David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash talked — separately — about the 50th anniversary of CSNY’s Déjà Vu, the recording of the 1970 classic and why the band will likely never reunite on CBS Sunday Morning.
David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash talked — separately — about the 50th anniversary of CSNY’s Déjà Vu, the recording of the 1970 classic and why the band will likely never reunite on CBS Sunday Morning.
Following the LP’s recent reissue, Stills reminisced about the “chaotic,” contentious recording sessions. “It was glancing blows, but they were continuous,” Stills said. “And that tends to numb your skull.”
Nash also talked about his initial reluctance to have Neil Young — who declined to be interviewed by CBS Sunday Morning — join the band, but opted to allow it after witnessing Stills and Young play guitar together.
As for the current state of the quartet, Nash reiterated that a CSNY reunion is unlikely. “Stephen and Neil and I are great. We talk often,” Nash said. “We don’t talk to David.”
“I don’t expect to be friends with Graham, at any point,” Crosby said. “Neil hates my guts. I said bad stuff about his girlfriend.” As for whether Crosby regretted his remarks, “Yeah, sure.”
Nash added in his interview, “When that silver thread that connects a band gets broken, it’s very difficult to glue the ends together, it doesn’t quite work. So the things that happened in me and David’s life broke that silver thread, and for the life of me I can’t put it back together.”
Musician Graham Nash has been very vocal in the last two years about his anger with bandmate David Crosby over a series of personal clashes, so much so that fans of 1960s supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young had all but given up hope of a reunion.
Presented in a 12 x 12 hardcover book, it will be released as a 4-CD/1-LP set featuring the original album remastered, plus over two hours of rare and unreleased demos, outtakes, and alternate takes.
The deluxe vinyl version will also be available with the full content across 5 LPs of 180-gram vinyl. The deluxe vinyl version is available for pre-order now exclusively here.
Indeed, the group known for such politically provocative songs as “Ohio” (a response to the 1970 shootings of students protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University) and, more recently, “Almost Gone (The Ballad of Bradley Manning)” (addressing U.S. soldier Chelsea Manning’s trial for espionage in 2013), have long been a powerful voice for change in popular culture.
Nash had previously ruled out any reunion, making his feud with his longtime bandmate very public. In a 2016 interview with Dutch magazine Lust For Life, Nash said Crosby “has been just f—ing awful,” adding, “I’ve been there and saved his f—ing ass for 45 years, and he treated me like shit. … David has ripped the heart out of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.”
But Nash, who released an acclaimed solo album, “This Path Tonight,” last year, will do whatever it takes to fight the Trump administration. And after decades of activism, the 79-year-old offers some tips on how musicians and activists can sustain their strength for the next four years.
The prolific Nash emphasizes that artists should be active politically, no matter the career demands. “I spent the last 14 years making 16 CDs,” he says. “I did my box set of three, I did Crosby’s box set of three, I did Stephen [Stills’] box set of four, the CSNY 1974 stadium tour box set is four discs, and demos with recordings of CSN. I’ve been a very busy boy, you cannot get depressed and you can’t act when you’re depressed. It’s hard to stay positive, but that’s what we must remain, positive and alive.”
“We need the younger generation,” he says. “People like me, Jackson [Browne] and Bonnie [Raitt], we’ve been doing benefits for 40 years and we need the younger generation, particularly people like Lady Gaga, with what’s she got, 80 million people following her on Instagram or Facebook? We need those people that have incredible followings to be able to take a stand and bring information to their followers.”
