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Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life
From Graham Nash—the legendary musician and founding member of the iconic bands Crosby, Stills & Nash and The Hollies—comes a candid and riveting autobiography that belongs on the reading list of every classic rock fan.
Graham Nash's songs defined a generation and helped shape the history of rock and roll—he’s written over 200 songs, including such classic hits as "Carrie Anne," “On A Carousel,” "Simple Man," "Our House," “Marrakesh Express,” and "Teach Your Children." From the opening salvos of the British Rock Revolution to the last shudders of Woodstock, he has rocked and rolled wherever music mattered. Now Graham is ready to tell his his lower-class childhood in post-war England, his early days in the British Invasion group The Hollies; becoming the lover and muse of Joni Mitchell during the halcyon years, when both produced their most introspective and important work; meeting Stephen Stills and David Crosby and reaching superstardom with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; and his enduring career as a solo musician and political activist. Nash has valuable insights into a world and time many think they know from the outside but few have experienced at its epicenter, and equally wonderful anecdotes about the people around the Beatles, the Stones, Hendrix, Cass Elliot, Dylan, and other rock luminaries. From London to Laurel Canyon and beyond, Wild Tales is a revealing look back at an extraordinary life—with all the highs and the lows; the love, the sex, and the jealousy; the politics; the drugs; the insanity—and the sanity—of a magical era of music.
Graham Nash's songs defined a generation and helped shape the history of rock and roll—he’s written over 200 songs, including such classic hits as "Carrie Anne," “On A Carousel,” "Simple Man," "Our House," “Marrakesh Express,” and "Teach Your Children." From the opening salvos of the British Rock Revolution to the last shudders of Woodstock, he has rocked and rolled wherever music mattered. Now Graham is ready to tell his his lower-class childhood in post-war England, his early days in the British Invasion group The Hollies; becoming the lover and muse of Joni Mitchell during the halcyon years, when both produced their most introspective and important work; meeting Stephen Stills and David Crosby and reaching superstardom with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; and his enduring career as a solo musician and political activist. Nash has valuable insights into a world and time many think they know from the outside but few have experienced at its epicenter, and equally wonderful anecdotes about the people around the Beatles, the Stones, Hendrix, Cass Elliot, Dylan, and other rock luminaries. From London to Laurel Canyon and beyond, Wild Tales is a revealing look back at an extraordinary life—with all the highs and the lows; the love, the sex, and the jealousy; the politics; the drugs; the insanity—and the sanity—of a magical era of music.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
426 people are currently reading
2420 people want to read
About the author
Graham Nash
58 books29 followersGraham William Nash, OBE is a British singer-songwriter known for his light tenor voice and for his songwriting contributions with the British pop group The Hollies, and with the folk-rock super group Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. A dual citizen of the United Kingdom and United States, Nash became an American citizen on 14 August 1978.
Nash is a photography collector and a published photographer. He was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1997 and as a member of The Hollies in 2010.
Nash was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours List for services to music and to charity.
Nash holds four honorary doctorates, including one in Music from the University of Salford in 2011, and his latest Doctorate in Fine Arts from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Nash is a photography collector and a published photographer. He was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1997 and as a member of The Hollies in 2010.
Nash was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours List for services to music and to charity.
Nash holds four honorary doctorates, including one in Music from the University of Salford in 2011, and his latest Doctorate in Fine Arts from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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May 7, 2021
Don't do coke.
I participated in a memoir writing workshop recently and the guy across from me — a reporter from a local paper — talked about the memoir he's planning. He's met a bunch of 60s and 70s rock stars and his chapters would be built around those musicians and what their music meant to him at different stages of his young adulthood. Pretty cool, eh? I mentioned I'd just started reading Wild Tales and he told me he'd read it, but couldn't get over what a narcissist Nash was.
That made me laugh.
Is there such an animal as a non-narcissistic rock star? It's in the DNA. I think the only way to survive in that business is through utter focus on one's self.
And as our memoir writing guide pointed out, after warning us she swore a lot, that writing a memoir was the purest act of narcissism. Admit it, own it, move the fuck on.
And don't do coke.
So, no. I don't agree that Graham Nash came off in this memoir as particularly narcissistic. In fact, I think he came off as distant and un-selfaware, particularly when the narrative moved from his childhood and his early years with the Hollies into the heavy 70s. And you know why I think that? Because he was so fucked up most of the time, he can't really remember WHAT he was feeling.
I love CSN. CSN&Y. I have for as long as my musical memory extends, and that's into the early 70s, when I was a toddler in Corvallis, OR. Their harmonies, like those of Simon and Garfunkel, are part of my heart's song, my childhood, the development of my ear and my lyrical mind. I have seen CSN perform at shitty little county fairs in the 1980s — desperate measures by the band to earn some cash because Croz and Stills were bankrupt after snorting through their fortunes — and I have seen them in the early 2000s at the most magnificent outdoor concert venue in this country (Gorge Amphitheatre, George, WA), with an audience in the tens of thousands, riding the wave of personal sobriety and the country's political reawakening. I love them for their music, for their California breeze vibe, for how they make me ache to have been a young woman instead of a protozoa, and then a child, in the 60s and 70s.
But they make me really glad I don't do coke.
Nash left the U.K. for America because of a girl. That girl was Joni Mitchell. Jesus. Wouldn't you? She is sublime. Nash met Stills and Croz his first night in town, at Joni's place — or remet them, rather —they'd already hung out a bit. But it was the first time they sang together. And that was it. A band was born. Neil Young joined CSN after they'd released their first album. They needed another musician on tour since Stills couldn't cover every instrument on stage. Neil signed up and CSN&Y became, more or less, off and on, the band for the next twenty years.
I've always been a Stephen Stills girl, myself. One of the greatest guitar players ever to straddle a fret. His voice is in my register, so it's his thread I sing along to. I think I read Wild Tales and Judy Collins's memoir mostly for glimpses into Stills's life. He's never really comes off very well: a coked out, drunk, arrogant bastard, with a really good heart. And fingers blessed by magic. Listen to Just Roll Tape, the guy-and-his-acoustic-guitar album released a couple of years ago. These are tapes some sound engineer kept in his garage for forty years before finally handing them off to Nash. Listen and tell me you don't fall in love with Stephen Stills in a heartbeat.
Neil Young. Weird, enigmatic, and fucking brilliant. Always was, still is. I think his memoir (does he have one?) is next.
The most tender and brutal recollections are those of David Crosby. He and Nash have always been the closest and Croz's near-total self-destruction was agony to watch through Nash's eyes. It amazes me that man is still alive. It amazed everyone. David Crosby should be dead about eighty times over.
Don't do coke.
And I think that's what Wild Tales does best: Nash's observations of others are far better than his personal reflections, though perhaps we learn most about ourselves when we contemplate our relationships.
The writing here is laughable. I was surprised, because Nash is so articulate in interviews and of course, he can write a pretty verse or two. But whatever. He does go on in a perfunctory way about his photography and political activities without offering deep insights. It's the (poor) quality of the writing and the shallowness of much of his narrative — and, Jesus, the really annoying obsession with breasts and babes and sex; we get it, you shagged A LOT of women, who cares?— that knock those stars back to a solid, but average three stars.
Not to worry. I just put on Déjà Vu and it's 1970. I'm in Laurel Canyon, a little high, my hair is long, my skin is tan, the boys and girls are all pretty, we're all in love. We are stardust. We are golden. And the world is on fire.
But don't worry, I won't do coke.
I participated in a memoir writing workshop recently and the guy across from me — a reporter from a local paper — talked about the memoir he's planning. He's met a bunch of 60s and 70s rock stars and his chapters would be built around those musicians and what their music meant to him at different stages of his young adulthood. Pretty cool, eh? I mentioned I'd just started reading Wild Tales and he told me he'd read it, but couldn't get over what a narcissist Nash was.
That made me laugh.
Is there such an animal as a non-narcissistic rock star? It's in the DNA. I think the only way to survive in that business is through utter focus on one's self.
And as our memoir writing guide pointed out, after warning us she swore a lot, that writing a memoir was the purest act of narcissism. Admit it, own it, move the fuck on.
And don't do coke.
So, no. I don't agree that Graham Nash came off in this memoir as particularly narcissistic. In fact, I think he came off as distant and un-selfaware, particularly when the narrative moved from his childhood and his early years with the Hollies into the heavy 70s. And you know why I think that? Because he was so fucked up most of the time, he can't really remember WHAT he was feeling.
I love CSN. CSN&Y. I have for as long as my musical memory extends, and that's into the early 70s, when I was a toddler in Corvallis, OR. Their harmonies, like those of Simon and Garfunkel, are part of my heart's song, my childhood, the development of my ear and my lyrical mind. I have seen CSN perform at shitty little county fairs in the 1980s — desperate measures by the band to earn some cash because Croz and Stills were bankrupt after snorting through their fortunes — and I have seen them in the early 2000s at the most magnificent outdoor concert venue in this country (Gorge Amphitheatre, George, WA), with an audience in the tens of thousands, riding the wave of personal sobriety and the country's political reawakening. I love them for their music, for their California breeze vibe, for how they make me ache to have been a young woman instead of a protozoa, and then a child, in the 60s and 70s.
But they make me really glad I don't do coke.
Nash left the U.K. for America because of a girl. That girl was Joni Mitchell. Jesus. Wouldn't you? She is sublime. Nash met Stills and Croz his first night in town, at Joni's place — or remet them, rather —they'd already hung out a bit. But it was the first time they sang together. And that was it. A band was born. Neil Young joined CSN after they'd released their first album. They needed another musician on tour since Stills couldn't cover every instrument on stage. Neil signed up and CSN&Y became, more or less, off and on, the band for the next twenty years.
I've always been a Stephen Stills girl, myself. One of the greatest guitar players ever to straddle a fret. His voice is in my register, so it's his thread I sing along to. I think I read Wild Tales and Judy Collins's memoir mostly for glimpses into Stills's life. He's never really comes off very well: a coked out, drunk, arrogant bastard, with a really good heart. And fingers blessed by magic. Listen to Just Roll Tape, the guy-and-his-acoustic-guitar album released a couple of years ago. These are tapes some sound engineer kept in his garage for forty years before finally handing them off to Nash. Listen and tell me you don't fall in love with Stephen Stills in a heartbeat.
Neil Young. Weird, enigmatic, and fucking brilliant. Always was, still is. I think his memoir (does he have one?) is next.
The most tender and brutal recollections are those of David Crosby. He and Nash have always been the closest and Croz's near-total self-destruction was agony to watch through Nash's eyes. It amazes me that man is still alive. It amazed everyone. David Crosby should be dead about eighty times over.
Don't do coke.
And I think that's what Wild Tales does best: Nash's observations of others are far better than his personal reflections, though perhaps we learn most about ourselves when we contemplate our relationships.
The writing here is laughable. I was surprised, because Nash is so articulate in interviews and of course, he can write a pretty verse or two. But whatever. He does go on in a perfunctory way about his photography and political activities without offering deep insights. It's the (poor) quality of the writing and the shallowness of much of his narrative — and, Jesus, the really annoying obsession with breasts and babes and sex; we get it, you shagged A LOT of women, who cares?— that knock those stars back to a solid, but average three stars.
Not to worry. I just put on Déjà Vu and it's 1970. I'm in Laurel Canyon, a little high, my hair is long, my skin is tan, the boys and girls are all pretty, we're all in love. We are stardust. We are golden. And the world is on fire.
But don't worry, I won't do coke.
November 5, 2018
I feel I had an advantage over some other GR reviewers of this book.
