CoronaVinyl Day 180 (N): Songs for Beginners by Graham Nash

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "N," and we might as well keep it on a solo album kick.  In the fourteen months after Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young released Déjà Vu in March 1970, all four members released solo albums, and all four did pretty well (and I just realized that I have all four of them on vinyl).  Neil Young released After the Gold Rush in September 1970, and it reached #8 on the Billboard album chart.  Stephen Stills released his self-titled debut solo album in November 1970, and it reached #3 on the Billboard album chart.  David Crosby released If I Could Only Remember My Name in February 1971, and it reached #12 on the Billboard album chart.  Finally, in May 1971, Graham Nash released his debut solo album, Songs for Beginners, which reached #15 on the Billboard album chart and is what I'm listening to today.

Unsurprisingly, Songs for Beginners is a mixture of folk rock, singer-songwriter pop, and country rock.  Many of the songs were written about Nash relationship with Joni Mitchell, which had recently ended.  An insane array of great musicians also played on the album, including Neil Young, David Crosby, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Dave Mason, Rita Coolidge (who left Stills for Nash in 1970, which contributed to CSNY's breakup), and Bobby Keys, among others.

The most famous song from the album is "Chicago," Nash's protest song about the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the subsequent trial of the Chicago Eight, which was a complete circus and miscarriage of justice.  By the way, if you haven't seen Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7, which was released in October on Netflix, I highly recommend it.

Anyway, Songs for Beginners was Nash's highest-charting album in the U.S. and the UK (where it went to #13), and "Chicago" was his only solo Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #35.

Like his fellow CSNY members, Nash is one of 23 two-time inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, both as a member of CSN and The Hollies.  (Crosby was inducted as a member of the Byrds and CSN, Stills as a member of Buffalo Springfield and CSN, and Young as a member of Buffalo Springfield and a solo artist.)  He was also made an OBE in 2010, which is always a big deal for Brits.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Military Madness"

The first track on the album is a little more rocking than some of the others.  Nash has a nice wah-pedal guitar going on.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Chicago"
As a Chicagoan and a history major, I couldn't go with another song.  On top of its poignant message, it's just a great rock and roll song.