David Crosby Still Hasn't Cut His Hair (1974 Article from a local Philly Music Newspaper) by Keith Mason Actually the entire scene was a little strange, both for the star and the audience. It all took place at the Music Fair out at Valley Forge, atop what might have been the same ground where George Washington froze his ass. Quite a few hundred people were wet from a downpour cast upon us by Mother Nature, who'd been fooled once too much and decided to soak our weekend. Onstage were three guitars and a solitary gentleman with country-red flying out from scalp and upper lip, first facing one side of the audience, then another as the stage revolved a bit every three songs or so. It took alittle getting used to, and it didn't help having the usual handful of morons in the crowd who kept yelling. "Stop! Stop!" as if the stage would honor the request by placing their hero dead-center to them, so they could take their pictures with smuggled flash-cube swingers. But through it all, the smiling face, the easy humor, the sincere vocalizing of one David Crosby. Once part of a great American Rock-n-Roll Band or two, now by himself, but hardly alone. The first time I'd seen the man was back in '69 when I skipped a day of school to travel with friends to that haven of loud music called the Fillmore East. Since the, Crosby's been around in various forms, with Stills, Nash and Young, and with only Nash; but this time it was just Crosby. No amps, no static, just pure, clear and simple music that warmed everybody up. David was coming down with a case of the sniffles he termed "Lebanon Flu", but didn't let it get the better of him. In the end the folks demanded two encores, and they received. Most of the set was taken up with Greatest Hits: "Page 43," "Triad,""Leeshore," "Laughing," and a tune by his favorite writer (Joni Mitchell) called "For Free." Tacked on at the finish was "Wooden Ships," and, "What Are Their Name," accompanied only by the crowd's clapping of hands which turned to applause, standing, as he left the stage for the last time. Ten minutes later, he was backstage, in the midst of friends spilling tequila on other friends and a couching fit or two. We didn't have much time to talk but in the short while available a lot was said, and even more was understood. Just as a friend held up a copy of a major Philly evening paper in which a mis-illusioned writer was proclaiming "Crosby to Reunite....." David provided last week's CSNY update on the American answer to the Beatle rumors: "Don't hold yer breathe.....actually had I dinner with them three nights ago and they all said supposedly, that we're agreeing to do a bunch of dates this summer. I fully intend to do them, I really want to play with those other cats. For all my being flip about them .... that is the best music I've ever made and I want to do it badly." What about the format? "It'll probably start electric, then some acoustic, then go down to solo's and then electric again. Basically the same kind of thing, it'll be all new material, probably very little that you've heard before. We have a gigantic number of songs that you have not heard. I'd say we have...... well, Neil wrote six last week...." As to what's happening in the immediate future as far as music itself goes, David doesn't see much more. Time for what he terms "crotch rock" and it's "glitter boots and bras and guillotines and boa constrictors;" that whole "geek trip," he say, just can't hold out much longer. "Next summer, I feel like you might see a lot of the kind of music that Dylan was playing, and that kind of people. I think you might see George Harrison over here with a band probably including Ringo and probably Clapton, and I think you might see that kind of people playing that kind of music. I'm not trying claim it as a wave, or what's taking over or any bullshit. "I'm not cross-pollinating for bucks. I'm cross-pollinating for new music." Referring to the fellow-musicians he might be playing with: "The people I'm thinking about making a record with, the next time I make a record that's just me, with my name on it.....are outrageous." Crosby's made some new musical friends on the West Coast that nobody knows about but are making some progressive sounds that he's into. He doesn't particularly care to get alot of big names on his records (the primary example being "If I Could Only Remember My Name"), but he can't help it, he has alot of friends who make good music. His use of friends is very casual: he doesn't pay out bucks through the union but rewards his friends for their hard work with personal gifts. Hank Harrison's "The Dead Book" describes Crosby gift to Phil Lesh of a two thousand dollar guitar; that's an important part of knowing David - he's all heart. He was surprised to learn that anybody knew about the guitar episode, because he doesn't much advertise his inner self. He just keeps on pickin' and grinnin' with his inner circle of friends..... There was a time when David and the folks from the Dead and the Airplane, Quicksilver and the other San Francisco heavies were all unknowns meeting each other in the little clubs and cellars to play for fun. Is it still going on so casually? "We do definitely play together, but mostly it happens in studios. That's when people will call up and say, "I'm working right in the middle of this thing and what I really need is this, this gigantic harmony stack and that's right up your alley do you wanna come over and do it for awhile? Sometimes over at Grace and Paul's (Slick and Kanter's) house I'll just sit there and sing with them just for laughs and sometimes we'll just sit and play for a long time goofing. Also Garcia plays all the time no matter what he's doing. If he's having lunch and playing banjo, if you can imagine it), he can't help it. So if you hang out with him at all, you play. Another place will be at Mickey's (Hart) ranch. Sometimes we get together out there in Nevada and play. There's always been a cross-pollination thing that was good and healthy, a nice trip." Turning to the Byrds' reunion album of last year, which was not really successful: was its non-success a hindrance in the Byrds playing together, or was it just a one-shot deal anyway? "We sincerely would like to play with each other. All of us have talked since then and none of us are satisfied .... I don't think it had enough good songs, only a few. Also I think we were too careful with each other. I wasn't exactly pleased with it....it was too bland.. there's no tension to it, no spark. I really like those cats, though, and we've all talked since...... we'll probably make another one and try again, 'cause I really like the music." Watching the man onstage for an hour and talking to him through a cold for a few minutes after doesn't give one too much time to figure out all the facets of David Crosby, so one must make those first impression decisions right off the top. On that basis, who is David Crosby? He's a sincere, warm, no-jive up front guy with lots of talent for writing and playing music that makes people feel good. And, taken strickly as a first impression, that makes him one hell of a dude, right?