♪ Years ago, I remember viewing an 80's interview of Nash, Hicks & Clarke - probably around the time of Holliedaze. The journalist asked a question about "Long Cool Woman" & Nash jumped in to answer the question, while the other two Hollies quietly looked at the floor. This would have been all well & good - except Nash wasn't a member of Hollies at this point & Allan Clarke not only sang the lead, he played lead guitar (this was a very rare example of Clarke playing an instrument after the Hollies became famous) & Clarke co-wrote the song! If anyone finds this on You Tube let me know - I did look!
♪ I had already read Terry Sylvester's (Nash's replacement in the Hollies) furious account of what happened at The Hollies induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Reading Nash's account in this memoir, you won't even realise Sylvester, Bern Calvert & founding member Eric Haydock were even present!
So I started off as someone who actually prefer's Terry Sylvester's voice & was aware that, in spite of Nash's enormous contribution to many Worthy Causes, that this was a towering ego who feels the world revolves around him. & I became a fan of the Hollies during the Sylvester Era & prefer Terry's voice. So there.
So I enjoyed this book very much. The best part is his life growing up in poverty in wartime & post war Great Britain. Nash had every reason to strive for success & I'm sure that is the reason he became a prudent money manager.
I would have liked more on the Hollies - but this was a very short part of Nash's life. Only two years. & things that aren't important to Nash (or may cast him in an unfavourable light) are glossed over. So Vic Steele making the decision to stick with his union job, rather the insecurity of life as a musician was mentioned, but Haydock being fired wasn't.
Once Nash moves to the States with (by his account very little more than his guitar) things do get interesting- other than the endless drug use, but it is an important part of the CSN & sometimes Y legend. Descriptions of how the songs were written were fascinating, as well as detailing how much he did do to try to help David Crosby & to a lesser extent Stephen Stills. There would have been times with a young family that Nash probably didn't want to tour, but did so as the other two had blown (literally) through fortunes. Trying to work with the unreliable & unpredictable genius that is Neil Young - again what a trip.
But: there are certainly things that a gentleman wouldn't have mentioned in his relationships with woman - or in his relationships with friends. Much has been made of Nash's repeatedly mentioning Crosby's sore covered & swollen body. It is gross to read, but I think important. The life of a desperate drug addict is not a glamourous one. Nash also takes swipes at Stills & Young. (& a couple of the Hollies as well)
Nash mentions life as a happy family man who adores his second wife, Susan. I could have read even more about his artistic career as there was a lot I didn't know.
Enough material for a second book maybe?
Nash's book was published in 2013 & there have been some quite startling changes since then.
This book reminded me a lot of Ron Wood's autobiography. Like Wood's book there is a focus on one friendship where one friend (in a non sexual way!) is the love of his life. That is David Crosby - who is now longer speaking to Nash - even though Crosby supposedly isn't secretive about his wild past & drug use, he didn't appreciate it being rehashed in this book. But he still talks to Stills & Young. Nash still talks to three of the Hollies. (he does admit that is partly because the Hollies were still successful without him.)
2013 Nash still wildly in love with his wife Susan. 2016 Out of love with Susan & in a relationship with a Joni Mitchell look a like the same age as his kids. All three of his kids unhappy about this & his sons no longer speak to him.
But this is the real Nash I think. He walked out on the Hollies (& got the group's manager to tell them!) & didn't see/speak to them for around fourteen years - even though he & Allan Clarke had been friends since they were 6 years old. Certainly can't argue with his reasons (changing musical directions) but that was cold.
I don't have to particularly like or admire the man to love his music with two of the greatest groups ever, - & if he is constantly putting himself in the most favourable light - don't we all?
Recommended as long as you remember this idol has feet of clay!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/even...
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainm...
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads...
♪ Years ago, I remember viewing an 80's interview of Nash, Hicks & Clarke - probably around the time of Holliedaze. The journalist asked a question about "Long Cool Woman" & Nash jumped in to answer the question, while the other two Hollies quietly looked at the floor. This would have been all well & good - except Nash wasn't a member of Hollies at this point & Allan Clarke not only sang the lead, he played lead guitar (this was a very rare example of Clarke playing an instrument after the Hollies became famous) & Clarke co-wrote the song! If anyone finds this on You Tube let me know - I did look!
♪ I had already read Terry Sylvester's (Nash's replacement in the Hollies) furious account of what happened at The Hollies induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Reading Nash's account in this memoir, you won't even realise Sylvester, Bern Calvert & founding member Eric Haydock were even present!
So I started off as someone who actually prefer's Terry Sylvester's voice & was aware that, in spite of Nash's enormous contribution to many Worthy Causes, that this was a towering ego who feels the world revolves around him. & I became a fan of the Hollies during the Sylvester Era & prefer Terry's voice. So there.
So I enjoyed this book very much. The best part is his life growing up in poverty in wartime & post war Great Britain. Nash had every reason to strive for success & I'm sure that is the reason he became a prudent money manager.
I would have liked more on the Hollies - but this was a very short part of Nash's life. Only two years. & things that aren't important to Nash (or may cast him in an unfavourable light) are glossed over. So Vic Steele making the decision to stick with his union job, rather the insecurity of life as a musician was mentioned, but Haydock being fired wasn't.
Once Nash moves to the States with (by his account very little more than his guitar) things do get interesting- other than the endless drug use, but it is an important part of the CSN & sometimes Y legend. Descriptions of how the songs were written were fascinating, as well as detailing how much he did do to try to help David Crosby & to a lesser extent Stephen Stills. There would have been times with a young family that Nash probably didn't want to tour, but did so as the other two had blown (literally) through fortunes. Trying to work with the unreliable & unpredictable genius that is Neil Young - again what a trip.
But: there are certainly things that a gentleman wouldn't have mentioned in his relationships with woman - or in his relationships with friends. Much has been made of Nash's repeatedly mentioning Crosby's sore covered & swollen body. It is gross to read, but I think important. The life of a desperate drug addict is not a glamourous one. Nash also takes swipes at Stills & Young. (& a couple of the Hollies as well)
Nash mentions life as a happy family man who adores his second wife, Susan. I could have read even more about his artistic career as there was a lot I didn't know.
Enough material for a second book maybe?
Nash's book was published in 2013 & there have been some quite startling changes since then.
This book reminded me a lot of Ron Wood's autobiography. Like Wood's book there is a focus on one friendship where one friend (in a non sexual way!) is the love of his life. That is David Crosby - who is now longer speaking to Nash - even though Crosby supposedly isn't secretive about his wild past & drug use, he didn't appreciate it being rehashed in this book. But he still talks to Stills & Young. Nash still talks to three of the Hollies. (he does admit that is partly because the Hollies were still successful without him.)
2013 Nash still wildly in love with his wife Susan. 2016 Out of love with Susan & in a relationship with a Joni Mitchell look a like the same age as his kids. All three of his kids unhappy about this & his sons no longer speak to him.
But this is the real Nash I think. He walked out on the Hollies (& got the group's manager to tell them!) & didn't see/speak to them for around fourteen years - even though he & Allan Clarke had been friends since they were 6 years old. Certainly can't argue with his reasons (changing musical directions) but that was cold.
I don't have to particularly like or admire the man to love his music with two of the greatest groups ever, - & if he is constantly putting himself in the most favourable light - don't we all?
Recommended as long as you remember this idol has feet of clay!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/even...
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainm...
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads...
November 9, 2014
Wild Tales by Graham Nash- A Rock & Roll Life is a Crown publishing release. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher an Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Graham Nash has had one those rare musical successes which has gone on for decades. The Hollies and Crosby, Stills, Nash ( and sometimes Young) are the groups we know him from.
I grew up listening to CSN and of course I heard some hits by The Hollies too. Still, other than David Crosby's epic battles with drugs, I really didn't know too much about CSN or Graham Nash. So, curious I signed on to read this one.
Rock autobiographies can go several ways. They can read like dry history with a list of albums and songs with a few tidbits of gossip, all of which a quick internet search could supply, or it's a shameless self promotion and a lot whining and finger pointing and of course all the issues with drugs which after awhile is just flat boring. This one managed to avoid some of those issues. I was thankful there was no list of albums/songs and that every single cord or recording session and snit fits wasn't examined to death. In this one, Graham starts off strong going into his formative years, his parents problems and how he got started in music.
The period when Graham was with the Hollies is fun to read about. Those days were so exciting in the history of music. The Hollies were a hit machine with catchy pop laden tunes and they rarely missed the mark. But, Graham outgrew The Hollies and longed for something more serious or substantial.
The years he was with CSN, were where he spent the bulk of his career. While he had much success with The Hollies, it was nothing like the incredible times Graham spent with CSN. He went through Woodstock, sold out arenas, hit after hit after hit. When I read back over his career with this band I am amazed at the amount work this band did and despite everything managed to stay popular.
I thought Graham had a unique way of telling his story, which was funny, blunt, and one could literally see how he changed over time. But, once the book hit those days of super stardom it became like so many other rock memoirs. That feeling of “been there, done that” came up and Graham began to sound like so many other spoiled musicians who have lived in a bubble too long. Of course, you would be naïve to think this book was published with absolutely no intent of self promotion. So, yes, there was some of that too.
The first half of the book was told with a fresh, strong voice as memories of his childhood, and first taste of success are told with what felt like the same awe he had while living through those days. But, as we approached the second half, it was as if he had grown weary of telling this part of his life story and reliving it now was exhausting. So, the book lost a lot of it's previous momentum and it became really tedious.
I did think Graham was tactful most of the time, but also pretty honest, calling like he saw it or experienced it. His relationships with women, his music, friends, band mates, drug issues, and politics, as well as awards, charities, benefits are all laid out there. Triumphs, tragedies, ups, downs, good and bad, Graham has certainly lived a full life, has seen many changes and came through it all still alive, still productive, still performing and living life to it's fullest.
Overall, as rock memoirs go, this one was pretty much standard. Not great, but not all that bad either. This one gets a 3.
Graham Nash has had one those rare musical successes which has gone on for decades. The Hollies and Crosby, Stills, Nash ( and sometimes Young) are the groups we know him from.
I grew up listening to CSN and of course I heard some hits by The Hollies too. Still, other than David Crosby's epic battles with drugs, I really didn't know too much about CSN or Graham Nash. So, curious I signed on to read this one.
Rock autobiographies can go several ways. They can read like dry history with a list of albums and songs with a few tidbits of gossip, all of which a quick internet search could supply, or it's a shameless self promotion and a lot whining and finger pointing and of course all the issues with drugs which after awhile is just flat boring. This one managed to avoid some of those issues. I was thankful there was no list of albums/songs and that every single cord or recording session and snit fits wasn't examined to death. In this one, Graham starts off strong going into his formative years, his parents problems and how he got started in music.
The period when Graham was with the Hollies is fun to read about. Those days were so exciting in the history of music. The Hollies were a hit machine with catchy pop laden tunes and they rarely missed the mark. But, Graham outgrew The Hollies and longed for something more serious or substantial.
The years he was with CSN, were where he spent the bulk of his career. While he had much success with The Hollies, it was nothing like the incredible times Graham spent with CSN. He went through Woodstock, sold out arenas, hit after hit after hit. When I read back over his career with this band I am amazed at the amount work this band did and despite everything managed to stay popular.
I thought Graham had a unique way of telling his story, which was funny, blunt, and one could literally see how he changed over time. But, once the book hit those days of super stardom it became like so many other rock memoirs. That feeling of “been there, done that” came up and Graham began to sound like so many other spoiled musicians who have lived in a bubble too long. Of course, you would be naïve to think this book was published with absolutely no intent of self promotion. So, yes, there was some of that too.
