CoronaVinyl Day 103 (Laurel Canyon): Crosby, Stills & Nash by Crosby, Stills & Nash

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is Laurel Canyon, which is a neighborhood/canyon in the Hollywood Hills that was a popular spot for musicians to live in the late '60s and early '70s.  Among the many musicians who lived in Laurel Canyon were Jim Morrison, Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell, Brian Wilson, James Taylor, Neil Young, Carole King, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, John Mayall, and members of The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Canned Heat, The Eagles, Love, The Mamas & The Papas, and The Monkees.

One of the first rock supergroups was Crosby, Stills & Nash -- featuring David Crosby from The Byrds, Stephen Stills from Buffalo Springfield, and Graham Nash from The Hollies -- and they either lived in Laurel Canyon or were otherwise well ensconced in Laurel Canyon history, as the group first sung together in Joni Mitchell's Laurel Canyon home in 1968.  (That house would be further immortalized by CSN in their 1970 song "Our House," written by Nash, who at the time was going steady with Mitchell.)

The group's eponymous debut came out in May 1969, and they would famously play Woodstock three months later in what was essentially their second live show ever.  The album is a blend of rock, folk, and pop -- all with the backdrop of the band's amazing harmonies.  The album was an instant success, going to #6 on the Billboard album charts and eventually going quadruple platinum in the U.S.  It also spawned two Top 40 hits in the U.S., "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" (#21) and "Marrakesh Express" (#28).

Of course, Neil Young would join the group for their next several albums and then off and on over the next several decades.  CSN and CSNY has released studio albums and/or live albums in every decade since the '60s (other than our brief '20s thus far).  All four members are double Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, with Crosby, Stills & Nash both as members of CSN and as members of The Byrds (Crosby), Buffalo Springfield (Stills), and The Hollies (Nash), and Neil Young as both a solo artist and a member of Buffalo Springfield.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"
For me, "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" is the quintessential CSN song.  Written by Stills about his former girlfriend, singer/songwriter Judy Collins, and her blue eyes, the 7+-minute song is like a classical music suite, in that it has a couple distinct parts.  The first part is the pop-rocky, uptempo part discussing Stills and Collins's relationship struggles.  One of my favorite lines is "Don't let the past remind us of what we are not now."  The second part is a slowed-down, more soulful part, and then the third part picks back up a little and has some flowery lyrics, before the fourth part kicks in and turns into a jam, culminating with Spanish lyrics and the famous "do-do-do-do do do do do-do-do-do" in the background.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Wooden Ships"
This is the first track on Side 2, and it's one of my favorite CSN songs.  It was co-written by Crosby, Stills, and Jefferson Airplane guitarist Paul Kantner.  Jefferson Airplane also recorded the song, and both groups played the song during their respective sets at Woodstock.  It's a trippy, jazzy song -- with some good rock guitar parts mixed in -- about a post-apocalyptic world following a nuclear holocaust.  See, hippies weren't all flowers and love.