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.
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