Before all that happened, they were just four friends performing their songs at the Fillmore.
I loved the music.
Bill Graham came up to the door and he knocked on the dressing room door.
Graham Nash and David Crosby in 1969: A new live recording captures CSNY at the Fillmore.Fotos International/Getty Images
He said, You got to come down and play another one.
And we said, Wait a second, Bill.
Weve already played three.
So he starts to put $100 bills under the door.
And when he got to $800, Neil said, Okay, okay, okay.
Ill just throw them out into the audience.
And I said, Neil, this is New York.
You cant do that.
I was reading reviews of your early shows.
You playedThe Tom Jones Showright before the Fillmore, and he sang Long Time Gone with you guys.
Whats your memory of that day?It was pretty surreal, but it worked.
Tom Jones is a great singer.
We know that he makes a different kind of music than us, but he held his own.
He sang the lead there.
I was on organ, and David and Stephen and Neil were playing with him.
Do you remember that moment?I do.
I thought it was a pretty simple song.
And Our House was a perfect example.
Was Joni Mitchell in the audience when you first sang it?Yeah.
She was sitting in the third row.
What was that moment like for you?I was on cloud nine.
Joni and I were a couple.
So I was thinking about her a lot that night.
Its interesting to look at where Neils career was before he joined CSN.
Some of the posters didnt even get his name right.
When he opened for Deep Purple,they billed him as Mell Young.Yeah.
Joining CSN was probably the best thing that Neil ever did.
After less than a year with you guys, he was headlining the Fillmore on his own.Thats right.
Once again, the power of music.
And we were really our normal selves on stage, joking and laughing.
And it was amazing.
It was a magical time for us.
In so many ways, that sent him spiraling, and really impacted the group going forward.Yeah.
That was a very sad day.
And in the garden is where we shot the cover ofDeja Vu.
But that just shows what was going on with us.
It was magical really.
Christine had been killed, and Stephen and Judy Collins had broken up.
So it was a very different time.
It was a lot darker.
And it was amazing to think that only a year had passed.
We were very different people.
We were a little depressed, getting too much into drugs.
It was a very different time.
It was also the year of Altamont, Kent State, the Manson murders.
It all turned dark.
It was no longer the summer of love with sunshine and flowers.
It was a much darker time, even in America.
You packed so much music into that one year though.We did.
And we all had lots of music to make.
It was a great time for us all.
There are a lot of tapes still existing of us that have never been seen the light of day.
I dont think that me and Stephen and Neil will ever play together again.
Why?Theres no heart there.
David was the center of it all, as crazy as he was.
And my God, he was crazy.
But he was the heart of this band.
We would be missing Crosby.
It just would be a much colder scene.
You play his voice onstage every night at your solo concerts.
So when I do play Critical Mass and talk about Davids passing, its very emotional for me.
I really miss him.
When I try and think about the bad things that happened, I dont want to do that.
I made the choice to only remember the good stuff.
You guys were reconnecting at the very end.
And then he got Covid.
I wasnt feeling very well, and we missed that date.
And a couple of days later he passed.
It must give you some comfort that you were at least communicating at the end.
[Softly] Very much so, yes.
Very, very much so.
Getting back to the Fillmore, theres high quality video of the 1970 Fillmore run.
Might you ever release all of that?We filmed a lot of that.
I believe that Neil has the footage.
And I think thats probably the next project that well do.
We have 26 pieces to choose from.
Im judging what the audience is going through.
We are doing tremendous business, really.
Were selling out almost every single night.
And its been incredible.
I have to bring my A game every single night to be on top of what theyre doing.
And were having a great deal of fun doing it.
They are brilliant musicians, and I really appreciate them.
Stills is essentially retired, and Young plays very little of the CSNY catalog when he tours.
Youre the only one out there playing this music.
Do you feel an obligation to keep it alive?I dont feel an obligation.
I feel great joy in playing that kind of music.
And I want my audience to know two things.
One, that I want to be there making music for them.
Im not going to phone it in.
Im not going to do it half-assed.
And I believe that I owe that to my audience.
You have a stronger voice than many singers years younger than you.
Whats the secret to keeping it?I dont have a secret.
I dont have a vocal coach.
I dont have lessons.
I rarely warm up before a show.
I just naturally sing and thank God I can still do it.
Fans would love to see you and Allan Clarke of the Hollies play onstage together one day.
Do you think thats possible?I think its possible.
Allan is a little wary.
I think hes a little envious of my success.
On that record, I sing the lead and he joins me in the chorus.
But our friendship is really blossoming, and Im very appreciative.
It was amazing to see them play those songs together again.Stephen is still a fabulous guitar player.
When we were talking about getting Neil, I said, Wait a second.
I dont know Neil Young.
Ive never met him.
I know he is a good songwriter and a decent singer, but I have to talk to him.
I want to be his friend.
Can he be my partner?
And at the end of breakfast, he looked to me and said, You know something?
You need me in this band.
And I said, Why?
He said, Have you ever heard me and Stephen play guitar together?
Its great theyre still friends after everything theyve been through.Yes.
And its obvious how much they love each other.
People keep telling me how close it is and how theyre tied.
I have no idea what hold this man Trump has on Republicans.
Its almost like a If you dont vote for me, Ill kill your entire family kind of vibe.
Why does he have such an incredible hold on everybody?
I wish I had answer to that.
I saw [Spanish guitarist Andres] Segovia when he was 92, and he killed me.
He was so good.
It was the same thing with the Mills Brothers.
