1. LONG TIME GONE - Crosby & Stills (4:32)
(David Crosby)⁴

David Crosby: electric guitar, vocals
Stephen Stills: electric guitars, bass

Produced by David Crosby & Stephen Stills. Recorded by Henry Lewy at Western Recorders, Hollywood, June 13, 1968. Mixed by Henry Lewy at Wally Heider Recording, Studio 3, Hollywood, June 21, 1968 . Previously unreleased demo version. (P) 2006 David Crosby.

Henry Lewy: Right away they started doing everything themselves. They were like little geniuses. At one point, Stills was playing drums, then guitar, then organ. I'd seen other multi-talented people before, but none as equally adept at every instrument ... I'd been working with The Mamas & The Papas, so I knew good harmonies. What Crosby and Stills were doing was somehow sweeter. It was a joy to see these two ... very amiable, in complete harmony, working away, creating some miracles.

Interviewed by Dave Zimmer for Crosby, Stills & Nash: The Biography, Da Capo Press, 2000.
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2. GUINNEVERE - David Crosby (4:19)
(David Crosby)⁴

David Crosby: acoustic and electric guitars, vocals
Jack Casady: bass
Cyrus Faryar: bouzouki

Produced by David Crosby. Recorded by Henry Lewy at United Recording, Hollywood, June 26, 1968. Mixed by Henry Lewy at Wally Heider Recording, Studio 3, Hollywood, July 12, 1968. Previously unreleased mix. (P) 2006 David Crosby

DC: I love this version of "Guinnevere" because of the beauty that Jack Casady and Cyrus Faryar brought to it. That was delicious. I thought I was making a record at the time, but I didn't know for whom. I just got in the studio. I would have put the track on the first CSN album just as it is, but Stephen and Graham wanted me to try the song over again so they could add their own things to it. But Jack was such a brilliant and adventuresome player – he had incredible tone and sound, and played like no one else. A towering monster of a musician.
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3. ALMOST CUT MY HAIR - David Crosby (5:22)
(David Crosby)⁴

David Crosby: acoustic guitar, vocals

Produced by David Crosby. Recorded at Wally Heider Recording, Studio C, San Francisco, September, 1969. Previously unreleased demo version. (P) 2006 Atlantic Recording Corporation. Produced under license from Atlantic Recording Corporation.

DC: I wrote "Almost Cut My Hair" when we were putting ourselves together as a group. We were living in Sag Harbor in an A-frame, which is also where Stephen and Judy Collins finally got together. I think I had started writing the song in my house in Beverly Glen, but I finished it in the upstairs of that house in Sag Harbor. It's funny it's probably the song I'm most known for, but to me, it's probably my most juvenile, least impressive piece of work. The reason I got so excited about it was because of what Stephen and Neil did with it later.
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4. GAMES - David Crosby (3:05)
(David Crosby)⁴

David Crosby: acoustic guitar, vocals

Produced by Paul Rothchild. Recorded by Bruce Botnick at Hollywood Recorders, March 28, 1968. Previously unreleased demo version. (P) 2006 David Crosby.

DC: I like what I'm saying in the song. I think "Games" is where I started doing uneven lines – like when you do a section and it scans, and the rhyme hits right here, but there are two more words tagged on afterwards. That's become a part of how I write, and "Games" was the first time I did it. I think it's a beautiful song, very fucking simple. And you get the idea of things I'm going to do.
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5. DEJA VU - Crosby & Nash (2:36)
(David Crosby)4

David Crosby: acoustic guitars, vocals
Graham Nash: vocals

Produced by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Recorded by Bill Halverson, assisted by Stephen Barncard, at Wally Heider Recording, Studio C, San Francisco, November 6, 1969. This previously unreleased demo version became the basic track to which overdubs were added to produce the final version included in the album DejaVu (Disc One, Track 7). (P) 2006 Atlantic Recording Corporation. Produced under license from Atlantic Recording Corporation.

