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Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: The Wild, Definitive Saga of Rock's Greatest Supergroup
The first and most complete narrative biography of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, by acclaimed music journalist and Rolling Stone senior writer David Browne
Even in the larger-than-life world of rock and roll, it was hard to imagine four more different men. David Crosby, the opinionated hippie guru. Stephen Stills, the perpetually driven musician. Graham Nash, the tactful pop craftsman. Neil Young, the creatively restless loner. But together, few groups were as in sync with their times as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Starting with the original trio's landmark 1969 debut album, the group embodied much about its era: communal musicmaking, protest songs that took on the establishment and Richard Nixon, and liberal attitudes toward partners and lifestyles. Their group or individual songs--"Wooden Ships," "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," "After the Gold Rush," "For What It's Worth" (with Stills and Young's Buffalo Springfield), "Love the One You're With," "Long Time Gone," "Just a Song Before I Go," "Southern Cross"--became the soundtrack of a generation.
But their story would rarely be as harmonious as their legendary and influential vocal blend. In the years that followed, these four volatile men would continually break up, reunite, and disband again--all against a backdrop of social and musical change, recurring disagreements and jealousies, and self-destructive tendencies that threatened to cripple them both as a group and as individuals.
In Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: The Wild, Definitive Saga of Rock's Greatest Supergroup, longtime music journalist and Rolling Stone writer David Browne presents the ultimate deep dive into rock and roll's most musical and turbulent brotherhood on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. Featuring exclusive interviews with David Crosby and Graham Nash along with band members, colleagues, fellow superstars, former managers, employees, and lovers-and with access to unreleased music and documents--Browne takes readers backstage and onstage, into the musicians' homes, recording studios, and psyches, to chronicle the creative and psychological ties that have bound these men together--and sometimes torn them apart. This is the sweeping story of rock's longest-running, most dysfunctional, yet pre-eminent musical family, delivered with the epic feel their story rightly deserves.
Even in the larger-than-life world of rock and roll, it was hard to imagine four more different men. David Crosby, the opinionated hippie guru. Stephen Stills, the perpetually driven musician. Graham Nash, the tactful pop craftsman. Neil Young, the creatively restless loner. But together, few groups were as in sync with their times as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Starting with the original trio's landmark 1969 debut album, the group embodied much about its era: communal musicmaking, protest songs that took on the establishment and Richard Nixon, and liberal attitudes toward partners and lifestyles. Their group or individual songs--"Wooden Ships," "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," "After the Gold Rush," "For What It's Worth" (with Stills and Young's Buffalo Springfield), "Love the One You're With," "Long Time Gone," "Just a Song Before I Go," "Southern Cross"--became the soundtrack of a generation.
But their story would rarely be as harmonious as their legendary and influential vocal blend. In the years that followed, these four volatile men would continually break up, reunite, and disband again--all against a backdrop of social and musical change, recurring disagreements and jealousies, and self-destructive tendencies that threatened to cripple them both as a group and as individuals.
In Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: The Wild, Definitive Saga of Rock's Greatest Supergroup, longtime music journalist and Rolling Stone writer David Browne presents the ultimate deep dive into rock and roll's most musical and turbulent brotherhood on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. Featuring exclusive interviews with David Crosby and Graham Nash along with band members, colleagues, fellow superstars, former managers, employees, and lovers-and with access to unreleased music and documents--Browne takes readers backstage and onstage, into the musicians' homes, recording studios, and psyches, to chronicle the creative and psychological ties that have bound these men together--and sometimes torn them apart. This is the sweeping story of rock's longest-running, most dysfunctional, yet pre-eminent musical family, delivered with the epic feel their story rightly deserves.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews
August 29, 2019
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: The Wild, Definitive Saga of Rock’s Greatest Supergroup by David Browne is a 2019 Da Capo Press publication.
One of the first rock supergroups, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, have been around, on and off, for over fifty years. Again, that makes this group one of those that I have known nearly my whole life.
Their music has played in the background of my life and I while I am more than a casual fan, I can’t say I am a super fan, knowing everything about them, frontward and backwards. I did know enough to recognize, that despite the talent and their popularity, their best trick seems to be self-sabotage.
Despite the enormous ego clashes, the copious amounts of drugs, the health issues, and the constant second guessing about Neil Young’s ‘will he, or won’t he", the group always managed to sustain itself. Sometimes the effort was puny and sometimes it was simply brilliant, but the band has come together time and time again much to the delight of their loyal fans.
Theirs is one of the most turbulent and maladjusted groupings of musicians in rock history and their story is one that boggles the mind.
So much time to make up everywhere you turn
Time we have wasted on the way…
This a very, very comprehensive biography, and is well organized and obviously well researched. Browne has put a great deal of effort into the book, something I wish I found in other music biographies, many of which are hastily thrown together, using materials one can easily find on the internet. From that standpoint, I think the author deserves kudos for doing the grunt work and giving the book a solid presentation.
However, his subjects are the ones who let him down in the end. As with the Graham Nash memoir, I found the first part of the book of great interest. However, by the time we reached, the late eighties, I was beginning to feel exhausted by all the drama.
The last several decades are just more of the same old, same old. They get together for a concert or collaboration and beg Neil to join. He mostly plays hard to get, claiming he doesn’t want to cope with all the psychodrama- but contributing to it as well. Sometimes he would relent and then bail on them. They get along for a while, then start fighting, then they would scatter to the winds again, working on solo projects or their other bands, until they needed another influx of cash.
Therefore, the book fizzled out and got boring. I skim read the last two segments, if that tells you anything. Perhaps a summary of the 2000s would have been a better approach, although I do think the author meant well.
As for my personal feelings about the group- None of these guys are particularly likable. Some are more of a turn off than others. Unfortunately, their epic meltdowns and drug issues are also a part of their legacy.
However, I love their harmonies, their boldness in which they challenged the ‘establishment’ and their talent, separately and as a unit. I still listen to their music, rarely thinking about all the behind the scenes drama surrounding the group.
I do, however, think of all the group contributed to our musical experience. They’ve been a staple, and part of such an exciting time when so much creativity was emerging during the heyday of rock music, and what a big role they played in it.
They deserve a place in music history and their music, as nostalgic as it may seem now, meant something to people in a time when music mattered, when it made a statement, and was a voice for generations of people.
My favorite songs:
Carry On
Woodstock
Southern Cross
Ohio
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
Overall, if you are a fan of this group, you have probably heard a lot of ground covered in this book before, but I still think there are plenty of details even the most knowledgeable fan might find interesting. If you are not familiar with the band’s back story, this book will tell you all ever wanted to know and then some.
Because it is obvious the author put in a lot of effort and work, I’m going to give this book a nudge up with the rating. The last few segments are redundant, but the author deserves an A for effort.
3.5 rounded up.
One of the first rock supergroups, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, have been around, on and off, for over fifty years. Again, that makes this group one of those that I have known nearly my whole life.
