How David Crosby inspired ‘Easy Rider’, the ultimate hippie movie: “Dennis and Peter used to watch us a lot”
The late David Crosby impacted the world in a myriad of ways. From his work with The Byrds to his instrumental role in the counterculture’s definitive supergroup, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (CSNY), the moustachioed Californian left behind a legacy that continues to astound with just how remarkable it is.
Whilst music was the area where Crosby made the most profound impact, it is claimed that he also had a vital role in bringing one of the definitive countercultural movies to life: Easy Rider.
Notably, the 1969 flick is an independent road drama written by two of the day’s biggest stars, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, alongside esteemed novelist and essayist Terry Southern. Starring Fonda and Hopper in two of their most iconic roles, as Wyatt and Billy, respectively, they play two bikers who travel through Southwestern America and the South with the proceeds of a cocaine deal.
A monumental cultural moment, Easy Rider was such a triumph that it helped kick off the New Hollywood era of the early 1970s. Famously, its inextricable connection to the era’s music was one of the main reasons that made it such a hit, utilising tracks such as Steppenwolf’s heavy metal progenitor, ‘Born to Be Wild’, ‘If 6 was 9′ by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and The Byrds’ version of Gerry Goffin and Carole King’s ‘Wasn’t Born to Follow’.
The story goes that initially, Peter Fonda wanted CSNY to write the entire soundtrack for the movie; however, it never happened. It all stemmed from Donn Cambern editing the footage more closely with what were meant as temporary songs than anticipated, leading everyone involved in the production to find them more appropriate for the visual footage than initially expected. Then, when the executive team watched a screening of Easy Rider using Cambern’s edits, they felt they could not improve on the music he’d used.
Cambern’s edits weren’t the only factor that led to CSNY not making the soundtrack for the movie. As things wore on, Dennis Hopper is said to have taken a more dictatorial role in production, with a tight grip on every aspect, including the music. According to him, in the book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, he fired CSNY behind Fonda’s back, telling them: “They picked me up in a limo at Columbia, and drove me over, played the music, I told Steve Stills, ‘Look, you guys are really good musicians, but honestly, anybody who rides in a limo can’t comprehend my movie, so I’m gonna have to say no to this, and if you guys try to get in the studio again, I may have to cause you some bodily harm.'”
For a band like CSNY, that kind of rejection must have felt like a strange twist of fate. They were the sound of the counterculture in many ways, the very voices that seemed tailor-made for a film like Easy Rider, yet the project slipped through their fingers at the final hurdle.
Still, the spirit of their music lingers in the finished film regardless. Even without their direct involvement, the same restless, searching energy that defined Crosby and his peers runs through every frame, proving that sometimes an artist’s influence can be felt just as strongly in absence as it can in presence.
However, Crosby’s connection with CSNY to Easy Rider is not how he majorly impacted the movie. According to himself, he directly inspired Dennis Hopper’s character, Billy. In a 1970 Rolling Stone interview, he was notified that he once compared his relationship with Byrds leader Roger McGuinn to that of Wyatt and Billy in Easy Rider, and his response outlines how this effect on Fonda and Hopper when writing the movie might have occurred.
He said: “Yeh, well, Dennis and Peter used to watch us a lot. Peter’s been a good friend for years, and Dennis, too, for that matter, although I don’t know him as well as I know Peter. I wouldn’t say that Dennis had me down exactly. He did grow a pretty good moustache, I’ll say that for him. And, as a matter of strict fact, although it’s a really technical detail, he got the knife right, too. Peter’s a sailor, too. Dennis — I really dig Dennis. He’s outrageous. I went to a wedding party the other day and he’s still outrageous. Michelle Phillips in a girl scout uniform. No underwear. God knows I love her …”
Elsewhere, when asked on Twitter in July 2018 whether he had directly inspired the character of Billy, Crosby – who was famous for his array of hot takes on the social media site – claimed: “Dennis said so yes”.
