Chords for Voices Of A Generation - Crosby, Stills & Nash, Still In Perfect Harmony

[G] [D] David Crosby, Stephen Sills and Graham Nash first [G] came together more than 40 years ago to form the harmonizing [D] supergroup
Crosby, Sills and Nash.
After winning the Best New Artist Grammy in
1969, [Am] [Cm] these singer [N]-songwriters have become one of the most enduring musical acts of their generation.
They're hitting the road this summer
They have more than 60 shows scheduled in cities throughout the United States.
They're also releasing
CSN 2012, a live [Ab] performance DVD next month.
_ David Crosby, Stephen Sills and Graham Nash are with [Am] us right here in Studio 57.
[C] Welcome.
Hi, Chuck.
How are you?
How is it to be back on tour?
[Db] We never stopped.
The only time we weren't [F] on tour was when Crosby was in jail and [Am] it gets a little [Ab] difficult.
[A] Johnny Cash would not, you know.
_ [Ab] So you're out and you're well and you're healthy [Am] now, David?
I am and happy too.
Yeah.
Happy to be doing it.
What makes it still good and fresh and interesting for you guys?
The [E] three hours that you're on [Am] stage.
Yeah.
The other 20 hours.
_ [B] _ [Am] That's actually where we get paid.
Yeah.
But it's the music.
It's basically the [Ab] music.
It is the [C] music.
That's what keeps us together.
You know, we long since realized that the best part of our relationship is not [Am] the backstabbing, not the
I don't like you this [F] year.
None of that stuff is important.
The music is the most important stuff.
You had a bit of that.
We've had a little in our [Bb] past.
Everybody [Am] has.
Every band.
[Bb] But [F] is that all in the past now?
Moved past that?
Really [Dm] the focus now is music?
It certainly seems that way.
Yeah.
This year, [Am] everything seems to be coming together.
You know, there are many, many people on backsides, on seats out there.
We seem to be really pleasing the audience.
We seem to be pleasing ourselves.
Everything's good.
When you are on stage, _ _ do the audiences seem to you different?
I mean, is the mix different?
No.
The others, they [F] seem great.
[Gb] _ [B] _ [Am] _ We've actually studied the [Ab] demographics of our audience and [F] it's somewhere between 14 and 63.
_ So parents come with [Ab] their children.
Yeah.
And [N] parents are turning their children onto [C] our music.
_ Actually, the parents are over here and the children are over here because they [D] won't be seen together.
_ [C] You can drive me there, but [Bb] you can't sit next to me.
Yeah, [C] don't sit in the same row, mom.
You have seen the music business [Fm] here, there and now, where it is.
Where is it and is it better or [C] worse?
_ It's the same.
[F] There's always bad stuff out there and there's always good stuff.
And you hope that the good stuff rises to the top and then you find out about it.
But what about the business because of what's happened with _ [Ab] the digital revolution?
[N] It's changed [B] quite a bit because of [E] that.
I don't think the record [C] companies really understood what digital meant. _
[N] _ They thought it was just another way to sell more stuff with a different label.
Unless you have a really huge hit, you don't make money off of records.
We make money off of live performance almost entirely.
And that's how it is for most _ [F] artists these [G] days.
What's it [D] like for you, those [Am] songwriters?
Charlie's talking about how the [N] industry has changed a little bit.
When you listen to some of the music today,
do you think that the approach is different at all from the way [A] you approach [F] the songs that you write?
I'm finding the retro stuff really good.
[Am] One of my favorites is Brandi Carlile.
And she sounded like she could be in the 60s.
And she has this crackerjack [Gb] band that sounds like John [A] Cassis.
Who've been the biggest influences on your music?
_ [Ab] _ _ _ You know, everything from the [Am] Weavers to Pete [Fm] Seeger to Woody Guthrie to Bob [C] Dylan,
you know, Peter, Paul and Mary.
_ [A] That's a strong _ folk group you just described.
It's more than that.
[C] It's real.
Their music was real.
They talked about real subjects.
They talked about real things that were happening between people
[F] and how to deal with them, how they dealt with them.
[Ab] _ The music was [Am] more real to me.
[Ab] If you could have somebody in all the musical history
write songs for you today, who [C] would it be?
Paul McCartney.
Would it be McCartney?
[Ab] Yeah.
He has an incredible [Gb] sense of melody.
[Ab] The kid's good. _
[A] But how is he different from John?
John was good.
[C] And he was the hard edge.
He kind of did for [F] Paul and the rest of the guys what Neil does to us.
[G] _
We have a certain sound, as Cosby, Stills and Nash.
When Neil joins us, it's different.
It's a [A] darker edge. _
It's _ [Am] more mysterious.
He brings a certain _ different kind of music to us.
And I think John and Paul did the same thing.
I think [C] when you listen to songs, you can really [A] tell who wrote [Fm] what.
So where would you put Neil as a songwriter in all of this mix?
Neil is a [C] brilliant songwriter. _
And still has it.
I believe he does.
Yes.
He still has the potential.
I haven't really liked his last couple of records, but _ I think he's, you know,
this [B] is still the guy who wrote Old Man [D] and _ _ [Gbm] Heart of Gold in Ohio.
Heart of Gold is it.
Yeah.
[Em] Neil's cool.
He's written a lot of really beautiful stuff.
He set the bar pretty high early [Am] on.
So I guess we have high [C] expectations of him.
I like his [A] songs.
_ Exactly. _
_ They're not [C] bad, are they?
Yeah.
Can [Am] you imagine doing anything other than playing music?
Sure.
What?
Living.
I can imagine being a musician.
Music's only a part of our lives.
But music is what makes you alive, [E] isn't it?
It's one of the things.
[A] So what else?
But I'm another professional.
[Db] Painting, collecting, _ [C] _ _ photographing.
There's a million things.
Whichever [Ab] way you want to put your energy is what you do.
It's great [Am] seeing you guys back.
_ Thank you.
You haven't been away.
[Ab] I know.
You haven't been away, but seeing you back [Am] together, chance to see you on tour. Yeah.
_ We're very good this year.
People are really responding well.
Without understanding the dimensions of this question, _ will Neil come back?
Will there be one performance, one time in which Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young?
For our purposes today, no.
[Abm] On the other hand, we are just [Db] almost [F] finished up with a brand new Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
record, which is our 74 _ _ Stadium Arena Tour in 1974.
And it's brilliant music, even though I say so myself, I don't brag about it.
When can I get [C] that?
_ First quarter of next year.
That's great.
[A] Yeah.
And so therefore, if [D] you have a record, don't you [Db] have to go and [Gb] perform?
Don't you have to, you know, you have [Gm] to_
I don't know if you do.
[B] _ _ _
_ [F] Thank you, Stephen.
Thank you, Grant.
[N] Thank you, David. _
Crosby, Stills & Nash.
_ And this Saturday morning, Crosby, Stills & Nash will be performing right here in Studio 57
on CBS This Morning, Saturday. _ _