Sadly, the world of rock and roll has lost another of its all-time greats with the announcement today of the passing of David Crosby at the age of eighty-one. Crosby was a founding member of two of rock's most seminal bands, The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, and Nash (and Young a bit later), and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of both.
While I'll obviously remember Crosby's musical contributions to the bands noted above, I'll also remember him for his primal scream of "How many more?" in CSNY's "Ohio" (still the greatest protest song ever written), his never-ending promotion of liberal causes and accomplishments (a master tweeter), and his epic bitch slap of second-rate talent and perfect asshole Ted Nugent when he whined that he wasn't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because of "political correctness."
While Crosby had his demons (drug addiction--eventually he did five months in prison for drug and weapons offenses), he would eventually conquer them, and late in his life he noted (quite correctly, I might add) that, "Music's a lifting force. Music makes things better."
RIP and Godspeed, Mr. Crosby.
While I'm not a religious man, The Byrds "Turn! Turn! Turn!" with its lyrics taken from the Bible book Ecclesiastes seems an especially appropriate endpoint...Enjoy:
Regular readers (both of you) may recall that way back when Friday Night Jukebox began, the first song I wrote about was Crosby, Stills, and Nash's "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes." We're two hundred and fifty some odd featured tunes into this experiment, and this week we're going back to our first group...and adding the inimitable Neil Young, with arguably, the most powerful protest song ever written.
Crosby, Still, and Nash formed in 1969, with each of the members (David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash) coming from successful groups (the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and the Hollies respectively). Joined off and on by Neil Young, CSN had a lot of success from the late sixties (including an appearance at the original Woodstock) to the late seventies. To call the band volatile would be an understatement--Neil Young has left numerous times (in fairness, Young did have much more solo success than the others), Crosby did time in prison, and both Crosby and Stills had serious problems with freebasing cocaine. Still, they have managed to release eight studio albums throughout the years, four of which hit the top ten (including one #1), and have had a #1 live album and #1 hits collection as well, and they have also had 30 (!) tours over the course of the last fifty years. CSN was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997; each of the members was also inducted with the bands noted above (Neil Young has gotten in for his solo work and, like Stills, his work with Buffalo Springfield). While the band has not been together since their last tour in 2015, all of the members have said they wouldn't rule out another reunion.
"Ohio" was released as a single only in June of 1970, though a live version was released on their #1 live album, 4 Way Street. The studio version did not appear on an LP until their first greatest hits collection, So Far,in 1974."Ohio" would go on to reach #14 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.
Written (by Neil Young) and recorded only two weeks after the National Guard murdered four students at Kent State University on May 4, 1970, "Ohio" is a powerful testament to the evil the right wing is capable of, even as people exercise their constitutional right to peacefully protest. It wasn't an accident that Young singles out Richard Nixon--conservatives have never believed in the right to dissent, only believing that dissent should be crushed by any means necessary. From it's ominous guitar at the song's beginning (not sure Young has ever played a better guitar part) to David Crosby's plaintive wail of "How many more?" toward the end, CSNY sing a song that indicts a subset of American leaders who, for all their talk about the sanctity of life, seems to only revere life when it still resides in the womb. It also serves as a stark reminder, especially in the age of Donald Trump, of the people who seek to subjugate us--and the power we still have in numbers to mourn the dead, to honor their sacrifice, and to change the world. Literally one of the most stunning works of art pop music has ever produced.
This is a photo from protests in Ferguson, Missouri, where Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, was shot to death by a police officer last week. Yesterday the police in Ferguson announced they wouldn't be releasing the name of the officer who killed Michael Brown. Today, the police in Ferguson asked/told/announced to their citizens that there would be a curfew tonight after dark. As I type this, tear gas is flooding the streets of Ferguson, despite the peaceful nature of the protests.
Every now and again I come across a piece where the writer proclaims we are becoming more and more of a police state every day. I usually scoff.
After the actions of the police department in Ferguson (and the lack of action by Missouri elected officials from the town itself on up to Missouri Governor Jay Nixon), those proclamations are having a little more credence. How can anyone look at that picture and trust their local police would behave any differently? What if it was your unarmed child shot to death? Wouldn't you want answers and not an army trying to prevent your right to them?
The average American gets paid just enough so he doesn't quit his job, and works just hard enough so he doesn't get fired.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." Source unknown
Uncle emaycee Wants You For the Coming Class War! Enlist today....
Capitalism: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you can exploit his labor, become filthy rich, and keep the poor bastard living paycheck to paycheck for the rest of his life.
