The Catalyst interview: Graham Nash

It was shortly after the 2014 publication of Graham Nash’s autobiography, Wild Tales: A Rock ‘n’ Roll Life, that Nash’s longtime musical compatriot David Crosby said some nasty things, about the book and about Nash, in the press.

To say their friendship was strained would be an understatement. Nash had spent decades publicly defending his Crosby, Stills & Nash bandmate, and keeping things shored up during Crosby’s lengthy crack cocaine addiction and professional absenteeism in the 1980s.

So when the famously candid Crosby did a little too much mouthing off, then alienated (occasional) fellow traveler Neil Young by insulting Young’s wife in an interview, Nash simply had had enough. He declared that one of rock music’s most potent and long-running partnerships was no more.

Stephen Stills, wisely, steered clear of the whole affair.

RELATED READING: Wild tales and then some: Talking with Graham Nash (2008)

When Crosby died last January, Nash, along with Stills and Young, issued public statements expressing their love and admiration for their fallen comrade, exhorting fans to remember the music they made together and not the rancor.

Nash, who performs with a small combo Nov. 1 and 2 at the Capitol Theatre in Clearwater, addressed this and other topics in this Catalyst interview. 

1969 and on top of the world: Nash, left, Stills and Crosby. Photo: Atlantic Records.

St. Pete Catalyst: You were talking several years ago about putting out a compilation of you and Crosby harmonizing on other people’s records. Is that still in the pipeline somewhere?

Graham Nash: You know, since David passed I’ve had to really think about what to do … the music is great, and therefore it’s worth listening to. Right now, me and Joel Bernstein are working on a Crosby, Stills and Nash live record that is pretty far out. From ’68 to the last time we recorded. We have about 44 things that we really love, that have never been heard before.

What about the stuff CSN recorded with [producer] Rick Rubin? Will that ever see the light of day?

I was listening to it recently. And I’m sorry that Rick and David didn’t see eye-to-eye. It was a very interesting project. I love Rick Rubin, I love the way that he produces, because he senses that something great’s gonna happen, and he waits for it to happen, and I love him for that.

I don’t know whether that’ll see the light of day. Who knows in the future?

You did the career-spanning box set as a solo artist, you wrote a memoir, and those things feel like looking back. Yet you’re still writing and recording, and going on the road. Is it a bit like breathing for you? Like I have to do it – this is what I do.

Yep, this is what I do with my life. Life, of course, is just choices, and I choose to do this with my life. I can’t think of anything in my life that I could do better than making music. Apart from taking images, of course, with the camera.

At 81 years old I have seen music go from … holy shit, when we [the Hollies, Nash’s first band] first started recording at Abbey Road it was on two tracks. And now I’ve got a hundred tracks in the phone I’m talking to you on.

Do you ever wonder, “What am I going to write about today? I’ve got nothing left to say”? Or is there always something to say?

I have to feel something first, Bill. Once I see a piece of news that pisses me off, or makes me fall in love … once I feel something then I’m off and running into writing a new song. 

With all the great music CSN made over the years, for my money the four Crosby-Nash albums are “it.” Those are the ones I go back to.

I know. Me and David made some good music. And that’s what I choose to remember, because once again, life is full of choices, and I choose to remember only the good times me and David had. And the laughs that we had, and the good music that we made.

Why did that combination – you and Crosby – work so well?

I think David and I trusted each other completely. Wherever he’d want you to go, I would follow him. Wherever I wanted to go, he would follow me.  So we trusted each other completely, and because of that trust we were able to sing harmonies and create songs that were very personable, and easy to understand. Me and David made some pretty good music, didn’t we?

After things fell apart between the two of you, I saw you interviewed – and I’d never seen you so angry.

Yeah, because me and David made a pact with each other that we would never be victims of rock ‘n’ roll. That we would always keep our eye on the tools that we have to be able to make music, and to make sure that we never lost control of those tools.

You see, when the Hollies were first recording, the engineers at Abbey Road wore white coats. And if you wanted your bass turned up, you had to talk to your producer, who would then talk to the engineer, who would then bring the bass up.

Once you started to sell millions of pieces of plastic, the rules changed. If I wanted more bass,I’d reach over and bring the bass fader up. And Crosby and I never wanted to lose control of what it is that we did.

There was a great friendship there, as well. And a trust.

Yep, a trust on many, many levels.

I remember thinking “I can’t believe Crosby and Nash aren’t talking any more.”

I know, but towards the end of his life we were, of course.

Did he call you up and say “Look, I’m an a–hole, I said the wrong things”?

That was his first email to me. That he wanted to talk, and that he wanted to apologize for some of the things he’d said about Neil and his wife Daryl. And what he’d said about me.

I was a little cautious about the email, and then I wrote back to him and I said “You know what, we should talk.” And we did a couple of voicemails, and I set up a time to Facetime with him, so I could see his face when I was talking to him … and I waited for the call, and I waited, and it never came. And then he was gone.

Would it have been, do you think, a reconciliation? That you would have made more music together?

That would depend on music. If Crosby said “Let’s talk, I’ve got these two songs, what do you think?” and the two songs knocked me on my ass, I’m a musician, I’m in. I love good songs, and if David had sent me a couple of songs, or if I’d sent him a couple of songs that he loved, we’d be off making music again.

That’s something you’ve always said, through the turbulent years of CSN and CSNY, with all the sh—that happened. That it always came down to the music. What’s in the future for you? 81! What do you see ahead of you?

More music. More creation. I have to create something every day or else I’m pissed with myself at night. More pictures, more music, more collecting. I have an incredibly busy life, and I love every section of it.

Find tickets for the Nov. 1 and 2 Capitol Theatre shows here.