Their music has played in the background of my life and I while I am more than a casual fan, I can’t say I am a super fan, knowing everything about them, frontward and backwards. I did know enough to recognize, that despite the talent and their popularity, their best trick seems to be self-sabotage.
Despite the enormous ego clashes, the copious amounts of drugs, the health issues, and the constant second guessing about Neil Young’s ‘will he, or won’t he", the group always managed to sustain itself. Sometimes the effort was puny and sometimes it was simply brilliant, but the band has come together time and time again much to the delight of their loyal fans.
Theirs is one of the most turbulent and maladjusted groupings of musicians in rock history and their story is one that boggles the mind.
So much time to make up everywhere you turn
Time we have wasted on the way…
This a very, very comprehensive biography, and is well organized and obviously well researched. Browne has put a great deal of effort into the book, something I wish I found in other music biographies, many of which are hastily thrown together, using materials one can easily find on the internet. From that standpoint, I think the author deserves kudos for doing the grunt work and giving the book a solid presentation.
However, his subjects are the ones who let him down in the end. As with the Graham Nash memoir, I found the first part of the book of great interest. However, by the time we reached, the late eighties, I was beginning to feel exhausted by all the drama.
The last several decades are just more of the same old, same old. They get together for a concert or collaboration and beg Neil to join. He mostly plays hard to get, claiming he doesn’t want to cope with all the psychodrama- but contributing to it as well. Sometimes he would relent and then bail on them. They get along for a while, then start fighting, then they would scatter to the winds again, working on solo projects or their other bands, until they needed another influx of cash.
Therefore, the book fizzled out and got boring. I skim read the last two segments, if that tells you anything. Perhaps a summary of the 2000s would have been a better approach, although I do think the author meant well.
As for my personal feelings about the group- None of these guys are particularly likable. Some are more of a turn off than others. Unfortunately, their epic meltdowns and drug issues are also a part of their legacy.
However, I love their harmonies, their boldness in which they challenged the ‘establishment’ and their talent, separately and as a unit. I still listen to their music, rarely thinking about all the behind the scenes drama surrounding the group.
I do, however, think of all the group contributed to our musical experience. They’ve been a staple, and part of such an exciting time when so much creativity was emerging during the heyday of rock music, and what a big role they played in it.
They deserve a place in music history and their music, as nostalgic as it may seem now, meant something to people in a time when music mattered, when it made a statement, and was a voice for generations of people.
My favorite songs:
Carry On
Woodstock
Southern Cross
Ohio
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
Overall, if you are a fan of this group, you have probably heard a lot of ground covered in this book before, but I still think there are plenty of details even the most knowledgeable fan might find interesting. If you are not familiar with the band’s back story, this book will tell you all ever wanted to know and then some.
Because it is obvious the author put in a lot of effort and work, I’m going to give this book a nudge up with the rating. The last few segments are redundant, but the author deserves an A for effort.
3.5 rounded up.
July 5, 2019
I thought I was pretty interested in CSNY. But about halfway through this book when I was reading an account of the approximately 37th different time the group was either breaking apart, coming back together, about to break apart or come back together, or thinking about breaking apart or coming back together -- and it was only 1979 and we still had FORTY years to go!!! -- I realized that maybe I wasn't THAT interested in reading the "Definitive Saga" of these guys. A longish Rolling Stone or New Yorker article would have done me just fine.
Not that the book is bad. It contains the requisite juicy backstage tales and numerous revealing quotes from the key players (Crosby and Nash gave extensive interviews to Browne; Stills and Young didn't, but he got lots of other folks to talk to him and has made good use of older interview materials from all of the band members and assorted hangers-on). And truth be told, this 420-page book is probably a more efficient way to read up on them than plowing through two David Crosby memoirs, one of Graham Nash's, however many books Neil Young has put out (not to mention the movies), and the authorized biography of CSN (but not Y).
Problem is, for most of almost 50 years covered in Browne's account, these four guys hardly seem to change. (Their levels of substance abuse/sobriety change over the years, but overall that seems to matter less than their personality conflicts.) So, as the book details, they continue to have the same gripes and personality clashes over and over and over, like a bunch of squabbling siblings who bring up the same grievances every time they get together, be it a wedding, a funeral, Thanksgiving, Christmas . . . . The one change, which we finally learn about in the book's last fifteen pages, is that in the last 6 or 7 years, as they each have approached or passed age 70, their increasing focus on their own mortality does seem to have affected the group dynamic. But not in a good way; Crosby and Nash, who were tightest duo of the bunch for 40+ years, haven't spoken to each other since 2015.
Browne's book doesn't leave you with that much hope of a reunion. But rumors of a reunion? Yeah, that seems like a definite possibility.
Not that the book is bad. It contains the requisite juicy backstage tales and numerous revealing quotes from the key players (Crosby and Nash gave extensive interviews to Browne; Stills and Young didn't, but he got lots of other folks to talk to him and has made good use of older interview materials from all of the band members and assorted hangers-on). And truth be told, this 420-page book is probably a more efficient way to read up on them than plowing through two David Crosby memoirs, one of Graham Nash's, however many books Neil Young has put out (not to mention the movies), and the authorized biography of CSN (but not Y).
Problem is, for most of almost 50 years covered in Browne's account, these four guys hardly seem to change. (Their levels of substance abuse/sobriety change over the years, but overall that seems to matter less than their personality conflicts.) So, as the book details, they continue to have the same gripes and personality clashes over and over and over, like a bunch of squabbling siblings who bring up the same grievances every time they get together, be it a wedding, a funeral, Thanksgiving, Christmas . . . . The one change, which we finally learn about in the book's last fifteen pages, is that in the last 6 or 7 years, as they each have approached or passed age 70, their increasing focus on their own mortality does seem to have affected the group dynamic. But not in a good way; Crosby and Nash, who were tightest duo of the bunch for 40+ years, haven't spoken to each other since 2015.
Browne's book doesn't leave you with that much hope of a reunion. But rumors of a reunion? Yeah, that seems like a definite possibility.
July 11, 2019
Well-written, well-researched book. It will mean more to you however, if you are a big fan. Their hay day is really before my time. I know who they are and heard some of their music. I know more about Neil Young, I loved the Bridge School benefit concerts and even saw all for members together. The book as just to much for me.
November 24, 2020
This would have a three star review but the author used both “nonplussed” and “ironically” incorrectly, and I can’t bring myself to forgive that.
One sentence summary of this book: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
One sentence summary of this book: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
June 5, 2019
My first reaction to this book was: David Crosby makes Keith Richards look like a Sunday school teacher. Other reactions? I knew Neil Young was enigmatic in regard to his relationship with the other three, but didn’t realize he became a total control freak in their post-70’s reunions. Yes, that’s plural. I knew Stephen Stills was the best musician and had a love/hate relationship with Neil Young dating back to Buffalo Springfield…. wasn’t aware of his massive insecurity and his demons. I already knew that everyone LOVES Graham Nash except Joni Mitchell (read her bio, “Reckless Daughter”) and that he was the glue that held these four together for 50 years….well, sorta. He also has his demons.
