David crosby bio

Tambourine Man ". Crosby appeared on the Byrds' first five albums and the original lineup's reunion album. The group later occasionally included Neil Young. Crosby released eight solo albums, albeit sporadically, over the course of his career. The last five of his solo albums, beginning with Croz , came in the last decade of his life. He was also an occasional actor, appearing as a member of Captain Hook's pirate crew in Hook His brother inspired his early love of jazz , particularly John Coltrane and Miles Davis ; the latter would later recommend that Columbia Records sign the Byrds , and then cover the Crosby composition " Guinnevere.

Pinafore and other musicals but he flunked out. Crosby briefly studied drama at Santa Barbara City College before dropping out to pursue a career in music. Crosby joined them, and they were augmented by drummer Michael Clarke , at which point Crosby attempted, unsuccessfully, to play bass. Late in , Chris Hillman joined the band as bassist, [ 17 ] and Crosby relieved Gene Clark of rhythm guitar duties.

Tambourine Man " and recorded a version of the song, featuring McGuinn's twelve-string guitar as well as McGuinn, Crosby, and Clark's vocal harmonies. While he did not sing lead vocals on either of the first two albums, he sang lead on the bridge in their second single " All I Really Want to Do ". In , Clark, who then was the band's primary songwriter, left the group because of stress and this placed all the group's songwriting responsibilities in the hands of McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman.

His early Byrds efforts also included the hit " Eight Miles High " to which he contributed one line, according to Clark, while Clark and McGuinn wrote the rest , and its flip side " Why ", co-written with McGuinn. Because Crosby felt responsible for and was widely credited with popularizing the song " Hey Joe ", [ 18 ] he persuaded the other members of the Byrds to record it on Fifth Dimension.

By Younger Than Yesterday , the Byrds' album, Crosby began to find his trademark style on songs such as "Renaissance Fair" co-written with McGuinn , "Mind Gardens", and "It Happens Each Day"; however, the latter song was omitted from the final album and ultimately restored as a bonus track on the remastered edition. Friction between Crosby and the other Byrds came to a head in early to mid Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories between songs outraged McGuinn.

In particular, Crosby was adamant that the band should record only original material despite the recent commercial failure of " Lady Friend ", a Crosby-penned single that stalled at No. The Byrds' version appeared decades later on the Never Before release and later on the re-release of The Notorious Byrd Brothers. In , Crosby reunited with the original Byrds for the album Byrds , with Crosby acting as the album's producer.

The album charted well at No. It marked the final artistic collaboration of the original band. They were soon joined by Graham Nash , [ 30 ] who would leave his commercially successful group the Hollies to play with Crosby and Stills. Crosby was devastated, and he began abusing drugs more severely than he had before. Nevertheless, he still managed to contribute " Almost Cut My Hair " and the album's title track.

After the release of the double live album 4 Way Street , the group went on a four-year hiatus to focus on their respective solo careers. Despite lingering acrimony, they reconvened at a Stills concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco in October. This served as a prelude to their highly successful stadium tour in the summer of Following the tour, the foursome attempted once again to record a new album, provisionally entitled Human Highway.

The recording sessions, which took place at the Record Plant in Sausalito , were very unpleasant, marked by constant bickering. The acrimonious atmosphere was too much for Neil Young, who deserted the sessions and the album was never completed. A different version of the song would appear on the second CPR album more than two decades later.

The tour was also affected by bickering, though they managed to finish it without interruption. A greatest hits compilation entitled So Far was released in to capitalize on the foursome's reunion tour. CSNY did not perform together again as a foursome until Live Aid in Philadelphia in , and then performed only sporadically in the s and s mainly at the annual Bridge School Benefit organized by Young's wife Pegi.

The trio toured in support of their and albums CSN and Daylight Again and then, starting in the late s, toured regularly year after year. The group continued to perform live, and since released four albums of new material: American Dream , with Young , Live It Up , After the Storm , and Looking Forward , with Young. Panned on release by Rolling Stone magazine, it has been reappraised amid the emergence of the freak folk and New Weird America movements and remains in print.

