props, too, for his taut, sitar-referencing guitar solo. The B-side and Fifth Dimension album track “Why?,” meanwhile, is all him, inspired by Indian ragas and particularly sitar master Ravi Shankar (not yet widely known in the pop world). That said, the track’s careening rhythms and Eastern textures certainly hail from Crosby’s wheelhouse. Crosby was part of the triumvirate, with Gene Clark and Jim “Roger” McGuinn, that wrote The Byrds’ psychedelic A-side classic - though the late Clark maintained that Crosby’s contribution was just one line: “rain gray town/ known for its sound” (a reference to London). It doesn’t, however, and the fact that it feels longer than its 4 minutes and 12 seconds is in this case a good thing, especially as delivered by kindred spirits who either A) clearly understood what Crosby was getting at or B) didn’t but were certainly enjoying the ride.įorgive us for cheating a bit here and getting in an extra song. It’s an aural adventure that seems neither linear nor completely composed, and with its seemingly random vocal and instrumental nuances, “Deja Vu” feels like it may fall apart at any moment. In many ways the title track from the first CSNY album is the prototypical Crosby cut - intricate, idiosyncratic, metaphysical, experimental and unclassifiable. ![]() There are elements of self-awareness, too when Crosby, the avid sailor, sang, “I love the child that steers this riverboat/ But lately he’s crazy for the deep,” he may have been drawing from a source very close to home. He made it count, though “Delta” is romantic and soulful, and somewhat surprisingly straightforward, with a gently dynamic ebb and flow rich with subtleties and enriched by the trio’s lush harmonies. This often overlooked paean was Crosby’s only contribution to CSN’s Daylight Again album, as he wasn’t in the best shape at the time. And from that big stash, these are 10 of the best, in alphabetical order Taken in total, Crosby’s body of work offered a lot to take in, but was always worth the effort. ![]() He made memorable music from political and social commentary, romantic longing (and, occasionally, fulfillment) and from the well-chronicled struggles with substances that periodically derailed his life. He channeled Woody Guthrie and John Coltrane, Pete Seeger and Ravi Shankar, Bach and The Beatles. Intimate and personal, confounding and meaningful, he was a craftsman guided by a wide array of muses, stylistically and topically. Whether on his own or with The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash (& Young), CPR and, most recently, the Lighthouse Band, Crosby’s idiosyncratic touch with a melody and a lyric was showcased in abundance. It’s a struggle, man - but I just keep writing and keep creating, and one day hopefully everything that I want to will come out.”ĭespite that, we’ve heard plenty of songs over the years from Crosby, who died Thursday at 81. And no record company wants to release as much music as I’m ready to. “When you’re in a band they got tossed in with everybody else’s songs. “I’ve written so many things,” he explained while promoting in the early 2000s, when he felt he was experiencing a creative renaissance. Some years ago, David Crosby lamented a lack of outlets for his songs.
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