Crosby, Stills & Nash - The O2, Dublin 1st July 2010

I went to this concert with very high expectations as I had seen the band perform at the Marquee in Cork in 2009 and they blew me away. I was, inevitably, a little disappointed this time around. Perhaps, I had just built the gig up too much in my mind.

Performance wise I dont think things differed much between this year and last but for some reason the night didn't spark like it did last summer. Maybe, it was the less than sold out crowd. Maybe, I wasn't in the right frame of mind.

The set opened with Woodstock and first half concentrated on the electric material. The sound wasn't great on these electric numbers. Still's fender sound was very loud, sharp and harsh. Also, now that he has sort of refound his mojo, he seems to have started over playing a bit and has sacrificed melody in the proccess. Last year he seemed to play perfectly, this year he seemed to over do it a bit. Generally speaking, I don't think the electric numbers came over very well. They were somehow uninvolving. All the big anthems like Long Time Gone, Deja Vu and Wooden Ships fell somehow flat. Southern Cross, which is a favourite of mine, sounded better instrumentally but the harmony vocals were way off. At various times during the concert I felt that CSN weren't singing harmonies at all, they were just singing along with the melody. Big difference. In terms of instruments whenever Stills laid off the distorted Fender and switched a mellow sounding old Gibson things were much better.

After the intermission the group did a more acoustic set focusing on some material from their forthcoming, Rick Rubin- produced covers album. In this set they did Norwegian Wood, Midnight Rider, Girl From The North Country and Ruby Tuesday. These songs really connected with the audience and got this going for the second half. Midnight Rider was absolutely stunning with Stills playing some great acoustic lead. This set was followed by a truly amazing version of Gennivere performed by Crosby and Nash as a duo. A truly original song done justice by the performance and an absolute masterclass in harmony singing by the two men. This was followed by an ok rendition of Delta.

The electric approach resumed with Cathedral, Our House and a song of Still's that I didn't recognise. They also through in an unneccessary cover of Behind Blue Eyes with Nash taking the lead vocal. The closing song was a very fine go at Almost Cut My hair, the only electric "classic" CSN song that really worked for me.

Due to a mistake on my part I had to leave before the encore so I probably missed Teach Your Children and For What It's Worth. Overall, it was certainly a good night but probably what qualifies as CSN by numbers. The performance really only took off for me and became something special during the acousitc set. This makes me think that acoustic guitars and harmonies are what CSN are really about and despite the ferocious rockers they have in their catalogue being loud isn't always playing to their strengths. But I'm not sure about this either because back in 2009 I thought the electric stuff worked brilliantly!

Other songs on the night included Bluebird, Long May You Run, In Your Name and Marrakesh Express.

Graham Nash David Crosby - David Crosby Graham Nash

The name of the album is the name of the artist and the name of the artist is the name of the album. The artist is actually two artists and the two artists are David Crosby and Graham Nash. The album is Graham Nash and David Crosby. And we are all together

Crosby and Nash seem to have the core personal relationship at the heart of CSN (and sometimes Y). It was Crosby who tempted Nash to America and Crosby and Nash who worked continuously together whenever CSN(Y) was on hiatus. While both had released solo albums before, this 1972 record is their first collaboration as a duo. And as a duo they really compliment each other.

I must confess to finding much of Crosby's output (aside from his dizzying career peaks) boring and not particularly entertaining. It's also inclined to be samey. One can't deny the atmosphere though with his soulful voice and his way out ideas. Nash made a remark once about music where you, "take off the shrink wrap, light up and big one and you're gone". Crosby's music is like that. You want to listen to it on your own, high on a hot summer's evening. It's all about the mood.

Like his partner, Nash can also be samey but he does provide more in the fashion of hooks and little melodic thrills. He also has a hippie vibe of his own that makes his music somewhat special regardless of how good it is. Recently, I've come to re-appraise my attitude towards Nash. I never really took him seriously as a songwriter in his own right. In the '70s singer songwriter stakes I always put him in the second division beneath the likes of Cat Stevens and James Taylor. I now think I may have underestimated him because each time I hear something new by Nash, I hear something I like.

Everything on this record by Nash is pretty low key and enjoyable. Immigration Man has a sort of country, 70s folk rock feel as it details his encounter with immigration officials making his re-entry to the states difficult. Southbound Train has a similar soung and talks about Vietnam or something? I dont know. Strangers Room is another of Nash's bed songs like Sleep Song and Another Sleep Song. This one is about waking up in somebody else's bedroom and trying to get the hell out of there! Frozen Smiles is another pleasing number with good melodic turns. I think this is the one that reminds me of Octupus's Garden. The highlight of Nash's contributions for me though is Girl To Be On My Mind. A simple tale with nice lyrics about a man wishing for a new lover.

Scattered amongst all these pleasing, hooky songs are Crosby's mood pieces which serve perfectly to break up the high voiced antics of his partner and prevent it from becoming too repetitve. It's the fact that the two sets of songs are so different that they work together so well. Where Will I Be? and Page 43 are two good numbers which sit side by side and sort of flow together. I can't help feeling Ryan Adams borrowed from the former song on his Cold Roses album. All of Crosby's songs here are of the mellow and moody variety save for The Wall Song which really rocks and would have fit on a CSN album as a Long Time Gone or Wooden Ships substitute. It's my favourite of the Crosby songs on here.

In conclusion, if you like CSN, C or N there is certainly much to enjoy on this album. Both artists are still at their peak and the whole record just plain works.

Gordon Lightfoot - Lightfoot!

