Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young perform at the Fillmore East theatre in New York on Sept. 20, 1969. From the left: Neil Young, Graham Nash, David Crosby and Stephen Stills.Supplied
“Voices of the angels, ring around the moonlight …”
A new Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album, Live At Fillmore East, 1969, comes from a recently discovered multitrack recording of a concert at the Fillmore East theatre in New York on Sept. 20, 1969. It captures the supergroup on their first tour, not long after a famous performance at Woodstock.
The concert began with the Crosby, Stills & Nash song Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, a sweet epic written by Stephen Stills about Judy Collins. Neil Young wasn’t part of it – he was in the wings, and would not join the C, the S and the N on stage for another half-hour.
A recently-discovered recording of the group performing during the concert is being released in the new album Live At Fillmore East, 1969.Supplied
It makes sense. CSN had released the track on their self-titled debut album earlier in the year. Young was added later, when the trio needed a band to flesh out the sound for the road. Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun suggested they ask the Canadian, a former bandmate with Stills in the defunct Buffalo Springfield, to come aboard.
“Which is what we did,” songwriting guitarist Stills tells The Globe and Mail. “It was a logical thing.”
Was it though? Young was known to have control issues, and even if he didn’t, adding him was tinkering with a trio format that was obviously working just fine.
Calling from California – “Another beautiful day in Los Angeles” – Stills addresses the arithmetic, talks about the era and suggests that a reunion is not out of the question.
Why ask Neil to join CSN?
We had that first album done, and we were prepping for the road. I needed someone to play with. Neil and I are pretty much brothers. We had a really deep friendship, and we still work together now.
But CSN’s harmonies and acoustic sound was what set it apart from the heavier music that was fashionable at the time. Why bring Neil in and electrify things?
We knew what was unique about us. We were flying in the face of current trends, which is something we all love to do. It works so well with record companies [laughs]. But Neil is a folk singer. That’s actually what he loves the best. There was a little manoeuvring to get it to all fit, but it did.
What was the concept for the CSNY live show?
Doing the acoustic stuff from our first album was half a show. So, what are we going to do for the rest of it? My idea was to have an acoustic part first, and then the curtains parted and there was the equipment and we went on to play some rock ‘n’ roll. We got the reaction, and we got to have all the glorious fun of playing insufferably loud. And, through that, I got a lot better at lead guitar.
Neil’s solo career hadn’t quite taken off yet by the time he joined you guys. Was he hitching himself to the CSN wagon?
Oh, I don’t know, there’s no opportunism in show business. You should know better [laughs]. It was what it was.
Joni Mitchell was in the audience at the Fillmore. Did you realize then that the talent of the era was so special?
Yeah, kind of. Joni Mitchell is a stand-alone, complete package. She’s just a genius. We were full of ourselves, but, at the same time, we knew it was new territory. We were just throwing it down, you know?
You played Monterey Pop, Woodstock and Altamont. Those festivals can be seen now as forming a narrative arc of the late 1960s, ending with the darkness and violence of Altamont. Did you the sense the change happening?
I would have had to have been blind not to. Altamont was a direct result of marijuana judgment. To have the Hells Angels to be security, what could possibly go wrong? That wasn’t our decision.
CSNY recorded another live album, 1971’s 4 Way Street. Where was the band then, compared with this Fillmore recording from 1969?
I always hated 4 Way Street. I love this record. The singing on 4 Way Street is awful. Everybody refused to dub any voices, which sometimes got spectacularly out of tune. It was a little too big of a concert to record. With this new album, at the Fillmore, we’re fresh out of the box.
And having fun. We hear you guys laughing.
We were brand new, and all that enthusiasm and warmth is apparent. 4 Way Street is more, ‘Okay, we’re a big deal now.’ And it showed.
In a recent Rolling Stone interview, Graham Nash said David Crosby was the heart of the band. Do you agree?
The heart of the band was the collective. The glue that held the harmonies together was David. He really had a sense of where that perfect note was that set it apart from the standard three-part harmony.
Graham also said there would never be a reunion in the future, now that Crosby has died.
I can’t be so absolute. There might be a reason for us to sing together. Maybe the upcoming election. But, at this point, it’s not about would we get together. Should we, is the important question.
This interview has been edited and condensed.