The most underrated songs from David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash & Neil Young
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, four names, all songwriting titans in their own right, at one moment in time came together in order to make beautiful music together.
Of course, before Neil Young joined the band, they operated as a trio under Crosby, Stills & Nash. Graham Nash has previously admitted that this decision to start a band was initially pretty easy, as the moment they all joined their voices together, it was pretty evident that they had tapped into something well and truly special.
“I was born and raised on the outskirts of Manchester, and I heard a magical sound when me and David and Stephen put our three voices together to try and make one voice,” he said, “and when I heard that I had to go back to England, leave The Hollies and instead go back to that magical sound that we had created.”
It really was a moment of serendipity that all four of these musicians wound up coming together to write songs. They have produced some well-known classics, but have also managed to come up with some songs that have unfairly fallen under the radar. Here, we turn our attention to the latter, as we listen to the most underrated tracks by each member of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
The most underrated tracks by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young:
David Crosby – ‘Guinnevere’
This track that David Crosby wrote as part of Crosby, Stills & Nash doesn’t get anywhere near as much credit as it deserves. Firstly, you have the narrative, which sees Crosby sing about three different women, each of whom he was at some point enamoured with and each of whom he sings about in stunning fashion. On top of how well he conveys emotion in this track, though, the song is also very impressive because of Crosby’s approach to tuning and rhythm.
Rather than using standard tuning, he instead opts to go for an open tuning of EBDGAD. Additionally, he changes the time signature in each verse, something which is a common practice for artists within the world of prog rock, maybe, but certainly not folk music. It’s truly astonishing just how much he manages to challenge both himself and the listener throughout this track.
“I like it musically, I like it lyrically, and I like the mood that it creates a lot. The guitar pattern, I can’t say how it came about. I just fooled around and it came out,” he said when discussing the track, “I do think this one is beautiful. It could be my best.”
Stephen Stills – ‘Old Times, Good Times’
While we all recognise Stephen Stills as an exceptional songwriter, we still don’t give him quite the credit he deserves. What he did as a solo artist, in different bands and particularly with Crosby, Stills & Nash, was essentially hold the entire unit together.
One of his former bandmates from Buffalo Springfield, Richard Furay, previously praised just how much he contributed to the band. He said he was “the heart and soul of Buffalo Springfield”. Meanwhile, Crosby, Stills & Nash’s successful debut album, despite being a group effort, was certainly spearheaded by Stills. He said, “The other guys won’t be offended when I say that one was my baby, and I kind of had the tracks in my head”.
Despite being such an exceptional songwriter, there are plenty of tracks that Stills put together which are criminally overlooked. One of these is ‘Old Times, Good Times’, a track he released as a solo artist but that came with assistance from none other than Jimi Hendrix. It’s certainly a heavier song than a lot of others that Stills put together, and it really highlights his range as a musician and his ability to work with others.
Graham Nash – ‘Cold Rain’
It’s not just that the song ‘Cold Rain’ is underrated, but it’s also one of the best songs that you can listen to if you truly want to try and understand the songwriting giant that is Graham Nash. David Crosby would often tell people that if they ever wanted to know anything about Nash, then this was the song to listen to. Not only is it a top-quality track, but it’s laced with plenty of emotion and introspection. There is more contained within the minutes of this song than there is in certain philosophical texts.
“I wrote it on the steps of the Midland Hotel in Manchester. I was visiting my mum, who was a little sick and in the hospital. I stood on the steps in the rain and watched all the people go by, and most of them had a lost look in their eyes,” recalled Nash.
He added, “It seemed like they hated their jobs, they hated their bosses, and they hated what they were doing. It began to make me question, Why me? Why, out of everybody in Manchester, was I the one who got to go to America thousands of miles away and start a brand-new career? I’ve always asked myself that question. I hope I never get the answer to it.”
Neil Young – ‘Powderfinger’
Finally, we have Neil Young. Granted, he’s a songwriter who has managed to rub a lot of people the wrong way in his time, but his commitment to the art of songwriting is pretty undeniable. Whether he is writing about a genuine experience or going down more of a storytelling route, Young is consistent in how he delivers stellar songs everywhere he goes.
One of his greatest and most underappreciated tracks has to be ‘Powderfinger’, a song that surrounds a family of bootleggers and manages to put the listener in the middle of a shooting, where the narrative sees the bootleggers panic as a police boat begins making its way to their house, which means a young man needs to stand on the deck and open fire. Young’s imagery here is incredibly vivid, and it’s hard not to be caught in the current of his storytelling.
