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Crosby and Stills, guitar playing

#21
The last concert I saw before COVID kicked in was David Crosby with the Sky Trails band in VA Beach at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts. It was a great show and seeing it in a small venue with good acoustics really added to the performance. He is a truly gifted and trying to recover from all the drama and self inflicted life choices is no easy task (the "Remember my name" film is well worth watching). His performance was stellar and he appeared to be was very humble and appreciative with much praise directed towards his band. I don't think his son was playing with them.

CSN (Y???) has always been at the top of my list. I saw them at old Capital Center in 74' reunion tour with the divided electric and acoustic sets. Capital Center actually sold tickets behind the stage, there was a speaker stand in front of our seats and we were moved to temporary seating about 10 feet off to the side of the stage. About halfway through the acoustic set the band noticed there were folks in wings towards the back of the stage. Stephen Stills in classic form went, "Wow man, there are people in the back" and pointed at everyone (including us). The band worked their way around the stage and we all got a close up performance. A show to remember, setlist link below.


I try to keep Woodstock in our set, a modernized take on the CSN version.
 
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#23
brianrost said:
I want a duel to the death between Stevie Wonder, Stephen Stills and Steve Winwood to see who is really the best bassist (not to mention the best one-man band).

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I wonder if this is the P-bass Stills used on the CS&Y first album. LOVE the bass tone on that LP.
 
#26
I’m a fan of their music but never really studied up on the individuals so I can’t comment on who was better suited to which aspect of their sound.
That said, Ray LaMontagne said this song inspired him to become a musician.
It is also one of my favorite tunes, and the only song I worked up to play on a bass as a solo instrument. I’ve always had pretty good finger picking ability, enough that people have encouraged me to try a dobro on many occasions, but bass is enough and finger picking has always been a warmup thing for me. My goal was to make up a nice bass part and sing the song to it. I got the bass part done pretty quick but also quickly discovered I was not and would never be, a singer.

 
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#27
A fun listen, check out the soundtrack to the movie: Dead Man (staring Amber Heard’s ex husband)

The entire soundtrack is pretty much Neil Young improvising ethereal riffs on a Les Paul through a beautifully distorted Fender amp.
 
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#28
I think that Stills, Crosby and Nash are all fine with a guitar in their hands. I've heard them all play some good stuff. Neil Young? NO! His playing is poor and his sound is terrible most of the time. He gets lucky here and there, but for the most part, Neil should stick to songwriting and singing.
 
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#29
Gizmot said:
I think that Stills, Crosby and Nash are all fine with a guitar in their hands. I've heard them all play some good stuff. Neil Young? NO! His playing is poor and his sound is terrible most of the time. He gets lucky here and there, but for the most part, Neil should stick to songwriting and singing.
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Well Young's electric playing does tend towards grunge and garage bandishness.
 
#30
jthisdell said:
Well Young's electric playing does tend towards grunge and garage bandishness.
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I feel like your comment implies that it’s an intentional choice stylistically.

Which would make sense if there was any recordings or evidence that he could play in a different style than he does. E.g. like clean and in tune.

Haven’t really seen an example of that. One could mention his time in Buffalo Springfield but iirc they were generally replaced by session guys on the “hits”.
 
#32
tbz said:
I feel like your comment implies that it’s an intentional choice stylistically.

Which would make sense if there was any recordings or evidence that he could play in a different style than he does. E.g. like clean and in tune.
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Sorry, I did not intend to imply that Mr. Young has a "choice" as to his electric playing. Rather, that's just what it is.
 
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#33
Sorry, team Neil here. It's about expression, and I think he defends his approach quite well. I love the technical stuff too, but the Neil haters just make me laugh. Art is not a competition for your personal taste.

"First off, nobody cares if you know how to play scales. Nobody gives a sh** if you have good technique or not. It's whether you have feelings that you want to express with music, that's what counts, really. When you are able to express yourself and feel good, then you know why you're playing. I can't play fast. I don't even know my scales. I know that most of the notes I play aren't where I play them. They're simply not there. So you can play any note you like. I think about it on another level, I don't care about that sort of sh**.
On the other hand, I appreciate really great guitarists, and I'm very impressed by those metal groups with their scale guitarists. When I see that, I go “Holy sh**, that's really something.” Satriani and Eddie Van Halen are guitar geniuses. They are incredible musicians, at an amazing level. But it doesn't really grab me. One note will do." - Neil Young
 
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#39
Gizmot said:
I can handle grunge - - what I'm talking about are flat notes, off-rhythms - - just bad playing. I know some people appreciate the passion Neil plays with, but I'd trade passionate for more musically correct playing.
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Musically correct, but passionless, playing is boring…

I’d rather hear someone, like Neil, or Pete Townshend on “I Can See For Miles”, play one stinging note like they mean it, than someone like Al DiMeola doing soulless rapid fire showing off.
 
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