DC: I remember Nash thinking that "Deja Vu" was quite weird, which made me very happy.


Paul Zollo: Did "Deja Vu" pretty much come out in one piece.

DC: Pretty much.

Paul Zollo: It's quite musically complex.

DC: Yeah, and non-repetitive, non-cyclical.

Paul Zollo: Like many of your songs. Which is unusual. Most songs are much more symmetrical.

DC: [in a mock-Liverpudlian accent] I'm an unusual sort of guy I've an asymmetrical mind, is what I've got.

Interviewed by Paul Zollo, Encino, CA, 1993, for Songwriters On Songwriting, Da Capo, 1997 expanded edition.
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6. TRIAD - David Crosby (5:26)
(David Crosby)⁴

David Crosby: acoustic guitars, vocals

Produced by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Recorded by Bill Halverson, assisted by Stephen Barncard, at Wally Heider Recording, Studio C, San Francisco, November 17, 1969. Mixed by Stanley Johnston at Signet Sound, Hollywood, December, 2005. Previously unreleased demo version.
(P) 2006 Atlantic Recording Corporation. Produced under license from Atlantic Recording Corporation.

DC: "Triad" was one of the first times I was able to get the jazz-chord sound out of the guitar. That's a really good chord progression, in that it sounds a lot trickier than it is. I love how it goes together musically.


Bob Dylan: Crosby was a colorful and unpredictable character, wore a Mandrake The Magician cape, didn't get along with too many people and had a beautiful voice – an architect of harmony ... (He) could freak out a whole city block by himself, but I liked him a lot. He was out of place in The Byrds.

From Chronicles: Volume One, Simon & Schuster, 2004.
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7. COWBOY MOVIE - David Crosby (10:57)
(David Crosby)⁴

David Crosby: electric guitar, vocal, handclaps
Jerry Garcia: electric guitar
Neil Young: electric guitar
Phil Lesh: bass
Mickey Hart: drums, tambourine, handclaps

Produced by David Crosby.
Recorded by Stephen Barncard, assisted by Ellen Burke, at Wally Heider Recording, Studio C, San Francisco, September 8,1970. Basic track is Take 4, with lead vocal from Take 3, the master take released on If I Could Only Remember My Name. Mixed by Stanley Johnston at Signet Sound, Hollywood, December, 2005. Previously unreleased studio version. (P) 2006 Atlantic Recording Corporation. Produced under license from Atlantic Recording Corporation.

DC: "Cowboy Movie" is the story of the first time that CSNY came apart at the seams. I'm Old Weird Harold, Neil is Young Billy, Stephen is Eli – our fastest gunner, mean and young from the South" – and Nash is the dynamiter. The Indian girl was Rita Coolidge. I liked it because it was a rock 'n' roll song that rocked hard. It felt really great just to yell it out. Man, did Neil and Jerry ever push each other into some wonderful stuff. That chemistry should have happened more – those guys should have gotten in a room and played together. Because the very thing that makes Neil so explosively musical – the freedom and lack of restraint – mixes with Jerry's whole trip wonderfully.
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8. KIDS AND DOGS - David Crosby (6:58)
(David Crosby)⁴

David Crosby: acoustic guitar, vocals
Jerry Garcia: acoustic and electric guitars

Produced by David Crosby.
Recorded by Stephen Barncard, assisted by Ellen Burke, at Wally Heider Recording, Studio C, San Francisco, September, 1970. Mixed by Stanley Johnston at Signet Sound, Hollywood, December, 2005. Previously unreleased song.
(P) 2006 Atlantic Recording Corporation. Produced under license from Atlantic Recording Corporation.

