Legends of the Canyon: The Music and Magic of 1960s Laurel Canyon DVD Review

Legends of the Canyon: The Music and Magic of 1960s Laurel Canyon uses musician/photographer Henry Diltz's candid photos as backdrop to tell the story of the genesis of the Laurel Canyon/West Coast rock scene.

The filmmakers' premise is that the aftermath of JFK's assassination drove the youth culture to embrace The Beatles and that The Beatles energized the West Coast folk scene to go electric. Henry Diltz narrates the story which starts with the formation of The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield and ends with the Manson Family killings. Intermixed in narrative are photos and live footage of the Laurel Canyon bands and interview clips with the majority of musicians who sprung out of that scene. The film predominately focuses on Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - the bands that they were in prior to CSN(&Y) and the recording of the first two albums - and The Mamas & The Papas.

Interviews include extensive footage with David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and original CSN(Y) drummer Dallas Taylor and it is fascinating to hear some of the different viewpoints and versions of what was beneath some of the legendary tensions within the group. The other key interviewee is Michelle Philips who tells the story behind The Mamas & the Papas, her relationship with Gene Clark and more. Both Philips and all of the interviewees discussed their love and admiration for Mama Cass Elliot who was influential in both the Laurel Canyon music scene and in getting Crosby, Stills and Nash together. The other non-appearing musician who got a lot of positive accolades was Joni Mitchell; Crosby, Stills and Nash all seemed to be in awe of her.

Other interviewees include record industry executives David Geffen, Ahmet Ertegun and Lenny Waronker and musician Van Dyke Parks (who, in the bonus footage, claims that he named Buffalo Springfield).

The bonus footage is a treat for CSN fans or fans of this era as it includes uncut interviews with David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash (footage from which was included in the main feature) along with Diltz's silent 8MM films of both The Byrds and CSN in concert and fan filmed footage of Stephen Stills on one of his early solo tours. Of lesser importance, there are interviews with Ron Stone (long-time CSN manager) and Van Dyke Parks and Gerry Beckley (from the band America). Lastly, the bonus footage includes the somewhat silly "Henry's Acid Trip" - the vignette's title gives all the explanation needed.

Crosby, Stills and Nash - Demos CD Review (1968-1971)

Crosby, Stills & Nash's latest release Demos is a collection of twelve previously unreleased demos that were recorded between 1968 - 1971. The material is split between songs from the first two Crosby, Stills & Nash LPs and the individual band members' solo projects.

Where it gets really interesting is that nine of these demos are solo performances that are likely the 'working demos' that were brought to either CSN or solo band's recording session. These stripped-down demos highlight gems like David Crosby's clear tenor vocals on "Almost Cut My Hair" and "Deja Vu", where Crosby ends the song with some free-form scat vocals. Graham Nash has three songs on this collection from his first solo CD, Songs for Beginners, and these demos give songs like "Sleep Song", "Be Yourself" and "Chicago" an earnest and wistful charm.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are three songs which feature all three members of CSN or various combinations thereof. An acoustic demo of "Marrakesh Express" (where this demo was recorded a few months prior to the first CSN album) is particularly enjoyable, "Music Is Love" is a Crosby/Nash performance that adds Neil Young on guitar and vocals and "Long Time Gone" features David Crosby and Stephen Stills.

While Demos isn't a starting point for new CSN fans, it is pretty much a "must have" for long-time fans.

Crosby, Stills & Nash are out on tour this summer and they are playing a couple shows in the NYC area:

8.7.2009 Borgata Spa & Resort Atlantic City, NJ
8.8.2009 Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY
8.11.2009 PNC Bank Arts Center Holmdel, NJ

Links:
Crosby, Stills & Nash's Website

Crosby Stills and Nash Release CD of 1968 - 1971 Demos on June 2nd (Rhino Entertainment)

STREAM: Crosby, Stills & Nash - Demos (Rhino Entertainment)
(Streaming tracks are "Marrakesh Express”, "Almost Cut My Hair” and “Love The One You’re With")

On June 2nd, Rhino is releasing a collection of 12 previously unreleased demos by Crosby, Stills, Nash (and Young) that were recorded between 1968 and 1971. Many of the performances feature various combinations of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and the tracks are a good mix of CSN(&Y) and solo solo songs.