The first half of the book was told with a fresh, strong voice as memories of his childhood, and first taste of success are told with what felt like the same awe he had while living through those days. But, as we approached the second half, it was as if he had grown weary of telling this part of his life story and reliving it now was exhausting. So, the book lost a lot of it's previous momentum and it became really tedious.
I did think Graham was tactful most of the time, but also pretty honest, calling like he saw it or experienced it. His relationships with women, his music, friends, band mates, drug issues, and politics, as well as awards, charities, benefits are all laid out there. Triumphs, tragedies, ups, downs, good and bad, Graham has certainly lived a full life, has seen many changes and came through it all still alive, still productive, still performing and living life to it's fullest.
Overall, as rock memoirs go, this one was pretty much standard. Not great, but not all that bad either. This one gets a 3.
October 23, 2013
You know how sometimes you read a book or a story about someone you like and afterwards you like them less? That's what this book did for me.
Nash told many details of starting his adult years as an under-educated lad from a blue-collar family. Today, he is still an under-educated lad who has spent a privileged lifetime being gullible, self-righteous and self-indulgent, spoiled and melodramatic about simple things in life that most of us deal with daily.
As one example of many, he tells the story about a cover for a new album that had his photo and a lovely rainbow in the sky behind him. OK so far except he got all bent out of shape that a cover proof sent to him showed that a barcode had been placed on the image just at the bottom of the rainbow. So he called the record company and said "You need to move that barcode, there's supposed to be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Not a barcode". After being told it would stay where it was, he called someone in his entourage and demanded that his contract with that record company be terminated. REALLY Graham?
The chronology he relates as the story unfolds is a reminder of how many forgettable albums and music tracks he and Crosby and he as a solo act have produced over the last 40 years.
Graham, you sing nice harmonies and have written a handful of decent songs in the last 40 years. You've been lucky in life despite having pretty poor judgement in friends and in appropriate behavior. No one's waiting to take political advice from you so keep your thoughts to yourself. Don't take yourself too seriously, we the public most certainly don't.
Nash told many details of starting his adult years as an under-educated lad from a blue-collar family. Today, he is still an under-educated lad who has spent a privileged lifetime being gullible, self-righteous and self-indulgent, spoiled and melodramatic about simple things in life that most of us deal with daily.
As one example of many, he tells the story about a cover for a new album that had his photo and a lovely rainbow in the sky behind him. OK so far except he got all bent out of shape that a cover proof sent to him showed that a barcode had been placed on the image just at the bottom of the rainbow. So he called the record company and said "You need to move that barcode, there's supposed to be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Not a barcode". After being told it would stay where it was, he called someone in his entourage and demanded that his contract with that record company be terminated. REALLY Graham?
The chronology he relates as the story unfolds is a reminder of how many forgettable albums and music tracks he and Crosby and he as a solo act have produced over the last 40 years.
Graham, you sing nice harmonies and have written a handful of decent songs in the last 40 years. You've been lucky in life despite having pretty poor judgement in friends and in appropriate behavior. No one's waiting to take political advice from you so keep your thoughts to yourself. Don't take yourself too seriously, we the public most certainly don't.
February 19, 2014
I suppose if possible I would give the book 2 1/2 stars but mostly because of the era described and certainly not for Graham's writing. As someone else noted on Goodreads, I actually think I like Graham Nash less now after reading his book. At times severely sanctimonious (yes, he did drugs and cheated on his wives but others did far more drugs and cheated more times....) and almost always self aggrandizing, Graham Nash seems to think every event in his life was deserving of him immediately putting his pen to paper so we would be fortunate enough to get his thoughts. And woe is the critic (or "so-called critic" as described by GN) who doesn't give Graham Nash a glowing review. In one particularly odious passage, GN bashes the Rolling Stone critic by saying "a trained monkey might have brought more to the game" and that the review "lacked insight and any kind of value for the reader". Wow - sensitive much?
I can't help but think an authorized autobiography would have been so much better for both GN and the reader. If nothing else, someone could have told GN how laughable the phrase "I dug the bread we were making" about an 80's tour really was. We get it - you are still a true hippie.
You're really groovy man....but sorry I just didn't dig it.
I can't help but think an authorized autobiography would have been so much better for both GN and the reader. If nothing else, someone could have told GN how laughable the phrase "I dug the bread we were making" about an 80's tour really was. We get it - you are still a true hippie.
You're really groovy man....but sorry I just didn't dig it.
November 14, 2013
The warts-and-all history of one of the 1970's most iconic musical groups, told by the sanest member of the quartet. Nash is admirably honest about both his failings and the struggles that each member of CSNY overcame during their 40 year journey. The most striking thing about the tale is the love that they all share, despite [or maybe because] of what they've all done to themselves and each other. At the end of the day, you're left with the desire to revisit all their recordings now that you know what inspired each of them and the wish that you could just spend an evening sharing a pint or two with Nash as he spins out the tale.
January 16, 2016
I had no idea where to direct my thoughts on Wild Tales...
Simply...it was one of the best written musical autobiographies I've ever read.
I listened to Graham Nash deliver his story and had a hard copy to the side to see the photos included.
candid... surprisingly heartwarming...sometimes heart-wrenching....
I couldn't put it down.
"Graham Nash���the legendary musician and founding member of the iconic bands Crosby, Stills & Nash and The Hollies has given us a work that belongs on the reading list of every classic rock and roll fan."
In a fiercely intense chronicle, we revel in moments of glory and success but we are not spared "dark side of stardom, "particularly the drug-fueled ego trips and meltdowns" that accompany tales of sex, drugs and rock and roll.
Wild Tales journals amazing times in the world of rock music..yet, you can't help feel a certain sadness for all of the times "Wasted on the Way."
Yes, "it all comes down to the music "(Graham Nash) but we learn so much more about love, friendship and loyalty.
I recommend this not only to CSN(Y) fans but to all "students" of classic rock and roll.
It's chronicled with precision and has a historical presence.
If you want an honest look at this time period and the journey of CSN (Y), it's here.
No holds barred.
You'll also explore many of the passions of Graham Nash's life...
Don't pass by this one!
��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ������
Simply...it was one of the best written musical autobiographies I've ever read.
I listened to Graham Nash deliver his story and had a hard copy to the side to see the photos included.
candid... surprisingly heartwarming...sometimes heart-wrenching....
I couldn't put it down.
"Graham Nash���the legendary musician and founding member of the iconic bands Crosby, Stills & Nash and The Hollies has given us a work that belongs on the reading list of every classic rock and roll fan."
In a fiercely intense chronicle, we revel in moments of glory and success but we are not spared "dark side of stardom, "particularly the drug-fueled ego trips and meltdowns" that accompany tales of sex, drugs and rock and roll.
Wild Tales journals amazing times in the world of rock music..yet, you can't help feel a certain sadness for all of the times "Wasted on the Way."
Yes, "it all comes down to the music "(Graham Nash) but we learn so much more about love, friendship and loyalty.
I recommend this not only to CSN(Y) fans but to all "students" of classic rock and roll.
It's chronicled with precision and has a historical presence.
If you want an honest look at this time period and the journey of CSN (Y), it's here.
No holds barred.
You'll also explore many of the passions of Graham Nash's life...
Don't pass by this one!
��� ��� ��� ��� ��� ������
October 18, 2013
As a long-time fan of Graham Nash's work first with The Hollies and then as part of Crosby, Stills & Nash (and sometimes Young), I came to the reading of "Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life" with a bit of apprehension. Would it be another self-indulgent memoir from an aging rocker? (Regrettably, it is.) Would it offer wise counsel to would-be rockers from the current generation? (Sadly, very little.)Would it shed light on the reasons for the spotty output of music in the post-Deja Vu era? (Yes, it does.) Will I have to ignore the unnecessary use of far-beyond-salty-language? (Yes, and then some.)
While I appreciated aspects of the book, it probably would be far more satisfying as an audiobook for its 300 pages strike this reader as having been spoken into a recorder, transcribed, and re-assembled as a manuscript. From a literary point of view, it's quite a disappointment. And how many times do we need to hear about CSN member David Crosby's "sores" from his rampant drug use?
Graham Nash wrote some of the most beautiful songs in the CSN corpus - "Our House," "Just a Song Before I Go" and "Cathedral," among others. But this book does not live up to his reputation as a songwriter of substance and grace.
While I appreciated aspects of the book, it probably would be far more satisfying as an audiobook for its 300 pages strike this reader as having been spoken into a recorder, transcribed, and re-assembled as a manuscript. From a literary point of view, it's quite a disappointment. And how many times do we need to hear about CSN member David Crosby's "sores" from his rampant drug use?
Graham Nash wrote some of the most beautiful songs in the CSN corpus - "Our House," "Just a Song Before I Go" and "Cathedral," among others. But this book does not live up to his reputation as a songwriter of substance and grace.
May 30, 2015
For the sake of full disclosure, I've never been a huge CSN fan, though Deja Vu is a true classic. I have, however, always enjoyed Graham Nash's ear for a good pop song, I think "Songs for Beginners" and "Wild Tales" are really enjoyable albums. I've never been enamored with Nash's lyrics, however I think there is an earthiness and straight-forwardness that gives those songs some weight. So when I heard Nash on Fresh Air I was excited to dive into Wild Tales. While his book comes from a place of honesty, his honesty reflects poorly on him, and provides insight into the greatest moral fissures of his generation. There is no humility in this memoir, there is no real sense of reflection. The book, its prose and content, is self-indulgence in its worst form. I found myself liking Mr. Nash less and less as the book went on. In his writing he represents the worst aspects of the hippie generation, and of hipsters in general: false humility, excuse giver, lip-service liberalism, self-aggrandizement, and self-importance. I do not deny the important role Nash and his partners played in the canon of music, however, a true artist sees the world beyond their self. Mr. Nash clearly believes that he does, but in this book he reveals himself. He sees the world through his eyes, and all he receives in return, is himself.
What the reader ends up with here is a few interesting insights into the early years of the Hollies and CSN/Y, but as the book moves on there is a great deal of repetition without substance. And I got the sense, because Nash couldn't provide such insights on his own [he had to tell us about his money, drugs, art, etc], that perhaps without intending to Nash was telling us why his generation and the counter-cultural movement failed: there was a lot of music made, speeches and opinions put forth, movements started, but for all the words there was little substance behind it...and I'm afraid that's what I felt upon completing this book. I now see a musician and "activist" that had little interest in anything unless it brought him fame, fortune, or pleasure. That's not art. And it's not activism. Perhaps without knowing it, Nash represented the very traits he so frequently complains about in the "system."
There are many memoirs and histories of this era that are far better...Dave Van Ronk's "Mayor of MacDougal Street," Bob Dylan's "Chronicles, Vol. 1," David King Dunaway "How Can I Keep From Singing: The Ballad of Pete Seeger," "Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" by David Bianculli
What the reader ends up with here is a few interesting insights into the early years of the Hollies and CSN/Y, but as the book moves on there is a great deal of repetition without substance. And I got the sense, because Nash couldn't provide such insights on his own [he had to tell us about his money, drugs, art, etc], that perhaps without intending to Nash was telling us why his generation and the counter-cultural movement failed: there was a lot of music made, speeches and opinions put forth, movements started, but for all the words there was little substance behind it...and I'm afraid that's what I felt upon completing this book. I now see a musician and "activist" that had little interest in anything unless it brought him fame, fortune, or pleasure. That's not art. And it's not activism. Perhaps without knowing it, Nash represented the very traits he so frequently complains about in the "system."