Steve Silberman: Of all the haunting melodies David composed in late 1968 – including "Guinnevere," "Tamalpais High (At About 3)," "Laughing," and "Wooden Ships" – “Kids And Dogs" is the most joyful. This outtake from If I Could Only Remember My Name came close to never seeing the light of day, but now it's restored to its rightful place as a high point of two musical legacies. Jerry Garcia overdubbed the lead guitars while mixing the Dead's timeless American Beauty down the hall; you can hear how comfortable the two men were in the telepathic tennis match of stoned chords before the song begins. (Jerry's chuckle is priceless.) Then as David's voice – which Art Garfunkel praised for its "Zen-smooth kind of exhale” – is multitracked into a human chorus, Jerry's restless, searching guitars stitch a golden thread down the fabric of harmony "Kids And Dogs" is a very playful tune, but there's a transcendent calm in the ebb and flow of the performance. This is healing music.


DC: Jerry must have come to Wally Heider's every night for a long time, and he was so helpful, so good, so bright, and so inventive. He was having so much fun with music, and so much fun with life. As much as we had a fantastic time other times, that particular time that we were doing If I Could Only Remember My Name was amazing.

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THAT SHIT-EATING GRIN WITH THE SPARKLY "JUST TRY ME" LOOK IN HIS EYES. HE'S AMUSED BY LIFE AND LAUGHS EASILY. PAUL KANTNER AND I TOOK A SEAPLANE A COUPLE HOURS DOWN THE COAST TO GO SEE DAVID ON HIS BOAT ONCE, IN THE '60s. HE LIVED LIKE THE PEOPLE WHO WEREN'T THERE IN THE '60s THOUGHT WE LIVED DURING THAT TIME. HE WAS ON THIS IMMACULATE WOODEN BOAT WITH THESE TWO LONG-HAIRED, BEAUTIFUL, NAKED WOMEN BRINGING HIM GRAPES. I DIDN'T TAKE MY CLOTHES OFF, BECAUSE I WAS TOO EMBARRASSED AND SKINNY. I LIVED AT NIGHT AND HAD THIS WHITE BODY WITH NO TITS, AND I WASN'T GOING TO PUT MYSELF UP AGAINST THOSE WOMEN.

DAVID AND I HAVE BOTH BEEN TO OR HAD INTERVENTIONS FOR EACH OTHER, AND WE'VE KEPT EACH OTHER ALIVE ON A COUPLE OF OCCASIONS, THOUGH I ALMOST SHOT HIM ONCE. I WENT UP TO THE AIRPLANE'S OFFICE IN SAN FRANCISCO LATE ONE NIGHT, AND SOME CRAZY GUY WHO WANTED TO BE OUR DRUMMER HAD BURGLARIZED IT. ALL THE FURNITURE WAS FUCKED UP, AND I KNEW PAUL KEPT A GUN IN HIS NIGHTSTAND, BUT IT WAS ON THE TOP FLOOR. SO I CREPT UP THE STAIRS, AND I SAT DOWN ON THE BED AND AIMED THE GUN AT THE DOOR. CROSBY WALKS IN, AND I SAY, "DAMN, I ALMOST KILLED YOU!" HE SAID, "GOOD GIRL – YOU'RE TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS!"

THAT'S DAVID. HE'S A LEO. HE'S DETERMINED AND VERY FUNNY, AND HE ENJOYS A GOOD TIME.

 – GRACE SLICK
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9. HAVE YOU SEEN THE STARS TONITE? - Paul Kanter/ Jefferson Starship (3:06)
(Paul Kantner/David Crosby)¹⁵

Paul Kantner: guitar, vocals
David Crosby: guitar, vocals
Graham Nash: vocals
Grace Slick: piano
Jerry Garcia: pedal steel guitar
Mickey Hart: percussion

Produced by Paul Kantner.
Recorded by Phil Sawyer at Pacific High Recording, and later by Alan Zentz & Pat "Maurice" Ieraci at Wally Heider Recording, Studio A, San Francisco, Fall, 1970. Track previously released on Blows Against The Empire, RCA LSP 4448, released December, 1970. Previously unreleased mix by Stanley Johnston at Signet Sound, Hollywood, December, 2005.
(P) 2006 Sony BMG Music Entertainment Under License From The SONY BMG Custom Marketing Group, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT.

