For better and worse, nobody embodied the counterculture like David Crosby. Close your eyes now and you’ll picture him at his 60s peak, as an idealistic young rebel in fringed jacket and Obelix moustache, offering his worldview from a West Coast stage. Think of his music and you’ll recall the wild-honey voice that defied age and gravity all his life, or those underrated guitar skills, standing out even in line-ups that featured such stone-cold pickers as The Byrds’ Roger McGuinn and Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills & Nash.
Quite rightly, it’s this benevolent side of ‘Croz’ that was evoked by the well-wishers when the 81-year-old passed over on 18 January. But it’s telling that even the most loving eulogies came with a caveat. “David and I butted heads a lot over time,” wrote Stills. “They were mostly glancing blows, yet still left us with numb skulls. I was happy to be at peace with him. He was without question a giant of a musician.”
As a singer, writer, player and mouthpiece for rock’s most outspoken generation, Crosby’s genius was indeed undeniable. Yet those qualities were only one facet of a complex man whose estimation of himself as controlling, egotistical – “the world’s most opinionated man”, as he put it on CSN’s Anything At All – would at times have been endorsed by his closest friends.
Depending on when you encountered him, Crosby could be the blissed-out utopianism of the hippie dream or its bloodshot-eyed reflection in a cracked mirror. He could be the peace and love personification of 1969’s Woodstock festival or the pistol-packing paranoia of its evil twin, Altamont.
Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av Guitarist.
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Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av Guitarist.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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BASIC INSTINCTS
The sophisticated range of Swedish-designed guitars made by .strandberg* has lured thousands of players over to the headless side. But the company's new stripped-back Boden Essential model is its strongest play yet for the hearts and minds of mainstream players
Second String
As PRS's more affordable USA-made S2 line moves into its second decade, the series gets a revamp with - at last - USA-made pickups and electronics. What took so long?
PABLO VAN DE POEL
When a band from The Netherlands describes themselves as 'raw, psychedelic Southern rock', it may take a little cognitive processing to work out what that might mean. One listen to DeWolff, however, and you will be duly transported to the 60s for some fuzzed-out rock 'n' roll
THE BERNIE MARSDEN COLLECTION
With a fabulous collection of the late Bernie Marsden's guitars, amps and other highly collectable music gear going under the auctioneer's hammer on 11 June, we were thrilled to have the chance of a sneak preview
LENNY KRAVITZ
Some 35 years since the release of his debut LP, for his 12th record, Blue Electric Light, Lenny Kravitz is back again with equal doses of vigour and vibes, using vintage guitars and the purest valve amps
GEORGE VJESTICA
You may not know him at first glance, but the work of Stoke-on-Trent native George Vjestica has probably impacted some of your favourite albums and movies
DICKEY BETTS
Emerging from the shadow of Duane to write signature hit Ramblin' Man, the Allman Brothers guitarist was a hard-living pioneer of Southern rock
NICK GUPPY
It is with great sadness that we report the passing of our highly valued amplifier guru, who died suddenly in April
Lucky Break
Alex Bishop blends old wood with new in an attempt to fix a severely damaged guitar headstock
Tones Behind The Tracks
Cedric Burnside learnt at the knee of his fabled grandfather, but his latest album is a hill country blues masterclass on his own terms