June, 1967. The world of music has been turned upside down with The Monterey Pop Festival. It would be the first time the world would be introduced to the power-drenched blues of Janis Joplin with Big Brother & the Holding Company; the destructive fury of the Who; and the amazing artistry and showmanship of the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
The period of Monterey would also be one of the last times an audience would see the original Byrds with David Crosby; and the Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills (and Neil Young). Both bands were going through turmoil, as was the British pop band, the Hollies, whose main writer and musician was Graham Nash.
It was little more than a fluke that David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash (along with Neil Young), would all end up at a party in early 1968, at the L.A. home of the late Mama Cass Elliott, the rotund vocalist from the Mamas & the Papas. The forthcoming commentary is taken directly from an interview I conducted with Crosby, Stills and Nash in 1996.
“I was looking around to see what to do next. Stills and I have always had a musical attraction towards each other’s work. I’ve always loved his music and he’s always loved my music; it was a natural falling together. Graham came about because of Cass Elliott of the Mamas & the Papas. She introduced him to us, and we sang at a party she had.
"Then, we realized he was the guy who sang the high part on the Hollies song, 'King Midas In Reverse' and he said, ‘Hmmm...’ And so, he sang with us, and when that happened, that was all we needed to hear.”
But the formation of Crosby, Stills and Nash, while a fluke get together at a Hollywood party, would be an exercise in legal maneuvering
[sic] like none ever seen in the music industry at that time.
Up to that point, there had never been anything like a super group in rock ‘n’ roll where three established music dignitaries had consciously tried to form a group together. Getting the music together that they all could agree on was not the problem; it was getting the three artists (all signed to different labels at the time), out of their existing contracts so they could work together.
In 1968, David Crosby was signed to Columbia Records as a member of the Byrds. Nash was signed to Epic Records, a CBS subsidiary label, as a member of the Hollies. At the time, both labels were overseen by Clive Davis, who would later launch Arista Records.
Over at Atlantic Records, the late Ahmet Ertegun was reluctant to say goodbye to the successful Buffalo Springfield (which included Stills and Young), but was determined to get the new band, which he labeled
[sic] a “super group.”
When CSN first began rehearsing, the other driving force from the Buffalo Springfield, Richie Furray, had formed a new country rock band called Poco. In order to release Crosby so he could join the new super group, Ertegun had to release Furray and let Davis sign his new band, Poco.
“That's exactly right,” says Nash. “I was on CBS Records, via my contract with the Hollies, who were on Epic, a subsidiary of Columbia. David had been on Columbia as well and had asked Clive Davis because he had left the Byrds and he was going to go sailing. Clive released him.
“Stephen was already on Atlantic, on the ATCO label because of his contract with the Buffalo Springfield. So, the only part of the chess game that had to be worked out was to get me off of Columbia and on to Atlantic, which they did by swapping me for Poco. As a matter of fact, in the Poco contract, written on the bottom on a small piece of paper and attached to the document is a statement: ‘Columbia Records gives up its rights for Graham Nash through his contract with the Hollies, in exchange for Richie Furray and Poco.’ Isn't that wild? Deals like that happen all the time in this business, but probably not so profoundly as it did with us. If that hadn't have happened, what would have happened?”
But Atlantic Records, who would release the first of many Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young albums, was not the first record company to be approached by the super group. The band first flew to London in attempt to get signed to the Beatles’ new Apple Records. Both John Lennon and George Harrison had encouraged them to audition, which they did.
“Silly boys, they were,” says Crosby, laughing. “George Harrison and Peter Asher (future rock impresario and the former half of Peter & Gordon, who had been appointed Apple’s A&R head) came over to our hotel suite and listened to us perform the whole first album, live for them.
“We sang that whole first album, and they said, (Crosby moves to an English accent) ‘No, it’s just not what we’re looking for...’” Breaking again into laughter, he adds: “Boy, did they make a big mistake.”
Did Crosby ever run into George Harrison years later, and did the fab former mop top ever admit he made a mistake?
“Yeah, I did,” says Crosby. “And, yeah he admitted that later on. He was a great guy; they (the Beatles and Apple) just blew it, that’s all.”
Crosby, Stills and Nash (and often Young) would go on to become one of the biggest rock acts of all time, and they continue going strong to this day. However, in the end, getting rejected by Apple was the best thing for the band itself. Apple would soon fold under the neglect that came from the Beatles break up, and CSN, as with most acts that did ultimately sign with Apple, such as James Taylor and Billy Preston, would have likely floundered when the label folded.
CSN now looks back on their passing at Apple as both a twist of fate and a blessing.
