Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 8, 1990 TAG: 9006080651
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TRACY WIMMER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
After a little prodding, he slowly began to think about that night, speaking by phone from his Los Angeles home.
He remembered it was the 15th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's drug-related death. He remembered dedicating "Our House" to Hendrix. And he remembered the T-shirts being sold outside the coliseum.
"The shirts featured David in front of a chalkboard writing, `I will not be a bad boy,' " Nash said. "Oh, I remember all that."
At the time, David Crosby was facing cocaine and gun possession charges in Dallas - staying just one step ahead of the grim reaper himself.
The Crosby, Stills & Nash band, performing at the Roanoke Civic Center Monday night, has changed.
Crosby fights his drug-addiction battles in public these days. And according to Nash, it's a battle Crosby's won.
"David has been clean for four years," Nash said. "But even through all his dependency there was never a time when I thought he wasn't worth it. He is a wonderful person. And with all the drugs, he was still a good and talented person."
For years before his conviction, Crosby had surfaced in police stories. The Dallas incident proved to be the big bust. After a long court battle, Crosby's conviction was overturned by the Texas Supreme Court, and in 1986 he left Huntsville State Prison a free man after just a few months.
Nash says he has been drug-free for 10 years. He and Crosby live within minutes of each other. Last year the friends started writing music. Their efforts, along with those of Stephen Stills, are featured on their upcoming album, "Live It Up."
Nash describes the release as a "smattering of everything" that features saxophonist Branford Marsalis, Bruce Hornsby, Peter Frampton and former Byrds' member Roger McGuinn.
With the public's renewed interest in the '60s, now would seem the perfect time for CSN to make an album and tour, but Nash insists the music was not contrived. And sometimes walking down memory lane can get a little old.
"There is part of me that says Woodstock was a point in history that now has entered into myth," Nash said. "It's over. I mean it was an incredible feeling to be up there on that stage playing to thousands of people. And you have to remember that it was only our second performance together. . . . But I believe that if everyone who tells me they were there actually was, the crowd would have been over 8 million people."
Nash and his wife have three children. The oldest child is age 11 - still a little young to understand the ramifications of his father's historical past.
Nash has always been considered the most upbeat member of CSN. He started his career early by founding the Hollies in 1963 with a childhood friend, Allan Clarke. The group was successful, but by 1968 Nash left, having already been rehearsing with Crosby and Stills.
They too came from formidable music backgrounds: Crosby from The Byrds, Stills from Buffalo Springfield. Their contract as CSN gave each member the freedom to come and go as he pleased, to do solo and duet projects.
They were a hit from the beginning. "Crosby, Stills & Nash," their 1969 debut album, is still considered by critics to be one of the best in folk-rock annals, yielding such hits as Stills' 7-minute "Suite Judy Blue Eyes" to Judy Collins; Crosby's lament for Sen. Robert Kennedy, "Long Time Coming," Nash's "Marrakesh Express" and "Wooden Ships," a post-Holocaust song by Crosby, Stills and Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane.
In 1969, Neil Young, Stills' ex-partner from Buffalo Springfield, joined the group. With his help, the group's 1970 follow-up release, "Deja Vu," matched the first album in quality, reaching No. 1 on the album charts within months. A year later, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young produced another No. 1 LP with "4 Way Street."
CSN&Y were known as romantics and rockers, happy lyricists and angry journalists, capturing the highs and lows of the '60s and '70s in their songs: "Woodstock, "Ohio" and "Find the Cost of Freedom."
They were also human, arguing on occasion, often disbanding and rejoining until a major breakup in 1972.
The three original members regrouped for the making of the 1977 platinum album "CSN" and the following tour. (Young had been invited to join but reportedly backed out at the last minute.)
With varying degrees of success in their solo careers, the foursome reunited in 1988 for "American Dream," a rather disappointing reunion effort after nearly two decades apart.
Young was not asked to sit in on "Live It Up," but Nash said they remain friends.
"We obviously have different perceptions on the music and the shows," Nash said. "But CSN tries to balance their shows 60-40, new material versus old. And Neil wants to do all new stuff."
The "1990 Live It Up" tour kicked off in Austin on June 1 and should be quite different, featuring the most elaborate stage design in CSN history, according to the group's press release. Tony Award-winning set designer Jules Fisher designed the show, which will feature numerous set and backdrop changes. The trio will be backed by five other musicians.
"Actually, it's elaborate for us," Nash said. "There will be no dancing girls."
by CNB