How Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young created the greatest supergroup of all time
As far as supergroups go, nothing can top the brilliance of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (CSNY). The ultimate countercultural act, together the quartet made music that not only defined their era but also provided supreme influence to those around them, with their hallmarks still ubiquitous in music today. Although their heyday was fleeting and marred by in-fighting, in terms of supergroups, very few can rival their efforts.
With David Crosby recently passing away, it was high time for fans of the short-lived quartet to delve back into their small oeuvre. This includes 1970’s Déjà Vu, one of the greatest albums of all time. While CSN might have five studio albums to their name, CSNY only has three, with their original effort proving to be the standout. In terms of quality and cultural significance, everything the members released after Déjà Vu pales in comparison.
So how did CSNY come to be? Well, it all started with CSN. Famously, David Crosby made his name as the guitarist and vocalist in folk-rock pioneers The Byrds before he was kicked out of the group in October 1967 due to disagreements over songwriting, amongst other things. As for Stephen Stills, he had been the creative director, vocalist, guitarist, and keyboardist in countercultural heroes Buffalo Springfield (also featuring Neil Young). Finally, Graham Nash was the singer, guitarist and songwriter with English rockers The Hollies, one of the most successful groups of the 1960s.
Shortly after they all came into each other’s orbits in various formats, the trio finally converged together in July of 1968. The meeting arrived during a dinner at a party in the Los Angeles neighbourhood of Laurel Canyon, which is said to have been at the home of either Joni Mitchell or Cass Elliot, with accounts differing, as Nash invited Stills and Crosby to perform Stills’ song, ‘You Don’t Have to Cry’.
The group did so twice. After, Nash learned the lyrics and improvised a new harmony over the third rendition. The vocals gelled with ease, and all three figures were alerted to the fact that they had great chemistry, both vocally and personally. The lightbulb moment was so stupendous that they all broke out in a fit of laughter. Whilst different stylistically, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and The Hollies were bands that placed vocal harmonies at the forefront of their art, meaning that each figure was well-versed in dovetailing with other people. This would be the key to their success as a trio and quartet.
“We knew what we were doing,” Nash explained in a 2014 interview, before continuing, “Whatever sound Crosby, Stills, and Nash has was born in 30 seconds. That’s how long it took us to harmonise.”
The die was cast. At the time, Nash was growing increasingly frustrated with The Hollies and quit the group in December 1968, returning to Los Angeles only two days later. Then, in early 1969, the trio travelled to London for an unsuccessful audition for The Beatles’ label, Apple Records. When they returned to California, Ahmet Ertegun, the head honcho of Atlantic Records, who had been a big fan of Buffalo Springfield, was saddened by that group’s demise and so signed the new trio to his label. Singing from the same sheet, given their respective experiences in their former outfits, the trio determined that a traditional group arrangement would not suffocate them this time. Instead, they chose their surnames as their name in order to make it clear that they each had independence and that the group would not continue without them, as The Hollies and The Byrds had done. CSN then picked the management team of David Geffen and Elliot Roberts, who worked out the deal with Atlantic and helped them to get pushed by the industry. Assembling this coalition also proved a masterstroke, providing the trio with the solid grounding to deliver their timeless music. Roberts was a sharp man manager who kept the trio focused and egos at bay, whilst Geffen handled the business side. Crosby would later explain that Geffen was the “shark” that they needed.
Things moved quickly for the trio. Their first album, Crosby, Stills and Nash, arrived in May 1969. A significant hit in the US and Europe, it went to number six stateside during a 107-week stay in the charts. The record spawned two classic hits, ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’, which refers to Stills’ ex-girlfriend Judy Collins, and ‘Marrakesh Express’, a track inspired by Nash’s trip to Morrocco in 1966. Combining their vocal melodies with Crosby and Stills’ distinctive guitar-playing styles, as well as Nash’s grasp of songwriting and infectious vocal melodies, there’s no wonder the trio instantly shot to fame.
Enter Neil Young. As the trio were keen to expand their sound for a tour, initially, they looked at hiring keyboard players. They figured multi-instrumentalist Steve Winwood would be perfect for the job. However, he was busy in the new supergroup Blind Faith, alongside titans of the era, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker. As a result, Ertegun put forward Neil Young’s name, who happened to be managed by Roberts. Although he was primarily a guitarist, Young was also a talented keyboardist and would be able to alternate between instruments in the live setting. At first, Stills and Nash both had reservations. The former’s qualms concerned the experience of Buffalo Springfield with Stills and Young leaving the band on acrimonious terms. Nash’s reservations were much less severe and rose because he didn’t know Young personally. Nevertheless, a series of meetings were held, with the trio eventually morphing into the quartet that featured Young. They were now CSNY.
After a four-leg, 39-date tour, and a performance at Woodstock in 1969, the band released their first album with Young, Déjà Vu, in March 1970. Featuring highlights of the era such as the Nash compositions ‘Teach Your Children’ and ‘Our House’, Stephen Stills’ ‘Carry On’, and the Joni Mitchell-penned ‘Woodstock’, the album was a tremendous success. It far eclipsed the commercial heights of Crosby, Stills and Nash. Having sold over eight million copies to date, as of 2017, it was the highest-selling album of each member’s career.
So what did Neil Young bring to the band? His edge was dynamic and atmospheric, with his unique approach to the guitar and songwriting helping to augment the substance that the trio first had. Just take his piece ‘Helpless’, for instance. The quartet’s vocal melodies fit perfectly together, making the sadness of Young’s lyrics palpable, and for many fans, this new, darker stance was welcome.
However, on a personal level, he also brought the mood swings and unpredictable behaviour that had a hand in ending Buffalo Springfield – but that’s a story for another day. Interestingly, as Far Out‘s Thomas Leatham suggests, there’s an argument to be made that Young actually disrupted the harmony of CSN. He maintains that Crosby, Stills and Nash was the product of three songwriters in total harmony but that Young’s presence on Déjà Vu exhibited a band whose individual styles appear at odds with one another, or at least between Young and CSN. Leatham posits that the melancholic ‘Helpless’ and the lovelorn ‘Country Girl’ don’t fit in with the rest of the album’s tracks, which is true. Whilst revered tracks in their own right, they seem like CSN had given Young his spotlight due to the terms of their contract.
Despite this argument and Young’s songs being creative outliers, they are still the greatest supergroup of all time. Not only does the album boast collaborative efforts from four of the most eminent songwriters to have ever graced the earth, but together the quartet managed to capture a period that was on its way out. Of course, the trio and quartet’s later efforts are all stellar, but nothing compared to Déjà Vu. Essentially, the record and their performances during this time were lightning in a bottle.
