Showing posts with label David Crosby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Crosby. Show all posts

Monday, October 21, 2024

Crosby & Nash - Graham Nash & David Crosby

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:17
Size: 80.8 MB
Styles: Soft rock
Year: 1972/2000
Art: Front

[3:55] 1. Southbound Train
[4:32] 2. Whole Cloth
[0:57] 3. Blacknotes
[2:25] 4. Strangers Room
[3:21] 5. Where Will I Be
[2:54] 6. Page 43
[2:18] 7. Frozen Smiles
[4:00] 8. Games
[3:25] 9. Girl To Be On My Mind
[4:25] 10. The Wall Song
[2:59] 11. Immigration Man

This self-titled release is one of if not arguably the most impressive side project to arise from CSN. Taken beyond face value, Graham Nash/David Crosby is a direct reflection, if not an extension, of the musical and personal relationship between its co-creators. Likewise, the results remain true, enhancing rather than detracting from the very individualistic styles of Crosby and Nash. The best elements of each are readily available here, punctuated at every turn by their complicated vocal arrangements and air-lock harmonies. In the wake of the enormous successes garnered by the albums Crosby Stills & Nash, Déjà Vu, and Four Way Street, the principal members were essentially given carte blanche studio access to pursue solo projects as well. This release is the first in what would turn out to be a series of collaborative efforts between Crosby and Nash. Musically it continues in much the same vein as their respective debut solo releases, If I Could Only Remember My Name and Songs for Beginners.

Nash's contributions include "Girl to Be on My Mind," "Stranger's Room," and "Southbound Train"a twangy piece of Americana featuring a high and lonesome steel guitar solo from Jerry Garcia that likewise hearkens to the Grateful Dead's American Beauty, Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection, or the Band's Music From Big Pink. These tracks co-exist in stark contrast to Crosby's more cerebral and incisive contributions, such as "Whole Cloth," "Games," and "The Wall Song." The latter features some outstanding instrumental support from the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia (guitar), Phil Lesh (bass), and Billy Kreutzman (drums). The core band revolves around another set of all-stars: Russell Kunkel (drums), Leland Skylar (bass), Craig Doerge (keyboards), and Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar (guitar). This same band would more or less continue to back up Crosby and Nash's duo efforts throughout the remainder of the '70s. Graham Nash/David Crosby offers much of the same unique songwriting and personal style which informed their better contributions not only to the CSN-related efforts, but as far back as their offerings with the Hollies and the Byrds. Interested enthusiasts are also urged to locate Another Stoney Evening a live acoustic release from October 10, 1971 which includes seminal live versions of "Southbound Train," "Where Will I Be," "Immigration Man," and "Stranger's Room." By Lindsay Planer

Graham Nash & David Crosby

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Deja Vu

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:57
Size: 82.3 MB
Styles: Rock
Year: 1970/1995/2005
Art: Front

[4:24] 1. Carry On
[2:52] 2. Teach Your Children
[4:27] 3. Almost Cut My Hair
[3:35] 4. Helpless
[3:52] 5. Woodstock
[4:10] 6. Deja Vu
[2:59] 7. Our House
[2:05] 8. 4 + 20
[5:09] 9. Country Girl A. Whiskey Boot Hill. B. Down, Down, Down. C. Country Girl [i Think You're Pretty]
[2:20] 10. Everybody I Love You