There are many memoirs and histories of this era that are far better...Dave Van Ronk's "Mayor of MacDougal Street," Bob Dylan's "Chronicles, Vol. 1," David King Dunaway "How Can I Keep From Singing: The Ballad of Pete Seeger," "Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" by David Bianculli
March 10, 2014
Very disappointing. A self-serving book, and the author is careful to present himself in a good light. He is quick to point out the flaws and full reports of the hedonistic lifestyle on his bandmates, but he is much more cautious in his own revelations. Being a singer is a gift. You can learn to sing, but the natural ability to sing is something you are born with: some alchemy of throat muscles and nasal passages and your respiration. You didn't do anything to earn it, yet so many with this talent abuse it. I can think of K.D. Lang who has publicly declared she knows she was given a gift and she works to protect it (not smoking, lifestyle, etc.) David Crosby? Even Nash admits he should have been planted or scattered years ago, but..."I love the guy." I find little loveable about him, nor would you reading Nash's tales. Way too much focus, still, at his age, on bare-breasted nubiles. That's where the underreporting comes in. He does admit to cocaine abuse. I asked another friend what she thought (knowing she had read the book before me,) and she said, "He's a pig." I wouldn't go "that" far, but I didn't enjoy his story.
August 11, 2016
Right up front, I can recommend this book ... although with some reservations. Nash is brutally honest (or at least I think he's honest) about himself, Crosby, Stills and Young. I think he gives more credit to the other three than he claims for himself artistically. The book is especially good about Nash's younger years, how the Hollies came together and eventually prospered, why he had to leave them, and how CSNY came together. It's really great in describing the first two or three years (I learned so many more things about CSN than I had ever known) ... And then the drugs took over ... and got worse .. and worse. (Yeah, I believe everything, or almost everything he says about Crosby, but I do think a real friend might have left some of the things out.) The last chapters of the book are really rushed and episodic and the episodes move backward and forward in time in a thoroughly disjointed fashion. What I really didn't like was his gushing expression of his love for his previous wife Susan ... that probably happens about 20 times in this book .. and now he's dumped her.
Of all the characters in the book, Stills comes out the best, but no one that Nash touches comes out unscathed.
One comment about music autobiographies. I've read about 50 of them and only two of them were excellent. One was Keith Richards' LIFE and the other was Art Pepper's STRAIGHT LIFE: THE STORY OF ART PEPPER. (Both of these books had coauthors. Maybe great musicians just aren't great writers, and need help.) Nash's book is not excellent, but it is especially evocative of what it was like in the crazy and wonderful times of the 1960s -- when so much of my favorite music was being created in England and in the United States. And that is th emain reason that I would recommend the book.
Of all the characters in the book, Stills comes out the best, but no one that Nash touches comes out unscathed.
One comment about music autobiographies. I've read about 50 of them and only two of them were excellent. One was Keith Richards' LIFE and the other was Art Pepper's STRAIGHT LIFE: THE STORY OF ART PEPPER. (Both of these books had coauthors. Maybe great musicians just aren't great writers, and need help.) Nash's book is not excellent, but it is especially evocative of what it was like in the crazy and wonderful times of the 1960s -- when so much of my favorite music was being created in England and in the United States. And that is th emain reason that I would recommend the book.
December 4, 2013
In this book, Graham Nash tells his story very much in his own words. There is much of interest in the beginning – his childhood in Salford, Manchester, schooldays and his early love of music. There is a fascinating portrait of the early Beatles arriving for an early gig in Manchester and, in many ways, Nash paints a very evocative picture of that era. He tells of early success, of the Hollies obtaining a recording contract after the Beatles broke down the North-South divide and of the excitement of touring in the States. In fact, everything is here – from Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Still and Nash, Neil Young, his love of photography, his attempts to demonstrate and raise money for various causes, it is all covered.
If you love Graham Nash’s music then you will certainly enjoy this book and it is fair to say that he opens up his heart and writes with conviction and honesty. My only issue is that his ‘chatty’ style and his strong emotions about certain subjects/people, often detract from the overall feeling of the book as a warm and charming memoir. Every so often, Nash gets side tracked or has an attack of vitriol, which might have been better, if not left unsaid, then possibly reworded. I am thinking of a book such as, “Many Years From Now”, in which Barry Miles brilliantly used interviews by Paul McCartney, but wove the story around them to give the whole a more formal structure. In other words, this book could have been edited – quite heavily – and probably would have been improved, rather than suffered from the attention. However, it is wonderful that he shared his memories and, as I have long been a fan of his music, I am glad I read this.
If you love Graham Nash’s music then you will certainly enjoy this book and it is fair to say that he opens up his heart and writes with conviction and honesty. My only issue is that his ‘chatty’ style and his strong emotions about certain subjects/people, often detract from the overall feeling of the book as a warm and charming memoir. Every so often, Nash gets side tracked or has an attack of vitriol, which might have been better, if not left unsaid, then possibly reworded. I am thinking of a book such as, “Many Years From Now”, in which Barry Miles brilliantly used interviews by Paul McCartney, but wove the story around them to give the whole a more formal structure. In other words, this book could have been edited – quite heavily – and probably would have been improved, rather than suffered from the attention. However, it is wonderful that he shared his memories and, as I have long been a fan of his music, I am glad I read this.
March 28, 2014
I checked this out from the library 2 days ago and had a smile pasted on my face almost the entire time I was reading this. This is not ghostwritten, and you've got to give Nash credit as the man can write.
Lots of great tidbits throughout: Little Richard yelling at his young guitarist not to upstage him at the 1965 Soupy Sales show (yeah, it was Jimi Hendrix); 'Prison Song' is about what happened to his dad; describing the 1st time he met the Beatles "...like 4 young Marlon Brandos..."; and on and on.
Years ago, Ian Drury & the Blockheads had this great song called "Sex and Drugs and Rock & Roll" which pretty much describes this book. He does not sugarcoat the drugs and women. There were lots. Plenty of detail into Crosby's decline and subsequent revival. I didn't know that Nash was one of the very first to recognize digital printing, and that a "Nash Edition" printer sits in the Smithsonian. He doesn't shy away from politics either. "...David Koch, one of the world's truly bad guys..." Yes! Anyone who thinks that Dick Cheney is one of the worst people in the world gets a big thumbs up from me.
Anyway, I really enjoyed getting some insight into someone who has helped brighten the world (and mine) for 50 odd years. Thanks Graham.
Lots of great tidbits throughout: Little Richard yelling at his young guitarist not to upstage him at the 1965 Soupy Sales show (yeah, it was Jimi Hendrix); 'Prison Song' is about what happened to his dad; describing the 1st time he met the Beatles "...like 4 young Marlon Brandos..."; and on and on.
Years ago, Ian Drury & the Blockheads had this great song called "Sex and Drugs and Rock & Roll" which pretty much describes this book. He does not sugarcoat the drugs and women. There were lots. Plenty of detail into Crosby's decline and subsequent revival. I didn't know that Nash was one of the very first to recognize digital printing, and that a "Nash Edition" printer sits in the Smithsonian. He doesn't shy away from politics either. "...David Koch, one of the world's truly bad guys..." Yes! Anyone who thinks that Dick Cheney is one of the worst people in the world gets a big thumbs up from me.
Anyway, I really enjoyed getting some insight into someone who has helped brighten the world (and mine) for 50 odd years. Thanks Graham.
April 5, 2021
When I think of rock, I think of guitars. I think of an instrument that shoves everyone else aside and stands center stage. And I think of singers who do the same. It’s Keith Richards leaning over to channel a Chuck Berry riff, and then it’s Mick Jagger strutting toward the crowd and making it all about himself.
For Graham Nash, rock is born in harmonies. Yes, he helped name his first band after Buddy Holly, but he cites as his real inspiration the Everly Brothers, those kings of harmony. He says that the first moment he heard them, his whole life changed. (We get more of those life-changing moments throughout this memoir. It’s a trope here to build a scene around the first time he met Joni Mitchell, the first time he sang with David Crosby and Stephen Stills, the first time he saw a particular property he’d eventually buy. For a guy who’s often seemingly likeable for his measured reaction to the world, it’s a heavy-handed way to narrate his own story.)
And that makes sense. The Hollies were all about layering good harmonies over Brit-pop tunes, and CSN was all about three fine singers merging their voices. Rock, as I see it – and, I think, as the last two decades of sales suggests – has gone in a different direction, but that’s not Nash’s fault. And, to his credit, he achieves what I most look for when I read a book about music. He makes me find new ways to listen to stuff I thought I knew. And, even better, he has led me to rediscover how really good the best of his music is.
Nash is telling us his personal history here, but, harmonizer that he has always been, it’s interwoven with others. There’s something perpetually appealing about the man, something that the excesses of his fame seems (from a distance) not to have diminished. When I think of CSN, to take the most significant example, I think of Crosby as nearly dead from his many addictions, and Stills as lost in the mercurial ups-and-downs of being just outside the Mt. Rushmore of the best rock musicians America has ever produced. But Nash, he seems the same happy and thoughtful guy as ever.
As I listened, it occurred to me that Nash is really a second-tier Paul McCartney. If that sounds dismissive, it isn’t. There are third and fourth tier McCartneys who’ve made terrific and enduring music in the two or three years of their fame. Nash has done it for a good four decades, and he’s come as close to McCartney as maybe anyone. No band has ever had the influence of the Beatles, but – for two or three years there – CSN was in spitting distance, putting out some great music and living in that sweet spot between popularity and the cutting edge. And, if McCartney had Wings as a second career, Nash had the Hollies, a more than solid “secondary” legacy to fall back on.
It’s less the parallels of their musical legacies that I have in mind, though, than it is the fact that both men seem to have emerged from the frontlines of rock celebrity with something of their boyishness preserved. Each is still standing and still coherent when his fellow bandmates are gone or dimmed.
I’m not going to claim that Nash is anywhere near the equal of McCartney as a songwriter, but this memoir does make me realize how many great songs he did write. I’ve had “Cathedral,” “Our House,” “Carrie Anne,” “Chicago,” “Teach Your Children,” and “Wasted on the Way” running through my head throughout this, and none of them have been grown old for me.
Beyond that, Nash is someone who adds to the work of others. To me, the one surpassingly great CSN song is Stills’s “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” I think as well that Stills wrote the two or three of the group’s deservedly signature songs, like “Carry On” and most of “Southern Cross.” But those songs don’t work as well – not do most of the Hollies’ – without Nash. They’re good songs on their own, I suppose, but they become what they are thanks to his harmony.
So, mission accomplished as far as the big things around this book. It’s a life story that informs the music, that makes it fresh again, so that’s worth it.
As far as the rest of it goes, though, there isn’t much. Nash is a decent lyricist, but his gift in many ways is to simplify things. (He has an album called “A Simple Man,” after all.) That may serve him well in 3:30 songs, but it doesn’t work on this broader canvas.
In addition to the “that moment changed my life” convention, we get a tired, semi-apologetic sexism throughout. Every woman he meets is “gorgeous” or “sexy.” To his semi-credit, it rarely seems judgmental, rather an attempt at courtesy, but it suggests a habit of objectification he can’t overcome. He’ll give a gentleman’s chuckle every so often and acknowledge that he slept with a slew of women in his rock star glory days. He’ll reflect on the behavior of others that it’s simply understandable. After all, how do you say no to a ‘hot chick’ when you’re on the road and stoned on coke? One of the men centrally responsible for infusing progressive politics into rock can’t imagine an alternative.
You can also feel Nash’s personal politics throughout this. He admits that he betrayed his original best friend, Allan Clarke, when he jumped shop from the Hollies, though the success of both men afterwards mitigates that. More awkward here is the balance he strikes in discussing his CSNY collaborators. He comes close to throwing Crosby – whom he often calls his best friend – under the tour bus, going on at length about Crosby’s drug dependency and unforgiveable conduct toward others. (Those seem more like Crosby’s secrets to share.) But he knows that Crosby needs him, knows that the Crosby name is less marketable than the Nash.