Some of the tracks include:
- "Marrakesh Express" features Crosby, Stills and Nash and was recorded four months before CSN's debut release
- "Music is Love" features Crosby, Nash and Young
- "Almost Cut My Hair" is a solo recording by David Crosby
- "My Love is a Gentle Thing" is a 1968 solo recording by Stephen Stills

Here is the complete track list:

1. "Marrakesh Express"
2. "Almost Cut My Hair"
3. "You Don't Have To Cry"
4. "Déjà Vu"
5. "Sleep Song"
6. "My Love Is A Gentle Thing"
7. "Be Yourself"
8. "Music Is Love"
9. "Singing Call"
10. "Long Time Gone"
11. "Chicago"
12. "Love The One You're With"

Crosby, Stills & Nash are out on tour this summer and here are their June tour dates:
June 03 - St. Louis, MO, Chaifetz Arena
June 04 - Chicago, IL, Charter One Pavilion
June 06 - Detroit, MI, Meadow Brook
June 07 - Toledo, OH, Zoo Amphitheatre
June 09 - Niagara, ON, Fallsview Casino Resort
June 10 - Canandaigua, NY, Constellation, PAC
June 12 - Cooperstown, NY, Doubleday Field
June 13 - Mashantucket, CT, MGM Grand @ Foxwoods
June 14 - Boston, MA, Bank of America Pavilion
June 27 - Glastonbury, England, Glastonbury Festival
June 29 - Cork, Ireland, Marquee

Links:
Crosby, Stills & Nash's Website

Graham Nash - "Reflections" CD Boxset Review (Rhino Entertainment)

STREAM: Graham Nash - Selected Tracks from Reflections

With the 'death' of the LP, most record companies seem to have forgotten the importance of the album cover art, lyrics that can be read without a magnifying glass and innovative packaging. Rhino obviously hasn't forgotten this as the packaging alone on Graham Nash's 3-CD retrospective is impressive. Reflections is designed to look like a weathered and well-loved book and this book folds open to reveal the three CDs nestled in full color art. The discs are accompanied by a 150-page book of photos and Graham's notes about each track.

The sixty-four tracks on this set follows Graham's career chronologically from The Hollies to Crosby, Stills and Nash (and C,S,N&Y) to Graham's solo recordings and his work with David Crosby. This is an impressive collection and die-hard Graham Nash fan who already own Graham's prior releases will likely want to pick up this box set as thirty-two of the sixty-four tracks are previously unreleased. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Graham said “I went through 44 versions of the set before I settled on this one...It was painful for me because I’m not for introspection or resting on my laurels. A lot of the musical soundtrack to my life is on this box set.”

While most of the unreleased tracks are alternate mixes or unreleased versions of familiar songs, one of the highlights of this box set is six previously unreleased songs. One of these songs includes an unreleased Crosby, Stills & Nash song from 1984 called "Lonely Man". Some of the other highlights include a new mix of "Cathedral" (originally on the 1977 "CSN" LP) and a solo version of the little heard "Right Between the Eyes" (originally on the 1971 live LP "4 Way Street").

This isn't just a greatest hits collection as all of Graham's work is given equal attention. Disc One serves as a "greatest hits" collection with songs from the original CSN(&Y) lineup and Graham's first two solo discs. Disc Two takes the listener through the Crosby/Nash partnership, various CSN reunions (and "almost" reunions - check out the track notes for "Mutiny") and tracks from Graham's two solo discs from the 80's, Earth & Sky and Innocent Eyes. The third disc brings the listener to the present and covers the more recent CSN work along with Graham's 2004 outing with with David Crosby. There are a number of unreleased Nash tunes on this last disc and the disc closes with the poignant "In Your Name". For this last song, Graham writes in the track notes "[t]he killing of human beings by other human beings in the name of their respective "God" has always seemed most unholy to me...this song is a small prayer."

Links:
Graham Nash