One of the most hotly awaited second albums in history -- right up there with those by the Beatles and the Band -- Déjà Vu lived up to its expectations and rose to number one on the charts. Those achievements are all the more astonishing given the fact that the group barely held together through the estimated 800 hours it took to record Déjà Vu and scarcely functioned as a group for most of that time. Déjà Vu worked as an album, a product of four potent musical talents who were all ascending to the top of their game coupled with some very skilled production, engineering, and editing. There were also some obvious virtues in evidence -- the addition of Neil Young to the Crosby, Stills & Nash lineup added to the level of virtuosity, with Young and Stephen Stills rising to new levels of complexity and volume on their guitars. Young's presence also ratcheted up the range of available voices one notch and added a uniquely idiosyncratic songwriter to the fold, though most of Young's contributions in this area were confined to the second side of the LP. Most of the music, apart from the quartet's version of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock," was done as individual sessions by each of the members when they turned up (which was seldom together), contributing whatever was needed that could be agreed upon. "Carry On" worked as the album's opener when Stills "sacrificed" another copyright, "Questions," which comprised the second half of the track and made it more substantial. "Woodstock" and "Carry On" represented the group as a whole, while the rest of the record was a showcase for the individual members. David Crosby's "Almost Cut My Hair" was a piece of high-energy hippie-era paranoia not too far removed in subject from the Byrds' "Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man," only angrier in mood and texture (especially amid the pumping organ and slashing guitars); the title track, also by Crosby, took 100 hours to work out and was a better-received successor to such experimental works as "Mind Gardens," out of his earlier career with the Byrds, showing his occasional abandonment of a rock beat, or any fixed rhythm at all, in favor of washing over the listener with tones and moods. "Teach Your Children," the major hit off the album, was a reflection of the hippie-era idealism that still filled Graham Nash's life, while "Our House" was his stylistic paean to the late-era Beatles and "4+20" was a gorgeous Stephen Stills blues excursion that was a precursor to the material he would explore on the solo album that followed. And then there were Neil Young's pieces, the exquisitely harmonized "Helpless" (which took many hours to get to the slow version finally used) and the roaring country-ish rockers that ended side two, which underwent a lot of tinkering by Young -- even his seeming throwaway finale, "Everybody I Love You," was a bone thrown to longtime fans as perhaps the greatest Buffalo Springfield song that they didn't record. All of this variety made Déjà Vu a rich musical banquet for the most serious and personal listeners, while mass audiences reveled in the glorious harmonies and the thundering electric guitars, which were presented in even more dramatic and expansive fashion on the tour that followed. ~Bruce Eder

Deja Vu

Friday, May 16, 2014

David Crosby - Croz

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 46:58
Size: 107.5 MB
Styles: Rock
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[3:48] 1. What's Broken
[3:50] 2. Time I Have
[3:42] 3. Holding On To Nothing
[3:58] 4. The Clearing
[3:46] 5. Radio
[4:17] 6. Slice Of Time
[3:58] 7. Set That Baggage Down
[4:57] 8. If She Called
[5:56] 9. Dangerous Night
[3:41] 10. Morning Falling
[5:01] 11. Find A Heart

"The best solo record David Crosby has made, without a doubt. Beautifully produced and recorded, the musicianship is so tasteful. His voice sounds as good as it ever was." ~Glyn Johns

Croz is David Crosby's first studio album in over 20 years, a collection of 11 new tracks from one of America's most notable singer-songwriters and two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. Croz also features guest appearances from Wynton Marsalis, Mark Knopfler, Leland Sklar and Steve Tavaglione.

Croz

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Joni Mitchell - Hits

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 65:54
Size: 150.9 MB
Styles: Folk, Folk-rock
Year: 1996
Art: Front

[5:04] 1. Urge For Going
[2:30] 2. Chelsea Morning
[7:41] 3. Big Yellow Taxi
[5:26] 4. Woodstock
[4:50] 5. The Circle Game
[3:02] 6. Carey
[3:49] 7. California
[2:38] 8. You Turn Me On I'm A Radio
[3:05] 9. Raised On Robbery
[3:21] 10. Help Me
[3:02] 11. Free Man In Paris
[4:02] 12. River
[5:16] 13. Chinese Cafe/Unchained Melody
[7:29] 14. Come In From The Cold
[4:32] 15. Both Sides Now

All tracks have been digitally remastered using HDCD technology. HITS and MISSES, released on the same day in October 1996, are, amazingly enough, the first compilations of Joni Mitchell's work. Mitchell is one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the rock era. By incorporating poetic lyricism and a jazzy harmonic sensibility into the troubadour tradition, she paved the way for everyone from Rickie Lee Jones to Sting. HITS features some of the best-known songs from her immense repertoire (MISSES highlights equally important, but less commercially successful, compositions). HITS begins and ends with early, acoustic guitar-based material. "Urge For Going" (previously unavailable on CD) and "Both Sides Now" both yielded reams of cover versions by the likes of Judy Collins, Tom Rush and countless others. Moving on through the stylistically divergent phases of Mitchell's career, the lush pop songs "Help Me" and "Free Man In Paris" segue into the starkly confessional piano ballad "River" and the slippery, jazzy feel of "Chinese Cafe/Unchained Melody," adorned by Larry Klein's Jaco-manque fretless bass. HITS can only skim the surface of Mitchell's prolific output; a truly thorough chronicle would require a box set. But every song here is a gem, and this is a perfect place for the uninitiated to begin.