Excellent book by Rolling Stone writer, David Browne. This is a must read for any serious music fan and certainly for fans of CSNY, CSN, Crosby & Nash, Stills-Young Band or the individual artists.
My first introduction to CSNY came at 13 when an older sister brought home her boyfriend’s copy of Déjà Vu which I’m pretty sure I never gave back. Soon after I bought the debut album “Crosby, Stills, & Nash” and became a lifelong fan. As a teen I bought all of Neil Young’s solo material from ’69-’78, the Stills-Young Band album, the two mid- ‘70’s Cosby & Nash albums, and many of their solo releases. I bought the first reunion album “CSN” in 1977 and then saw them in concert for the first time. This was in Central Florida…..the place was abuzz with the possibility that Neil Young would make an appearance as he was known to be in the state at the time. He was a no-show. It was the first of decades of disappointment. I did see them again around 2000 sans Young in a surprisingly rocking show in Atlanta. I have never seen Neil Young live….to my great disappointment.
My favorite review of this book that I’ve seen goes like this: “This is not a wild saga. It is a chronicle of unbelievable waste -- wasted talent, friendships, money....you name it.”
You won’t come out of this book liking these guys any better. They’re four seriously flawed individuals who, at times, could make some of the best music ever. It always felt like wasted talent and time….it still does.
PS - David Browne's "Fire & Rain" is an excellent book. Check it out.
Excellent book by Rolling Stone writer, David Browne. This is a must read for any serious music fan and certainly for fans of CSNY, CSN, Crosby & Nash, Stills-Young Band or the individual artists.
My first introduction to CSNY came at 13 when an older sister brought home her boyfriend’s copy of Déjà Vu which I’m pretty sure I never gave back. Soon after I bought the debut album “Crosby, Stills, & Nash” and became a lifelong fan. As a teen I bought all of Neil Young’s solo material from ’69-’78, the Stills-Young Band album, the two mid- ‘70’s Cosby & Nash albums, and many of their solo releases. I bought the first reunion album “CSN” in 1977 and then saw them in concert for the first time. This was in Central Florida…..the place was abuzz with the possibility that Neil Young would make an appearance as he was known to be in the state at the time. He was a no-show. It was the first of decades of disappointment. I did see them again around 2000 sans Young in a surprisingly rocking show in Atlanta. I have never seen Neil Young live….to my great disappointment.
My favorite review of this book that I’ve seen goes like this: “This is not a wild saga. It is a chronicle of unbelievable waste -- wasted talent, friendships, money....you name it.”
You won’t come out of this book liking these guys any better. They’re four seriously flawed individuals who, at times, could make some of the best music ever. It always felt like wasted talent and time….it still does.
PS - David Browne's "Fire & Rain" is an excellent book. Check it out.
July 28, 2019
(Originally started this to give myself a break from Max Hastings' Vietnam, which is quite long and depressing. I thought I'd intersperse chapters of something else relevant to the era to break things up.)
I have to say that, in retrospect, I kind of wish that I hadn't read this. First off, it's longer than I think it deserves to be: CSNY were musically only significant up through Deja Vu, but the decades-long dissipation of people coming together and blowing apart, while making (frankly) pretty disposable music for the money, is covered at precisely the same level of detail. Second, you don't really come out of the book with fond feelings for any of them. While you might retain respect for them as musicians, only Young gives the sense of actually prioritizing making the music he wanted to make. As the book makes clear, the others saw CSN(Y) as a vehicle to make money, which Crosby and Stills in particular were often short of. Anyway, this didn't make me think I ought to seek out any of their later albums...I'll stick with their first two albums and Four Way Street.
Wasted on the way...wow, did they hit the nail on the head.
I have to say that, in retrospect, I kind of wish that I hadn't read this. First off, it's longer than I think it deserves to be: CSNY were musically only significant up through Deja Vu, but the decades-long dissipation of people coming together and blowing apart, while making (frankly) pretty disposable music for the money, is covered at precisely the same level of detail. Second, you don't really come out of the book with fond feelings for any of them. While you might retain respect for them as musicians, only Young gives the sense of actually prioritizing making the music he wanted to make. As the book makes clear, the others saw CSN(Y) as a vehicle to make money, which Crosby and Stills in particular were often short of. Anyway, this didn't make me think I ought to seek out any of their later albums...I'll stick with their first two albums and Four Way Street.
Wasted on the way...wow, did they hit the nail on the head.
April 24, 2019
Well-written and researched. A good deal of the information contained in this book brings together what has already been written about the four in separate histories and biographies. The most interesting parts (at least to me) were the early years. As time went on, the story of this group became very repetitive. Of the four, Neil Young is the major talent and the most powerful songwriter, though the stellar and amazing work that Stephen Stills did on the first album must also be acknowledged as sheer genius, musicianship, and "inspiration in the moment." If you're a fan of the group, then this should be on your reading list.
April 13, 2019
This is not a wild saga. It is a chronicle of unbelievable waste -- wasted talent, friendships, money....you name it.
June 30, 2019
Get awfully repetitive. They get together to make money, Neil bails or David gets too high, everyone fights.
April 10, 2020
The band that never ends
CSNY, or more accurately CSN most of the time, began as one of the greatest super groups 50 years ago. I guess I had not paid close enough attention throughout the years, but I was amazed to learn about how many incarnations these guys experienced. The author clearly put a great deal of work into this volume. As a long-standing Neil Young fan, I was surprised to learn how he played the roles of both the moody loner and controlling superstar, while the other three had to put up with his demands, often for great financial gains. Crosby’s decades-long addictions and substance abuse also held this band short. Stills often comes across as a jerk whose talent deteriorated. Nash is clearly the steady one of the bunch. To anyone who grew up listening to real rock and roll in the 60s and 70s, this book will bring back memories but also reveal a group that achieved great things but could have been much more.
CSNY, or more accurately CSN most of the time, began as one of the greatest super groups 50 years ago. I guess I had not paid close enough attention throughout the years, but I was amazed to learn about how many incarnations these guys experienced. The author clearly put a great deal of work into this volume. As a long-standing Neil Young fan, I was surprised to learn how he played the roles of both the moody loner and controlling superstar, while the other three had to put up with his demands, often for great financial gains. Crosby’s decades-long addictions and substance abuse also held this band short. Stills often comes across as a jerk whose talent deteriorated. Nash is clearly the steady one of the bunch. To anyone who grew up listening to real rock and roll in the 60s and 70s, this book will bring back memories but also reveal a group that achieved great things but could have been much more.
December 3, 2019
An Interesting If Tiring Slog Through CSNY Story
Decent bio of the boys, who basically come across as self-absorbed prima donna pricks who made two of rock's all-time great albums. I've admired these guys over the years but not so much anymore.
Decent bio of the boys, who basically come across as self-absorbed prima donna pricks who made two of rock's all-time great albums. I've admired these guys over the years but not so much anymore.