Renewing his ties to the San Francisco milieu that had abetted so well on his solo album, Crosby sang backup vocals on several Paul Kantner and Grace Slick albums from through and the Hot Tuna album Burgers in He also participated in composer Ned Lagin 's proto- ambient project Seastones along with members of the Grateful Dead and of Jefferson Starship.

Crosby worked with Phil Collins occasionally from the late s to the early s. In , Crosby and Nash worked with David Gilmour as backing vocalists on the latter's third solo album, On an Island. The album was released in March and reached No. They also sang backup on the title track of John Mayer 's album Born and Raised. In January , Crosby released his first solo album in 20 years, Croz , recorded in close collaboration with his son James Raymond of the CPR band at the latter's home studio.

On July 14, , Crosby announced a new solo album named Lighthouse , which was released on October 21, , and shared a new track from it titled "Things We Do for Love". In September , Crosby announced a solo album his third one of original material in four years and his sixth in total entitled Sky Trails , again with Raymond, to be released on September 29, , on BMG.

The band also toured from November to December of that same year. Crosby mentioned that Cameron Crowe , who asked the interview questions for the film, knew "where the bones are buried. In July , Crosby released what would become his final studio album, For Free. It contains remastered songs as well as demos from the original recording sessions.

During promotion for the rerelease, Crosby said that his second collaborative album with League, Stevens, and Willis was in the works. The result, Crosby's final release, was a live album recorded during the band's tour, Live at the Capitol Theatre, released October 4, The group released two studio albums and two live albums before disbanding in The first song that Crosby and Raymond co-wrote, "Morrison", was performed live for the first time in January James was placed for adoption and later reunited with Crosby as an adult.

Crosby had three other children: daughter Erika, with Jackie Guthrie, [ 77 ] [ 78 ] daughter Donovan Crosby, with former girlfriend Debbie Donovan, and son Django Crosby, conceived with wife Jan Dance after extensive fertility treatments while Crosby's liver was failing. His bandmate Stephen Stills gave away the bride. Crosby's brother Ethan, who taught him to play guitar and started his musical career with him, died by suicide in late or early ; the date is unknown because Ethan left a note not to search for his body but to let him return to the earth.

In January , Melissa Etheridge announced that Crosby was the biological father of two children with her partner Julie Cypher by means of artificial insemination. Crosby, a plus-year cannabis advocate and connoisseur, credited cannabis with contributing to his creative process of songwriting stating, "All those hit songs, every one of them, I wrote them all on cannabis.

Crosby and Sponder intended to work with licensed cultivators throughout the U. Having had a transformative sailing experience when he was eleven, in Crosby purchased a foot 18 m John Alden —designed schooner named Mayan with his Byrds settlement. He credited the Mayan as being a songwriting muse; he wrote some of his best-known songs aboard the boat, including " Wooden Ships ," "The Lee Shore," "Page 43," and "Carry Me.

Crosby was politically active throughout his professional career. He publicly questioned the report of the Warren Commission covering the assassination of John F. Kennedy onstage during the Byrds's appearance at the Monterey Festival in , to the anger of his bandmates. Crosby strongly criticized the presidency of Donald Trump , declaring him to be "a dangerous guy who's got a big ego".

Although Crosby was against Joe Biden 's candidacy during the presidential primaries, he voiced a more positive assessment following Biden's general election victory in November. Describing him as a "decent guy", Crosby noted that the personal tragedies Biden experienced with the deaths of his first wife and daughter in and his oldest son, Beau, in , made him a better human being.

I don't generally trust most politicians but I trust [Biden] to be who he is and I think he's going to do a good job. Crosby spent nine months in a Texas state prison after being convicted of several drugs and weapons offenses in The drug charges were related to possession of heroin and cocaine. Later in , Crosby was arrested in California for drunken driving, a hit-and-run driving accident, and possession of a concealed pistol and drug paraphernalia.

