Wasted on the Way

I've seen Crosby, Stills and Nash (never with Neil Young) live in concert twice.

The first time was in the mid 1980s. David Crosby was still using; he hadn't been to prison yet. The concert here started late; finally, after about 30 minutes, a man in a camo shirt and bandana came out and apologized. I thought he was a roadie; he was Stephen Stills. "We're running late. David's left the hotel and is stuck in traffic. We'll begin as soon as he arrives." It took two more "any time now, we hope" announcements before they finally took the stage.

They sounded great, all of them. Crosby, though, never looked up, never chatted, never engaged. He was on autopilot (and high as a kite).

Toward the end of the show, Stills started talking about the time they spent apart, not recording together, or even really talking to each other. "We're artists; we have egos, we get hurt," he said. "But then, one day, I got a phone call. Someone had written this amazing song." Nash looked down and fiddled with his guitar, but for the first time that night, Crosby's head snapped up. He looked straight out at the audience, and waved to get their attention. Then he took a small step back, out of Nash's line of sight. As Stills said, "... this amazing song, that just melted away all of the bitterness, that made us come together again, that made us both regret the time lost and come together like we'd never been apart," Crosby pointed, with both arms, at Nash's back. He kept looking at the audience, pointing, making huge gestures, making sure we got it. THIS MAN - this man wrote the song and brought us together. Nash kept busy tuning his guitar.

Years later, when Crosby was in prison, Graham Nash spontaneously phoned our local radio station, and probably more across the nation, just to talk, to say, "I've heard some of what David's been writing in prison. It's brilliant. I think it's some of the best work he's ever done. I can't wait to record it when he's able." He had no album to sell, no tour to promote, just the news that his friend was well and writing.

Sure, they have egos. But to watch them continually make sure that you notice the other guy's contribution, to see them truly value the other guy's input over their own, that's brotherhood.

I bought that first record they put out after David left prison. (It featured all four, including Neil Young.) It is indeed brilliant.

Watch them sing, years later, that song that brought them together:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg-Qdrr3XSk