CHRONICLE MAGAZINE BENOIT FELLER ROCK & FOLK

CHRONICLE MAGAZINE BENOIT FELLER ROCK & FOLK

CSN (CD)

Customer Review

CHRONICLE MAGAZINE BENOIT FELLER ROCK & FOLK N ° 127 August 1977 Page 90
2 albums 33 RPM 1977 Ref: 50369 Atlantic
Crosby, Stills and Nash. Ah! Crosby, Stills and Nash. According quon twenty-five or sixteen, according quon waiting eight years after "Lady Of The Island" or quon expects nothing, we écarquillera eyes, full of confusion head merchant slowly, the disc under his arm, with the feeling that the sky is about to Sopen, returning a thousand times the pouch between his fingers before dosing listen to the album; or, flipping through the glossy "Rock & Folk" is only susurrera "yet these tired old pros. "And these two attitudes come under the same sincerity, share the same good faith, because moon and the other are also logical.
Logical, yes, because if the three men carved out a small (or large!) Place in the privacy of human Detrés million, to be there simultaneously in thousands of rooms, hundreds of night, in all countries on every continent, wherever two friends looked in his eyes and wandered around a bottle, it is also fair to think and describe David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash are well jaded old road.
Credit quon grants solitary experiences of three musicians, particularly that of Stills, the interest with which many have followed their respective developments, Crosby, Stills and Nash the need for this album, "CS & N," which became a legend. Before that, there was the Buffalo Springfield, of course, who creates music equally, if not better than the trio. But the Buffalo entries understood that dinitiés of a limited number of enthusiasts, and many were the treasures left by the group after the three accomplices were involved.
Everything went wrong after the three men had invited Neil Young to play and sing along:
Lunique album left by CSN & Y. was a fabulous achievement that the public and musicians paid dearly: the Loner ladjonction stars turned into a meeting that had been a real band.
The relationship (friendship / enmity, admiration / envy) suitable for Stills and Young had destroyed the Buffalo Springfield, CSN & Y it destroyed. similarly, and Neil Young can be happy not SETRE consumed in this game, to have been able, later, to draw the forces necessary for the construction of his own work.
Dissolution planned reformation, history of CSN & Y. laspect quickly donned dune sad farce (Wembley 74). The gold mine exploited this business as long as he could. But during that time, Crosby, Stills and Nash were dying, artistically and humanly. Stills, alcoholic, drug addict jusquaux eyes, hiding his loneliness behind many darrogance it nempêche that the man is more fragile quon might think, and that his claim, his cynicism were merely weapons to mask a growing dismay. His solo career was pitiful (except the first album) up to date, may be because Stephen is basically even sil CAN NOT laccepter, a group of musicians with Manassas, for example, he delivered the best of himself Similarly, just because he created in dune formation.
Dropped by nine-tenths of the public CSN & Y., Crosby and Nash recorded three albums pretty and harmless, a dimension missing from their music, cétait obvious.
Who had the idea to reform the trio? All three, driven by real musicians, by the need to replay real music, vibrant, warm, human. Oh sure, some argue that the prospect of profits would inevitably realize that they had to rely for much of their decision. Apart from this simple observation that the three men billionaires can be answered quaprès derrances as chess and it is more likely that musicians frightened by the passage of time and, who knows, by their age, have realized that they were squandering their talent, wasting their lives and that, superstars or not, we do not play with these things.
So this album, the second in eight years realize that Crosby, Stills and Nash, the culmination of a long and complicated story, is more than capital: history. For its authors, to American music, to rock, to us.
At this point, we can no longer make that personal judgments, I think this album is a success, even if it receives less lon own fabulous poetry to its predecessor. Crosby, Stills and Nash have regained a sense of community and avoided two big obstacles: to plagiarize their first achievement, and one to record, once again, an album in which everyone is trying to "place" their songs using talent others as stooges (quon to remember "4 Way Street"). Still, a specialist in these maneuvers there, here a healthy and frank attitude: the musician has brought his best pieces GROUPS, without cheating, without keeping his good ideas, and God knows sil has, for the use later for its own account. In other words, Stephen Stills admitted its limits, and this change gives the association has current validity of the three men which has never had.
This quon discovers what strikes here are of course voices: Crosby, Stills and Nash have the gift of singing together, to melt their melodic lines total way: from "Shadow Captain" (David Crosby and Craig Doerge) to "I Give You Give Blind", much the same purity, the same as that of "old", this beauty created by three men born to unite their talents.
At this level, every piece is a little gem, confusing, petrifying ("See The Changes" Stephen Stills and "Cold Rain" Graham Nash, especially). Faithful to the great white power ranging from Everly Brother Steve Miller via Creedence, Beatles and themselves, CSN & Y. used their instruments as mere guides of their voices, without trying to make prowess which they nétaient not able. Stills But if, for example, has never been a soloist, he is a fantastic acoustic guitarist. Hear it at length here make it sound beautiful embroidery agreements and in picking, around themes, offers immense pleasure ("See The Changes", "In My Dreams"). The rhythm section (George Perry, bass; Joe Vitale, drums) is, for its part, as good as discreet.
Sharing and moves compositions included in the album were obviously arranged so that the listener little time to get used born at a pace or even a style, and especially in any place néprouve a repeat of sensation. For this and the three men were marked by their solitary experiences, CS & N. have individually developed three distinct styles décriture well quune mere hearing of the album illustrates demblée: Stills compositions, mostly taken over a medium tempo, are more conducive to the subtle instrumental in the introduction of a riff ("Run From Tears "" I Give You Give Blind ").
This is in those moments that the group approach by lightning pure RockNRoll, and evokes his previous album (a title like "Wooden Ships" for example). This qua Stills made here is of a higher level than his best solo successes (such as "My Favourite Changes on his first album for CBS).
If Stills finally found his talent (maybe because he no longer drinks), Crosby and Nash have them, made progress which one hardly sattendait: Is this a result due to the group of emulation? The compositions of Nash, often accompanied by piano, are beautiful ("Just A Song Before I Go," "Cathedral" and especially "Cold Rain"). These sad ballads, very slow, which speak of rain and loneliness, are in my view the peaks of the album. The titles of Crosby, more casual ("Shadow Captain"), are like a hyphen between those of his friends, and complete to create what is perhaps the greatest success of this drive: unity.
For the first time in years, we didnt here a case of sloppy accolage hybrid securities (Stills solo albums), but a constructed work, coherent, quanime a soul. To you to discover it. Buy this record, let it go to the heart of your life, see if you can find and glue your own reality. And email me eight years to tell me if you sang these songs in your heads, lautobus in the morning, or while waiting for a girl in the rain.