I love Neil Young A LOT. One of the biggest fans you'll find. Own all the albums, seen him solo plenty of times, and with Crazy Horse once.
I've seen CSN in concert 3 or 4 times
I've seen CSN&Y in concert once (Before that ''Freedom of Speech'' tour thankfully)
Having said all that...
I appreciated and prefer and CSN without Young.
Yeah, CSN&Y are very cool and all...but the fact is CSN don't need Neil Young.
CSN are great - amazing in concert and on record.
And I understand ''Déjà Vu'' is a great classic album, and so was ''4 Way Street'', but nowadays some fans are so star struck with Neil Young, they think CSN are less of a band with out Neil Young.
When I saw CSN&Y in 2002 (?) a lot of fans (mostly on the younger side) were raving about Neil Young...walking out as you heard was ''Neil this - Neil that'' like Crosby, Stills & Nash weren't even there or they were Neil's back up band. (That got me a little annoyed.)
You don't get the Neil Young hoopla at a CSN shows. Stephen Stills is a great guitar player and a one of the best acoustic guitar players in rock music. Better than Neil - acoustically. And the CSN harmonies are the best in the business.
Sure CSN&Y are cool - I hope they record and tour together again.
But given the choice, I'd rather see CSN without Young. And that might sound strange coming from a big Neil Young fan. But I'm also a big CSN fan...
and a big fan of CSN&Y - so go try and figure me out.
Final thought - I think CSN&Y were equals in the early 70's among the fans. Nowadays, with some fans, I don't think so.