“I knew instantly”: the song that made Graham Nash join Crosby, Stills, and Nash
Every band has that one moment where everything starts clicking. Even if not everything works out the way that it should in the end, nothing beats that rush of adrenaline when everyone feels the music coming together the right way and creates a song that all of them can be proud of. Although Graham Nash knew that feeling well enough with The Hollies, he realised that the possibilities were endless the minute that he heard David Crosby play.
When all of the musical titans were coming together, though, supergroups were still considered fairly rare. There had been acts like Cream who could play together on a whim, but they seemed to be as destructive as they were productive half the time, and it wasn’t like every member of Crosby, Stills, and Nash were necessarily friends outside of their beautiful harmonies.
From day one, every member had said that the whole band was a separate project apart from their respective solo careers, but it’s safe to say that the “side project” tag has gone a bit too far. Looking through their debut album and Deja Vu as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, every one of their tunes has become a classic rock staple, whether that was Nash singing ‘Teach Your Children’ or getting dangerously close to journalism on ‘Ohio’.
Before Nash had thought of getting involved in the group, he was already acquaintances with Crosby when they started jamming together in California. The Hollies had already started to move in a mainstream direction that was never going to sit well with Nash, and listening to the songs of Crosby and Joni Mitchell helped open his eyes to what he had been missing.
Mitchell had already started working with ethereal tunings and working in philosophical lyrics, and when working with Crosby, Nash heard the first version of ‘You Don’t Have to Cry’. Although many artists like to bounce ideas off their peers, what started off as a visit to the US turned into the reason why Nash needed to form his own outfit with Crosby.
According to the Hollies musician, there was no way that he could go back to his old outfit and try to play that music after hearing Crosby’s tune, saying, “When we sang ‘You Don’t Have To Cry’, I knew instantly that I would have to go back to England and leave The Hollies and leave my money and equipment, and my family and my friends, and follow that sound – which is, of course, what I did. People thought I was fucking crazy, frankly. But I’d heard that sound, and I wanted it.”
And while that song could be credited with officially starting Crosby, Stills, and Nash, it’s hard to really argue with the finished version. There were still some bugs that had yet to be worked out, but hearing all of the harmonies suddenly fall into place felt like the remnants of the 1960s folk scene with a coating of folk and country music sprinkled on top.
Even though the next few years would get to be volatile and leave everyone with a few bruised egos, there was no point in trying to go back on their decision. They had some magic on their hands, and it was now up to the rest of the world to catch up to what they were doing.
