Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young ("CSNY") began performing together in 1969 as the first true folk-rock 'super-group' formed by four guitar-playing singer-songwriters from other popular bands. David Crosby came from The Byrds; Stephen Stills and Neil Young came from Buffalo Springfield; and Graham Nash was a member of British pop band The Hollies. Originally just a threesome, they released Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969 on Atlantic Records. This album yielded 2 Top 40 hits - "Marrakesh Express" and "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". The album was a massive success and propelled the band to stardom - it would eventually sell over four million copies. However, with Stills playing nearly all of the instrumentation, they needed another member if they were to tour.

By this time Neil Young had began a promising solo career, but he agreed to join on the proviso of being able to keep that up. Now renamed accordingly, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young released Déjà Vu in 1970 to more critical and commercial success. It went to No.1 and bore three more top 40 singles: "Our House", "Teach Your Children" and a cover of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock". A literal 'stadium tour' followed, in order to meet popular demand to see the already larger-than-life quartet. Yet a certain instability is perhaps part of the nature of genius. These gifted personalities have not always blended as well as their voices, and from time to time, the foursome have splintered, cooled off for a while, only to have good reason to regroup. Professional and personal squabbles came to a head for the first time at about the time a live album, Four Way Street and a 'greatest hits' compilation So Far appeared.

Yet soon each member was also achieving solo success - Stephen Stills with an eponymous effort, Neil Young's masterpiece After The Gold Rush, Nash produced the sweet, earnest Songs For Beginners, and iDavid Crosby wrote and performed on the dreamy If I Could Only Remember My Name. In addition, Crosby and Nash continued a strong, enduring friendship. Three fine albums appeared from them in the mid-seventies, and they toured together. In comparison, Stills and Young, more volatile a pair, came up with one album and managed half a tour.

Crosby, Stills & Nash made a comeback with CSN in 1977. Nash's delightful 'Just a Song Before I Go' earned a well-deserved place in the Top Ten. Indeed, it was the Englishman whose tunes were to earn the group its bread and butter; the next album, Daylight Again featured the warm, thoughtful 'Wasted on the Way,' an inspired admission that all four members of CSNY had squandered many opportunities to make wonderful music. Young later agreed to rejoin the group if Crosby got over his troublesome cocaine habit - but the final CSNY albums - American Dream in 1988, and Looking Forward 11 years later, were both pale shadows of their peak work.