August 3, 2020
I grew up as a huge fan of CSN&Y. I was lucky enough to attend their June 1970 concert at the coliseum in Seattle. As a broke teenager, a group of us went together. Our tickets cost $2.50 and our seats were behind the stage. We didn’t care, we were seeing our favorite band at the time! My goal in reading this book was learning more about them. I learned way more than I ever wanted to.
This book is as comprehensive as they come, but is very long and geared towards the Superfan and someone who is so in to the music that they want to know the names of every studio musician on every record and can rattle them off at a moment’s notice. I am much more interested in the human interest story and their relationships to each other.
I did enjoy the book, but could have done without much of the minutia. There were gems along the way. But in the end I felt like I had just read the history of a guy with 9 lives, a narcissist and megalomaniac, a passive aggressive dude and a brooder, none who were selfless, all had huge egos and who at one point came together to make incredible music. Then, off and on over the next 50 years had a love hate relationship and were never able to create that magic again...
I will forever enjoy their music but I now know enough to know I don’t like them very much as people and they were just as flawed as the rest of us.
This book is as comprehensive as they come, but is very long and geared towards the Superfan and someone who is so in to the music that they want to know the names of every studio musician on every record and can rattle them off at a moment’s notice. I am much more interested in the human interest story and their relationships to each other.
I did enjoy the book, but could have done without much of the minutia. There were gems along the way. But in the end I felt like I had just read the history of a guy with 9 lives, a narcissist and megalomaniac, a passive aggressive dude and a brooder, none who were selfless, all had huge egos and who at one point came together to make incredible music. Then, off and on over the next 50 years had a love hate relationship and were never able to create that magic again...
I will forever enjoy their music but I now know enough to know I don’t like them very much as people and they were just as flawed as the rest of us.
January 31, 2023
I got to mid-way and jumped ahead. Gave this 3 stars.
I saw Crosby, Stills and Nash (CSN) in concert in the
1970s.
I've read rock bios & rock memoirs. All seem to cover
the same elements as this one on CSNY band member's
competition: who's the better/ best musician? better/
best singer? better/ best songwriter or arranger?
better/ best chick-magnet?
The author explored the "upscale counterculture" of
CSNY: borrowed planes or Lear jets, travels to exotic
locales, limos on-call-round-the-clock, personal chefs,
used connections to get closed for the day eateries
or shops opened, crashed at the homes of other famous
musicians. And the challenge of creating music with
distractions: alcohol, street drugs, money to spend, at
times competing for the same woman. Choosing band
members with which to record music or tour. Dealing
w/ agents/mgrs./ record co. execs. Sometimes CSNY
seemed like little boys in their quest to compete and
outdo each other.
Of the 4, Stills seemed to have the widest interest in
music genres: rock, folk, R&B, the blues, country, Latin,
traditional & others. The 4 did not seem to understand
the woman (each of the 4 chose) could think for herself &
make her own choices so therefore: did Nash 'steal' Rita
C. from Stills or did she go of her own accord?
I saw Crosby, Stills and Nash (CSN) in concert in the
1970s.
I've read rock bios & rock memoirs. All seem to cover
the same elements as this one on CSNY band member's
competition: who's the better/ best musician? better/
best singer? better/ best songwriter or arranger?
better/ best chick-magnet?
The author explored the "upscale counterculture" of
CSNY: borrowed planes or Lear jets, travels to exotic
locales, limos on-call-round-the-clock, personal chefs,
used connections to get closed for the day eateries
or shops opened, crashed at the homes of other famous
musicians. And the challenge of creating music with
distractions: alcohol, street drugs, money to spend, at
times competing for the same woman. Choosing band
members with which to record music or tour. Dealing
w/ agents/mgrs./ record co. execs. Sometimes CSNY
seemed like little boys in their quest to compete and
outdo each other.
Of the 4, Stills seemed to have the widest interest in
music genres: rock, folk, R&B, the blues, country, Latin,
traditional & others. The 4 did not seem to understand
the woman (each of the 4 chose) could think for herself &
make her own choices so therefore: did Nash 'steal' Rita
C. from Stills or did she go of her own accord?
February 11, 2024
The usual rock n roll memoir full of ego, jealousies, creativity, drugs, women, tours, fights, struggles, etc
August 30, 2025
Any true fan of classic rock music tends to keep up with the genre and all that it entails because it is in their nature. News of fresh tours, final shows, deaths, and other incidents in the lives of our rock heroes of yesteryear capture our attention faster than lightning strikes, and lovers of the stupendous sounds which enamor us so much seem to embrace and retain even the tiniest details with an unquenchable thirst. Along those lines, the current times are what actually allow us to call classic rock what it is; if not for the passage of time, we wouldn’t worship the rock gods of years gone by the way we do.
In keeping with these facts, books seem to be coming out in droves, detailing the lives and times of the very people we have placed so high on our musical pedestals. In the last ten years alone, countless volumes have been released documenting the lives and times of bands such as Motley Crue, Aerosmith, and Blue Oyster Cult, as well as The Who, Led Zeppelin, and Queen, just to name a handful. All of these bands, and countless more, have impacted music in ways that even the most die-hard of fans can barely begin to comprehend, but we mustn’t forget about one of the most prolific classic rock bands in history: Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young.
Yes, books have been written about this incredible foursome before. Author Dave Zimmer dug into their history in his book ‘Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young: The Biography; Barney Hoskyns dissected the band’s various relationships and wild lifestyles with other bands such as The Eagles and Linda Ronstadt in his offering, ‘Hotel California: The True-Life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and Their Many Friends’, and of course there have been different pieces written about the individual members of the band which chronicled their individual lives and careers.
Earlier this year, however, on April 2nd, David Browne released his own take on the foursome who harmonized their way into the hearts of rock lovers all over the world and wowed us all with their lives of fame and excess. In his book Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young; The Wild, Definitive Saga of Rock’s Greatest Supergroup, Browne gives fans a very profound look into each individual band member in a way that stands out to even the most casual reader and classic rock lover. As senior writer for Rolling Stone magazine, Browne likely had a foot in the door with these four men to begin with, and the result is a high-velocity, intricate narrative that captures the attention and holds it tightly to the very last page. If you have ever enjoyed Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young at even the most minute level, this is a book that will supercharge your fandom and give you a much better understanding of the men behind the glorious music.
What makes this particular contribution such a good read in comparison to other bios about this group is the fact that Browne breaks down the star-striking facades that each man presented to fans and puts them under a microscope, revealing the real men behind those masks. Yes, David Crosby will likely always be viewed as a somewhat spaced-out hippie by laymen, and Stephen Stills will continue to be perceived as being driven to a fault. Of course, Graham Nash is considered to be the one who consistently put everything together and made it work, while Neil Young seemed to delight in standing apart from the rest, reveling in his own individuality and seeming lonesomeness, and his parting from the band in later years appeared to validate that view.