He was arrested after driving into a fence in a Marin County suburb, where officers found a. On March 7, , Crosby was charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, illegal possession of a hunting knife, illegal possession of ammunition, and illegal possession of about one ounce of marijuana. He left the items behind in his New York City hotel room.

Authorities said a "hotel employee searched the suitcase for identification and found about an ounce of marijuana, rolling papers, two knives, and a. Crosby was arrested when he returned to the hotel to pick up his bag. Prosecutors did not seek a more severe penalty on the weapons charge because the pistol was registered in California and was stowed safely in his luggage when it was found.

A charge of unlawful possession of marijuana was dismissed. Crosby was discharged by the court on condition that he pay his fine and not get arrested again. Crosby was the recipient of a highly publicized liver transplant , paid for by Phil Collins , in Crosby suffered from type 2 diabetes. In February , at the urging of his doctor, Crosby postponed the final dates of his solo tour to undergo a cardiac catheterization and angiogram , based on the results of a routine cardiac stress test.

Crosby died in Santa Ynez, California , [ ] on January 18, , at the age of It was to be held at his horse ranch in Santa Ynez, in the hope that he would be reconciled with his former Byrds and CSN bandmates so that they would attend. However, friends and colleagues described his death as "sudden", saying that Crosby had remained active until the day of his death, working on plans for a tour and a new album.

US charts are the Billboard Singles chart unless otherwise noted. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. One person or the other drags in baggage. We weren't good enough for you? Me and mom? Is that it? Whatever baggage you bring in, it usually destroys the chance of contact. And James came in and gave me a clean slate and let me earn my way into his life from a fresh beginning.

That is a gift, a kindness, that you don't often see in this life. And the result? He's my best writing partner. We write all the time. I have to treasure that. Contribute to this page Suggest an edit or add missing content. Tambourine Man Columbia, Columbia, Fifth Dimension Columbia, Younger than Yesterday Columbia, Greatest Hits Columbia, The Byrds Asylum, History of the Byrds Columbia, The Byrds Play Dylan Columbia, Never Before Re-Flyte, Wind on the Water ABC, Live , ABC, CSN , Atlantic, Replay Atlantic, Daylight Again Atlantic, Allies Atlantic, Four-Way Street Atlantic, So Far Atlantic, And has been such a good friend to me.

He wrote more than half and played on all of Croz , the respectable album that kick-started a creative streak in Crosby, which produced a run of acclaimed albums. So impressed was he by their combined talents, Croz incorporated them as The Lighthouse Band, who became his touring unit, and in played equal parts in delivering the celebrated Here If You Listen , on which their shimmering harmonies and exquisite musicianship were demonstrated to such magical effect.

It was later that year that this writer had the pleasure of meeting Croz in person, interviewing him backstage before a show in London. But behind his warm joviality I could detect a tangible sadness.

David crosby bio

His lack of earnings from record sales and no CSN income had put Croz in the resentful predicament of having to work for a living at His fortunes, which deteriorated further during the covid restrictions, were reversed in early when he sold the publishing rights of his catalogue, which saved him from ruin. It also allowed him to enjoy making music for pleasure again, and For Free , his eighth and, ultimately, last solo record, was released that July.

When I spoke to Croz again, in November for Classic Rock , he was insistent that he would continue sending his music out into the world for as long as he was able, for that was his calling, his purpose. His embattled body is at rest, but the many, marvellous songs he gifted will live on. Similarly, Graham Nash was keen to focus on the positive aspects of their long-standing and testing friendship.

These are the things that matter most. Simon Harper is a co-founder of the award-winning music and fashion title Clash Magazine, and its Editor-In-Chief since launching in A lifelong Beatles fan, he has worked on a number of projects with Paul McCartney since interviewing him for a Clash cover story in Classic Rock Newsletter Sign up below to get the latest from Classic Rock, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox!

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