In 1977, Crosby, Stills and Nash released their third album, with 'CSN' being a return to form for the trio after divergent yet successful solo careers that followed their 1969 debut and 1970 follow up as CSNY with Neil Young. Personality clashes were common between the triad, and even more so when Young’s heavy presence got involved. After a successful 1977/1978 tour in support of the 'CSN' album, they failed to get a follow up record together, but instead they spent time bouncing around and working on various solo projects, while reuniting once for a loose performance at 1979's No Nukes concert. By the dawning of 1980 Stills had put together his California Blues Band and Nash released his 'Earth And Sky' record to unreasonably tepid reviews, and so what was originally planned as a Crosby and Nash project became a solo effort when Crosby just couldn't get his shit together. The trio reunited briefly for a benefit at the Hollywood Bowl in June, where Crosby looked and sounded a bit rough for wear, and so shortly afterwards he convalesced in Los Angeles, while Stills and Nash embarked on a duo project in Hawaii. Tensions were high in the group and Crosby took his being left out of the Stills and Nash sessions personally, although the truth was that Crosby was just not dependable at this point in his life, and so Stills and Nash brought in Art Garfunkel and Timothy B. Schmidt to cover for his missing harmonies.
Additionally, the reality was that the music industry seemed to be passing them all by, as no record label wanted to deal with CSN as solo artists, and getting the band together was not optimal or easy, so the only way for Crosby to keep going was to book studio time and try to put something together himself. In spring of 1980 he booked time at Rudy Records and Brittania Studios, and compiled a group of musician friends and collaborators including keyboardist Craig Doergre, bass player Lee Sklar, and guitarist Larry Carlton as his band. Crosby later said that making a solo record was one of the strangest experiences of his life. The sessions were successful enough that Crosby ended up recording five new songs, and he also retrieved 'Drive My Car' from the failed CSN sessions, and included an unreleased song he wrote with Jerry Garcia for his 1971 solo debut 'If I Could Only Remember My Name', called 'Kids And Dogs'. He also planned to include one of his earlier compositions 'Samurai', plus a live version of his unreleased song 'King Of The Mountain', which was played on dates during the 1976 Crosby/Nash tour. When the finished album was presented to his record company, Atlantic, it was roundly rejected for both musical and non-musical reasons, and it was consigned to their vaults. the Crosby’s prospective album would languish in the vaults for perpetuity. Thankfully, four songs resurfaced for Crosby's 1989 post sobriety record 'Oh Yes I Can', on his new label, A&M Records. A bootleg rough mix of the entire proposed album, tentatively titled 'Might As Well Have A Good Time', has circulated for several years, and it was analysed in depth a couple of years ago by the 'Talk From The Rock Room' blog:
'Melody' is beautifully self-aware song that shows Crosby at his most fallible, yet acutely aware of his frailties, and is one of the songs rescued for 'Oh Yes I Can'. The original 1980 version has a shady kinetic edge that may be because of the fidelity of the recording, whereas the 1989 re-recording contemporizes the song with current production, and has a clarity that rescues it from delaminating on a lost reel in a Los Angeles vault.
'Drive My Car' is another song Crosby revisited for 'Oh Yes I Can', and it ended up opening the record. The original recording was for an ill-fated CSN session in late 1978 with the CSN touring band backing Crosby. The 1989 version is full throttle and spotlights large, gated drums and phased slide guitar by David Lindley. The track would become an in-concert favourite for Crosby.
'Delta' is a stunning and underrated song that Crosby composed stoned out of his mind on his schooner, the 'Mayan'. He later finished it on Warren Zevon’s piano with stern encouragement from Jackson Browne who told Crosby, "Finish it or I’ll break your arms". The song would eventually get the full Crosby, Stills and Nash treatment and end up with a place on 1982's 'Daylight Again'.
'Kids & Dogs' is a legendary song from the vaults, recorded during the fruitful sessions for Crosby's first solo album, and featured Jerry Garcia and Crosby on acoustic guitars, ending up a playful musical love fest between two like-minded geniuses.
'Flying Man' is another one of those strange wordless Crosby melodies that lie just below the surface of the breakers. The song was composed around the same time as another Crosby/Doerge collaboration, 'Shadow Captain', and the original version cut in 1980 has low fidelity but sounds like it transposed to the 1989 version seamlessly. The tune cruses just inches above the water with trademark Crosby changes and breeze through the hair keyboard washes.
