Modern Marvel: David Crosby in Morristown

David Crosby strikes the right chord in Morristown, June 19, 2015. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
4

 

Sure, David Crosby has two places of honor in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (The Byrds; Crosby, Stills and Nash).

Someone should reserve a place for him in the Mütter Museum, too.

That’s the Philadelphia medical gallery where you can find pieces of John Wilkes Booth, a replica of the shared liver of Siamese twins, and Einstein’s brain.

Crosby’s vocal cords deserve to be enshrined there, when he is done with them. Which may not be for a while, based on how they sounded Friday at the Mayo Performing Arts Center.

David Crosby sings astonishingly well for a man of 73 whose well documented attempts at self-destruction have included copious amounts of drugs and alcohol. Throw in assorted weapons and driving offenses, prison time and a liver transplant, and you have a bad-boy resume that Keith Richards might envy.

While the voice isn’t as golden as it once was, it’s still plenty rich. Crosby proved that for nearly two hours in Morristown, accompanied only by himself on a parade of guitars with strange tunings.

David Crosby at MPAC, June 19, 2015. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

The mood was introspective, and at times hypnotic. At the outset, he cautioned the enthusiastic packed house: “I promise I will sing at least one or two songs you’ve heard before.”

And he hewed pretty close to that vow, saving his signature CSN tunes Déjà Vu and Guinnevere  for the end of the evening.

A couple of insistent fans implored him to play Almost Cut My Hair, but Crosby held firm, insisting that many of his best-known songs require a band.  That’s too bad; sometimes it’s fun hearing how artists reinterpret their greatest hits in Unplugged fashion.

David Crosby at the Mayo Center in Morristown. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

But Crosby sprinkled some gems into his set list.  Time I Have, from last year’s solo album Croz, alluded to Martin Luther King and the Dalai Lama and added a haunting refrain about cities densely packed with fear.

A cover of For Free, written by another wizard of alternate tunings, Crosby’s one-time girlfriend Joni Mitchell, was lovely in its simplicity.

Crosby saved some fire for his encore, Cowboy Movie, about the (first) breakup of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

From his Byrds days, he included Everybody’s Been Burned and Triad, an ode to a ménage à trois that his fellow Byrds supposedly felt was too risqué even for the Swinging Sixties.

That was not why the band gave him the boot, however. “It was because I was an [rhymes with grass mole],” Crosby copped, laughing with the crowd.

TAKE THAT, KANYE!

Other humorous asides included gibes at the Chinese government, “pond scum” politicians, and his hallucinogenic past:

“I tried acid once.  [Laughter from the house.]  I’d be a lousy poker player!”

Singer David Crosby stops for coffee at Smartworld in Morristown, prior to his show at MPAC, June 19, 2015. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

With the sort of wicked glee you might expect from your geezer grandpa, Crosby recounted the firestorm of angry responses he provoked by disparaging Kanye West on Twitter.  He remains unrepentant.

“He can’t write, sing or play!”

Still, elected officials continue to garner the lowest approval ratings from Crosby.

When people suggest he should run for office, the singer has a ready reply: “No! I don’t want to get any of that on me.”

Presidential candidate Donald Trump?  A “target-rich environment” for pundits and a “walking intelligence-free zone.”

Sounds like Crosby survived the Sixties with most of his brain cells intact, too. He may rate an entire wing at the Mütter.

RELATED COVERAGE:

Set list from Friday’s David Crosby show

Seen around the Green: David Crosby

David Crosby and Graham Nash in Morristown

If you’ve read this far… you clearly value your local news. Now we need your help to keep producing the local coverage you depend on! More people are reading Morristown Green than ever. But costs keep rising. Reporting the news takes time, money and hard work. We do it because we, like you, believe an informed citizenry is vital to a healthy community.

So please, CONTRIBUTE to MG or become a monthly SUBSCRIBER. ADVERTISE on Morristown Green. LIKE us on Facebook, FOLLOW us on Twitter, and SIGN UP for our newsletter.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Hmnn, pretty sure graham nash was involved with joni (according to “my house,” “song for willie” and nash’s own book. And if “cowboy movie” is about the csny breakup, then it is well concealed…as the song actually IS a cowboy movie.

  2. Hi David I met you in 1974 I have always loved all your music! I am an artist we talkedfor quite sometime keep up the good work!

LEAVE A REPLY