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The reason why George Harrison rejected Crosby, Stills & Nash for Apple Records
It wasn’t easy for Crosby, Stills & Nash to find success, and they were no strangers to rejection. The band even made their way to London to strike a deal with The Beatles’ Apple Records, but the trio failed to convince George Harrison, who chose against signing them.
The Laurel Canyon-based group weren’t the only famous faces to encounter rejection by the record label, and a teenage David Bowie was also sent packing by Apple. Bowie’s then-manager labelled Apple a “deplorable organisation” in his memoirs and claimed they showed “sheer amateurism and downright rudeness that confronted us during the next three months, the time it took Apple to give us a decision”.
Their decision-making does suggest that Pitt was correct in his harsh criticism of the group. While Bowie was an unknown quantity and had yet to find his feet as an artist, Crosby, Stills & Nash were already established thanks to their previous work and were a risk-free signing for Apple.
It was early 1969 when the trio arrived in London for the audition. Despite hearing the entirety of their debut record, Harrison decided against the golden-plated opportunity presented to him. Instead, the Beatle and Peter Asher decided to sign artists like Jackie Lomax, who didn’t achieve even a fraction of Crosby, Stills & Nash’s success.
David Crosby clarified the story on Twitter and told his followers: “Did not record for them…live audition…sang the whole first record in London to George and Peter Asher …Apple passed on a number one record there …..ahh well …everybody makes mistakes ….Bet they regretted it later.”
He also told this story during an interview with The Guardian, when he explained: “We had an apartment on Moscow Road in London, we were rehearsing the first record [Crosby, Stills & Nash, 1969], and we had our shit down,” he said.
He added: “To hear ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’ in our living room was pretty f***ing impressive. And they turned us down. So did Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.”
The rejection was a blessing in disguise for the trio, and Apple Records would have likely found a way to mess it up. Shortly after their audition, Apple descended into further disarray following the decision to allow Allan Klein to take over, and the group were in much better hands elsewhere.
Fortunately for Crosby, Stills & Nash in California, Ahmet Ertegun from Atlantic Records wanted to sign the group, and they didn’t take much convincing to join the soon-to-be legendary label. Ertegun was upset by Buffalo Springfield’s split, and he was personally invested in rejuvenating their career.
Although it might have been devastating news to take at the time, especially considering the high position they held The Beatles and George Harrison in, it was undoubtedly a lucky escape for the California-based group, who were in safe hands with Atlantic.
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