When all was, and is, said and done, these were extremely talented men who, at their very core, dwell among the rest of us human beings. They felt pain, gladness, and anger. They each made mistakes they regretted, learned from, and possibly learned nothing from. The difference between them and us was not only the talent they have been given, or the fame that followed as a result of it, but in the contribution their incredible music made to the way an entire generation thought, behaved, and responded to life itself.
One particular example of the humanity and its struggle with the members’ fame takes place during the days shortly before their union is made official. Browne tells of a meeting that was to take place with Ahmet Ertegun, the Atlantic Records executive and songwriter whose focus was on picking up and promoting rock and rhythm and blues musicians in particular. The meeting was to reveal the breakup of the band Buffalo Springfield, which included pioneering members Stephen Stills and Neil Young. David Crosby was busy producing at the time, and had grown weary of the work. Ertegun brought the men together and introduced them, and in the pages that follow, Browne makes it clear that scrutiny of each other, on all the musician’s parts, was very specific and not always positive.
While each of them appreciated the talent and drive of the others, which would ultimately help lead them to astronomical fame, it seemed that there were more characteristics that they disliked about each other. David Crosby admired Stephen Stills‘ arrogance and ‘cocky’ attitude, attributing it to the fact that the man had a solid confidence in himself and his abilities, and Stills liked the way that David Crosby was supportive without being controlling. The opposite was true of the opinion held regarding Neil Young, who could be argumentative, superior, and leaned toward trying to run everything. Graham Nash was consistent, and that was appreciated by his fellow music makers. But for ever piece of talent contributed, there were two or three negative issues among them, which brought out their humanity in spades, and would eventually lead to their downsizing, and finally their demise.
In reading this book, I would have to say that David Crosby stood out to me the most, as I’m sure he does with most any fan, and for several reasons. His laid back, pleasant attitude and his ability to basically sail through some of the band’s most difficult times without an apparent care can make him quite lovable and endearing, but once we, as readers, get to know some of his character defects, we reach an understanding of why his brothers reached the points of frustration with him that they did. Many times, he simply didn’t care enough, and his ‘whatever will be, will be’ attitude could be infuriating to those who took a more professional stance, like Stephen Stills and Neil Young. Regardless, it is through these minute examples that we see the men that existed when the lights when down on each of their shows so many years ago.
I find it important to note that Browne makes it abundantly clear that, for all of their differences, the band did put forth their best individual efforts to really be the team that they presented to the world, and it was because of those efforts that we were gifted with the wonderful music they gave us all. Disagreements and personality conflicts aside, those efforts, no matter how large or small on each man’s part, assisted in the creation of some of the most beautiful lyrics and harmonies known to us, and David Browne doesn’t ignore that fact in exchange for the excitement their conflicts and excessive partying stirred up, and it shows throughout the book’s pages.
Of course, with this being a rock band biography, there is more than a fair share of partying and fast-paced living that is conveyed to readers through its pages. This is par for the course, and it is exactly what fans are looking for when they choose a book of this type to read, especially a book about creators and performers of rock, or classic rock, as we now know it as. But even though this conveyance and the telling of these sordid tales is expected, they also enable one to understand each and every band member as the individual that we never knew them to be. The limelight has a funny way of blinding those it doesn’t even shine on, and David Browne skillfully shades that light so that fans can feel and understand the unseen humanity that these four amazing musicians had to live with when the lights truly went down.
Their stories are not only interesting and compelling, they are painfully true to life as Browne presents them. One can almost imagine what it must have been like to stand in their shoes, gazing out at the masses and baring their souls while being taken for thriving rock stars who were doing nothing more than riding the wave of being in the right place at the right time. In a nutshell, when one closes the book after reading the last page, the limelight only seems blinding to the men on whom it shone.
As stated prior, many books are hitting the shelves that tell the tales behind the music that all of us have loved over the years, the music that formed us and made us exactly who and what we are. But few of them relay so clearly the escapades, successes, and failures of one of the greatest classic rock bands of all time. Without the existence and offerings of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young many of the bands which came after would have never pursued their dreams, and nothing we listen to today would sound the same. They did more than scratch the surface; these four men helped mold the most influential genre in music: rock and roll itself. David Browne shows us this clearly in this captivating book, and it is more than worth the read.
In keeping with these facts, books seem to be coming out in droves, detailing the lives and times of the very people we have placed so high on our musical pedestals. In the last ten years alone, countless volumes have been released documenting the lives and times of bands such as Motley Crue, Aerosmith, and Blue Oyster Cult, as well as The Who, Led Zeppelin, and Queen, just to name a handful. All of these bands, and countless more, have impacted music in ways that even the most die-hard of fans can barely begin to comprehend, but we mustn’t forget about one of the most prolific classic rock bands in history: Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young.
Yes, books have been written about this incredible foursome before. Author Dave Zimmer dug into their history in his book ‘Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young: The Biography; Barney Hoskyns dissected the band’s various relationships and wild lifestyles with other bands such as The Eagles and Linda Ronstadt in his offering, ‘Hotel California: The True-Life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and Their Many Friends’, and of course there have been different pieces written about the individual members of the band which chronicled their individual lives and careers.
Earlier this year, however, on April 2nd, David Browne released his own take on the foursome who harmonized their way into the hearts of rock lovers all over the world and wowed us all with their lives of fame and excess. In his book Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young; The Wild, Definitive Saga of Rock’s Greatest Supergroup, Browne gives fans a very profound look into each individual band member in a way that stands out to even the most casual reader and classic rock lover. As senior writer for Rolling Stone magazine, Browne likely had a foot in the door with these four men to begin with, and the result is a high-velocity, intricate narrative that captures the attention and holds it tightly to the very last page. If you have ever enjoyed Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young at even the most minute level, this is a book that will supercharge your fandom and give you a much better understanding of the men behind the glorious music.
What makes this particular contribution such a good read in comparison to other bios about this group is the fact that Browne breaks down the star-striking facades that each man presented to fans and puts them under a microscope, revealing the real men behind those masks. Yes, David Crosby will likely always be viewed as a somewhat spaced-out hippie by laymen, and Stephen Stills will continue to be perceived as being driven to a fault. Of course, Graham Nash is considered to be the one who consistently put everything together and made it work, while Neil Young seemed to delight in standing apart from the rest, reveling in his own individuality and seeming lonesomeness, and his parting from the band in later years appeared to validate that view.
When all was, and is, said and done, these were extremely talented men who, at their very core, dwell among the rest of us human beings. They felt pain, gladness, and anger. They each made mistakes they regretted, learned from, and possibly learned nothing from. The difference between them and us was not only the talent they have been given, or the fame that followed as a result of it, but in the contribution their incredible music made to the way an entire generation thought, behaved, and responded to life itself.
One particular example of the humanity and its struggle with the members’ fame takes place during the days shortly before their union is made official. Browne tells of a meeting that was to take place with Ahmet Ertegun, the Atlantic Records executive and songwriter whose focus was on picking up and promoting rock and rhythm and blues musicians in particular. The meeting was to reveal the breakup of the band Buffalo Springfield, which included pioneering members Stephen Stills and Neil Young. David Crosby was busy producing at the time, and had grown weary of the work. Ertegun brought the men together and introduced them, and in the pages that follow, Browne makes it clear that scrutiny of each other, on all the musician’s parts, was very specific and not always positive.
