Crosby, Stills & Nash Facts for Kids

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in 2006 Left to right: Nash, Stills, Young and Crosby
Background information
Also known as	Crosby, Stills & Nash
Origin	California, United States
Genres	Rock, folk rock
Years active	1968–1970, 1974, 1977–present
Labels	Atlantic, Reprise
Associated acts	Crosby & Nash, The Stills-Young Band, Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, The Hollies

Members	David Crosby Stephen Stills Graham Nash Neil Young

Crosby, Stills & Nash (often called CSN) is an American folk rock supergroup. A supergroup is a band made of musicians who were already famous in other bands. The members are David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash. When Neil Young from Canada joins them, they are known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY).

They are famous for songs like "Marrakesh Express" and "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes." Their song "Teach Your Children" is also very well-known. "Ohio" was a protest song written after the Kent State shootings in 1970. Another popular song is "Just A Song Before I Go."

How the Band Started
The Band's Challenges
- Going Their Separate Ways
- Attempts to Reunite
Back Together Again
- Reforming the Trio
- Later Years and Legacy
Images for kids
See also

How the Band Started

Meeting and Forming CSN

In the 1960s, Stephen Stills and Neil Young were in a band called Buffalo Springfield. David Crosby was a founding member of The Byrds. Graham Nash, who was born in Britain, was part of The Hollies.

Crosby left The Byrds in late 1967. Buffalo Springfield broke up the next year. Nash came to California in 1968 when The Hollies visited. Crosby and Nash had met before in England. They got back in touch in California.

Crosby and Stills had already worked on two songs. These were "Wooden Ships" and "You Don't Have To Cry." When they sang "You Don't Have To Cry" for Nash, he joined in. They all noticed their voices sounded special together. Nash then moved to California. The three musicians decided to form a band. They signed a record deal with Atlantic Records.

The Record Deal and First Album

Stills and Crosby were free to record for Atlantic. But Nash was still with The Hollies, who had a deal with Epic Records. So, Atlantic and Epic made a trade. Epic Records let Nash go. In return, Epic got to sign another band from Atlantic called Poco. Poco was formed by Richie Furay from Buffalo Springfield.

CSN's first album came out in the spring of 1969. It quickly became a big hit. The album cover showed Crosby, Stills, and Nash sitting on a couch. It was outside an old, empty house. They were not sitting in the order of their names. They had not yet chosen the band's name. When they picked their name, they wanted to take another picture. But the house had already been torn down.

Stephen Stills played most of the instruments on the album. Dallas Taylor played the drums. This worked well for recording songs. But they needed more musicians for live shows. So, they hired a keyboard player and a bass player.

Neil Young Joins the Group

The president of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun, suggested Neil Young. Young had his own band called Crazy Horse. Ertegun thought Young could be another guitarist for CSN. Stills was not sure at first. But he gave Young a chance.

Young fit in so well that CSN asked him to be a full member. They added his name to the band's name. So, they became Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Young could still play with CSNY and also with Crazy Horse.

Their second show as a four-person group was at the Woodstock Festival. This famous festival happened in August 1969. They toured for several months after that. They released their second album, Déjà Vu, early the next year. They toured again to support this album. It was also a huge hit.

The Band's Challenges

Going Their Separate Ways

The group was very successful. But the members had many different ideas. They found it hard to work together all the time. This caused problems between them. They almost broke up. Young left to go back to Crazy Horse. He toured with them on his own.

Each of the four members recorded a solo album in 1971. Every one of these albums became a hit. Nash and Crosby toured together as a duo. Stills formed another band called Manassas. He formed it with Chris Hillman from The Byrds.

More solo and duo albums came out in 1972. Young's album Harvest and its song "Heart Of Gold" were the biggest hits. Albums by the other members also sold well, but not as much. Crosby and Nash got along very well. They kept working together as a duo. Stills joined Young and Crazy Horse to record Young's song "War Song." Crosby also rejoined The Byrds. But the album they made together, Byrds, was not a hit.

Attempts to Reunite

The four members tried to reunite in Hawaii in 1973. They wanted to make a new album called Human Highway. But things did not work out. Finally, the next year, they got back together. They started another tour. A collection of their best songs, So Far, was released. This gave them something new to promote.

Their shows were very long, sometimes over three hours. The old problems between them came back. A new CSNY album project failed. Stills and Young removed Crosby and Nash's singing from the recordings. Crosby and Nash then went off on their own. Stills and Young formed The Stills/Young Band. They released an album, but even that did not last.

Stills and Young toured together in 1975 and 1976. In July 1976, Young suddenly left the tour. He sent Stills a message saying he was unhappy. Stills and Young had to finish their tour dates separately. Meanwhile, Nash and Crosby kept recording and performing together. They also sang backup for other artists. These included James Taylor and Joni Mitchell.

Back Together Again

Reforming the Trio

During one of their shows, Crosby and Nash were joined on stage by Stills. They performed "Teach Your Children" together. The three worked out their differences. They reformed their trio. Their album CSN was released in 1977. The song "Just A Song Before I Go" became a new hit single.

In the years that followed, the trio worked together off and on. They also continued to work as solo artists. Neil Young's music had become very different. He mostly worked with Crazy Horse. But he did join CSN now and then. Nash rejoined The Hollies for a reunion album in 1984. He played shows with them, but the reunion was not very successful.

Later Years and Legacy

CSN played in Berlin, Germany when the Berlin Wall was torn down. This was at the end of the 1980s. They also played shows in the 1990s and early 2000s. Their 2000 tour was called the "CSNY2K" tour. They recorded other albums. But these albums were not as big hits as their early ones. They also started working with other writers. They did not write all their own songs anymore. Atlantic Records ended their contract.

Crosby, Stills, and Nash still work together and separately. Crosby and Nash have had the longest and strongest partnership. Neil Young continues to be a solo artist. He performs with and without Crazy Horse. He explores many different kinds of music.

Images for kids

Stills (left), Crosby and Nash in 1974
Crosby, Stills & Young outdoor stadium tour at Foreman Field, Old Dominion University, Norfolk VA. (August 17, 1974)
One of the backdrops during the 2006 "Freedom of Speech" tour, as shown here, was the photos of American soldiers who had died in the war in Iraq.
CSN in 2010