The Crosby & Nash song David Crosby called a “stunner”
Following the end of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, the four individuals involved in the collective splintered off into different directions. However, they often reunited in various incarnations, whether this was touring in their original guise, making new albums as a trio without Neil Young, and occasionally, only with Graham Nash and David Crosby.
Due to the success of their solo careers, combined with the fractured relationships which tended to occur when they united, they largely stayed away from one another. Still, when they came together, they were an unstoppable force, but for various reasons, getting all four of them in the same room to make a new studio album for decades proved impossible.
In 1971, after establishing themselves as artists in their own right, Crosby and Nash realised they were in a stronger position to tour if they came together. They enjoyed a celebratory run of dates, inadvertently leading to the recording of their debut album as a duo, Graham Nash David Crosby.
The aforementioned record marked the start of an infrequent partnership between Crosby and Nash, which existed away from their former bandmates. Although they still regularly worked with Stephen Stills and scarcely with Young, they made four albums as a pairing, with their eponymous final release, Crosby & Nash, arriving in 2004.
This album was significant for Crosby because his son, James Raymond, contributed to the writing process on five tracks and helped bring them close together. Raymond was born in 1962 and adopted by another family before being reunited with his father as an adult. A fellow musician, he joined Crosby and Nash’s touring band before assisting with songwriting.
During an interview with American Songwriter, Crosby highlighted ‘Lay Me Down’ as a personal favourite from his career, largely due to sentimental reasons. He remarked: “This is the moment where my son James and I are united musically.”
Crosby continued: “It’s a stunner. Graham and I were getting ready to make a record and James says, ‘I think I’ve got a song for the album,’ and sits down and plays this devil for us. It was mind-blowing, as if he was inside our heads when he wrote it.”
After being apart for decades, music helped bring the duo closer than ever. It wasn’t until Crosby needed a liver transplant in 1995 that they re-connected thanks to Raymond’s adoptive parents, marking the start of a beautiful relationship.
Sadly, the 2004 collaboration between Crosby and Nash proved to be the final recorded project between any configuration of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Although the quartet never reconvened in any shape, this was a powerful way for Crosby to end his working career with Nash. While their relationship soured years later, thankfully, they were able to bury the hatchet before Crosby died in 2023.
Listen to ‘Lay Me Down’ below.
