Peter Doggett

I have always been a big fan of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Although I was too young to really understand their lyrics when they were big in the 70s, I liked their music. Later when I had grown up, I understood what their songs were saying, and liked them even more. I jumped at the chance to read and review this biopic of the band, their music and their careers.

David Crosby. Steven Stills. Graham Nash. Neil Young. All huge musical talents. And big stars in the 60s & 70s, a time when war protests, social unrest and angst were the driving forces behind an entire generation. I was born in 1968...so I missed out on most of it, but I did get to enjoy their music.

I enjoyed this book. It describes the formation of the band, personality clashes among the members that broke them up multiple times, and the force, will and creativity they all added to the mix. After enjoying the recent movie about Freddy Mercury and Queen, I enjoyed reading about another band that seemed to have similar problems. Each member of CSNY had been in other front line bands like The Hollies and The Byrds and each wanted their songs/lyrics at the forefront. Strong personalities, incredible talent and inflated egos seem to be a recurring theme with popular bands. It was so interesting to read about their prior music careers, eccentricities and musical abilities, plus information about the band (both in the Crosby, Stills & Nash years and after the addition of Neil Young) that I didn't know.

I had to read this book in small bits. There is a lot of information....lots of name dropping and mentions of singers, bands, songwriters, concerts, lyrics, historical events, etc....so much information. I read a few pages....looked up names and events online for more information....and let that digest before moving on. I pulled up all sorts of songs and albums and enjoyed listening to so much awesome music as I read this book! My copy was a digital review copy....so the accompanying photographs were absent in my copy. I'm going to see if my library has this book so I can see the photos!

Great book for any fan of CSNY, 60s/70s music or culture! I loved it!

My favorite CSNY song?? There is a live performance of it here: https://youtu.be/2vnYKRacKQc

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Atria Books via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**… (mehr)

CSNY: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
by Peter Doggett
due 4-2-2019
Atria Books
3 / 5

This book was written in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock.
In 1969, David Crosby (ex-Byrds), Stephen Stills (ex-Buffalo Springfield) and Graham Nash (ex-Hollies) formed CSN when the musicians became frustrated with being a ¨group¨. Their smooth and vocal harmonies, idealistic and mature lyrics and exquisite songwriting abilities all came together to give them a creative outlet for their many varied talent Each musician wanted to make sure their songs were used, mixed with excessive drug use made for a tense and turbulent environment to work in. Stills asked Neil Young (ex Buffalo Springfield) to join after one album, solidifying the magic and the depth of talent. Young would be the most reclusive member of the band.
CSNY released 2 albums but the constant tension and turbulent relationships between the musicians made it a difficult environment to create in. Their personal relationships outside the group were also a huge factor.
I really enjoyed reading about the clubs (The Trip, for one) and festivals, popular then-Monterey Pop Festival, SF-Be-In @Golden State Park, Altamont and, of course, Woodstock. Some of the best writing in this book were the chapters on Woodstock and the anti-war protests.
The musical histories and relationships between them as well as their personal lives are researched and detailed-the use of quotes was a little excessive and distracted from the story and were hard to follow, but I did love the insights of the members and their formation.
This band, CSNY, and this era in musical history; the musicianship, lyrics and harmonies are unforgettable. It will never happen again. This is a great tribute to a band and time in music that are timeless and classic.… (mehr)

Peter Doggett’s sweeping overview of popular music from the 1890s to today (well, 2015, anyway) had a huge challenge: Cover the major and minor trends, and find the threads connecting it all.

He succeeded, in an amazing way.

“Electric Shock” is one critic’s look at popular music and will have its detractors – I’ve read other reviews saying it’s too broad, or he wasn’t critical enough, etc. But in the Introduction, Doggett made clear what he was up to. He wanted to look at popular music, and couldn’t go back far enough. ’50s? ’40s? ’30s?

Eventually, he settled on the 1890s for two reasons: The beginning of ragtime, one of the first “popular” non-European music styles in the West, and it was the start of sound recording. Both events began to change music.

Another thing Doggett does is set aside his own biases. He acknowledges that the mere mention of Bing Crosby or Queen would set him off. He decided to let all the music speak to him – and in turn, he became a fan of more people and styles than he used to be.

The downside is it spends little time on some bigger practitioners, but the upside is the almost encyclopedic look at styles and artists. He covers jazz, blues, rock, country and subgenre after subgenre, such as swing, boy bands, electronica, bebop, exotica, folk, metal – almost anything that became popular, even for a second.

If you’re looking for a deep dive into rock or jazz, you won’t find it here. But if you want to relive the scope of popular music, decade by decade, you’ll find it here.

Highly recommended.

Read more of my reviews at Ralphsbooks.… (mehr)