David Crosby and Graham Nash hit all the high notes in Morristown

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Graham Nash and David Crosby in concert. Photo: CrosbyNash.com
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By Ed Silverman

In an era when so many musical icons from the turbulent 1960s and early 1970s are reduced to raffish oldies acts, it would be easy to dismiss David Crosby and Graham Nash as among those who are content to take a cushy victory lap around the concert circuit. Sing the favorites. Tell some well-worn tales about the wild past. Wiggle a little on stage. And pocket the retirement funds on the way out.

To be sure, Crosby & Nash are not blind to the demands of aging fans nearing retirement themselves. Nor are they terribly different from most of their contemporaries in that their best-loved songs are, generally, also their most accomplished works. But in the twilight of what has been an extraordinary and celebrated career, the white-haired duo knows how to hit all the high notes – and in more ways than one.

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Graham Nash and David Crosby in concert. Photo: CrosbyNash.com

With a laid-back passion and joie de vivre, Crosby & Nash enchanted a sold-out and adoring crowd at Morristown’s Mayo Performing Arts Center on May 16 simply by being themselves.

The perennially rumpled and bemused Crosby confessed he avoided singing one song for years because he was too stoned to remember the “s—load of words.”

And Nash, energetic and barefoot as he prowled the stage, gleefully traded wisecracks with the audience between his familiar sermons about war and nuclear power.

For all their personality and reassuring presence, though, it was their music that carried the evening. Over the course of nearly three hours, including a 20-minute beer and bathroom break, the pair offered mostly stirring performances of their treasured tunes. With few exceptions, they played the songs that the devoted came to hear, starting with a crackling rendition of Eight Miles High, a nod toward Crosby’s initial brush with fame as a member of The Byrds.

From there, they offered a smattering of chestnuts from their various recordings as both a duo and individual solo outings to their earliest days as a trio with Stephen Stills, with whom they still sometimes perform. The harmonies on Wasted On The Way, an early 1980s hit that Nash wrote after watching Crosby descend into drug abuse, were as majestic as the original.

They reached the same heights on Just A Song Before I Go. And the funky groove of Long Time Gone, one of their earliest tunes, conjured up the ghosts of be-ins and protest marches. Only on Marrakesh Express did they seem slightly off kilter, sounding almost flat at one point before recapturing their mojo for a rousing end.

Between these staples, Crosby & Nash took some chances, playing lesser-known or brand new tunes, some of which offered them a platform to bemoan recent global events. For instance, Don’t Dig Here, which was co-written by James Raymond, Crosby’s son and the keyboard player in the band, was dedicated to the decimated nuclear plants in Japan.

Another was They Want It All, a lament about the corporate greed that contributed to the weakened economy. And Nash gamely chastised the killing done in the name of religion in a throwback of a folk song called In Your Name. The political gave way to personal, though, when Crosby sang Camera, a touching ode to his dad, a famed cinematographer.

Although unfamiliar to most ears, the numbers were embraced by the attentive crowd. Their willingness to absorb these sounds was helped by a crack band. Besides Raymond, drummer Steve DiStanislao and bassist Kevin McCormick created a rhythm section that was by turns powerful and graceful.

And complementing them all with precision and skillful taste was guitarist Dean Parks, a long-standing session guitarist who has played with a diverse array of marquee names, from Steely Dan to Michael Jackson. His licks were both faithful and stirring, providing authenticity but also new life to songs that might otherwise have sounded like wistful oldies.

As could have been predicted, though, the evening closed with a gusher of memories. Nash dashed to the piano to play the inspiring Cathedral and then pounded the keys on Military Madness. Then, Crosby launched into Almost Cut My Hair, which he promised to sing earlier in the evening after fans kept shouting for the song.

“Imagine the life of a songwriter whose most famous song is his most juvenile work,” he sighed. But when it came time to deliver, he belted out the words with a vigor that could have been mistaken for a festival performance more than four decades earlier.

How did the evening end? Well, there was a glorious rendition of Wooden Ships and an inspired version of Chicago. But the show stopper was Teach Your Children, which briefly became a sing-along and underscored the appeal and staying power that Crosby & Nash possess all these years later.

Rising to fame at a time when a generation of people looked with mistrust at anyone older than 30, that catchy little number has been embraced as an anthem by fans who long ago passed that tender age themselves. For a few brief hours, though, Crosby & Nash helped them look back at a bittersweet past and an uncertain future all at once.

Ed Silverman, a former reporter at The Star-Ledger, now runs a web site called Pharmalot, and has previously written about music for Living Blues, Jazziz and Dirty Linen…… He bought  the first CS&N album when it was released way back when….

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3 COMMENTS

  1. I just got home from seeing this show at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston. It’s a pretty intimate setting, with the back balcony row probably not more than 100′ from the stage. I was searching around the ‘net to see if any of the concert recordings were available online as I too had to bolt at the end of the show. This review captured exactly the show I just saw, and I have no complaints if they’re using the same set list. Almost three hours of those dynamic harmonies, acoustic and electric licks and it put me in a much better frame of mind. Hard to believe the last time I saw them perform live was with Stills and Young at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City the night that Nixon resigned. Anyone out there attend that show?

  2. I saw the show in Concord, NH, drove 3 1/2 hours. Well worth it. David and Graham are national treasures.
    By the way, when the band is introduced, the bass player is always introduced as from whatever hometown the concert is in.
    Tom, or anyone else who reads this, did they sell thumb drives of the concert? And did you get one. I was unable to stay to purchase. If you did, woud we be able to connect and copy it?

  3. I saw this show last week in Westbury LI, NY and I came again to see them here in Morristown. It’s hard to believe that after all this time they still sound as good as they did in Bethel Wood.

    If you want to see a show where pre-recorded studio perfect performance is not included, this is the show to see; let Brittney and Lady Gaga do that stuff. These are real musicians, playing real music with “spot on” vocal harmony.

    Its clear that they are enjoying themselves as much as the audience. Hope they rock on for another twenty years. Why not? Les Paul did.

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