The Tapes Archive

Marc Allan: So this is really kind of an amazing story of this group, isn’t it?

David Crosby: If somebody handed it to you as a screenplay, man, you’d toss it . You’d say, “No, uh-huh, no. “Too unlikely.” The best part isn’t that it’s an odd story, the best part is the group works.

Marc Allan: Now, I guess from reading the bio, it was Jan who first told you that James existed, right? Is that so–

David Crosby: Yeah, I think she read the letter first. She told me that he existed and that now we knew who he was. I knew that there was a kid out there. His mom put him up for adoption when he was born, and told me that she had done so, but she wouldn’t tell me anything else. And that was that. Where I live, the rules are, they won’t let you track from the parent down, only from the kid up. Kid has been adopted and is in a new home and thriving, and then some weirdo parent, that lost the child in an alcoholic stupor, or something, comes knocking at the door saying “I want my baby back.” It doesn’t work out too good. So, I knew he was out there, and had beaten myself up some for it, but wasn’t fuck all I could do about it. And then all of a sudden there he was. And if you think it was wild on my end, imagine him. He goes to find out who his birth mother was that put him up for adoption. He’s curious, right? And he’s like totally sane kid, who’s had a great life, and a good childhood, and all this stuff. And he goes to look, and he just happens to have had musical talent. So he became a musician. So he’s been a musician 15 years. He looks at this page and there’s my name listed as father. And he goes, “Oh, so that’s where the weird chords came from.” I mean, it’s got to have been a shock. I know it was a shock. He told me it was a shock.

Marc Allan: Man. You–

David Crosby: Hang on one sec. My breakfast just got here. Don’t go away. Don’t go away. “You look familiar. “What’s your name?”

Marc Allan: I heard you say, “I’m in a band.” Okay. So, his mother is somebody you knew casually, I’m taking it or–

David Crosby: Not that casual.

Marc Allan: Not that, well, obviously, not terribly.

David Crosby: We were an item for a while, and she’s a nice lady, and I’ve never seen her since.

Marc Allan: Wow.

David Crosby: I was just a kid, man. I mean, I couldn’t have parented a Kleenex box. I regret it, but it is better that it worked out the way it did. I mean, you know, most of us back then, we were pretty careful not to have kids, ’cause we were kids already.

Marc Allan: And this is, when you say you were a kid, you were what, about 18 or something, or–

David Crosby: Yeah, 18, 20, something like that, yeah.

Marc Allan: Yeah, and so, this is before you’re famous too, right?

David Crosby: Oh, yeah, long before. I was just a kid playing in coffee houses. I mean, I literally couldn’t have done it. I didn’t have the money. I didn’t have the brains. I didn’t have nothing.

Marc Allan: Aside from the son that you’ve just had, do you have other children?

David Crosby: Yeah. I have a daughter, Donovan Ann, who is 23, who’s an artist. And I have a little boy named Django, who is three. And he is a darling.

Marc Allan: Does he go on the road with you at all?

David Crosby: No. I mean, yes, if it’s Crosby, Stills & Nash, we make so much money with Crosby, Stills & Nash, we can afford to take a bus each. But this is a baby band. We can’t do that. So he’s home right now.

Marc Allan: So when you first are hearing about this, so you knew you had a child, so it’s not a shock, this child, but it’s probably a fair shock that this child’s trying to find you after all these years, isn’t it?

David Crosby: More of a shock that he’s a musician.

Marc Allan: When you look at him or when you watch him play–

David Crosby: I mean, people do try to find each other.

Marc Allan: Yeah, no question about it.

David Crosby: That he’s a musician, that’s a shocker. Then I find out how good he is . At least three times as good as I am, man, and I am not shitting you. I promise you. I am telling you the God’s honest truth.

Marc Allan: Well the record is really solid. I mean, it’s a very, very pleasant surprise, I must say. I mean, I thought, this has all the things about like the Crosby & Nash albums that I love, and it has like a Steely Dan element to it. Yeah, I was listening to it and going, “Wow.” When you look at him and, can you see the resemblance? Do you see yourself in him at all?

David Crosby: Yeah. You can see, he looks sorta like I did, back when I used to look good.

Marc Allan: And actually, you know, it’s funny, ’cause I think you look pretty cool now.

David Crosby: Oh, thanks.

Marc Allan: Don’t you think so? I mean, do you look at yourself?

David Crosby: I think I look like the happiest walrus you’ve met all–

Marc Allan: Yeah, but given what you’ve gone through, and given what happens to people with–

David Crosby: Oh yeah, no, my friends tell me I look pretty good, but it’s mostly because I’m happy. Happiness is the greatest tonic in the world, man. Beats all that medicine shit, just all hollow. But I am happy.

Marc Allan: Yeah, maybe that’s it. I mean, you’re smiling in like every picture.

David Crosby: Well, I don’t gotta fake it.

Marc Allan: Yeah.

David Crosby: I can tell you that.

Marc Allan: Okay, so you could see your resemblance in the way he looks, and do you see a resemblance in the way he plays at all?