Joni Mitchell (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, dulcimer, piano, electric piano, keyboards); Saskatunes, Lookout Mountain United Downstairs Choir (vocals); Larry Klein (guitar, percussion); Stephen Stills (guitar); James Taylor (acoustic guitar); José Feliciano, Larry Carlton, Robbie Robertson, Steve Lukather (electric guitar); Graham Nash (harmonica, background vocals); Tom Scott (woodwinds, horns); Joe Sample (electric piano); Larry Williams (synthesizer); John Guerin (drums, percussion); Jim Hughart, Russ Kunkel, Vinnie Colaiuta (drums); Alex Acuña & the Unknowns, Alex Acuña, Milt Holland, Bobbye Hall (percussion); David Crosby (background vocals).

Hits

Friday, October 11, 2013

Jackson Browne - The Very Best Of Jackson Browne (2-disc set)

Before this double-disc dose of Jackson Browne's best came along, the influential troubadour's most extensive career summary was the 15-song THE NEXT VOICE YOU HEAR. This truly definitive anthology contains just about everything on that disc and plenty more. Browne helped define the 1970s singer/songwriter idiom, and that process is carefully documented here, as on the precociously world-weary "These Days" and the soulful, Van Morrison-like "Doctor My Eyes." The collection follows Browne through the years, as he toughens up his sound with more of a rock edge ("Running on Empty," "Boulevard") and adds a sociopolitical edge to his lyrics ("Lives in the Balance," "I am a Patriot"). Through it all, Jackson's humanity and humility, not to mention his lyrical song-craft, shine.

Jackson Browne (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, piano); David Lindley (acoustic & electric guitars, slide guitar, fiddle); Kevin McCormick (acoustic guitar, bass); Clarence White (acoustic guitar); Jesse Ed Davis (electric guitar); Sneaky Pete Kleinow (pedal steel guitar); Craig Doerge (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, keyboards, Mini-Moog synthesizer); David Paich, Elton John (piano); Benmont Tench (Hammond B-3 organ); Jai Winding (organ, synthesizer); Doug Haywood (organ, background vocals); Michael Utley (organ); Leland Sklar, Chuck Rainey (bass); Russell Kunkel (drums, congas); Jeff Porcaro (drums); Luis Conte (percussion); Vonda Shepard, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Glenn Frey, Dan Fogelberg, Don Henley, J.D. Souther, Bonnie Raitt (background vocals).

Album: The Very Best Of Jackson Browne (Disc 1)
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 77:20
Size: 177.0 MB
Styles: Rock, Folk rock
Year: 2004

[3:18] 1. Doctor My Eyes
[3:23] 2. Jamaica Say You Will
[4:11] 3. Rock Me On The Water
[3:40] 4. Take It Easy
[4:38] 5. These Days
[4:05] 6. Red Neck Friend
[5:56] 7. For Everyman
[4:47] 8. For A Dancer
[6:55] 9. Fountain Of Sorrow
[5:35] 10. Late For The Sky
[6:20] 11. Before The Deluge
[6:01] 12. Your Bright Baby Blues
[5:50] 13. The Pretender
[3:34] 14. Here Come Those Tears Again
[5:35] 15. The Load-Out
[3:23] 16. Stay

The Very Best Of Jackson Browne (Disc 1)

Album: The Very Best Of Jackson Browne (Disc 2)
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 70:16
Size: 160.8 MB
Styles: Rock, Folk rock
Year: 2004
Art: Front

[4:56] 1. Running On Empty
[3:54] 2. You Love The Thunder
[4:22] 3. Somebody's Baby
[4:53] 4. Tender Is The Night
[4:24] 5. Lawyers In Love
[5:46] 6. In The Shape Of A Heart
[5:38] 7. Lawless Avenues
[4:19] 8. Lives In The Balance
[4:10] 9. I Am A Patriot
[6:04] 10. Sky Blue And Black
[5:15] 11. I'm Alive
[5:39] 12. The Barricades Of Heaven
[4:55] 13. Looking East
[5:56] 14. The Naked Ride Home

The Very Best Of Jackson Browne (Disc 2)