Many musicians release their debuts before they are fully formed as musicians and songwriters, Gordon Lightfoot however "arrived" the finished article with his debut in 1966. It is hard to think of a debut record with such strong songwriting.

The record itself was recorded in December 1964 but not released until January 1966. By the time of its release songs on the record had already been big hits for Peter, Paul, & Mary and Marty Robbins. Songs from the LP would go on to be covered by the likes of Elvis, Bob Dylan and even Paul Weller. That says a lot! Lightfoot was already 26 when he made the record giving him an edge in maturity and experience over many acts who start their recording careers around the age of 18. In the previous few years Lightfoot had learned his trade studying music in California, constant gigging, appearing regularly on country and western TV shows and even having a Top 10 Canadian single in the old fashioned but promising Remember Me (I'm The One).

The 14 tracks on Lightfoot! are made up of 11 originals and three covers. The choice of covers in The First Time Ever I Saw Her Face, Changes and Pride of Man clearly point to the sort of songs that would influence his own work. His cover of The First Time really emphasises the strength and slightly old fashioned quality of his voice. It would be a few more albums before his voice became more mainstream '70s singer songwriter. This vocal quality sets him apart though suggesting as it does a sort of traditional professionalism and iconic quality. He somehow has the singing voice of an old- testament prophet!

Highlights of the album include Early Morning Rain which juxtaposes freight trains and airplanes and has become a folk standard, and the perfectly chauvinistic For Lovin' Me which features some great acoustic lead guitar. I'm Not Sayin' and Ribbon of Darkness are natural companions, the former provided a hit single for Lightfoot himself and the latter (as noted) a hit single for Marty Robbins. Steel Rail Blues also manages a memorable beauty and atmosphere. To create half a dozen "hits" on your debut record is no mean feat and the rest of the tracks are also of a high quality.

Lightfoot certainly shows himself an incredibly strong songwriter here. I wish to stress the songwriter part because had he not managed to establish a career for himself as a performer this one album would have still proved very important as a source of material for major artists. However, Lightfoot's songwriting is not that of some professional locked in an office in New York with a piano. It is vital and it is real. Though it does not sound like the '70s singer/songwriter genre of which he would later be a part, it fits perfectly all the same. The slightly old fashioned feel of the record only serves to add a hint of something pure and authentic.

The Hollies Sing Dylan

In 1968 Graham Nash departed The Hollies, a band he had co-founded over five years previously, for a new life in California. He left behind not only a successful career but also his country of birth and his first marriage. Fortunately, for Graham it all worked out. One of the oft cited reasons for his departure is The Hollies decision to record an album of Dylan covers. There seems to have been some internal tension within the group over whether to pursue a more experimental direction or to stick to the commercial path and focus on giving the public what they wanted. The Hollies as a group would grow somewhat in the coming years but, perhaps, not at a pace fast enough for Nash.

The idea of a Hollies Sing Dylan album was not a bolt out of the blue. For years they had been doing a live cover of The Times They Are A Changing patterned after Peter, Paul And Mary one of their great influences. They had also recorded and released a swing style Blowin' In The Wind with Nash in 1968.

The band began to work on the Sing Dylan project in earnest from November '68 to the Spring of '69. The high harmony parts would eventually be added by new Hollie Terry Sylvester. Once released the album would prove a big success for the group reaching number 3 in the UK charts helping them to re-confirm their position after losing a key group member.

What of the record itself? If you are objective about your music. It's hard to say that the Hollies ever made a truly bad record, especially in this period, they could sing and play to well to make a mess of something. It should also be remembered that they were really at the top of the music scene in Britain. This was largely due to talent, many beat groups had come and gone between '62 and '69 but the Hollies had what it took to achieve real longevity.

So, The Hollies Sing Dylan is a good record. To listen to any of the individual tracks is to be entertained. Blowin' In The Wind may seem slightly ridiculous with its big band, swing arrangement but it is also highly imaginative re-working, pre-dating a trend for swing style music adopted by popular acts such as Robbie Williams and Westlife decades later. When The Ship Comes In is lively and makes great use of banjo to drive the song, giving it a slightly rural revival-ish feel which works very well with the sermon like lyrics. The Mighty Quinn closes off the record with some banjo picking growing to a full orchestral rag time arrangement. It works very well. The drumming is generally very good through- out.

My criticism of the record is that taken as a whole it becomes rather boring. A lot of the songs, such as I Want You, are played very straight and lack imagination. By and large the only innovation on Dylan's songs comes with the occasional flourish of orchestra, banjo, marimba and electric sitar. The Times They Are A Changing, in particular, adds nothing to the original. The harmonies are also very "straight" and at times the mechanism of the Hollies approach is laid bare and makes their usually entertaining vocals seem repetitive. Even though the album wasn't rushed, it appears rushed. Perhaps, they saw it a training ground for new harmony vocalist Sylvester. The harmonies do work well on I'll Be Your Baby Tonight and My Back Pages.

The real star of the show is undoubtedly lead singer Allan Clarke. The album is very much a showcase for this vocal talents and he frequently rises to the occasion. His Just Like A Woman is something special, as it is in the live performance version linked to this blog. However, the dependence on Clarke's voice serves to add to the overall uniformity. They could have broken things up a bit by given the odd line or verse to one of the other singers in the group.

If you choose any one song on the album and listen to it, you'll be entertained. However, if you listen to all 12 tracks at once, you may question the point of the record good and all as it is. I can imagine why it was successful upon it's release. I'm sure many folks (particularly parents!) liked Dylan's tunes but found his delivery off putting. They needed the Hollies to come along pop-ize the songs and make the music more accessible.

Just Like A Woman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7PIYh0ApKw