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.
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Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av Guitarist.
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QUICK CHANGE
As Gibson finally adds some Quick Connect pickups to its Pickup Shop line-up, Dave Burrluck revisits this simple no-solder method to mod your Modern guitar
Return Of The Rack
A revered rackmount digital delay makes a welcome comeback in pedal form.
Pure Filth
This all-analogue preamp pedal based on Blues Saraceno's amp is a flexible powerhouse with a variety of roles.
Reptile Royalty
From Queen to King - there's another Electro-Harmonix royal vying for the crown of octave distortion
Tradition Revisited
Line 6 refreshes its Helix-based modelling amp range by doubling the number of available amp voicings - and more
Ramble On
Furch's travel guitar folds down so you can transport it in its own custom backpack and, the company claims, it returns to pitch when you reassemble it. Innovation or gimmick?
Redrawing The 'Bird
A fascinating reimagining of one of Gibson's more out-there designs, the Gravitas sticks with vintage vibe and mojo. Oh, and that sound...
1965 Fender Jazz Bass
\"They made them later on, but it's not something I've ever seen this early.
Boss Cube Street II
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STILL CRAZY
One of the most creative yet reliably great-sounding effects makers out there, Crazy Tube Circuits grew out of a fetish for old valve amps. We meet founder Christos Ntaifotis to find out more