The 1970 Neil Young song Graham Nash called “beautiful”
David Crosby and Graham Nash were strangers to Neil Young before he turned Crosby, Stills and Nash into the awesome foursome of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. However, nobody listening to them perform together would have guessed they were anything but lifelong friends.
He was the perfect addition to bolster their sound to take them to another dimension. However, the very fact that he made the band change their name in order to accommodate him should have been a warning sign that they were a stepping stone rather than his final artistic destination.
Although his arrival forced the group to adapt, they began a bright new era once Young was in tow and played a pivotal part in creating their seminal body of work, Déjà Vu. Before joining CSNY, Young had previously played with Stephen Stills in Buffalo Springfield, but after their disbandment, he embarked on a solo career while Stills began work with Nash and Crosby.
Despite his hopes, immediate success in the solo sphere evaded him, and the opportunity to join the group was a no-brainer. Not only would it allow him to team up with three first-rate singer-songwriters, but it was also an irresistible chance to get his name out there to the masses.
Creatively, they weren’t always on the same page, with Young attempting to take the group in a folkier direction than the rest would have liked. Nevertheless, he was right to make the judgment call, leading to the most prosperous chapter of the group’s story.
Upon his arrival, Graham Nash was blown away by Young’s contribution and his incessant need to create. He later reflected to Uncut: “It’s incredible how prolific he was. At this time, Neil would come to rehearsals with us as CSNY and then at the end of the day we’d go about our business and we didn’t know he was going into the studio to record a solo album.”
Full of admiration, Nash added, “It’s been amazing to watch Neil become this great artist. When we were first together as CSNY we all realised how talented he was. I personally feel that Crosby, Stills & Nash and Crosby, Nash, Stills & Young are two completely different bands because of his talent and the difference that it makes.”
At the same time as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young were making Déjà Vu, Young was also getting his teeth into recording his third solo record, After the Gold Rush.
While the whole record is a source of joy and comfort in equal measure for Nash, on a personal note, he has a particularly affinity for the “beautiful” ‘Only Love Can Break My Heart’.
Although Nash didn’t know it at the time, he was the inspiration for the creation. ‘Only Love Can Break My Heart’ was written about the breakdown of Nash’s relationship with singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, and unsurprisingly, Nash was incredibly moved upon hearing it for the first time.
When discussing ‘Only Love Can Break My Heart’, he said: “That song means a lot to me because Neil wrote it about me and Joni. It’s such a beautiful song. I knew it was about me the day Neil played it for me at Stephen’s house in Laurel Canyon. It’s a beautiful song and it was incredibly important for me to hear what Neil had said because he was dead right, it is only love that can break your heart.”
Nash then noted how Young’s maturity seeped through into the song, adding, “We are strong, mankind, but these love things can really trip you up. He was only 24 when he wrote that.”
Following the end of his relationship with Mitchell, Nash was heartbroken, but through song, Young somehow conveyed everything that was going on in his head during this incredibly traumatic time.
He may have only been 24, but he was wise beyond his years, as he proved on ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’.
Thanks to the profile that he’d built up with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, the Canadian was no longer a hidden secret as After the Gold Rush finally established him as a star in his own right. Suddenly, his other commitments were put on the back burner as he chased the dream that took him to Los Angeles in the first place all those years prior.
