Asked and answered: Graham Nash

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August 26, 10:49 AM

by G. Brown, Denver Music Examiner

 

In 2006, Neil Young supported his political manifesto Living With War, a controversial record, by re-teaming with Crosby, Stills & Nash for a tour, which has been documented in the Young-directed feature documentary CSNY: Deja Vu. Did you sixty-somethings stir things up the way you did in the past?

"We had the balls to come out and advocate the impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney and most of the neocons. We were filmed every night, but our focus was the reaction of the fans to what we were doing -- good and bad. So we had fans that loved it -- `Yes, they're keeping up the tradition of town criers, going from city to city and saying that the emperor not only doesn't have any clothes on, he's totally naked, spiritually and morally.' Just a bunch of musicians in the chain of people stretching back to Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, the Weavers, Bob Dylan and many more. And we recorded adverse opinions -- people that were unbelievably angry with us. I'd like to see those people again that were so adamant against us, giving us the finger and telling Neil Young to stick his head up his ass. Because in the two years since 2006, the situation has gotten crazier -- the destruction of our civil rights, getting rid of `The Great Writ' of habeas corpus, what the Bush administration has done to the image of America throughout the world, spying on America . . . I could go on and on. I think George Bush will be considered the worst president we have ever had in our entire history. The film is called Deja Vu because we've all been here before. In 1968 and 1969, we were doing benefits against the Vietnam War and trying to bring awareness to people about the madness of what was going on. We were lied into that war -- the Gulf of Tonkin, even as recently as a couple of years ago, has been identified as being a complete sham. And here we are, once again, all these years later, being lied into the Iraq war. And right now, we’re probably being lied into a war against Iran. When Charlie Black, who is running the McCain campaign, turns around and says, `You know, if there's a terrorist attack on the United States, it would be a big advantage to McCain' -- making public comment like that is shameless and disgraceful. So here we are, playing music (laughs)."

You were born in England, and you were a key figure in the British Invasion with the Hollies. In the late Sixties, you moved to California to begin rehearsing and recording with Crosby and Stephen Stills, and you became an American citizen thirty years ago. How does your British upbringing still influence you?

"You must understand the country I came from was devastated twice in seven years, and I mean devastated. My family lived just outside of Manchester, in the north of England. The city that we lived in was bombed regularly, and the pregnant ladies had to be evacuated outside of the bombing area. So my mother was evacuated to Blackpool, about fifty miles away. which is the equivalent of Coney Island -- a fun fair and a big ferris wheel and hotels on the beach. One of the hotels, the Kimberly, was designated as a maternity hotel. I'm tellling you this because God forbid this ever, ever happen in a major city in the United States. I know New York has felt a little of this with both those bombings of the World Trade Center. But in this country, we have such an incredible ability to constantly think in war terms -- video games and kids being trained to be pilots by texting and thumbing and everything fast and testing reactions . . . it’s madness. And I believe that if a major city was completely leveled by enemy bombers, Americans wouldn't go so easily into war. You'd have a different perspective."

Crosby, Stills & Nash were scheduled to perform at the Fillmore Auditorium on September 11, 2001. What do you remember about that day?

"We were already in town. The night before, a bunch of us had walked over to the new stadium to see the Denver Broncos play the New York Giants, the very first football game in that stadium. Even Crosby went, which was amazing -- I've never seen Crosby at any kind of sporting event unless it involved women! We all walked back to the Hotel Teatro, had a drink in the bar, talked to Dan Fouts, went to sleep. Early the next morning, I got a call from my friend Barry Ollman. He said, `I suggest you turn on the TV -- your life has just changed.' I was still groggy. I turned on the TV, and the world was insane. I watched one of the towers come down. I wanted to document the way I felt and looked at that moment, so I took a self-portrait in a small silver bathroom garbage can. We had to cancel the gig, the country went into mourning, all aircraft were stopped -- except, of course, for the planes that picked up the bin Ladens and flew them out of the country, which not many people know about. And we all got in our buses and drove for eighteen hours back to Los Angeles. We took Eric Dickerson back, and Crosby’s bus took k.d. lang, because they had no way to get home."

Crosby, Stills & Nash, an often-fractious unit, are getting along better than ever. What do you ascribe that to?

"Growing up. I remember one day Stephen wanted me to sing a minor set of changes through a major chord. And I kept getting it wrong. Anytime I get anything wrong more than once, something's not right, because I'm pretty decent at what I do. Stephen and I ended up fighting and I never talked to him for two years. Those things that used to p--s us off about each other are just meaningless. We need to get on with life. We have to take what we've been given, love each other, love our kids, love our friends. If everyone took care of the area around us, I think the world would be a much better place. I'm talking about litter, I'm talking about somebody on the street that needs help, I'm talking about encouraging a child, I'm talking about smelling the roses -- basic, simple stuff. And that's how I live my life. I'm trying to be the best person I can be. And obviously I'm not making it, but I'm trying!"

David Crosby & Graham Nash, Ani DiFranco, James Taylor, Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman and Irma Thomas: 9 p.m. August 26, Temple Buell Theater, sold out.

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