NASH, CROSBY, STILLS: 'Happiest Sounds You Ever Heard'

Author: Miles
Publication: Rolling Stone
Date: February 1, 1969

LONDON - One Sunday before Christmas we went to a flat in Moscow Road to hear what Graham Nash had described by phone as "one of the happiest sounds you ever heard": the new aggregate of Graham Nash, David Crosby and Steve Stills.

Nash has just left the group he led for the past four years, the Hollies, one of the earliest on the post-Beatle English scene; Crosby is the outspoken ex-Byrd; and Stills is one of the original Buffalo Springfield, as assured and original guitarist as ever. All refugees from fine groups which for one reason or another didn't work: bread scenes, song writing teams in which one partner was five times more prolific than the other, groups which had stopped growing and gone stale for the remaining developing individual, groups where playing had become musically and philosophically incompatible.

The usual curses of the situation where people are held together contractually for longer than a natural life.

WITH ALL SORTS OF BANDS THERE ARE INDIVIDUALS WANTING TO GO A DIFFERENT WAY FROM THE MAJOR BODY OF THE GROUP, Graham Nash explains. It was true he says, in Steve's case, in David's case, "in Sebastian of the Loving Spoonful's case ... Mama Cass ... the Cream ... Buddy Miles - you name them ... Traffic broke up ... All of them trying to make music without having hang ups about the business side."

This is not a group. Described by Dave Crosby as "Not a group, just an aggregate of friends" and by Graham Nash as a situation where "three people get together to stress their individuality." Dave also said it was "just Graham, Stills and I dig playing and writing and singing together." Now before you think of the Band, remember who is present here.

David Crosby, the dominant force of the Byrds. Theirs was the music of man in a chrome and consumer environment, the strange solitude above the clouds, minds thrown in on themselves and blown. The Byrds characteristic sound of three part harmony and 12-string guitar was dominated by Dave. He wrote seven of the tracks on 'Fifth Dimension' and 'Younger than Yesterday', including '8 Miles High', 'I See You' and 'Everybody's Been Burned'. Even after he left the Byrds, Roger (Jim) McGuinn used three more of his numbers on 'Notorious Byrd Brothers'. His songwriting style is best exemplified by 'Triad' on the Jefferson Airplane album, 'Crown of Creation', which shows his unusual timing and curious line structure.

Now his guitar playing is even more advanced, always seductive with the bell-like quality of his 12-string, the complex janglings of the blown mind winding its way around through, and eventually tying up a Byrds song like some exotic plumage or ribbon. Now his style is longer, more drifting, he ties up dozens of open-ended notes just in the nick of time, singing double, treble, quadruple time to his own accompaniment.

Taking exceptional risks, Crosby's long climactic chord buildups are capped with capstones of gold (like the final mad chord in a Thelonious Monk solo). The complex multi-melodic lines drift dangerously apart yet share a pattern of chords and beats which eventually not only bring them together to an eminently satisfactory conclusion but also create a third melodic line at the same time. Still he says "the era of the guitar virtuoso is over."

Steve Stills, well known for his group Buffalo Springfield and for his composing such songs as "Pretty Girl Why," "Questions," "Everydays" or "Bluebird." More at home on his post-Springfield album Super Session (side two), where his craftsmanship shows more. Now he is playing further along the same line of progression. Watching him solo, he fingers twice as many notes and chords as he actually plays and the consequent sound is abbreviated, a short-hand form - the ideas pared down to bare essentials. Playing sure and true and using every fret with complete familiarity. It doesn't sound clipped, just clear and final -- exactly as he wanted it to be, using a vast vocabulary of music styles as vehicles for the seemingly endless flow of ideas. In these new compositions his craftsmanship pervades, telling Dave Crosby, "We can't do that. It's not metrically correct!"

Graham Nash: held back of late by the Hollies, he slowly drifted away from them. He became twice as prolific as the others as a songwriter, suddenly realizing that eight songs on an album were by him alone. "The hangup I went through was that we had a three-way partnership and a lot of the time only one wrote and the other two were copping two-thirds of the bread,' says Graham. He wanted the group to grow and evolve as he had done. Tony Hicks on the other hand wanted the group to get more commercial, do an album of hits and an album of The Hollies Sing Bob Dylan. After recording three tracks for a "hits" album Graham quit. Now he is free, one of the best harmony singers in the country and dozens of hit records behind him. Now his voice soars, uses strange timing never possible in the commercially "good" sounds of the Hollies. A slow ballad he sung with Dave humming was so refreshing after the hard-edged sound of "King Midas In Reverse." A genuine simple personal love song with no pretentions or holding-back because of some "group-image" or "group-sound." Already after only a few weeks away from the Hollies, a new freedom that The Hollies could never have handled.

"What we've done," says Graham, "Steve and Dave and I, is sung together from time to time over the last year. Twice when I was with the Hollies, and four times on my own since. I've crossed the Atlantic four times just to sing with these two people. The affinity between us is a strong one." He describes this association as "a unit with three arms and we can wander out on any of the arms."

And it's true. At one point of the triangle the high three-part harmony is a straight development of the Byrds-a-la-Crosby. Another point could be on a Buffalo Springfield album and so on. They say that if they make an album - and they have discussed forming their own company to do just that - they will be able to walk on stage and play it from start to finish, which will be an incredible achievement. Their planned stage act is an opening with just the three of them doing their communal numbers, followed by three solo spots, each doing their own thing, ending with the addition of drums and keyboard in a hard driving rock set. They are all obviously very pleased with the way things are going. Dave trying to explain playing together: "There's a whole batch of it that just don't make it with words - it's like trying to describe fucking!"

These new numbers all have "a different flavor." From the advanced rock guitar style of Stills from Super Session with Graham and David doing high Byrds harmony over his vocal, to a straight trio with two guitars. The sound has a high treble and low base to it. Little middle register at all. Sometimes an Eastern (Indian) solo then Spanish hand clapping with Stills' gypsy strumming all in the same number. The words are all good: "You are living a reality I left years ago/ it quite nearly killed me and it'll only make you cry." The textural changes are so fresh: full harmony suddenly stops dead or Steve will sing out of it. The music is full of bridges, solos, choruses and breaks. "Black Wing," a song which goes into a sort of "Dry Bones" rhythm and comes out again. Long, long rhythmic lines of 16 bars (?) using handclaps and "Dit-dit-dit-dit ..."

Steve has written a suite and a new one "This is Steve's new one - it's so far out we need two sets of words." Graham has a magnificent number called "(Don't you know we're riding) The Marrakesh Express," an uptempo number which should be amazing electrified. The flavors are endless: "Cuban Song," "a slow sloppy sentimental rubbishy song," rockers, ballads. Little blues though.

At last a group with three fine singers, capable of doing the most complicated harmonies and a group of three well respected composers. More importantly than the Cream - this liaison if it ever gets on record (at present, Steve is on Atlantic, Graham on Columbia and only David - "wise old man" says Graham - is contractually free, will be one of the best groups of 1969.