While each of them appreciated the talent and drive of the others, which would ultimately help lead them to astronomical fame, it seemed that there were more characteristics that they disliked about each other. David Crosby admired Stephen Stills‘ arrogance and ‘cocky’ attitude, attributing it to the fact that the man had a solid confidence in himself and his abilities, and Stills liked the way that David Crosby was supportive without being controlling. The opposite was true of the opinion held regarding Neil Young, who could be argumentative, superior, and leaned toward trying to run everything. Graham Nash was consistent, and that was appreciated by his fellow music makers. But for ever piece of talent contributed, there were two or three negative issues among them, which brought out their humanity in spades, and would eventually lead to their downsizing, and finally their demise.
In reading this book, I would have to say that David Crosby stood out to me the most, as I’m sure he does with most any fan, and for several reasons. His laid back, pleasant attitude and his ability to basically sail through some of the band’s most difficult times without an apparent care can make him quite lovable and endearing, but once we, as readers, get to know some of his character defects, we reach an understanding of why his brothers reached the points of frustration with him that they did. Many times, he simply didn’t care enough, and his ‘whatever will be, will be’ attitude could be infuriating to those who took a more professional stance, like Stephen Stills and Neil Young. Regardless, it is through these minute examples that we see the men that existed when the lights when down on each of their shows so many years ago.
I find it important to note that Browne makes it abundantly clear that, for all of their differences, the band did put forth their best individual efforts to really be the team that they presented to the world, and it was because of those efforts that we were gifted with the wonderful music they gave us all. Disagreements and personality conflicts aside, those efforts, no matter how large or small on each man’s part, assisted in the creation of some of the most beautiful lyrics and harmonies known to us, and David Browne doesn’t ignore that fact in exchange for the excitement their conflicts and excessive partying stirred up, and it shows throughout the book’s pages.
Of course, with this being a rock band biography, there is more than a fair share of partying and fast-paced living that is conveyed to readers through its pages. This is par for the course, and it is exactly what fans are looking for when they choose a book of this type to read, especially a book about creators and performers of rock, or classic rock, as we now know it as. But even though this conveyance and the telling of these sordid tales is expected, they also enable one to understand each and every band member as the individual that we never knew them to be. The limelight has a funny way of blinding those it doesn’t even shine on, and David Browne skillfully shades that light so that fans can feel and understand the unseen humanity that these four amazing musicians had to live with when the lights truly went down.
Their stories are not only interesting and compelling, they are painfully true to life as Browne presents them. One can almost imagine what it must have been like to stand in their shoes, gazing out at the masses and baring their souls while being taken for thriving rock stars who were doing nothing more than riding the wave of being in the right place at the right time. In a nutshell, when one closes the book after reading the last page, the limelight only seems blinding to the men on whom it shone.
As stated prior, many books are hitting the shelves that tell the tales behind the music that all of us have loved over the years, the music that formed us and made us exactly who and what we are. But few of them relay so clearly the escapades, successes, and failures of one of the greatest classic rock bands of all time. Without the existence and offerings of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young many of the bands which came after would have never pursued their dreams, and nothing we listen to today would sound the same. They did more than scratch the surface; these four men helped mold the most influential genre in music: rock and roll itself. David Browne shows us this clearly in this captivating book, and it is more than worth the read.
June 23, 2019
Face it, these guys weren’t a real band for more than a few months, much less a “supergroup” but they do have killer harmonies. And I’m a big Neil Young fan so I was interested in this phase of his career. “We were trying our best to put this face up to the world that we were together and everything was okay,” observes Graham Nash in the book, “but it wasn’t. It was rotting from the inside.” The book is such a “definitive saga” chronicling the endless cycles of breaking up, reuniting, fighting, breaking up, and reuniting that it becomes tedious. The author paints CSNY as a clash of musical geniuses but I kept thinking it might be more about the money. As each artist pursues a solo career, he realizes he can make more money on reunion tours. Except Neil, of course. Neil, who barely joins the band for Woodstock in 1969 and later that year at Altamont, says, “I could already feel the music dying.”
Browne is encyclopedic in his description of 1960s-1970s rock history and he drops names on every page with a thud. I learned how luminaries like Jerry Garcia, Peter Tork, and Rick James are embedded in CSNY! I learned all the rock genealogy tracing Buffalo Springfield, The Hollies, The Squires, and The Byrds into their posterity. I learned that women circled around like butterflies, including Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell. According to Browne, Nash wrote “Our House” about his life with Joni, and Stills wrote “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” about Judy, so there’s that.
The book is swimming – no drowning – in drug use by everyone. What could they have accomplished if there weren’t just offstage behind the curtain free-basing coke between songs? The CS&N song “Wasted on the Way” describes it well: “And there's so much time to make up, everywhere you turn,
Time we have wasted on the way…” Long past when they were interested in each other as musicians, they were grudgingly going back into studios to re-enact one supposed moment of 1970 bliss. I do respect their bursts of political activism along the way: “Speak out, you got to speak out against the madness, You got to speak your mind if you dare” and who can forget the power of hearing “For What It’s Worth” as you were riding home on the high school bus?
Something happenin’ here, what it is ain’t exactly clear…
There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind…
But no matter how much poetry there might be, Crosby is frying his brain, Stills is descending into madness, Nash is fleeing to Hawaii, and Neil Young is a “Long Time Gone” from the scene.
Browne is encyclopedic in his description of 1960s-1970s rock history and he drops names on every page with a thud. I learned how luminaries like Jerry Garcia, Peter Tork, and Rick James are embedded in CSNY! I learned all the rock genealogy tracing Buffalo Springfield, The Hollies, The Squires, and The Byrds into their posterity. I learned that women circled around like butterflies, including Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell. According to Browne, Nash wrote “Our House” about his life with Joni, and Stills wrote “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” about Judy, so there’s that.
The book is swimming – no drowning – in drug use by everyone. What could they have accomplished if there weren’t just offstage behind the curtain free-basing coke between songs? The CS&N song “Wasted on the Way” describes it well: “And there's so much time to make up, everywhere you turn,
Time we have wasted on the way…” Long past when they were interested in each other as musicians, they were grudgingly going back into studios to re-enact one supposed moment of 1970 bliss. I do respect their bursts of political activism along the way: “Speak out, you got to speak out against the madness, You got to speak your mind if you dare” and who can forget the power of hearing “For What It’s Worth” as you were riding home on the high school bus?
Something happenin’ here, what it is ain’t exactly clear…
There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind…
But no matter how much poetry there might be, Crosby is frying his brain, Stills is descending into madness, Nash is fleeing to Hawaii, and Neil Young is a “Long Time Gone” from the scene.