With Stills it’s more a matter of equals. Nash needs Stills as much as Stills needs Nash. As a result, we don’t get a whole lot of dirt on Stills, and what there is is always measured. Stills’s troubles are the product of his being so outrageously talented that he can’t always focus. That’s a better problem to have than a near-fatal drug dependency (even though Stills seems, as Nash mentions quickly, to have had almost as serious a problem as Crosby).
In contrast, Neil Young gets the perpetual kid-glove treatment. His misdeeds are always the result of his quirky genius. His work is always brilliant. There’s no greater joy than a call from Neil that he has a new album to share.
It’s hard not to read into that the recognition that the one last major payday is a reunion of the four of them. (Let’s face it, the three-way reunion has paid out most of what’s likely; they could manage a lucrative tour in any non-pandemic year, but it wouldn’t be the blockbuster that CSNY would.)
Finally, this has aged badly. Crosby, who remains alive and seemingly cogent against all odds, seems to have insulted Young’s girlfriend which represents a new chapter in the long-running drama. And Nash, who speaks warmly about the happiness he found with his wife Susan and their three children in Hawaii, has divorced, remarried, and moved to New York.
Anyway, this leaves me with mixed feelings. If you can find a way to read just a few spots of this, the highlights where he talks about the way he has approached music throughout a long and admirable career, it would be worth your while.
For Graham Nash, rock is born in harmonies. Yes, he helped name his first band after Buddy Holly, but he cites as his real inspiration the Everly Brothers, those kings of harmony. He says that the first moment he heard them, his whole life changed. (We get more of those life-changing moments throughout this memoir. It’s a trope here to build a scene around the first time he met Joni Mitchell, the first time he sang with David Crosby and Stephen Stills, the first time he saw a particular property he’d eventually buy. For a guy who’s often seemingly likeable for his measured reaction to the world, it’s a heavy-handed way to narrate his own story.)
And that makes sense. The Hollies were all about layering good harmonies over Brit-pop tunes, and CSN was all about three fine singers merging their voices. Rock, as I see it – and, I think, as the last two decades of sales suggests – has gone in a different direction, but that’s not Nash’s fault. And, to his credit, he achieves what I most look for when I read a book about music. He makes me find new ways to listen to stuff I thought I knew. And, even better, he has led me to rediscover how really good the best of his music is.
Nash is telling us his personal history here, but, harmonizer that he has always been, it’s interwoven with others. There’s something perpetually appealing about the man, something that the excesses of his fame seems (from a distance) not to have diminished. When I think of CSN, to take the most significant example, I think of Crosby as nearly dead from his many addictions, and Stills as lost in the mercurial ups-and-downs of being just outside the Mt. Rushmore of the best rock musicians America has ever produced. But Nash, he seems the same happy and thoughtful guy as ever.
As I listened, it occurred to me that Nash is really a second-tier Paul McCartney. If that sounds dismissive, it isn’t. There are third and fourth tier McCartneys who’ve made terrific and enduring music in the two or three years of their fame. Nash has done it for a good four decades, and he’s come as close to McCartney as maybe anyone. No band has ever had the influence of the Beatles, but – for two or three years there – CSN was in spitting distance, putting out some great music and living in that sweet spot between popularity and the cutting edge. And, if McCartney had Wings as a second career, Nash had the Hollies, a more than solid “secondary” legacy to fall back on.
It’s less the parallels of their musical legacies that I have in mind, though, than it is the fact that both men seem to have emerged from the frontlines of rock celebrity with something of their boyishness preserved. Each is still standing and still coherent when his fellow bandmates are gone or dimmed.
I’m not going to claim that Nash is anywhere near the equal of McCartney as a songwriter, but this memoir does make me realize how many great songs he did write. I’ve had “Cathedral,” “Our House,” “Carrie Anne,” “Chicago,” “Teach Your Children,” and “Wasted on the Way” running through my head throughout this, and none of them have been grown old for me.
Beyond that, Nash is someone who adds to the work of others. To me, the one surpassingly great CSN song is Stills’s “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” I think as well that Stills wrote the two or three of the group’s deservedly signature songs, like “Carry On” and most of “Southern Cross.” But those songs don’t work as well – not do most of the Hollies’ – without Nash. They’re good songs on their own, I suppose, but they become what they are thanks to his harmony.
So, mission accomplished as far as the big things around this book. It’s a life story that informs the music, that makes it fresh again, so that’s worth it.
As far as the rest of it goes, though, there isn’t much. Nash is a decent lyricist, but his gift in many ways is to simplify things. (He has an album called “A Simple Man,” after all.) That may serve him well in 3:30 songs, but it doesn’t work on this broader canvas.
In addition to the “that moment changed my life” convention, we get a tired, semi-apologetic sexism throughout. Every woman he meets is “gorgeous” or “sexy.” To his semi-credit, it rarely seems judgmental, rather an attempt at courtesy, but it suggests a habit of objectification he can’t overcome. He’ll give a gentleman’s chuckle every so often and acknowledge that he slept with a slew of women in his rock star glory days. He’ll reflect on the behavior of others that it’s simply understandable. After all, how do you say no to a ‘hot chick’ when you’re on the road and stoned on coke? One of the men centrally responsible for infusing progressive politics into rock can’t imagine an alternative.
You can also feel Nash’s personal politics throughout this. He admits that he betrayed his original best friend, Allan Clarke, when he jumped shop from the Hollies, though the success of both men afterwards mitigates that. More awkward here is the balance he strikes in discussing his CSNY collaborators. He comes close to throwing Crosby – whom he often calls his best friend – under the tour bus, going on at length about Crosby’s drug dependency and unforgiveable conduct toward others. (Those seem more like Crosby’s secrets to share.) But he knows that Crosby needs him, knows that the Crosby name is less marketable than the Nash.
With Stills it’s more a matter of equals. Nash needs Stills as much as Stills needs Nash. As a result, we don’t get a whole lot of dirt on Stills, and what there is is always measured. Stills’s troubles are the product of his being so outrageously talented that he can’t always focus. That’s a better problem to have than a near-fatal drug dependency (even though Stills seems, as Nash mentions quickly, to have had almost as serious a problem as Crosby).
In contrast, Neil Young gets the perpetual kid-glove treatment. His misdeeds are always the result of his quirky genius. His work is always brilliant. There’s no greater joy than a call from Neil that he has a new album to share.
It’s hard not to read into that the recognition that the one last major payday is a reunion of the four of them. (Let’s face it, the three-way reunion has paid out most of what’s likely; they could manage a lucrative tour in any non-pandemic year, but it wouldn’t be the blockbuster that CSNY would.)
Finally, this has aged badly. Crosby, who remains alive and seemingly cogent against all odds, seems to have insulted Young’s girlfriend which represents a new chapter in the long-running drama. And Nash, who speaks warmly about the happiness he found with his wife Susan and their three children in Hawaii, has divorced, remarried, and moved to New York.
Anyway, this leaves me with mixed feelings. If you can find a way to read just a few spots of this, the highlights where he talks about the way he has approached music throughout a long and admirable career, it would be worth your while.
September 18, 2018
Letto in due giorni. Non un'opera di letteratura, ma una significativa testimonianza su un era culturalmente importante e fervida. La seconda metà del '900 è stata caratterizzata dal dominio socio-culturale americano. Con il benessere degli anni '60 la "semplicità pop" si è rapidamente imposta, soppiantando l'ingessata ieraticità istituzionale. Gli artisti rock, ancorché fortunati a trovarsi nel posto giusto e al momento giusto, hanno sancito, con la loro peculiarità e il loro spirito creativo, il trionfo della spontaneità giovanile, fino a quel momento instradata sui binari di un'educazione sociale imposta e severa. Il tutto ha anche degenerato in numerosi, spesso disdicevoli, eccessi, ma ha consentito al senso comune di esplodere in forme di libertà creativa fino ad allora inconcepibili, o non tollerate. Oggi, rientrati in un canone (il commercio), osserviamo e leggiamo di quei favolosi anni '50, '60 e '70 con interesse e nostalgia. La lotta con le "majors" per rompere gli schemi in modo espressivamente significativo; la sfrontatezza politica; la destrutturazione della forma; ma anche gli eccessi; la libertà sfrenata e sconsiderata (di costumi, di abitudini); la spontaneità genuina, non auto-referente, assolutamente naif, che ha permesso la fioritura di una cultura espressiva più vicina alla sensibilità comune. Codici di comunicazione meno cifrati, più accessibili, in grado di catalizzare giovani e masse in modo istantaneo. E senza chiedere "permesso".
Nash non fa filosofia e fa poca politica. Racconta invece aneddoti, vicende, retroscena collimati al fermento culturale di quegli anni. Ne esce un quadro interessante, spesso illuminante, da cui capire che certa 'casualità espressiva e compositiva' era voluta e pensata, più che occasionale. Molto spesso necessaria, proprio perché fino ad allora mancante.
******************************
Read in two days. Not a work of literature, of course, but a significant testimony on a culturally important and fervid era. The second half of the 20th century was characterized by the American socio-cultural domination. With the wellbeing of the '60s, "pop simplicity" quickly established itself, supplanting the intricate institutional hierarchy. Rock artists, even if lucky to be in the right place at the right time, have enshrined, with their peculiarity and their creative spirit, the triumph of youth spontaneity, until then routed on the tracks of a strict social education. All of that also degenerated into numerous, often unseemly, excesses but it has allowed the common sense to explode in forms of creative freedom that were hitherto inconceivable, whether not-tolerated. Today, re-entered into a canon (business is business), we observe and read about those fabulous' 50s, '60s and' 70s with interest and nostalgia. The struggle against the "majors" to break the patterns, in an expressively meaningful way; political effrontery; the deconstruction of form; but also the excesses; unrestrained and reckless freedom (of customs, of habits); genuine spontaneity, non self-referent and often absolutely naive, which has allowed the flowering of an expressive culture closer to common sensibility. Codes of communication less encrypted, more accessible, able to catalyze young people and masses in an instantaneous way. And without asking for "permission".
Mr. Nash does not do philosophy and does little politics. Instead, he tells anecdotes, events, describes a background that collimates with the cultural ferment of those years. The result is an interesting and often illuminating picture from which to understand that certain 'expressive and compositional randomness' was intentional and thoughtful rather than occasional. Very often necessary, precisely because, up until then, missing.
Nash non fa filosofia e fa poca politica. Racconta invece aneddoti, vicende, retroscena collimati al fermento culturale di quegli anni. Ne esce un quadro interessante, spesso illuminante, da cui capire che certa 'casualità espressiva e compositiva' era voluta e pensata, più che occasionale. Molto spesso necessaria, proprio perché fino ad allora mancante.
******************************
Read in two days. Not a work of literature, of course, but a significant testimony on a culturally important and fervid era. The second half of the 20th century was characterized by the American socio-cultural domination. With the wellbeing of the '60s, "pop simplicity" quickly established itself, supplanting the intricate institutional hierarchy. Rock artists, even if lucky to be in the right place at the right time, have enshrined, with their peculiarity and their creative spirit, the triumph of youth spontaneity, until then routed on the tracks of a strict social education. All of that also degenerated into numerous, often unseemly, excesses but it has allowed the common sense to explode in forms of creative freedom that were hitherto inconceivable, whether not-tolerated. Today, re-entered into a canon (business is business), we observe and read about those fabulous' 50s, '60s and' 70s with interest and nostalgia. The struggle against the "majors" to break the patterns, in an expressively meaningful way; political effrontery; the deconstruction of form; but also the excesses; unrestrained and reckless freedom (of customs, of habits); genuine spontaneity, non self-referent and often absolutely naive, which has allowed the flowering of an expressive culture closer to common sensibility. Codes of communication less encrypted, more accessible, able to catalyze young people and masses in an instantaneous way. And without asking for "permission".