Paul Kantner: One day in Crosby's L.A. canyon house we sat down with a banjo and guitar and began jamming in D, and Crosby just rolled out the lyrics to "Have You Seen The Stars Tonite?" In the studio we piled the harmonies together to make it the sweet little voyage that it was.

Kantner's commentary for Blows Against The Empire.


DC: I've always found that if you're trying to talk about something as big as space, the way to do it is to personalize it – take a particular and talk about human-sized experience with it.


Graham Nash: Grace, Paul, David – they let me do whatever I heard. I was searching for this kind of environment when I came to America. And when I was mixing in the studio, our imaginations were running rampant. We were creating virtual kingdoms with music.

Interviewed by Dave Zimmer for Crosby, Stills & Nash: The Biography, Da Capo Press, 2000.
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10. THE LEE SHORE - Crosby & Nash (4:24)
(David Crosby)⁴

David Crosby: electric 12-string guitar, vocals
Graham Nash: vocals

Produced by David Crosby & Graham Nash.
Recorded by Bill Halverson at Carnegie Hall, New York City, September 30, 1971. Mixed by Stanley Johnston at Signet Sound, Hollywood, December 2005. Previously unreleased live version. (P) 2006 Atlantic Recording Corporation. Produced under license from Atlantic Recording Corporation.

DC: I wrote "Lee Shore" on the Mayan in the Berry Islands in the Bahamas. In hindsight, I love sailing because it was a thing that kept me in touch with the real world. It's not just drugs that keep you from the real world; fame does, money does. If you buy into those things, the real world goes away. On the boat, you either have your shit together or you don't. The ocean doesn't know who you are. Couldn't care less. It's so easy to get lost in thinking that you're the center of the universe. The star trip. Sailing has had a hugely good effect on me, because I'm equipped with this rampant ego, and the ocean has been a wonderful tamer of that ego. A good teacher.


Q: What does your boat mean to you?

DC: Joy. Balance. Freedom. Perseverance. Patience. Love. Grace. Motion. Balance. Balance. Grace. Home.

Interviewed by David Myers during the making of an unreleased documentary film on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, New York City, June, 1970.
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11. TRACTION IN THE RAIN - Crosby & Nash (3:36)
(David Crosby)⁴

David Crosby: 12-string acoustic guitar, vocals
Graham Nash: 6-string acoustic guitar, vocals

Produced by David Crosby & Graham Nash.
Recorded by Bill Halverson at Carnegie Hall, New York City, September 30, 1971. Mixed by Stanley Johnston at Signet Sound, Hollywood, December, 2005. Previously unreleased live version. (P) 2006 Atlantic Recording Corporation. Produced under license from Atlantic Recording Corporation.

DC: "Traction In The Rain" is kind of a mystical song – the second verse is very cryptic. "The strangest thing I've seen is a T-shirt turning green" came from a walk through the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park with Joan Baez and her younger sister, Mimi Farina. The olive branch was because we were going to a peace rally. The "straight cat in the T-shirt" was some guys we saw who were anti-anti-war. "They were in love” – Nash and I were very flashed with Joan and Mimi. I don't think anyone ever figured out what I was talking about, but I still love the song.
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12. KING OF THE MOUNTAIN - David Crosby (2:44)
(David Crosby)⁴

David Crosby: 12-string acoustic guitar, vocals.

Produced by David Crosby.
Recorded and mixed by Stephen Barncard at Rudy Records, San Francisco, January 17, 1974. Previously unreleased demo version. (P) 2006 Atlantic Recording Corporation.  Produced under license from Atlantic Recording Corporation.

DC: That one's about Stephen. Everyone hears the first line as "He sits in a grandstand alone." But in my own mind I hear it as, "He sits in a grand stand – alone" – in a deep solitude. I love Stephen, he's my partner, but he can also be one of the loneliest human beings on the planet. "King Of The Mountain" is a strong expression of my love for him and an attempt to feel his pain.
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13. HOMEWARD THROUGH THE HAZE- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (4:22)
(David Crosby)⁴

David Crosby: piano, vocals
Stephen Stills: electric guitar
Graham Nash: organ, vocals
Neil Young: electric guitar.

