CROSBY, STILLS & NASH ON TV/VIDEO/FILM
Author: Graham Clews
Source: So Far Issue #4
Date: November 1996
I have been a CSN fan/collector for several years now, and one of the
areas that has most interested me, and has been least written about is their various
TV/Video appearances. Below is a list (though I am sure there's loads more out there) of
everything I know of. As a band, CSN have had a bit of a rough deal from the visual
medium, in that their most famous appearances - The Woodstock Film, MTV 1982 and Live Aid
- all depict the band far from their best; Woodstock because only Suite: Judy Blue Eyes is
featured, as Neil Young, in an act of typical stubbornness refused to be filmed; and the
MTV and Live Aid performances because of Crosby's obvious Drug illness and also technical
problems (Live Aid). Although the 1990s has presented some better examples of the band on
film like MTV Unplugged and the 'Acoustic' video of 1992, unfortunately, commercial minded
producers always stick to the tried and tested songs from the Crosby, Stills & Nash
and Deja Vu albums, instead of mixing them in with the great new material played at the
same shows. Still at least the performances are good.
1969
STILLS: Supershow, Staines, London - 18/03/1969
CSN: Woodstock film (released 1970) + Woodstock "Lost
Footage" Marrakash Express (Long Time Comin' Video)
CROSBY & STILLS: Dick Cavett Show - 19/08/1969
CSN&Y: The Music Scene (L.A.)
CSN&Y: The Tom Jones Show - 25/10/1969
1970
CROSBY & NASH: BBC In Concert - 09/11/1970
1972
STILLS/MANASSAS: BBC 'Sounding Out' - Rehearsals at Stills' home
STILLS/MANASSAS: 22/03/1972 Amsterdam, Holland, TV cameras present.
STILLS/MANASSAS: BBC In Concert - 16/11/1972
1973
STILLS/MANASSAS: Bananafish Gardens, NY - 16/04/1973, ABC Television.
1974
NASH: Old Grey Whistle Test - 08/05/1974
STILLS: Democratic Telethon - 29/06/1974
CSN&Y: Wembley Stadium - 14/09/1974 (Rumoured to have been recorded
by the BBC).
1975
STILLS: Democratic Telethon - 26/07/1975
1979
CSN: "No Nukes" Film (mostly very good Graham Nash solo stuff
- Editor)
STILLS & NASH: Easter Seals Telethon - 26/03/1979
1982
CSN: Universal Amphitheatre, Studio City. Featured on "Daylight
Again" video release.
CSN: 'Peace Sunday' - performance is filmed.
1983
STILLS & NASH: Easter Seals Telethon
STILLS & NASH: "Rock and Roll Tonight"
1985
STILLS: American Music Awards
CSN: 'Live Aid' - 13/07/1985 - "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"
CSN&Y: 'Live Aid' - 13/07/1985
1987
CSN: Tonight with Johnny Carson - 19/07/1987
CSN: West 57th - 03/10/1987
1988
CSN&Y: 'American Dream' promotion video.
CSN: Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary Concert, New York - 14/05/1988
1989
CSN: Berlin Wall Show filmed
CROSBY: (with Phil Collins) Arsenio Hall Show
NASH: hosts 'The Ring' 22/12/1989
1990
CSN: 'Live It Up' promotion video
CSN: 'Long Time Comin' video released
NASH: 17/01/1990 Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, inducts the Kinks.
CROSBY: appears on 'Shannon's Deal'.
CSN: Earth '90 - 28/05/1990
CSN: 'MTV Unplugged' - 30/09/1990
CSN: Arsenio Hall Show 02/10/1990
NASH: (October) Hosts 'The Inside Track'. Crosby, Stills & Nash and
Judy Collins are guests.
1991
CROSBY/BYRDS: Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame 16/01/1991
CSN: San Francisco show taped for 'Acoustic Video' (released in 1992)
CSN: David Letterman Show - 20/11/1991
1992
CROSBY/COLLINS: ABC In Concert
CROSBY: appears in 'Hook', 'Thunderheart' and 'Roseanne'.
1993
CROSBY/ PHIL COLLINS: 'Hero' promotion video released.
CROSBY: 'The Simpsons' & 'Harley Davidson Programme" TBC
CROSBY: John Laroquette Show
1994
CSN: Woodstock II - 13-14/08/1994
1995
CROSBY & NASH: Interviewed on 'I Just Wasn't Made For These Times'
Brian Wilson Film Documentary.
This list includes everything I know of, but I'm sure that loads more
of CSN/ CSN&Y shows have been filmed over the years and never been released; for
instance the historic Wembley Stadium performance of 1974 has been reported as being
filmed and recorded by the BBC in several publications. I also vaguely remember a late
'80s/ early '90s edition of "Rapido" featuring an interview with CSN, mostly
about Crosby's return to form, but I don't know exactly what year it was. Does anyone know
or have a copy?
Although I've only seen some of the stuff listed above, here's a bit of
background on the most interesting bits. The best bits of footage I've seen come from the
late 60s period is Stills' great electric performance of "Black Queen" on
"Supershow" in 1969, backed by some incredible session musicians. This is now
available on video. Moving on to the '80s, although the CSN&Y Live Aid Reunion debacle
is well known, I have never seen it mentioned that Crosby, Stills & Nash also
performed as a trio that day, playing 'Suite: Judy Blue Eyes' (which was shown on TV later
that night). Whilst the CSN&Y performance has been universally criticized by the
press, the CSN performance is actually not that bad considering Crosby's condition
(although they do forget the words at one point).
The band's forays into the unpredictable world of the promo video have
presented some interesting results. The video for the title track of 'American Dream' is
very entertaining, with each member of the band acting out a character linked with the
corruption theme of the song; Young is a trash photographer attempting to take pictures of
Nash, a corrupt politician, Crosby appears to be a wheelchair bound Vietnam Veteran,
whilst Stills is cigar smoking, gun wielding businessman. The promo for Crosby's 'Hero' is
a poignant re-enactment of his daughter and wife visiting him in jail, linked with the
theme of the song.
As an overall video retrospective - the nearest we CSN fans have got -
is the 1990 'Long Time Comin' video. Whilst this features some good stuff like the 1969
Tom Jones Show and the 'lost' Woodstock footage of 'Marrakash Express', as an overall
retrospective it is unbalanced and fragmentary. No live concert footage of CSN&Y in
its heyday of 69/70 or the reunion tour of '74 is included, but previously released
'Daylight Again' stuff is (like the sub-standard 'Wasted on the Way' when Crosby appears
to be falling asleep) and again, the producers have overrelied on 'Crosby, Stills &
Nash' and 'Deja-Vu' songs instead of including newer stuff. The worst travesty of the
video is its failure to cover Crosby's remarkable comeback, when the video skips from 1982
suddenly to the Bridge Concert of 1989 and then ends. The audience is teased with 3
second-long clips of The Berlin Wall show, Peace Sunday and Freeze Nuclear campaign and
also several 3 second-long clips of 1969/70 CSN&Y shows that aren't shown again! Proof
of how much stuff is available so why isn't it on there?
Hopefully a balanced, more thorough video retrospective will eventually
be released, giving the band a better deal; featuring the wealth of footage that must be
lying on cutting room floors and vaults somewhere. We can but hope.
