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crosby, stills & nash/crosby, stills & nash
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The ultimate Sixties supergroup, CSN's 1969 self-titled debut masterfully ushered in the singer-songwriter era. Comprised of veteran Byrd David Crosby, Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield, and ex-Hollies vocalist Graham Nash, CSN proved the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. With peerless vocal harmonies, song writing and melodic style, the trio (later expanded to include Neil Young) would rightfully become America's most revered rock group between 1969-1971. This album, and their heralded showing at the Woodstock Festival (their second live gig ever!), showed the music world the potential of vocal harmonies in modern rock. Their first single was Graham Nash's "Marrakesh Express"—a song he'd written for the Hollies but which they rejected—and it shot straight into the top 30. Stills's best work in the band is to be found here. The top 25 hit "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," which Stills wrote for Judy Collins, as well as his "You Don't Have To Cry," "Helplessly Hoping," "Wooden Ships" (co-written with Crosby and the Jefferson Airplane's Paul Kantner), and "49 Bye-Byes" are absolute classics. Most of the songs were explorations of love gone wrong—a lyrical (and personal) area where Stills excelled. Soon the band added Stills's former Buffalo Springfield band mate Neil Young and released 1970's Deja Vu, becoming enormously successful and scoring two additional Nash written hits that year with "Our House" and "Teach Your Children." By 1971, when the band officially disbanded, all three of their albums were still riding the charts. Pursuing individual solo careers, the band remained friendly and often worked together in the intervening years. Still, the original magic of their debut was never surpassed. —John Ballon (email) February 28, 2006
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