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A couple of weeks ago David Crosby<\/strong> and Graham Nash<\/strong> showed up on The Letterman Show<\/strong> to perform their older song, Taken At All<\/strong><\/em>, which you can check out way below.\u00a0 For us, however, the performance served primarily as a reminder of the great sounds these two musicians have made solo, together, and with fellow musical denizens, Stephen Stills<\/strong> and Neil Young.<\/strong> Their music was the scintillating soundtrack to our formative years, and we can’t let it go.\u00a0 We’ve covered Stephen Stills <\/strong>and Manassas<\/strong><\/a> in the past, and are still assessing if we will ever be able to give a fitting tribute to the all-timer, Neil Young<\/strong> (who for us sits atop a mountain of musicians).\u00a0 For now, we give you Graham Nash and David Crosby.<\/p>\n Whether as CSN&Y, CS&N<\/strong>, the duo Crosby & Nash<\/strong>, or solo, a generous portion of our juvenile years were spent listening in to these fine musicians and their vocalisimmos.\u00a0 We have a particular soft spot for two masterful albums that seem to have slipped through the seams in the musical pantheon.\u00a0 We hold Graham Nash’s<\/strong> “Songs for Beginners<\/strong>” and the eponymously entitled, “David Crosby\/Graham Nash”<\/strong> albums in the highest regard.\u00a0 If you haven’t heard or haven’t recently listened in, they merit your ears.<\/p>\n Following the initial break-up of CSNY, Graham Nash<\/strong> decided to go it alone and in 1971 put out his first solo album, “Songs for Beginners<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Thematically the album bears signs of the turbulent political and personal state of Nash in the aftermath of Nash’s traumatic (duh!) breakup with Joni Mitchell<\/strong>.\u00a0 Graham Nash has given us a seeming millennium of great, melodic music, first in the Hollies and then in CSN&Y.\u00a0 But what many forget is the particularly prolific period between 1971 and 1972 when Nash put out this first solo album and then consorted with Crosby for their first album together as a duo.\u00a0 Nash’s songs on these two albums are witness to his pop-song savvy, his authentic emotional lyrics, and his political activism, and all of which boast his tenor lead vocals and harmonies.<\/p>\n Songs for Beginners featured many fine musicians such as David Crosby<\/strong> (who that same year released his seminal solo album, “If I Could Only Remember My Name<\/strong>“), Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Dave Mason, David Lindley, Rita Coolidge <\/strong>and Neil Young <\/strong>(under the Joe Yankee pseudonym<\/strong>), and some of the best songs from the early ’70s.\u00a0 Check out some of our faves below. First is Military Madness, <\/strong><\/em>which is particularly fitting 40 years later (check the lyrics below the song), particularly as compared with the “hit” political song off the album, Chicago<\/strong><\/em>, which we’ll leave off.\u00a0 Military Madness<\/em> features Rita Coolidge’s <\/strong>background vocals and Dave Mason<\/strong>‘s stellar electric guitar.\u00a0 Next up is the confessional Simple Man <\/strong><\/em>(via a phenomenal, “ancient” live performance accompanied by Crosby).\u00a0 Then check out Better Days<\/strong><\/em> (with its McCartney-esque<\/strong> feel and flourishes), I Used To Be A King<\/strong><\/em> (an obvious ode to Joni <\/strong>with supreme pedal-steel guitar from Jerry Garcia<\/strong>), and There’s Only One <\/strong><\/em>(with Rita Coolidge<\/strong> on piano and Clydie King<\/strong> and choral crew on backing vocals).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Graham-Nash-Songs-For-Beginners-1971-a-lrg1.jpg\" "\\"Graham")
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