Re: CSN ruined by overrated Canadian?
I think Neil's biggest contribution to C,S, N was bringing some "Neil Young/ not-nesessarily-C,S,N" fans aboard the C,S,N,Y bandwagon.
Let's be real here - Neil contributed two songs to Deja Vu - "Helpless" and "Country Girl". Other than that, he was a friend and a colleague to C,S,N and not much else. He helped them sell alot of albums and concert tickets because of his name and fan base, and other than that some sloppy guitar licks on "4-Way Street".
I think Neil is a good songwriter. I'm not as enamored of him as alot of people, but he's done some good stuff (which doesn't include his guitar solos - somebody PLEASE take away his Les Paul !).
A couple other points. Someone mentioned Graham Nash being such a nice guy. I think that's true. Nash was the glue that held the whole thing together, for the times it WAS together. Neil Young, IMO, never really showed that much interest in the whole C,S,N, & Y thing anyway and Crosby and Stills had huge egos, which made the chance of C,S,N ever becoming a cohesive, productive unit almost nil.
C,S,N & Y all did boatloads of work in the 70's - some of it really good, some just OK or worse - just not that much of it was as a unit.
These guys were all singer-songwriters and there was never gonna be enough room in one group for these guys to ever give themselves over to any exclusive arrangement. They were all working, writing, singing, and playing - in various combinations, and either for themselves or other people - all through the 70's.
We should just be happy for the great songs (including Neil's two) and great harmonies.
BTW, I'm not even counting C,S,N, & Y's crappy "American Dream" album from '86 or whatever. It's hardly worth mentioning. The best song on it was Crosby's "Compass". Other than that it was weak, filler material.
I think Neil's biggest contribution to C,S, N was bringing some "Neil Young/ not-nesessarily-C,S,N" fans aboard the C,S,N,Y bandwagon.
Let's be real here - Neil contributed two songs to Deja Vu - "Helpless" and "Country Girl". Other than that, he was a friend and a colleague to C,S,N and not much else. He helped them sell alot of albums and concert tickets because of his name and fan base, and other than that some sloppy guitar licks on "4-Way Street".
I think Neil is a good songwriter. I'm not as enamored of him as alot of people, but he's done some good stuff (which doesn't include his guitar solos - somebody PLEASE take away his Les Paul !).
A couple other points. Someone mentioned Graham Nash being such a nice guy. I think that's true. Nash was the glue that held the whole thing together, for the times it WAS together. Neil Young, IMO, never really showed that much interest in the whole C,S,N, & Y thing anyway and Crosby and Stills had huge egos, which made the chance of C,S,N ever becoming a cohesive, productive unit almost nil.
C,S,N & Y all did boatloads of work in the 70's - some of it really good, some just OK or worse - just not that much of it was as a unit.
These guys were all singer-songwriters and there was never gonna be enough room in one group for these guys to ever give themselves over to any exclusive arrangement. They were all working, writing, singing, and playing - in various combinations, and either for themselves or other people - all through the 70's.
We should just be happy for the great songs (including Neil's two) and great harmonies.
BTW, I'm not even counting C,S,N, & Y's crappy "American Dream" album from '86 or whatever. It's hardly worth mentioning. The best song on it was Crosby's "Compass". Other than that it was weak, filler material.