Mr. Nash does not do philosophy and does little politics. Instead, he tells anecdotes, events, describes a background that collimates with the cultural ferment of those years. The result is an interesting and often illuminating picture from which to understand that certain 'expressive and compositional randomness' was intentional and thoughtful rather than occasional. Very often necessary, precisely because, up until then, missing.
November 29, 2015
This was great. And I had the enhanced Kindle edition. So there was music and videos. I really enjoyed this book and an inside look at a couple of pop bands I'd enjoyed.
It was wonderful to see how he advanced from being a fan of the Everly Brothers. He and his friend Clarkie patterned their first act after them. This morphed into the Hollies. But the Hollies just stayed the same while Nash evolved in his songwriting. Eventually a trip to California brought him to meet Cass Eliot (Mama Cass) who told him he had to meet someone who turned out to be his alter ego, David Crosby and his friends Joni Mitchell and Stephen Stills. Such is the way that legends are born.
They all had their troubles with drugs, but none as serious as David's. There came a point for Nash when he decided that cocaine wasn't really helping him that much.
Also included are some of the many photographs that he has taken. His father had given him a camera when he was young (I think that helped send him to prison) and this fostered a love for the art. He once asked his mother how he had escaped their low life in Manchester. She referred him back to the camera and his gifted voice and told him he was living for them, living their dreams for them. This was very moving to me.
Apparently a couple of years ago his daughter, Nile, had helped put out an album of his music from Songs for Beginners performed by young singers as Be Yourself. I didn't know most of those young artists but it did remind me of how much I had liked that album, even though I probably haven't listened to it for 20 years.
It was wonderful to see how he advanced from being a fan of the Everly Brothers. He and his friend Clarkie patterned their first act after them. This morphed into the Hollies. But the Hollies just stayed the same while Nash evolved in his songwriting. Eventually a trip to California brought him to meet Cass Eliot (Mama Cass) who told him he had to meet someone who turned out to be his alter ego, David Crosby and his friends Joni Mitchell and Stephen Stills. Such is the way that legends are born.
They all had their troubles with drugs, but none as serious as David's. There came a point for Nash when he decided that cocaine wasn't really helping him that much.
Also included are some of the many photographs that he has taken. His father had given him a camera when he was young (I think that helped send him to prison) and this fostered a love for the art. He once asked his mother how he had escaped their low life in Manchester. She referred him back to the camera and his gifted voice and told him he was living for them, living their dreams for them. This was very moving to me.
Apparently a couple of years ago his daughter, Nile, had helped put out an album of his music from Songs for Beginners performed by young singers as Be Yourself. I didn't know most of those young artists but it did remind me of how much I had liked that album, even though I probably haven't listened to it for 20 years.
September 27, 2013
I'm a huge CSN fan, and have been looking forward to this book since I first heard it was in the works. I've already read David's two autobiographies and was very interested in getting Graham's take on things. I had half-expected to be a little bored with the pre-CSN part of his life, but that was definitely not the case. I loved learning about his early life and even more so about his years with The Hollies and interactions with other bands and musicians of the period.
Once he got to the CSN years, I thought he did a tremendous job of staying focused on his life during those years and not trying to tell the other guys' stories. He of course had to touch on some of what was going with them because of the drastic effect it had on him, but he left most of the gory details to them (which David has already covered).
The best part about books like this is getting the stories behind the songs. One thing I did that made reading the book so enjoyable is that I'd listen to the songs/albums he was writing about as I reading about them. In some cases, I heard them in a whole new light, and will from this point forward.
One thing I will say for sure, even though I respected him greatly as a human being before reading this, I came away thinking even more highly of him.
Once he got to the CSN years, I thought he did a tremendous job of staying focused on his life during those years and not trying to tell the other guys' stories. He of course had to touch on some of what was going with them because of the drastic effect it had on him, but he left most of the gory details to them (which David has already covered).
The best part about books like this is getting the stories behind the songs. One thing I did that made reading the book so enjoyable is that I'd listen to the songs/albums he was writing about as I reading about them. In some cases, I heard them in a whole new light, and will from this point forward.
One thing I will say for sure, even though I respected him greatly as a human being before reading this, I came away thinking even more highly of him.
August 12, 2019
I've always been a fan of the California sound of the late 60's through the 70's, as well as the mystery, danger, and beauty that has long surrounded the era's facts, myths, and legends. Graham Nash, in addition to being a quality songwriter, always came across as humble and well-spoken in interviews and other pieces featuring his voice, and this memoir only confirms the man's intelligence, sensitivity, and heart. I'd call Wild Tales essential reading for any fan of CSN, the music of the time, or the counterculture era in general. Nash gives candid, vivid details of his time with the Hollies, Crosby, Stills, Young, Rita Coolidge, Joni Mitchell, Cass Elliot, the Beatles, Dylan, Jerry Garcia, and many other musicians and artists with relevance to the era. As far as music memoirs are concerned, this warrants my highest recommendation.
January 8, 2014
Great stories to be found, despite Nash's tendency towards self-satisfaction. Well written, although in the final couple chapters, he just sort of lays out a bunch of tangentially related anecdotes and personal ideologies which he was apparently unable to more eloquently shoehorn into the otherwise chronological narrative.
Plus, now I know who to blame for Maroon 5.
Plus, now I know who to blame for Maroon 5.
April 12, 2015
2.5-stars, really.
alright... where to begin? i guess i should first say that there is not a lot of new stuff in nash's book that i had not already known/read about in memoirs from other musicians that were all part of those crazy laurel canyon years. so there was nothing hugely revelatory for me in this book. the other thing i should say is that i am a big fan of CSN and CSNY. their sweet, sweet harmonies are just insane. IN--SANE!
back in university, i worked at a small pub in the very small town where my school was located. it was a great place and the owner was terrific with the students who worked for him. every tuesday evening was 'acoustic tuesday', hosted by these two awesome guys who, being born too late, missed the hippie days. it was an open mic-type thing and while the hosts keep things rolling, anyone could get up and sing. CSNY featured a lot in the rotation. a couple of friends and i sang and played guitars and often would do a song or two each tuesday. i think of these as my 'good ole days', and get warm and fuzzy recalling practising our harmonies in cramped bathrooms (really - 3 singers and 2 guitars fills a tiny space quickly!), the shower rooms in residence (such awesome echoes and way more space, but a little cold), the quad, and the pub's kitchen (snacks!) -- trying to find sweet spots where the sound was perfect! *wistful sigh*
so that's my preamble to say these dudes have meant a lot to me for a long time. and i am sure anyone who loves these guys has their own great memories and reasons for how they helped or were important in their lives. and i know they were a messed up bunch of weirdos with outsized egos. but there is still something about their lives, music and times that make them so compelling. so i picked up nash's book.
as far as a memoir from a musician... it isn't the worst-written i have encountered. it feels like nash's own voice, like he's just having a conversation. (though in the acknowledgments, he thanks another writer who helped tame his words - but there's no co-authorship on the book). there is a good dose of the sex, drugs, and rock and roll lifestyle offered up from nash and some good looks at the writing and recording processes. i think where i had some issues, though, came from nash kind of putting himself above everyone else. sure, he admits to his own foolishness, impulsiveness, and ego... but he always presents himself as in control and self-aware. yet... the book repeatedly offers examples where this is not the case. (and the book is quite repetitive, that is definitely something very noticeable.)
late in the book, i felt nash got far too in-depth concerning david crosby's story. a lot of it is known already about when crosby hit bottom, so it isn't like nash is telling (wild) tales, it just felt somehow inappropriate. if nash had written a book about their time as a group, or focused more on how david's behaviours and situations impacted him, as opposed to just being sensational, it would have read better. when nash does comment on how david was affecting him, it was dealt with fairly quickly, leaving me with 'yeah... but?!' moments (for example: nash mentions he paid for david's son's schooling. that's it.) of course stills, crosby and young are going to feature - this isn't my issue at all. it's just... there is a fairly big crosby section and probably this is best left to crosby. i don't know if i am explaining myself well here or not, or if this makes sense. i guess i came away feeling nash isn't the most trustworthy fellow. but i suppose it's reasonable to wonder that about anyone who's has been in the entertainment world. it's a strange best.
i did take away some positives - nash is a happy guy, he's had a very fortunate life, and a family he loves and who are successful and thriving. he's a lucky bloke and he knows it. the book also includes some wonderful photographs, so that's always a nice bonus with memoirs like this. one thing i have said before, and will offer up again now: with publishing and tech where they are at these days, memoirs from musicians should include download access to a playlist of songs mentioned. get on that publishing industry, okay? thanks!
reading notes:
• graham nash loves boobs! graham nash loves women! graham nash couldn't keep it in his pants.
• graham nash gets married young, but is touring a lot and sleeping around all the time (see bullet point #1)
• marriage ends, no surprise, but it ends calmly - wife has found someone new too. but nash notes that after the breakdown of his marriage and an earlier issue with his dad and the police, he had a hard time trusting anyone after his marriage ended. umm.... yeah, but: as far as relationships, who should have trusted you?
• i adore graham nash and CSN so much. so. much. sigh. nash seemed fairly lucky right from the start of his musical career.
• coke and guns are a bad combination. don't touch either things. ever.
alright... where to begin? i guess i should first say that there is not a lot of new stuff in nash's book that i had not already known/read about in memoirs from other musicians that were all part of those crazy laurel canyon years. so there was nothing hugely revelatory for me in this book. the other thing i should say is that i am a big fan of CSN and CSNY. their sweet, sweet harmonies are just insane. IN--SANE!
back in university, i worked at a small pub in the very small town where my school was located. it was a great place and the owner was terrific with the students who worked for him. every tuesday evening was 'acoustic tuesday', hosted by these two awesome guys who, being born too late, missed the hippie days. it was an open mic-type thing and while the hosts keep things rolling, anyone could get up and sing. CSNY featured a lot in the rotation. a couple of friends and i sang and played guitars and often would do a song or two each tuesday. i think of these as my 'good ole days', and get warm and fuzzy recalling practising our harmonies in cramped bathrooms (really - 3 singers and 2 guitars fills a tiny space quickly!), the shower rooms in residence (such awesome echoes and way more space, but a little cold), the quad, and the pub's kitchen (snacks!) -- trying to find sweet spots where the sound was perfect! *wistful sigh*
so that's my preamble to say these dudes have meant a lot to me for a long time. and i am sure anyone who loves these guys has their own great memories and reasons for how they helped or were important in their lives. and i know they were a messed up bunch of weirdos with outsized egos. but there is still something about their lives, music and times that make them so compelling. so i picked up nash's book.
as far as a memoir from a musician... it isn't the worst-written i have encountered. it feels like nash's own voice, like he's just having a conversation. (though in the acknowledgments, he thanks another writer who helped tame his words - but there's no co-authorship on the book). there is a good dose of the sex, drugs, and rock and roll lifestyle offered up from nash and some good looks at the writing and recording processes. i think where i had some issues, though, came from nash kind of putting himself above everyone else. sure, he admits to his own foolishness, impulsiveness, and ego... but he always presents himself as in control and self-aware. yet... the book repeatedly offers examples where this is not the case. (and the book is quite repetitive, that is definitely something very noticeable.)
late in the book, i felt nash got far too in-depth concerning david crosby's story. a lot of it is known already about when crosby hit bottom, so it isn't like nash is telling (wild) tales, it just felt somehow inappropriate. if nash had written a book about their time as a group, or focused more on how david's behaviours and situations impacted him, as opposed to just being sensational, it would have read better. when nash does comment on how david was affecting him, it was dealt with fairly quickly, leaving me with 'yeah... but?!' moments (for example: nash mentions he paid for david's son's schooling. that's it.) of course stills, crosby and young are going to feature - this isn't my issue at all. it's just... there is a fairly big crosby section and probably this is best left to crosby. i don't know if i am explaining myself well here or not, or if this makes sense. i guess i came away feeling nash isn't the most trustworthy fellow. but i suppose it's reasonable to wonder that about anyone who's has been in the entertainment world. it's a strange best.
i did take away some positives - nash is a happy guy, he's had a very fortunate life, and a family he loves and who are successful and thriving. he's a lucky bloke and he knows it. the book also includes some wonderful photographs, so that's always a nice bonus with memoirs like this. one thing i have said before, and will offer up again now: with publishing and tech where they are at these days, memoirs from musicians should include download access to a playlist of songs mentioned. get on that publishing industry, okay? thanks!
reading notes:
• graham nash loves boobs! graham nash loves women! graham nash couldn't keep it in his pants.
