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RIP David Crosby


bitflipper

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From his early days singing with the Byrds to CS&N and beyond we got some of the most beautiful songs ever written--Guinnevere, Wooden Ships, Yvette In English (co-written with Joni Michell), and all the wonderful collaborations on Here if You Listen, just a few that I've been listening to lately.  We're really going to miss you Croz...   peace brother. 

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38 minutes ago, Bapu said:

Saw CS&N about 10 years ago in San Diego (Humphrey's outdoor venue). C&N were fabulous but S could not sing a note on key the whole night.

Saw David Crosby just before the Pandemic. It was David with his own band. It was great but somehow I knew it would be the last time.

CSN was kind of variable - when they got it, it was very good. Sometimes it was magic, But song to song you never knew.

I saw them do an acoustic gig once - it was amazing.

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I've always been a big fan of vocal harmony, and was bonkers over The Byrds back in the day. It was years before I realized that was all Crosby and his knack for finding the best interweaving harmonies. Tambourine Man sounds huge, but listen closely and it's just McGuinn and Crosby. 

One of the few people in his class in that regard was Graham Nash, so naturally they made a great team. Even when backing Neil Young, who couldn't nail a harmony to save his life.

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I remember an interview with him from decades ago when he said he had to get into music to get girls, because he looked "like a pear with a Brillo pad on top". 
He was a cool guy and wrote the ultimate anti-establishment song "Almost Cut My Hair" (see above). 
My brother Mike and I played and sang many Byrds and CSNY songs back then. Loved the harmonies.  4 Way Street was a favorite album.
RIP.

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5 hours ago, bitflipper said:

that was all Crosby and his knack for finding the best interweaving harmonies.

this^, and this v

Quote

... Crosby also absorbed the music of the Everly Brothers, which taught him how to layer harmonies into diaphanous patterns. ... (and) brought jazz influences to both groups, in the process broadening the possibilities of vocally driven folk-rock.

...

5 hours ago, bitflipper said:

Tambourine Man sounds huge, but listen closely and it's just McGuinn and Crosby.

Gene Clark might be in on that one, but that's the tough part about picking out who's who in an organic blend of tight harmonies.

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Listen to Crosby's harmony part in this cover of Blackbird. He was a master of finding the harmonic hole and dropping into it. An inspiration to me, as that's the role I usual fill in my band; I give the others the obvious parts that are easy to remember, and then assign myself all the in-between notes they're not singing. George Harrison was another underrated harmony singer who often sang the most difficult part when they did 3-part harmony.

 

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When Jeff Beck passed , my wife asked me if I thought Keith Richards might be next.  I said I didn't know , but I would be devastated when David Crosby laid his body down..     By far my favorite of all the harmony geniuses.        RIP ..

Edited by mark skinner
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I remember as a child reading in the newspaper about a guy who was 120 years old. He was a civil war veteran. When asked his secret to longevity, he said he ate a bag of peanuts every day of his life. Well, I love peanuts, so there ya go. I pretty much each peanuts daily myself.

Of course, it just makes sense to learn from those who've manage to live so long. That's why I've been on both the Keith Richards and/or the David Crosby regimens for so much of my life. It's not an easy plan. For one thing, I have yet to bed a famous folk singer, and the probability that I ever will is now vanishingly low. 

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