July 14, 2019
An Overwhelming Journey Through Five Tumultuous Decades of CSNY
While Browne’s prose is thoughtful, journalistic, and packed with tons of juicy anecdotes from CSNY’s history, it can’t overcome the bi-polar “will they, won’t they” pattern of this classic band. After a couple hundred pages, the tedium sets in and you start to trudge through hoping something truly positive sticks. Nothing ever does, leaving one to wonder why this book wasn’t titled “Helplessly Hoping.”
That said, Browne’s best work is done in documenting the friendship of Crosby and Nash, who seem initially to be complete opposites, but form a true and powerful bond of brotherhood. The culmination of their tale is truly heartbreaking, and gives this book its most profound moment. The dissolution of their friendship somehow feels like the true end of the “hippie dream” they symbolized.
While Browne’s prose is thoughtful, journalistic, and packed with tons of juicy anecdotes from CSNY’s history, it can’t overcome the bi-polar “will they, won’t they” pattern of this classic band. After a couple hundred pages, the tedium sets in and you start to trudge through hoping something truly positive sticks. Nothing ever does, leaving one to wonder why this book wasn’t titled “Helplessly Hoping.”
That said, Browne’s best work is done in documenting the friendship of Crosby and Nash, who seem initially to be complete opposites, but form a true and powerful bond of brotherhood. The culmination of their tale is truly heartbreaking, and gives this book its most profound moment. The dissolution of their friendship somehow feels like the true end of the “hippie dream” they symbolized.
June 18, 2019
Who out there is interested in reading what seems like 150 pages of David Crosby's pathetic enslavement to illicit drugs? That's what I thought. So be forewarned: Aside from the constant, career-long bickering and double-dealing among the four principals here, it is Crosby's long and ardent embrace of weed, cocaine and crack cocaine that serves as the main recurring theme, and it is so banal and boring that it sucks the life out of the rest of the book. Crosby Stills, Nash and Young have talent, yes, but each is also a memorable jerk in his own way. Nash is serially unfaithful to his long-suffering wife before finally leaving her for a much younger woman. Stills is blind to his own monumental arrogance, as when he offered tips to Paul McCartney on how to play the bass. Young is unreliable and infantile, stomping his feet and threatening to leave the group whenever things don't go his way. And Crosby, well, look up "hapless junkie" in the dictionary and you will find him there. Browne does an earnest good job on collecting the anecdotes and writing them down (although crucially he never interviews Stills or Young). As to the music, there is much talk of it here, some of it interesting but never especially penetrating or profound. Anyway, the music of CSN and CSNY, once the first two albums came and went 50 years ago (when I first became a big fan) hasn't added up to all that much - many more misses than hits. So read this if you must, but chances are you'll feel wasted on the way.
May 8, 2019
Well, this book certainly is definitive, I’ll give it that much. I’m a fan but I can’t imagine anyone really needing to know this much about anyone else. Browne is a Rolling Stone journalist and a very good writer who has more than adequately covered his subjects. There are four of them and they are all complicated and conflicted human beings but I found the level of detail in this biography to be overwhelming. In spite of all the detail on the recordings and concerts, however, there are very few photos and the men themselves remain pretty two dimensional.
June 2, 2023
Listened to this on audiobook while in car for work. The epic, exhaustive saga of CSNY with their various collaborations and solo projects. These 4 men (the obsessive loner Young, the straightforward, no-nonsense guitarist Stills, the golden-voiced peacemaker Nash, and the self-destructive narcissistic Crosby) were, at various times, musically prolific, personally irresponsible, and socially active. But the one thing that needs to be always remembered is that even those who are so-called heroes and icons are still just...human. Well researched.
March 28, 2019
David Browne's narrative biography expertly exposes the discord beneath the harmonies of the supergroups's first fifty years. It's not just a must-read for fans of the group or its individual parts, it's the story of a generation from Woodstock to Woodstock 50. Fascinating and fluid.
May 30, 2019
I learned a lot but this book seemed to just go on and on explaining how these guys didn’t get along.
October 2, 2023
I've often thought that I could read a book on any subject, no matter how dull or unappealing, so long as the writing itself was solid enough. After all, one of the most compelling books that I've read in recent years was about the history and evolution of sneakers ("Kicks" by Nicholas Smith, if you're wondering). So while I might not necessarily like or care about some of the subjects profiled in this book, I can't help but find it highly readable.
"Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young" is about, well, Crosby, Stills, and Nash (and sometimes Young), the legendary supergroup who fell apart and came back together more than your average rock group. David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash came together in the late Sixties to find a new outlet for their voices, having left legendary bands as they meandered through the hippie scene in California. By the time their first album dropped, they were already adding Neil Young (a former band mate of Stills') to the mix for the next album. By all rights, they should've been a long-lasting concern, and as the author David Browne writes, they did do so, but in the most unconventional way possible. They would split up and recombine over the years, sometimes as a trio, sometimes as a duo, but rarely as a foursome, and each would battle with the collective legacy of the group as they sought their own path.
None of the principal four men emerges here as very laudable; Crosby was in and out of trouble with the law for his drug abuse, Stills was a controlling perfectionist, Nash could walk away from his long marriage at the drop of a hat, and Young would occasionally pull the rug out from the other three the minute that he felt hemmed in and no longer in control. Browne documents their ups and downs with almost exhausting details. At times, the narrative just seems to promise some uplift, only for real life to intervene. It can be a bit much, but Browne's obvious ability to spin a compelling story nonetheless shines through.
After reading "Long Time Gone" earlier this year, I seem to have found myself in a David Crosby state of mind this year (fitting given his passing not too long after the calender changed to 2023). I can't say that I'm a fan of CSN or CSNY, and I don't think this book changes that. They all seem like miserable assholes, to be honest. But damn if this isn't a mostly compelling look at the story of a group that held so much promise and pissed it away through jealousy, drug abuse, and the changing tides of popular fashion. For a group noted for its harmony, CSNY could be incredibly divisive. And this book shows why, in ways both illuminating and entertaining.
"Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young" is about, well, Crosby, Stills, and Nash (and sometimes Young), the legendary supergroup who fell apart and came back together more than your average rock group. David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash came together in the late Sixties to find a new outlet for their voices, having left legendary bands as they meandered through the hippie scene in California. By the time their first album dropped, they were already adding Neil Young (a former band mate of Stills') to the mix for the next album. By all rights, they should've been a long-lasting concern, and as the author David Browne writes, they did do so, but in the most unconventional way possible. They would split up and recombine over the years, sometimes as a trio, sometimes as a duo, but rarely as a foursome, and each would battle with the collective legacy of the group as they sought their own path.
None of the principal four men emerges here as very laudable; Crosby was in and out of trouble with the law for his drug abuse, Stills was a controlling perfectionist, Nash could walk away from his long marriage at the drop of a hat, and Young would occasionally pull the rug out from the other three the minute that he felt hemmed in and no longer in control. Browne documents their ups and downs with almost exhausting details. At times, the narrative just seems to promise some uplift, only for real life to intervene. It can be a bit much, but Browne's obvious ability to spin a compelling story nonetheless shines through.
