Making History: the album David Crosby deemed “one of the best”
Evoking the stories of Isaac Asimov for a second, to have journeyed deep into the mind of the late David Crosby would have been quite something. From the immense sweeping vistas of musical prowess to the many-hued narcotic-laced rivers coursing throughout it to the raven clouds of critical opinion that were never too far from the horizon, it was a landscape like no other. No matter what cerebral setting he would venture to with his mind’s eye, there was always a faint whiff of marijuana helping to blur the line between reality and fiction even further.
Although he might have been a controversial figure mostly due to the fact he regularly criticised those he had worked with, such as his former CSNY bandmate Neil Young, the impish Californian was nothing more than a spirited connoisseur. He reflected on the heady days of the counterculture and his extensive record collection, which stretched far outside the relatively lightweight folk deemed intrinsic to the era in which he made his name.
Often taking to his Twitter account to express his opinions, ranging from rating people’s joint-rolling skills to offering hot takes on music, Crosby kept those close to him and fans on their toes right until the very end. In many ways, he was the consummate keyboard warrior. It was evident at times on the internet that he was joking at the expense of everyone else and simply kicking back, puffing on a plump doobie from the comfort of his California home.
This natural emotional range would also fuel his accounts of his record collection, a deeply complex individual, as capable of outward vitriol as he was, moments of self-inspection, and even personal chastisement. One aspect he was particularly prone to in these critiques was hyperbole, and when he loved a release, he would let it be known in the loftiest of linguistic manners.
One album he deemed one of the best ever is 1977’s Heavy Weather by celebrated American jazz outfit Weather Report. When listing the five albums he couldn’t live without for Spin in 2021, Crosby said: “It’s one of the best jazz albums that anybody ever made.”
For all jazz lovers, Heavy Weather is a must-own title. The band’s most commercially successful record featured some of their best-known moments, such as opener ‘Birdland’, which went on to become a jazz standard. It is the lineup that constructed the album that makes it such a compelling release, as each member is a master of their field.
It consisted of the group’s founders, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Alex Acuña and Manolo Badrena. The album was produced and orchestrated by Zawinul, who was also assisted in aspects of production by Shorter and Pastorius. It contains many celebrated performances, with one of the definitive ‘Teen Town’. After release, it was quickly hailed as one of the ultimate triumphs of bassist Pastorius, who is widely deemed one of the finest four-string players of all time, living a storied life, also marked by drug addiction like David Crosby.
Perhaps the pinnacle of 1970s jazz fusion, Heavy Weather is a masterpiece. It’s not hard to imagine that when it came out, Crosby, who was working as a session musician during this era of personal and cultural flux, would have been inspired by this immense coming together of the New York supergroup. It’s also not outrageous to posit that it would have soundtracked some typically rock ‘n’ roll hijinx. It’s a shame he didn’t elucidate why he loved the album so dearly. Yet, praise from him was praise enough.
Listen to Heavy Weather below.
