(Credits: Far Out / CMA-Creative Management Associates / Atlantic Records)
Tue 26 August 2025 16:30, UK
It’s hard to really explain some of the greatest rock bands of all time without seeing them live.
As much as people love the idea of hearing about the legends in action, there’s only so many who actually live up to the hype, but while Graham Nash hasn’t lost an ounce of polish in his voice over the years, he felt it was hard for people to appreciate what Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young did at their peak.
When the supergroup first began, Nash was a bit hesitant about messing with their magic too much. They had been a fantastic trio on their first albums, and while the idea of bringing in a legend like Neil Young feels like a no-brainer now, there were going to be more than a few reservations that came when having someone as fickle as him join the group on Déjà Vu.
Nash was probably the most sceptical about the idea of bringing in an outside writer, but it turned out that the edge Young brought was exactly what they needed half the time. ‘Teach Your Children’ and ‘Carry On’ are each great tunes on their own, but when Young brought out a song like ‘Ohio’, the band was finally doing more than writing traditional folk-rock tunes. They were in this to change the way people thought about the world around them, and their accompanying tour was when everything started to hit its stride.
Although much has been made of the group’s performance at Woodstock, that’s far from the best of what they could do. They made a point of playing to the people and promoting the idea of peace and love, but considering how much Young is scowling in the photos for it, it was clear that he didn’t want to have the cameras on him that day and would have rather played his set uninterrupted.
He had no problem with live recordings in principle, so having them bring out a live performance of them in their prime was a much better showcase for their talent. And when looking through the archives, Nash felt that the tours that they played in 1974 had something special that went beyond any of the mudslinging any of them had done in the past.
Although there were some exclusions for hardcore fans, Nash felt that CSNY 1974 is one of their finest hours, saying, “That tour was full of wonderful music. That’s one of the reasons why I did the [album]. I wanted to show historically that Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were a fabulous rock and roll band. If anybody in the future wants to know who the fuck CSNY were, that will give them a good idea.” And judging by the setlist, the band were also nailing down what worked and what didn’t whenever they were playing live.
Most people couldn’t get enough of their harmony singing, but the song choices are where everything stands out. Whether it’s Stills’s ‘Love the One You’re With’, Young working his way through ‘Helpless’, or Crosby’s ‘Almost Cut My Hair’, the whole album reads like a greatest-hits of some of the best material they made together and apart, with Young even throwing in a handful of tunes from his solo career as well.
A lot of the CSNY story seems to get bogged down by the drama behind every band member and the constant tension during their prime, but even if they had a few blow-ups at each other, this album is the reason why people loved them. Outside of the artistic disagreements, they simply gelled better than anyone else could when they first began harmonising with each other.
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