David Crosby: Oh yeah, he’s my kid. There’s no question. He’s playing all the shit I would play if I could play. But I mean, I can’t. I am not anywhere close to him as a musician. Not even, leagues. And I’m good. I’m not stupid. I’m not bad. I’m a good musician. But, no, not even close.

Marc Allan: Why do you think he’s so much better?

David Crosby: ‘Cause he didn’t screw around. I think he had even more talent than I did. The only reason I get to be in the band, man, is I can still sing better than he can. If you saw the writing process, man, it would just astound you. It’s like a song fountain. Anything. Any chord, any change, any word, and we’re off and running.

Marc Allan: One or two other things on the first line, and that is heredity versus environment. It’s always a big scientific debate. Where do you weigh in–

David Crosby: There’s no debate.

Marc Allan: No debate.

David Crosby: I wasn’t around.

Marc Allan: Yeah, I know.

David Crosby: And there he is.

Marc Allan: It has to be heredity.

David Crosby: I mean, you know, it’s not that, you know, nature versus nurture. I think it’s both. I think there’s no question that a person’s environment affects them, but they spotted his nature early on, and said, “Oh, this kid, this boy has music in him. “Golly, John, “we’ve got to get him piano lessons.” And they did.

Marc Allan: And his adoptive parents are cool with this?

David Crosby: Oh man, they’re wonderful. They are some of the nicest people you ever met in your life. They’re completely decent, wonderful human beings.

Marc Allan: On the music end of this. A couple of songs, let’s start with “Morrison.” Did you know him?

David Crosby: Yeah, I knew him. I didn’t like him. It was actually, most of the time he was drunk, and most of the time he was obnoxious, during the time I knew him anyway. Not a bad poet, but an obnoxious guy.

Marc Allan: So, is his legend romanticized that well out of proportion?

David Crosby: Oh, yeah. You see the movie?

Marc Allan: Yeah.

David Crosby: Well, Val Kilmer is one of the best actors in the country, and he got the guy, eerily well. I mean, it was scary how well he did him. The line in the song, “I’ve seen the movie and it wasn’t like that,” is mostly ’cause it sings good. But it’s also ’cause Oliver Stone didn’t quite get it. He was in a foxhole when it all went down, so he tended to paint it in slightly brighter colors than it was too. But, no, Morrison was a tortured guy, man, and the reason that he wound up inserting himself into the song is that he was lost. He was lost. A lost guy. And the song is about being lost, “Like a gull blown inland on a stormy day.” That’s the key line of the song.

Marc Allan: Is the legend of Morrison, is it out of proportion just because he died young, do you think?

David Crosby: General showbiz stuff, plus he died young, plus there wasn’t anybody around like me who was a curmudgeon willing to say, “Ah, the guy was an asshole!”

Marc Allan: Well, it just goes against the popular notion, you know.

David Crosby: Well, they didn’t know him, I did.

Marc Allan: Okay. Let’s see. You make reference in “At the Edge” to a life well-lived, what do you think of your life? Life well lived?

David Crosby: Good and bad, you know. I’ve made some horrendous mistakes, probably the greatest of which was wasting time, which is also, you know, another question that “Time is the Final Currency” song, which I dearly love. “At the Edge” and “Final Currency” are probably my two favorites. You know, I mean, there’s no point to regrets. It’s pointless. What they teach you in the 12-step thing is to look at it all, learn from it, and then set it down, brother, because you can’t go forward carrying a bunch of luggage. So I don’t torment myself about it. Yes, I have made tons of mistakes, but you know, they’re not today, and they’re not tomorrow, today and tomorrow is what my focus is on, and has been for a while, and that’s making me very happy. And it’s not that I’m not aware of what I’ve done, you know, but, you know, you know your shit isn’t working too good if you wind up in a Texas prison, man. Come on! You can’t be being too smart.

Marc Allan: Yeah, but you gotta admit that even in the worst things that you’ve gone through, I mean, they’re incredible experiences. And, you know, sometimes though, don’t you think that going through a really terrible thing is even worthwhile, just from what you learn from it?

David Crosby: In a way, yeah. Because you wind up, you know, you learn a lot, you know, if your head’s open, you learn, you do. And I did. And I have. And I still am. But my focus is on today. Now, tomorrow, five minutes from now. What am I gonna write today? That’s where it is. And I think that’s where it should be. That’s one of the reasons that this band is so important to me, is cause it’s vital. It’s forward motion. I’m 56 years old, man. Most people at this stage of their lives are simply pulling the handle, trying to get the same numbers to come up. I can’t do that. I’m convinced that Dylan was right. That he who is not busy being born is busy dying. You know what Neil told me?

Marc Allan: What’s that?

David Crosby: He said, “Man, I’m really happy about this band, man.” And we were like, “Amen.” And I said, “Why?” He said, “Because it’s forward motion man. “It’s in the direction you’ve always been going.” And I said, “Yeah, it is, you’re right.” He said, “I know.” He said, “Dave.” I said, “Yeah.” He says, “Leave a wake.”

