Jackson Browne explains why David Crosby typified “egalitarian” counterculture
In the competitive world of rock and roll, where artists vie for attention and success, there are also those who foster talent and support others in the industry. According to Jackson Browne, David Crosby was one such figure who played a significant role in nurturing talent amidst the stiff competition in California’s music scene.
In the wake of the late 1960s, though, California was looked at as the dark side of what flower power was supposed to be. Where New York had the sounds of Woodstock around the end of the decade, California was giving us both the Grateful Dead and the infamous Altamont Festival, firmly ending the golden age of what rock and roll was recognised as.
Amid the dangerous sounds of acts like The Doors rising to prominence, David Crosby was still making the sounds of California sunshine sound exciting in The Byrds. Although he soon grew tired of constantly having to be told what to do by resident leader Roger McGuinn, the start of the 1970s was about to be extremely fruitful for the Laurel Canyon crowd.
Operating out of the vast landscape of California, Browne remembered just how free bands were to work with each other, recalling, “It wasn’t a dog-eat-dog rat race, trying to get signed, where you were competing with other bands. There was a whole egalitarian culture of musicians interested in each other’s songs”.
Even though Crosby didn’t have to worry about proving himself as an up-and-coming songwriter, he was more than happy to prop up the musicians that he could. Working extensively with Browne, Crosby would call him one of the finest songwriters that he had heard from that generation, ultimately getting him signed with David Geffen on Asylum Records.
Crosby wasn’t just egalitarian in the way that he decided to heap praise on any musician in the scene. For all of the music that he could have made on his own, he was more than happy to lend his skills to whichever artist he liked at the time, helping behind the scenes on some of Joni Mitchell’s finest recordings and even becoming one of the biggest names all over again when Crosby, Stills, and Nash began.
Browne even remembered Crosby finding time to work on his record before he had a following yet, explaining, “Once I was gonna make a record, Crosby was absolutely available to sing on my record. He did sing on it, and that pretty much put me on the map”.
That kind of supportive spirit would carry on into the next generation of artists as well. As opposed to the typical rock stars that get a house in the hills once they’ve hit the big time, Glenn Frey remembered walking into Los Angeles and just seeing Crosby on the side of the street, more than happy to chat up anyone who thought that they had what it took to take over the city.
What Crosby created would ultimately become a trend of the next phase of California rock. While everyone was married to their own bands, they would find time to work with anyone, from Browne contributing lines to Eagles songs to Frey and Don Henley guesting on albums by everyone from Linda Ronstadt to Browne to even Randy Newman.
The Laurel Canyon mindset wouldn’t be around for much longer, with the late 1970s giving way to artists who were just trying to outdo whichever hotshot band came before them. As far as Crosby was concerned, everyone in California starts off at the bottom, and when someone soars higher than everyone else, it’s your duty to share them with the world.