'Might As Well Have A Good Time' was written by Craig Doegre and Judy Henske, and was planned to be the title track of the album. Doegre encouraged Crosby to cover the song originally, and its lyric of an old rocker standing on a jagged shoreline wondering whether to sink or swim fitted him perfectly. The sparse piano based number cut close to the bone and found a place on 1982's 'Daylight Again', outfitted with soaring Stills and Nash harmonies.
'Distances' has a delicate descending guitar line, and begs for intimacy both mentally and physically. The re-recording a decade later stayed tight to this original arrangement, but the 'Oh Yes I Can' version has to be considered the definitive one, with both conversational and sweetly sung Crosby vocals.
'King Of The Mountain' is a song he demoed and played in concert in 1974 but never released officially on a record, and so he wanted to include a live version on his 1980 record. The song is believed to be a commentary on his bandmate Stephen Stills, with Crosby's original demo sounding spectral, with only Crosby's voice and his 12-string guitar carrying the melody.
'Samurai' was a song that Crosby carried around for years just like his subject's sword. A solo performance was recorded on 26 May 1980, at Rudy Records, with only Crosby’s soulful vocals as the instrumentation. A disorienting multitracked version believed to be from the same session circulates in collector's circles, and can be found on a 1980's bootleg called 'Best Two Of Three', although Crosby and Nash would record the definitive version of the song almost 25 years later for their self-titled 2004 duo record, replete with stacked and orchestrated Crosby/Nash harmonies.
While Crosby's 1980 solo album never came to fruition, its musical riches were later dispersed across years of musical projects, and it's a shame that he never managed to consolidate these songs into the cohesive vision that he was unable to see clearly at the time.
'Delta' is a stunning and underrated song that Crosby composed stoned out of his mind on his schooner, the 'Mayan'. He later finished it on Warren Zevon’s piano with stern encouragement from Jackson Browne who told Crosby, "Finish it or I’ll break your arms". The song would eventually get the full Crosby, Stills and Nash treatment and end up with a place on 1982's 'Daylight Again'.
'Kids & Dogs' is a legendary song from the vaults, recorded during the fruitful sessions for Crosby's first solo album, and featured Jerry Garcia and Crosby on acoustic guitars, ending up a playful musical love fest between two like-minded geniuses.
'Flying Man' is another one of those strange wordless Crosby melodies that lie just below the surface of the breakers. The song was composed around the same time as another Crosby/Doerge collaboration, 'Shadow Captain', and the original version cut in 1980 has low fidelity but sounds like it transposed to the 1989 version seamlessly. The tune cruses just inches above the water with trademark Crosby changes and breeze through the hair keyboard washes.
'Might As Well Have A Good Time' was written by Craig Doegre and Judy Henske, and was planned to be the title track of the album. Doegre encouraged Crosby to cover the song originally, and its lyric of an old rocker standing on a jagged shoreline wondering whether to sink or swim fitted him perfectly. The sparse piano based number cut close to the bone and found a place on 1982's 'Daylight Again', outfitted with soaring Stills and Nash harmonies.
'Distances' has a delicate descending guitar line, and begs for intimacy both mentally and physically. The re-recording a decade later stayed tight to this original arrangement, but the 'Oh Yes I Can' version has to be considered the definitive one, with both conversational and sweetly sung Crosby vocals.
'King Of The Mountain' is a song he demoed and played in concert in 1974 but never released officially on a record, and so he wanted to include a live version on his 1980 record. The song is believed to be a commentary on his bandmate Stephen Stills, with Crosby's original demo sounding spectral, with only Crosby's voice and his 12-string guitar carrying the melody.
'Samurai' was a song that Crosby carried around for years just like his subject's sword. A solo performance was recorded on 26 May 1980, at Rudy Records, with only Crosby’s soulful vocals as the instrumentation. A disorienting multitracked version believed to be from the same session circulates in collector's circles, and can be found on a 1980's bootleg called 'Best Two Of Three', although Crosby and Nash would record the definitive version of the song almost 25 years later for their self-titled 2004 duo record, replete with stacked and orchestrated Crosby/Nash harmonies.
While Crosby's 1980 solo album never came to fruition, its musical riches were later dispersed across years of musical projects, and it's a shame that he never managed to consolidate these songs into the cohesive vision that he was unable to see clearly at the time.
Track listing
01 Melody
02 Drive My Car
03 Delta
04 Kids & Dogs
05 Flying Man
06 Might As Well Have A Good Time
07 Distances
08 King Of The Mountain
09 Samurai