Marc Allan: Leave a wake?

David Crosby: Uh-huh. He knows I’m a sailor. And that’s saying the same thing, you know. Forward motion. I could have called this band Forward Motion.

Marc Allan: Yeah, but CPR is a cool name, so.

David Crosby: Yeah, okay, given my medical history, it’s kind of funny. And it works. Music to restart your heart.

Marc Allan: So, business-wise, what does it say when you’re on, what is this label called, Samson Music?

David Crosby: Samson Music is a huge stroke of good fortune. You know what Gateway Computers is?

Marc Allan: Sure.

David Crosby: Okay, well, when it got to be two billion, that’s with a B, billion-dollars company, one of the two brothers, Norm Waitt, split with his half, and started an entertainment company, amongst other things, started an entertainment company called Gold Circle. Gold Circle is the parent company for a brand new record company named Samson Records, which is run by a guy that I respect tremendously named Mike Delich, used to run Gramophone Records. It doesn’t owe anything to anybody, yeah. It has a distribution deal with Sony Red, so it can get in every store in the world. And it doesn’t owe any money to anyone, and it’s completely independent. And the guy running it, is very smart and doesn’t wanna do record business the old-style way.

Marc Allan: So what is he gonna do different for you?

David Crosby: I couldn’t have written down a company that I wanted more.

Marc Allan: And what is he gonna do for you that the–

David Crosby: Oh, work a record to its demographic, instead of just shotgunning some singles out, and hoping one of them dances. The majors, man, are dead. They’re dinosaurs. They haven’t got a fucking clue. They wouldn’t know a song if it flew up their nose and died! They are run by accountants and lawyers, and they are absolutely out of the fucking picture. They support these huge superstructures of debt, and drones, and thousands of people that do nothing. Six people in the building do all the work, and they do it badly. You couldn’t get me to sign with a major right now for a million dollars. No problem. Put it on the table in cash, I’ll turn it down.

Marc Allan: So when you were pitching this record to people–

David Crosby: I didn’t even go to ’em.

Marc Allan: Didn’t go to a major?

David Crosby: No, never talked to a one. Was looking for a smart independent with a lot of money and I found one. Actually, they found me. They heard the record. I made it on my own money, and they heard the record, and they said, “That’s it. “We want that.”

Marc Allan: So working this record to the demographic, what is the demographic for this record?

David Crosby: Advanced singer-songwriter stuff, you know. Steely Dan, Bruce Hornsby, James Taylor, Jackson Browne. There’s tons of people out there. And you know, people like Paul Simon, people that like Shawn Colvin, people that like Mark Cohen, people that like good singer-songwriter shit. They’re gonna love this fucking band, ’cause it does that shit.

Marc Allan: Are there enough people? Well, I mean, Shawn Colvin’s proof that there may not be–

David Crosby: Hey, we’re not trying to be the Hansons. We don’t give a fuck if we don’t sell three million records.

Marc Allan: So do you have a target in mind?

David Crosby: No. If we sell enough records to make money for the record company, and keep our access to the tools, and be able to keep this band alive, and keep playing. Every night we play, we play the best music I’ve played in 20 years. I don’t care if I don’t make a bunch of money. I didn’t do this to make money. That’s not why I came to the party in the first place. I became a musician because I absolutely had absolutely no goddamn choice about it. I went out and sang in coffee houses for no money at all, and starved because I wanted to. Because it’s fun. Because it’s what I do. And this band is that, purely. This band plays. You gotta come hear us, man. That’s all I can tell you. I’ve used up all the superlatives I got. And it sounds too immodest for me to struggle around trying to tell you. Come hear the band, you tell me.

Marc Allan: A fair enough challenge, sure. What else about this project do you want me to mention that we haven’t talked about.

David Crosby: That’s it. I gotta do another one of these.

Marc Allan: Okay. And one last question, and that is for another story I’m working on. I’ve been asking everybody I interview, what is a record that everybody should own, and almost no one does?

David Crosby: “Music of Bulgaria,” on the Nonesuch label, in the early Sixties, distributed by Elektra. “Music of Bulgaria,” by Phillip Koutev and the Bulgarian National Folk Choir and Dance Ensemble, or Folk Choir and Orchestra, that’s it. And it’s probably one of the greatest records ever made. And very few people know it exists. And there was a follow-up to it done, called. It’s a French title, but it’s a Bulgarian record. And the follow-up is good, but the original is mind-boggling. Some of the best singing that’s ever been done on the face of the earth.

Marc Allan: Okay, and finally, I guess I have to ask, Crosby, Stills & Nash, anything in the works, or any plans?

David Crosby: Yeah, we have six cuts in the can that we did only a month or so ago, and we’re working on ’em, and we’re gonna do some more recording this winter.

Marc Allan: So that’ll come out sometime next year, probably?

David Crosby: Yep.

Marc Allan: Do you have a label?

David Crosby: Yep, I gotta go.

Marc Allan: Okay, thanks, bye.

David Crosby: Thanks man.