CSNY

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

By: Peter Doggett

Narrated by: Danny Campbell

An engaging and illuminating 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.

After making their marks in popular bands such as the Hollies and the Byrds, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash released their first album in May 1969. By the time they arrived at Woodstock a few months later, Neil Young had joined their ranks and together, their transcendent harmonies and evocative lyrics channeled all the romantic idealism and radical angst of their time.

Now, music journalist Peter Doggett chronicles these legendary musicians and the movement they came to represent at the height of their popularity and influence: 1969 to 1974. Based on interviews with the band and colleagues, along with exclusive access to CSNY’s archive, Doggett provides new insights into their incredible catalog, from their delicate acoustic confessionals like “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” to their timeless classics such as “Our House.” Doggett also uncovers plenty of new stories and perspectives on the four tenacious and volatile songwriters’ infamously reckless, hedonistic, and often combative lifestyles that led to their continuous breakups and behaviors—extreme even by rock star standards.

“A must for CSNY fans and anyone who remembers the era when it ruled the pop charts” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), CSNY is a quintessential and definitive account of one of the biggest bands of the Woodstock generation.

Good Bio

Enjoyable bio but a touch too melodramatic in tone for me. The reader's style reinforced this. The content was interesting though.

Competent biography of canyon

Knowing the writer was a big fan of CSNY made me a bit leery of the book, however he told the story in a very objective manner. The only flaw, for lack of a better word, was the way in which the author seemed to let go unchallenged, in some instances, the myth that political affairs in the US, including the end of the Vietnam war, was in any way significantly influenced by the “anti-war/anti-establishment” of the time, a group of which I was a part. However, a lot of old hippies subscribe to that viewpoint, as inaccurate as the facts clearly show that viewpoint to be. Overall, a very good read and of an interesting time in our history, and of four immensely talented individuals who created something truly unique.

Great story

Peter Doggett and David Browne, experienced rock journalists, have both published histories of the group Crosby, Stills, and Nash (and Young). "Group" isn't quite the right word — the three musicians were clear from the beginning, even if the rest of us weren't, that their albums would be the result of a loose coalition rather than the product of a "band." Each would continue making solo albums or playing for other groups, coming together whenever the time was right.

Of the two books, I prefer Doggett's, at least as a starting point. Doggett seems to have a better feel for the music: at any rate, I found myself firing up my MP3 player to listen to the songs he discussed, something that I did far less often when listening to Browne's account. (I don't always agree with Doggett; he dismisses the later album "American Dream" as an inferior effort, but I enjoyed it.)

Stephen Stills comes across as one of the more interesting characters in the book: prodigiously talented, unstoppable in the studio, and afflicted with crippling self-doubt. Doggett describes a party in England that Stills attended, along with three of the Beatles and a host of other music luminaries: Stills sounds like a high school kid, desperate to be accepted as one of the in-crowd and wretchedly ill at ease. "But you're STEPHEN STILLS!" I wanted to shout into the audiobook. His vulnerability is as surprising as it is appealing, and in later interviews, he shows an equally surprising level of self-awareness. Yeah, he says at several points in the book, I was really being a jerk, I wish I'd handled that better.

One of the surprises is Neil Young. To me he's always seemed like a giant in the rock world, but according to a Doggett, he originally came into the group as a junior member and owed some of his later stardom to his participation on CSNY albums. Invited into the group as an equal participant, Young showed up when he wanted to show up and left when it wasn't working for him anymore. He was often seen as a divisive influence, sometimes abandoning the group without notice in the middle of a tour.

The narrative ends in 1974 with a shambolic tour that crossed America and ended with a concert at Wembley in England. They had been pushed by record executives into playing in stadiums rather than the more intimate settings they preferred. Unable to hear themselves play, their harmonies — one of their most defining qualities — often wandered embarrassingly off track. The Wembley concert was filmed, and when they saw a rough cut of the footage, they were aghast at how awful they sounded. According to Doggett, Nash left the room in tears.

Doggett concludes the book with a 45 minute postscript that quickly summarizes events since 1974. The book left me grateful, once again, for the beauty these four people created, and sad that so many possibilities were sacrificed to drugs and alcohol. Ego was always going to be a problem in CSNY, partly because all had established careers before the group came together; but the problem was made significantly worse by chemicals. In Doggett's account, all were heavy users throughout most of their joint careers, Crosby having the worst cocaine problem (although Stills sustained his marathon studio sessions — days long at times — with cocaine). Tables were often set up behind the stage with various drugs, and the musicians would stop by for a "refresher" during the performance. Several people on the periphery of the group — friends, roadies, other musicians — died of an overdose, often of heroin (something Neil Young responded to with "The Needle and the Damage Done").

The narrator, Danny Campbell, delivers the entire book in a declaratory, eyes-agape style, hardly pausing to differentiate the epigrams that mark breaks in the narrative from the surrounding text. And yet I kept turning to this audiobook over six or seven others I was listening to and sitting in rapt pleasure as the story unfolded. So even though that style of narration usually puts me off, in this case I have to say it wasn't a problem; it may even have helped the forward-moving propulsion of the narrative.

Excellent Book -- Poor Narration

This book documents the band extremely well, painting a very clear picture of the principals, often not flattering but probably very accurate.

I don't understand how the narrator got his job. His voice is just grating and he mispronounces words almost routinely. It distracts from the impact of the story. There are plenty of professional announcers with terrific voices in radio out there who would take the gig, I simply don't get how they select people to read these books.

horrible narrator annoying

sorry I do not like to leave negative reviews but this narrator was just abominable I could not listen sorry I wish I could because I love csny