• graham nash gets married young, but is touring a lot and sleeping around all the time (see bullet point #1)
• marriage ends, no surprise, but it ends calmly - wife has found someone new too. but nash notes that after the breakdown of his marriage and an earlier issue with his dad and the police, he had a hard time trusting anyone after his marriage ended. umm.... yeah, but: as far as relationships, who should have trusted you?
• i adore graham nash and CSN so much. so. much. sigh. nash seemed fairly lucky right from the start of his musical career.
• coke and guns are a bad combination. don't touch either things. ever.
November 6, 2013
A worthy effort. As perhaps the last (and most) likable figure of the four talents comprising CSN&Y, Graham Nash tells the story from his personal perspective. Everything you would want to hear about (and some you'd maybe rather not) is in here. Certainly at this stage of the game it's probably worth one's while to read Crosby's autobio prior to this, so one will have benefit of the historical hindsight brought to the final third of the story- in which Nash tries to come to grips with the continued devolution of Crosby's genius into crackpipe ignobility.
I remember one of my favorite early memories of Crosby a night out at the Great American Music Hall with my best friend, and the woman who at the time was attempting to take up the role, and my bud and I being completely blown away by (what was for us) the first hearing of his acapella composition Samurai. With a Zen-like acuity this little melodic koan of itself cut through all the other (very worthy) performances which he offered that evening, including Lee Shore, Guinnevere, and Deja Vu. A few years later I managed to see him at the beginning of the crack-smackpipe decline at Wolfgang's on Embarcadero Center (San Francisco), and signs of the cracks in the royal crown were by then definitely becoming apparent. David and Jerry Garcia had apparently, at that time (and for some long whiles before) been engaged in a game of one-upmanship as to who could handle the more and most of worse substances and not bode themselves nor the muse any ill. Garcia seemed to be coming out ahead, of course, although it was only a diabetic coma that put him to the test, and even then, he could not back out completely once time had run out for him (although it can be said he was attempting the noble effort). That two otherwise highly gifted, intelligent, absolute craft-masters could come so far and yet be brought so low by their human frailties was indeed a lesson for me.
Mr. Nash, while no angel on these issues himself, at least apparently noticed his own inability to fight back that darkness and quit while he was ahead, and in doing so, lent his efforts in the worthy redemption of all which Mr. Crosby ought well be best remembered for. And that this ought to take up, as it does, the last third of his own memoir shows both his devotion to David as a friend, and the intractability in David's personality.
But what the hell. If you love the music these guys made and continue to make, then you are going to like hearing the whole story from the horse's mouth. And as such I give it its due.
I remember one of my favorite early memories of Crosby a night out at the Great American Music Hall with my best friend, and the woman who at the time was attempting to take up the role, and my bud and I being completely blown away by (what was for us) the first hearing of his acapella composition Samurai. With a Zen-like acuity this little melodic koan of itself cut through all the other (very worthy) performances which he offered that evening, including Lee Shore, Guinnevere, and Deja Vu. A few years later I managed to see him at the beginning of the crack-smackpipe decline at Wolfgang's on Embarcadero Center (San Francisco), and signs of the cracks in the royal crown were by then definitely becoming apparent. David and Jerry Garcia had apparently, at that time (and for some long whiles before) been engaged in a game of one-upmanship as to who could handle the more and most of worse substances and not bode themselves nor the muse any ill. Garcia seemed to be coming out ahead, of course, although it was only a diabetic coma that put him to the test, and even then, he could not back out completely once time had run out for him (although it can be said he was attempting the noble effort). That two otherwise highly gifted, intelligent, absolute craft-masters could come so far and yet be brought so low by their human frailties was indeed a lesson for me.
Mr. Nash, while no angel on these issues himself, at least apparently noticed his own inability to fight back that darkness and quit while he was ahead, and in doing so, lent his efforts in the worthy redemption of all which Mr. Crosby ought well be best remembered for. And that this ought to take up, as it does, the last third of his own memoir shows both his devotion to David as a friend, and the intractability in David's personality.
But what the hell. If you love the music these guys made and continue to make, then you are going to like hearing the whole story from the horse's mouth. And as such I give it its due.
July 4, 2014
I liked him better before I read the book.
January 19, 2021
I enjoyed the book, and Nash is the same as he’s always been funny, immature, and self centred...but he tells a good story.
As always the drug excesses of rock stars makes me gag.
As always the drug excesses of rock stars makes me gag.
December 1, 2014
The harmonizing diplomat
When I was a young lad, one of the first bands I heard out of that heady mid-sixties British Invasion of talent other than The Beatles was a group called The Hollies, singing an infectious ear worm of a song called "Look Through Any Window." I was immediately hooked and continued to be impressed with a succession of brilliant singles over the next few years. The harmony was obviously very similar to The Beatles but the voices were sharper, higher pitched, less fuzzy and velvety. I found out a couple of years later that the highest of the high voices belonged to Graham Nash. He was the only member of the group, in 1967—the year of the mustache led by The Beatles—to have facial hair. He stood out and apart from the others. Just as I was getting used to their sound and their records I heard that Graham had pulled out of the group and was now starting a new group with veterans of other great harmonic groups, David Crosby from The Byrds and Stephen Stills from Buffalo Springfield. This sounded to me to be a very intriguing lineup.
When I heard them my suspicions were confirmed. Great elements from each of those other bands coalesced into a heady, harmonic stew. They were the ultimate harmonizers and they had a fresh and new sound. Over forty years later and after several tumultuous decades of ego battles, drugs, political activism and hedonism, Graham Nash has joined the ranks of elder statesmen of rock to pen his memoirs. Graham is a self-professed 'simple man.' He's written beautiful simple songs, one actually titled "Simple Man" and his book is like him, straight and conversational. He writes like he talks, unpretentious, intelligent, not terribly literary, but filled with enthusiasm and passion for life, music and art.
His tale begins in the post-war north of England, bonding with fellow harmonizer and Everly Brothers fan Allan Clarke. These boys actually fulfill their fantasies when they accost the Everly Brothers after a Manchester gig, who actually stay a while and talk to them as peers, encouraging them to keep at it. They quickly begin a rise to the top in that competitive time where there was a new rock'n'roll group on almost every corner, not only in Manchester but also Liverpool, Birmingham and the various suburbs of London. Just listing titles of hits from that time—"Look Through Any Window," "Bus Stop," "Stop! Stop! Stop!," "On a Carousel," "Carrie-Anne"—gives one a good indication of the harmonic, melodic joy that these boys, and many others from that time, with The Beatles at their forefront, contributed to this exciting time.
However, Graham grew tired of life on the hit-making carousel and, thanks to fortuitous meetings with Americans David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Cass Elliot and others from the West Coast, became magnetically attracted to a different kind of music and lifestyle. In one fell swoop, he left his country, his marriage, his band, and his childhood best friend Allan Clarke, to come to the States and begin this new phase.
One gets a contact high simply from reading his account of that magical vocal alchemy that occurred when he first blended his voice with Crosby and Stills. Of course, along with all that astounding harmony one encounters quite a bit of dis-harmony. Ego clashes, at least one falling out over stealing another's girlfriend, hedonistic drug consumption. This was the era when the rock music industry changed from being an enthusiastic hit-making partnership to a business. This transition became most vividly illustrated by the enormous event that was the Woodstock festival and the residual fame, influence and cultural effects. Crosby, Stills and Nash (and that other combustible element, Young) were at the center of that shift.
Nash is as hedonistic as the next person and certainly wears his hippie/political activist/hedonistic rock and roll star badge proudly. However, he retains a detached, optimistic, life-affirming spirit that enabled him to live through those crazy years and tell the tales. His account is largely chronologically accurate although he could perhaps be forgiven for getting a few details wrong such as misremembering that short-lived pop star Keith covered the Hollies' "Pay You Back With Interest" rather than "Tell Me to My Face." He recounts early encounters with the Beatles (John and Paul stood on either side of him and sang in perfect harmony a new song, "Misery"), the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, Donovan and then the array of West Coast talent, one of the most prominent being Joni Mitchell, with whom he lived for a year or so.
One gets the impression that Graham Nash was more of a mediator in those interpersonal disputes than a partisan, although he quickly became an artistic twosome with his erratic partner David Crosby. Nash's loyalty to his friend Crosby is truly admirable. When most others gave him up as a lost cause, another rock'n'roll junkie casualty, Nash steadfastly refused to stop believing that at the heart of this freebasing lunatic monster was the great soul that he always knew was at the heart of Crosby. This faith is part of what helped David pull himself out of the hell of addiction and incarceration.
Nash has not only lived to tell those wild tales but has been able to achieve closure with many chapters from his past, such as when, along with his old friend Allan Clarke, he was honored at The Hollies' induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He retains the healthiest of addictions— music and art—and he seems to have lost none of his passion or idealism and has stayed very involved with the 21st century world, determined not to let it leave him behind.
When I was a young lad, one of the first bands I heard out of that heady mid-sixties British Invasion of talent other than The Beatles was a group called The Hollies, singing an infectious ear worm of a song called "Look Through Any Window." I was immediately hooked and continued to be impressed with a succession of brilliant singles over the next few years. The harmony was obviously very similar to The Beatles but the voices were sharper, higher pitched, less fuzzy and velvety. I found out a couple of years later that the highest of the high voices belonged to Graham Nash. He was the only member of the group, in 1967—the year of the mustache led by The Beatles—to have facial hair. He stood out and apart from the others. Just as I was getting used to their sound and their records I heard that Graham had pulled out of the group and was now starting a new group with veterans of other great harmonic groups, David Crosby from The Byrds and Stephen Stills from Buffalo Springfield. This sounded to me to be a very intriguing lineup.
When I heard them my suspicions were confirmed. Great elements from each of those other bands coalesced into a heady, harmonic stew. They were the ultimate harmonizers and they had a fresh and new sound. Over forty years later and after several tumultuous decades of ego battles, drugs, political activism and hedonism, Graham Nash has joined the ranks of elder statesmen of rock to pen his memoirs. Graham is a self-professed 'simple man.' He's written beautiful simple songs, one actually titled "Simple Man" and his book is like him, straight and conversational. He writes like he talks, unpretentious, intelligent, not terribly literary, but filled with enthusiasm and passion for life, music and art.
His tale begins in the post-war north of England, bonding with fellow harmonizer and Everly Brothers fan Allan Clarke. These boys actually fulfill their fantasies when they accost the Everly Brothers after a Manchester gig, who actually stay a while and talk to them as peers, encouraging them to keep at it. They quickly begin a rise to the top in that competitive time where there was a new rock'n'roll group on almost every corner, not only in Manchester but also Liverpool, Birmingham and the various suburbs of London. Just listing titles of hits from that time—"Look Through Any Window," "Bus Stop," "Stop! Stop! Stop!," "On a Carousel," "Carrie-Anne"—gives one a good indication of the harmonic, melodic joy that these boys, and many others from that time, with The Beatles at their forefront, contributed to this exciting time.
