"A must for CSNY fans." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review
The first ever biography focused on the formative and highly
influential early years of "rock's first supergroup" (Rolling Stone)
Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young--when they were the most successful,
influential, and politically potent band in America--in honor of the
fiftieth anniversary of Woodstock and the formation of the band
itself.
1969 to 1974 were true golden years of rock n' roll, bookmarking an era
of arguably unparalleled musical power and innovation. But even more
than any of their eminent peers, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham
Nash, and Neil Young channeled and broadcast all the radical anger,
romantic idealism, and generational angst of their time. Each of the
members had already made their marks in huge bands (The Hollies, Buffalo
Springfield, The Byrds), but together, their harmonies were
transcendent.
The vast emotional range of their music, from delicate acoustic
confessionals to raucous counter-culture anthems, was mirrored in the
turbulence of their personal lives. Their trademark may have been vocal
harmony, but few--if any--of their contemporaries could match the
recklessness of their hedonistic and often combative lifestyles, when
the four tenacious, volatile, and prodigal songwriters pursued chemical
and sexual pleasure to life-threatening extremes.
Including full color photographs, CSNY chronicles these four iconic
musicians and the movement they came to represent, concentrating on
their prime as a collective unit and a cultural force: the years between
1969, when Woodstock telegraphed their arrival to the world, and 1974,
when their arch-enemy Richard Nixon was driven from office, and the band
(to quote Graham Nash himself) "lost it on the highway."
Even fifty years later, there are plenty of stories left to be told
about Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young--and music historian Peter Doggett
is here to bring them to light in the meticulously researched CSNY, a
quintessential and illuminative account of rock's first supergroup in
their golden hour for die-hard fans, nostalgic flower-children, and
music history aficionados alike.