Produced by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Ron and Howard Albert.
Recorded and mixed by Ron and Howard Albert at The Record Plant, Sausalito, CA, December 16, 1974. Track previously released on the CSN boxed set, Atlantic 82319, released on October 15, 1991. Previously unreleased mix. (P) 2006 Atlantic Recording Corporation. Produced under license from Atlantic Recording Corporation.

DC: I originally wrote "Homeward Through The Haze" on guitar and then figured out how to do it on the piano, which I liked a lot better. "First rain of winter, first fall from grace, my first hollow echo in the halls of praise" – that's me talking about one of the first times that somebody criticized Crosby, Stills & Nash in a snide way, trying to make his bones by getting noticed as a reviewer. The second verse – “the blind leading the blind" –that's about L.A., coming down from the high late'60s/early-'70s feeling we had, seeing things start to tarnish and get more hard, more harsh, more greedy, and less wonderful. It's a song about disillusionment.
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14. SAMURAI - David Crosby (1:40)
(David Crosby)⁴

David Crosby: vocals

Produced by David Crosby and Stanley Johnston.
Recorded by Stanley Johnston, assisted by Jay Parti at Rudy Records. May 26. 1980. Mixed by Stanley Johnston at Signet Sound. Hollywood, December, 2005. Previously unreleased version. (P) 2006 David Crosby.

DC: I wrote "Samurai" very early, way back there in the mists of time. It is what it is. It's out there.
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15. CLIMBER - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (5:18)
(David Crosby)⁴

David Crosby: acoustic guitar, vocals
Stephen Stills: electric guitar, vocals
Graham Nash: vocals
Neil Young: electric guitar, vocals
Luis Conte: percussion

Produced by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Recorded by Bill Halverson, assisted by Lior Goldenberg, Tony Flores, and Barry Goldenberg, and mixed by Graham Nash at Conway Studios, Los Angeles, May 12, 1999. Previously unreleased studio version. (P) 2006 Reprise Records. Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records Inc.

DC: I think the first couple of verses of "Climber" are some of the best words I've ever written. But truthfully, I've never climbed anything. I would be scared shitless to climb a mountain – I'm scared of heights. But the images, the words from that milieu – “the clink of the metal, the hiss of the rope” – worked perfectly in the song. I particularly loved this version we did with CSNY, because of the harmonies and Neil's edgy guitar.
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16. DREAM FOR HIM - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (7:57)
(David Crosby)⁴

David Crosby: acoustic guitar, vocals
Stephen Stills: bass
Graham Nash: vocals
Neil Young: electric guitar, vocals
Steve "Smokey" Potts: drums

Produced by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Live concert audio by Tim Mulligan & Dave Lohr, recorded by Zeke Young, at Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH, February 7, 2002. Mixed by Stanley Johnston at Signet Sound, Hollywood, December 2005. Previously unreleased live version. (P) 2006 Reprise Records. Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records Inc.

DC: My brother turned me on to Cal Tjader back in the '50s. And I always loved Latin music, because my brother played in a number of Afro-Cuban jazz bands. He played bass and conga. He's the one who taught me clave, the rhythmic pattern. It's just natural to me.

I lucked out early on. I never had to wonder what do I want to do with my life? I knew I wanted to sing, because I was good at it. I had a lot of good breaks. I was never insecure about what was going to happen. I feel for kids now, though, because the message they're getting is, not only is their personal future insecure, but the future of the environment, the social structures, the entire world is completely insecure. I don't like what we're handing them, and I don't think they like it either. It's a place that's poisoned and mortgaged to the hilt. That's not fair.

"Dream For Him" was written to and for my son Django. Having kids is the most important thing we get to do, and the most fun thing in your life, if you're lucky. Django is the most fun I've ever had in my life.