However, Graham grew tired of life on the hit-making carousel and, thanks to fortuitous meetings with Americans David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Cass Elliot and others from the West Coast, became magnetically attracted to a different kind of music and lifestyle. In one fell swoop, he left his country, his marriage, his band, and his childhood best friend Allan Clarke, to come to the States and begin this new phase.
One gets a contact high simply from reading his account of that magical vocal alchemy that occurred when he first blended his voice with Crosby and Stills. Of course, along with all that astounding harmony one encounters quite a bit of dis-harmony. Ego clashes, at least one falling out over stealing another's girlfriend, hedonistic drug consumption. This was the era when the rock music industry changed from being an enthusiastic hit-making partnership to a business. This transition became most vividly illustrated by the enormous event that was the Woodstock festival and the residual fame, influence and cultural effects. Crosby, Stills and Nash (and that other combustible element, Young) were at the center of that shift.
Nash is as hedonistic as the next person and certainly wears his hippie/political activist/hedonistic rock and roll star badge proudly. However, he retains a detached, optimistic, life-affirming spirit that enabled him to live through those crazy years and tell the tales. His account is largely chronologically accurate although he could perhaps be forgiven for getting a few details wrong such as misremembering that short-lived pop star Keith covered the Hollies' "Pay You Back With Interest" rather than "Tell Me to My Face." He recounts early encounters with the Beatles (John and Paul stood on either side of him and sang in perfect harmony a new song, "Misery"), the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, Donovan and then the array of West Coast talent, one of the most prominent being Joni Mitchell, with whom he lived for a year or so.
One gets the impression that Graham Nash was more of a mediator in those interpersonal disputes than a partisan, although he quickly became an artistic twosome with his erratic partner David Crosby. Nash's loyalty to his friend Crosby is truly admirable. When most others gave him up as a lost cause, another rock'n'roll junkie casualty, Nash steadfastly refused to stop believing that at the heart of this freebasing lunatic monster was the great soul that he always knew was at the heart of Crosby. This faith is part of what helped David pull himself out of the hell of addiction and incarceration.
Nash has not only lived to tell those wild tales but has been able to achieve closure with many chapters from his past, such as when, along with his old friend Allan Clarke, he was honored at The Hollies' induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He retains the healthiest of addictions— music and art—and he seems to have lost none of his passion or idealism and has stayed very involved with the 21st century world, determined not to let it leave him behind.
January 10, 2014
This is a straight up memoir which begins with Graham's birth during World War II. The story of being a poor English school boy reminded me of Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend - all the Beatles... I've read a few rock bios. Meeting his best mate at age 6, Graham tells the stories of hearing American rock, getting his first instruments and going to his first concerts. He also tells the story of his family life and the extreme poverty of his coal mining community. I know Graham belonged to the Hollies, but the story of that act and it's significant in the early 60s is really fun. This is the first quarter of the book.
As the book progresses, Graham travels to the US, meets his future circle and makes his move. I know this story from other books on the period, but Graham's take on Buffalo Springfield, Cass Elliot, the Byrds and the LA scene is interesting and distinctly sentimental. His life with Joni Mitchell is heartbreaking.
The CSNY quarter of the book is also material I know, though Graham makes the stories personal as he adds his feelings and reflects on the songs he wrote. Lot's of fascinating insight. The downfall and resurrection of David Crosby from Graham's point of view is amazing.
The final part of the book is about the activism that he has pursued in latter years. While it's a bit of a come down from the stories of his rock star years, it is still interesting. So much of his fundraising has been around putting together artists that the narrative is still interesting. Graham wraps up with the usual love notes to his family and friends as well as some happy thoughts for the future.
Any fan will find this a pleasant read with few real shocks, but lots of fun and engaging insight. I definitely think differently about the Hollies. Good read - I liked it and have been listening to Crosby/Nash, CSN and CSNY all week.
As the book progresses, Graham travels to the US, meets his future circle and makes his move. I know this story from other books on the period, but Graham's take on Buffalo Springfield, Cass Elliot, the Byrds and the LA scene is interesting and distinctly sentimental. His life with Joni Mitchell is heartbreaking.
The CSNY quarter of the book is also material I know, though Graham makes the stories personal as he adds his feelings and reflects on the songs he wrote. Lot's of fascinating insight. The downfall and resurrection of David Crosby from Graham's point of view is amazing.
The final part of the book is about the activism that he has pursued in latter years. While it's a bit of a come down from the stories of his rock star years, it is still interesting. So much of his fundraising has been around putting together artists that the narrative is still interesting. Graham wraps up with the usual love notes to his family and friends as well as some happy thoughts for the future.
Any fan will find this a pleasant read with few real shocks, but lots of fun and engaging insight. I definitely think differently about the Hollies. Good read - I liked it and have been listening to Crosby/Nash, CSN and CSNY all week.
September 19, 2020
Graham Nash writes with a refreshing candor that makes this memoir so much better than many others of its type. The candor starts in describing hardscrabble growing up in northern, industrial England where money was always tight and opportunities limited. Nash is quick to acknowledge that music gave him a wanted escape from that life but it is just as clear that Nash had an independent passion for music, he still remembers and describes fondly his first musical instruments and how he paid for them. Nash describes his different bands with his best childhood friend Allen Clarke that eventually led to the Hollies and then describes the stories behind the songs that made the Hollies famous. Nash's candor continued when writing about his leaving the Hollies to go to America, Nash did not handle it well, the abruptness and lack of good-bye was especially inexcusable to his loyal and longtime friend Clarke. But Nash also weaves in fun asides, such as telling how much he detested his last hit with the Hollies, Jennifer Eccles, especially comparing it to the new, relevant music from other groups.
And then comes Crosby, Stills, Nash-and later Young. And in the midst of that early corroboration was his relationship with Joni Mitchell, reading about the genesis of "Our House" was a favorite part of the book along with the stories behind other songs such as Woodstock and Teach Your Children. But Nash does not shy away from the excesses, especially involving drugs and casual sex, and of course the battles among the four. Interestingly the memoir shows a closeness to Crosby as opposed to Stills and Young, especially Young who comes off pretty unsympathetic in Nash's telling. But throughout the memoir there is Nash's love and passion for music which contributes to making this a great read
And then comes Crosby, Stills, Nash-and later Young. And in the midst of that early corroboration was his relationship with Joni Mitchell, reading about the genesis of "Our House" was a favorite part of the book along with the stories behind other songs such as Woodstock and Teach Your Children. But Nash does not shy away from the excesses, especially involving drugs and casual sex, and of course the battles among the four. Interestingly the memoir shows a closeness to Crosby as opposed to Stills and Young, especially Young who comes off pretty unsympathetic in Nash's telling. But throughout the memoir there is Nash's love and passion for music which contributes to making this a great read
December 4, 2013
Nash gives just enough back story of his childhood to put his later fame into perspective. Although the book does live up to its title, the main focus is the music. Nash gives a glowing description of the first time he sang harmony with Crosby, and talks about the difference between 2-part and 3-part harmony. He is candid with his comments about Neil Young, reinforcing the belief that Young is a solo act, not a true band guy.
There are many stories of the fabled 60s rock and roll drug lifestyle, and Nash was certainly front and center when it came to that. He shares his despair and heartbreak over Crosby’s descent into addiction with raw descriptions of Crosby’s appearance and behavior. There is enough dish on various romantic relationships to satisfy anybody’s vicarious interest.
And yet, shimmering on top of all of these admittedly wild tales, there is always the music. You can hear those searing harmonies singing the book as you read of writing and recording the songs we fell in love with, and to. The creative process is my favorite part of any rock memoir, and Nash doesn’t disappoint. You can tell he is a born band guy when, after wrenching descriptions of Young walking out on recording or touring, Nash picks up the phone, hears Young’s voice, and races to his house to hear his newest songs.
What enables Nash’s memoir to stand out in a pack of recent rock memoirs is the fact that he is a songwriter. He can write, plain and simple, and he weaves his wild tales and layers them in the same manner in which he weaves and layers lyrics and harmonies.
There are many stories of the fabled 60s rock and roll drug lifestyle, and Nash was certainly front and center when it came to that. He shares his despair and heartbreak over Crosby’s descent into addiction with raw descriptions of Crosby’s appearance and behavior. There is enough dish on various romantic relationships to satisfy anybody’s vicarious interest.
And yet, shimmering on top of all of these admittedly wild tales, there is always the music. You can hear those searing harmonies singing the book as you read of writing and recording the songs we fell in love with, and to. The creative process is my favorite part of any rock memoir, and Nash doesn’t disappoint. You can tell he is a born band guy when, after wrenching descriptions of Young walking out on recording or touring, Nash picks up the phone, hears Young’s voice, and races to his house to hear his newest songs.
What enables Nash’s memoir to stand out in a pack of recent rock memoirs is the fact that he is a songwriter. He can write, plain and simple, and he weaves his wild tales and layers them in the same manner in which he weaves and layers lyrics and harmonies.
January 9, 2014
What a concept, a true rock and roll legend who seems to be a fully functional, interesting and rational guy. A survivor of the drug crazed California music world in the late 60's and 70's, Nash claims it was always about the music, and he details it well. His early years growing un in England were very interesting, but after he left the Hollies the world seemed to get a whole lot larger. This book is well written, if it hadn't gotten so politically oriented in the last 75 pages or so I probably would have given it four stars. It is almost up there with the Keith Richards book and a shade below the wonderful Agassi autobiography. But both of those were co-authored or ghost written. This is seemingly his own work, and a damn fine effort at that.
August 9, 2013
In a way this should be a three, but Mr. Nash gets an extra star for being such a decent guy with great political convictions.
This autobiography is written in a very straightforward, this happened then this happened then this happened style.
Frankly, that is all I really want in my rock and roll memoirs.
One thing I learned, is that I am a fair weather CSN fan. Those guys are still around--playing I mean. I kinda lost track in the early 80's.
Maybe it's just me, but I could have done less with CSN in the 80's, 90's etc., and more with his other interests in the visual arts and technology.
The meanest thing he says is that Neal Young is not always pleasant.
This autobiography is written in a very straightforward, this happened then this happened then this happened style.
Frankly, that is all I really want in my rock and roll memoirs.
One thing I learned, is that I am a fair weather CSN fan. Those guys are still around--playing I mean. I kinda lost track in the early 80's.
Maybe it's just me, but I could have done less with CSN in the 80's, 90's etc., and more with his other interests in the visual arts and technology.
The meanest thing he says is that Neal Young is not always pleasant.
August 15, 2020
A Fun Book
I have to give the readers notice that I am huge CSN and CSN&Y fan. So, this book was a journey through the music of my past.
However, the stories of their lives are very sad and a clear example of the dangers and wastefulness of using drugs. These guys spent millions and millions of dollars on coke alone, according to Nash. What a mess! A bit of a contradiction to their fans when they were raising money for non-profits. All their wasted money on drugs could have funded these projects.
A good read if you are a fan
I have to give the readers notice that I am huge CSN and CSN&Y fan. So, this book was a journey through the music of my past.
However, the stories of their lives are very sad and a clear example of the dangers and wastefulness of using drugs. These guys spent millions and millions of dollars on coke alone, according to Nash. What a mess! A bit of a contradiction to their fans when they were raising money for non-profits. All their wasted money on drugs could have funded these projects.
A good read if you are a fan
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