Fans of Crosby Stills Nash &Young know the group has been almost as famous for its tensions as for its enduring music.
But the past several years have brought a renewed sense of harmony between principals David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and their occasional fourth musical collaborator, Neil Young.
That much is apparent just in the fact that for the third time in six years, Crosby Stills Nash &Young is doing an extensive tour.
Up until this recent spate of activity, Young’s only involvement with the band since 1974 was on the 1988 album “American Dream.”
Crosby Stills &Nash, meanwhile, have had periods of turmoil and inactivity, most notably between the 1977 album “CSN” and 1982’s “Daylight Again”
In a recent interview, Stills confirmed that relations in the group are in a good place – and actually were on the upswing before Young renewed his involvement in the late 1990s.
“The CS&N relationship began to get more harmonious,” Stills said. “It wasn’t a competition (anymore) about who could come up with the coolest idea or anything like that. … We made a genuine effort to take on those areas of behavior that might have been sources of irritation to the others. It got friendlier, so suddenly traveling became much easier.”
The better relations have helped produce an uptick in the amount of music being made both inside and outside of the group.
The group, which formed as Crosby Stills &Nash in 1968 and then added Young about a year later, in 1999 released “Looking Forward,” its first studio CD since “American Dream.”
Since then the band members have been busy recording outside of the group context. Crosby in 2001 released a CD, “Just Like Gravity,” with his side band, CPR.
Graham Nash in 2002 released his first solo CD in more than 15 years called “Songs for Survivors.” Then in 2004 he teamed with Crosby on a fine two-CD set, “Crosby-Nash.”
Stills last year released “Man Alive,” his first solo CD in 15 years. Young, meanwhile, has kept a typically prolific pace of recording, releasing the CDs “Silver &Gold” in 2000, “Are You Passionate” in 2002, “Greendale” in 2003, “Prairie Wind” in 2005 and the rocking, politically charged CD, “Living With War,” this past spring.
Young also was a key guest on Stills’ impressive “Man Alive” CD. He adds guitar work to two tracks “Round the Bend” and “Different Man.”
Their dueling guitar solo on “Round the Bend,” in fact, is a highlight of “Man Alive.” The six-string fireworks will be familiar to fans who have seen them perform with Crosby Stills Nash &Young. The two guitarists can often seem like they’re sparring against each other. Stills, well aware of that image, said it is actually nearly the opposite of what really happens when he and Young solo.
“If we start playing leads, it gets really ferocious and it looks like we’re trying to outplay each other,” Stills said. “But actually what we’re doing is we’re tapping into our own inner anger, the repressed (stuff). This is cheaper than therapy and we just get going. And we try to lift each other. There’s nothing competitive about it.”
While Crosby Stills &Nash remains an ongoing entity – the trio has toured frequently between the 2002 and 2006 CSN&Y tours – adding Young to the mix, Stills said, definitely produces a different sound and dynamic on stage, much of which comes down to the musical relationship between Stills and Young.
“Neil and I … basically I know where he’s going,” Stills said. “We communicate in a special way that David and Graham do when they’re singing by themselves. … Neil and I just, we think alike and I know him so well. We kind of know what we’re doing.”
Nash, in a 2003 interview, also said Crosby Stills Nash &Young has more of a rock band personality than when just he, Crosby and Stills play as a group. Stills certainly saw truth in that point of view.
Nash and Crosby “are the folk group,” Stills said. “I like some of it, but what I like best is when we can do gentle songs and use a little backing that’s not intrusive. That’s my fave. They like just simple acoustic guitars, and that, I’m good for about oh, three songs. But that’s just me.”
So fans can expect a good dose of rock from the tour this summer. What they shouldn’t expect, Stills said, is for the tour to lead to a studio CD from either CS&N or CSN&Y in the near future.
Stills said he wants to make another solo album and give CS&N a breather. “We’ve worked for 21/2 solid years, and I think it’s time for a rest,” he said. Crosby and Nash “should evolve some more on their own and just go and do some other kind of playing. That will just make it more exciting to get back together after that.”
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