(Credits: Far Out / Acroterion)
Sat 24 January 2026 20:00, UK
When Graham Nash first started floating the idea of Crosby, Stills, and Nash, he didn’t exactly know what he was getting himself into.
Their harmonies sounded fantastic, and they could bounce ideas off each other perfectly, but they were also their own worst enemies in many respects, whether it was Stephen Stills playing all the instruments on their albums or David Crosby becoming more difficult to work with thanks to his drug abuse. But Nash could always see beyond all of the hangups when a song started taking shape in the studio.
Because Nash was the kind of person who cared about the song above everything else. The Hollies had already been heading towards becoming a nostalgia act playing Bob Dylan songs, and if they couldn’t respect the genius that was turning up on ‘Marrakesh Express’, he needed a far greater outlet than working with his bandmates. So when that first CSN record hit the shelves, most people weren’t prepared for the kind of beauty that they had together.
Their voices complemented each other perfectly, and while that had a lot to do with how Crosby arranged everything, each member was equally responsible for making everything sound perfect. So when Nash started putting together his first songs for the follow-up, Deja Vu, the idea of bringing more people into the party wasn’t exactly his idea when Stills mentioned bringing Neil Young into the fold.
First and foremost, Young was already a brilliant solo artist, and while he hadn’t yet become NEIL FUCKING YOUNG, that fickle side of him was already out the minute that he started playing with them. He wasn’t going to let anyone get in the way of him making the songs that he wanted, and while Nash wasn’t going to tolerate that at first, he was swayed the minute that he met him for the first time.
All the hangups were still there, but Nash knew anything could have the potential to work if it was in Young’s hands, saying, “[I said] I’ve got to meet this guy before we fucking invite him into this band. So I had breakfast with Neil on Bleaker Street here in Manhattan. And at the end of the breakfast, I’d have made him king of the world. He was funny. He was self-effacing. [But] in a way, the best thing that ever happened to CSN was Neil, and the worst thing that ever happened to CSN was Neil.”
But what Nash saw that day was a classic example of what Young was like all the time. You couldn’t have found a more genuine rock and roller in your life, but when they got out on the road to play, he always had parameters up, whether it was refusing to be filmed when performing at Woodstock or ditching the band off and on throughout the years any time he got bored.
At the same time, Nash couldn’t deny the power that Young had over the band when he first took over. He was the one really pushing them forward in many respects, and while ‘Teach Your Children’ might have been Nash’s shining moment, he gladly pushed it to the side if it meant them making a statement when releasing the song ‘Ohio’ after the Kent State shootings.
Young wasn’t exactly necessary to the band’s success in any way, but compared to their first album, he was the one giving the band the edge that they needed. They were already writing the most beautiful harmonies anyone had ever heard, and with Young behind the microphone, they finally had the chance to prove to everyone that they could rock a lot more than they let on.
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