After reading "Long Time Gone" earlier this year, I seem to have found myself in a David Crosby state of mind this year (fitting given his passing not too long after the calender changed to 2023). I can't say that I'm a fan of CSN or CSNY, and I don't think this book changes that. They all seem like miserable assholes, to be honest. But damn if this isn't a mostly compelling look at the story of a group that held so much promise and pissed it away through jealousy, drug abuse, and the changing tides of popular fashion. For a group noted for its harmony, CSNY could be incredibly divisive. And this book shows why, in ways both illuminating and entertaining.
October 3, 2022
For a book that has been well researched and written, I certainly was glad when it was over. As another reviewer here similarly observed, it's pretty tough reading when you're on your Nth permutation of project (album, tour) failure due to dysfunction (hurt feelings, ego clash, runaway drug use, misunderstanding, personal strangeness, etc.) and you still have 40 more years of history to cover.
The Zimmer biography came out in 1984, so I guess a new biography was due (we got two: Doggett's was released as the same time), and this one is a blow by blow representation of every (screwed up) event in the 50 year history of the association that had me reaching for the Hari Kari knife towards the end. What's really wanted in this space, however, is analysis of how four intelligent people with so much to gain could continue to get it so wrong. Oh, there is a comment extracted from one of the individual biographies now and then, "yup, looking back on it, that was a bad idea," but few and far between. Why?
Analysis is not the book that Browne wrote. In addition to the thorough if laborious event recap, there is a great deal of review-style description of what the music was like, which, as ever, is only meaningful to people that already know what it sounds like, but Browne has a wonderful vocabulary for it.
So here's my brief swing at analysis:
> They embraced a confederation-of-individuals model rather than an all-for-one etc. model (like the Eagles) from the start, so they could pursue individual projects, and that was an ongoing distraction.
> There was not a clear leader (for the first 40 years) nor anyone willing to be the adult. They were not successful in hiring this role out, either. I don't know how hard they tried.
> They are all artsy types. The one with a little business acumen was also an asshole.
> There. were. too. many. drugs.
> Neil Young would be hard to pin down in any circumstance. He appears to have had a serious case of ADD.
And in addition to all that, they had to be the standard-bearers for a particular societal epoch, however cliche they and that epoch became. They caught lightning in a bottle, twice, and spent the rest of their lives trying to capture it once more.
Browne gets on shaky ground when he takes up politics.
Really not recommended for any but the most ardent fan.
The Zimmer biography came out in 1984, so I guess a new biography was due (we got two: Doggett's was released as the same time), and this one is a blow by blow representation of every (screwed up) event in the 50 year history of the association that had me reaching for the Hari Kari knife towards the end. What's really wanted in this space, however, is analysis of how four intelligent people with so much to gain could continue to get it so wrong. Oh, there is a comment extracted from one of the individual biographies now and then, "yup, looking back on it, that was a bad idea," but few and far between. Why?
Analysis is not the book that Browne wrote. In addition to the thorough if laborious event recap, there is a great deal of review-style description of what the music was like, which, as ever, is only meaningful to people that already know what it sounds like, but Browne has a wonderful vocabulary for it.
So here's my brief swing at analysis:
> They embraced a confederation-of-individuals model rather than an all-for-one etc. model (like the Eagles) from the start, so they could pursue individual projects, and that was an ongoing distraction.
> There was not a clear leader (for the first 40 years) nor anyone willing to be the adult. They were not successful in hiring this role out, either. I don't know how hard they tried.
> They are all artsy types. The one with a little business acumen was also an asshole.
> There. were. too. many. drugs.
> Neil Young would be hard to pin down in any circumstance. He appears to have had a serious case of ADD.
And in addition to all that, they had to be the standard-bearers for a particular societal epoch, however cliche they and that epoch became. They caught lightning in a bottle, twice, and spent the rest of their lives trying to capture it once more.
Browne gets on shaky ground when he takes up politics.
Really not recommended for any but the most ardent fan.
October 25, 2022
Well written bio of CSNY chronologically looking at the group up through 2018. Starts, where else, with The Hollies, The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield...on to CSN, and any & all solo endeavors. CSNY is probably my favorite band of all time...I was 13 in 1969, the year CSN came out, soooooooo, I know the story well and kind-of lived it with all the concerts I attended over the years...as such...I also know the dark side of CSNY. Whether all true or not, I felt the book focused too intently on this dark-side, to the point where by the last page I had had enough (never failed-to-fail, it was the easiest thing to do...). So, unfortunately the book has left me with a sour feeling, not what I wanted after all the joy CSNY has left me with their music my near entire life. -I still recommend....3.5 outta 5.00 and will bump it up 4.0....
June 27, 2020
Kudos to the author for his extensive research covering the inception of CSNY and every breakup and reunion thereafter. I knew the bare bones of the story, but Browne really gives you the dirt on the relationships, substance abuse, financial problems and ego clashes. (Every musician that played or toured with them together or solo must be included here.) As other reviewers have noted, the repetitive nature of the breakup/reunion cycle and Young’s yo-yo-ing in and out of the group became tedious reading later in the book, but that was the relationship. I enjoyed it, for the most part, but I wish Stills had cooperated with the author. A little more from him would have been an interesting addition.
October 2, 2019
What was interesting: formation of band, recording sessions, story of Crosby’s drug/legal issues ( forgot how bad he had it and seemed to get breaks in legal system given his celebrity/position). What was redundant: countless stories of how they didn’t get along, examples of what an ass Neil Young was, countless stories of reuniting ( ad nauseum). In the end, CSN really had only one great album (their first) and same with CSNY (Deja Vu). Solo efforts -other than Neil’s- just aren’t worth reading or knowing about. This could have been a 250 page book rather than 420 pages.
May 6, 2020
The last two years have given us two biographies of CSNY. Both are worthwhile, but this probably edges it in terms of satisfaction.
Unlike Peter Doggett's book, Browne covers their entire career. At the expense of more detailed consideration of the music, but it does provide a better focus on the interaction, or lack of same, that has kept CSNY in and out of each others orbits for the past 50 years.
You'll find something about each of the protagonists that may come as a surprise to you, but it all helps to understand the uniquely strange world of CSNY.
Unlike Peter Doggett's book, Browne covers their entire career. At the expense of more detailed consideration of the music, but it does provide a better focus on the interaction, or lack of same, that has kept CSNY in and out of each others orbits for the past 50 years.
You'll find something about each of the protagonists that may come as a surprise to you, but it all helps to understand the uniquely strange world of CSNY.
August 31, 2022
I really enjoy these rock and roll biographies. This one was a very good and very detailed look behind the scenes of CSNY and of each of their solo paths.
May 27, 2024
I did not actually finish: this is a give up date. This book is well done if you want to learn more about what it’s likely to bring three egos and a Canadian together to create something unique, fleeting, and frustratingly inconsistent. The problem is that the CSNY story itself becomes as long and tedious as their constant grasping for relevancy. Neil Young fans will love how he didn’t play the game.
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