VOYAGES OF DAVID CROSBY

David Crosby's Voyage

I just got a copy of the wonderful DAVID CROSBY VOYAGE from the wonderful folks over at Rhino Records. Wow!

The 3 CD Box Set is a wonderful presentation of the entire career of The Cros. Dressed in a hard cover photo album style with an excellent 130 page book filled with song notes, quotes by friends involved in the recordings, and a ton of photos from many of the era's great talents: Henry Diltz; Linda McCartney; Micheal Ochs ; and Joel Bernstein to name a few.

The first disc kicks off with three tracks by The Byrds that include the rarely heard "Everybody's been burned", then jumps into classic CSN and CSN&Y "Wooden Ships", "Long Time Gone", "Deja Vu". Then we hear from the first solo Crosby, and some Crosby/Nash....I could listen to those two harmonize for hours. And have!

Disc two starts off with tracks from the great 1977 self titled CSN album, "Shadow Captain", and "In My Dreams"....reminds me of the fall of '77, saw my first CSN concert one week, and my first Neil Young show the nest week (more about those in another post). We hear tracks off the 1980's-90's solo CSN, CSNY, and CPR albums ( Crosby, his son James Raymond, and Jeff Pevar...if you don't know about them, follow the link below!), we even get the Phil Collins duet "Hero". And finally disc 2 ends with two tracks from the amazing (and overlooked) 2004 double disc release from David & Graham.

Now, onto disc number three. Whew, kool unreleased material! Demos ("Almost Cut my Hair", "Triad", alternate takes ("Guinnevere", and "Have you seen the Stars tonight" -with Paul Kantner) live recordings ("The Lee Shore", "Dream For Him"), and unreleased material ("Kids and Dogs").

I am a big fan off all the players in all the bands included on this disc. I'm also a huge Neil Young fan...but after listening to this set it's sad that Crosby doesn't get more credit for his, and their huge body of excellent work. But, maybe he does...his name does come first after all!

God bless ya Cros!











my portrait, signed by David & Graham in 1992.

a rare live CSNY recording at Big Sur '69

GuinevereBigSur69.mp3

RHINO RECORDS

DAVID CROSBY

CROSBY & NASH

CROSBY, STILLS & NASH

CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG

CPR

The Other Face of Rod Stewart

A few days ago Rod Stewart celebrated his 63rd Birthday...Happy bloody Birthday Rod!
OK, I know, I've heard it all. But Rod from time to time still cuts a good tune (though I'm not often crazy about his recent full length CDs) , and the last time I saw him live (1994) he was still pretty great.



BUT for me, and many others, The ideal setting for Rod was the band THE FACES! Although the Faces came after the Rolling Stones I can hear their influence on the Stones (even prior to the Stones stealing Woody). I can also hear their influence on any number of bands over the last several decades including (of course) The Black Crowes, and one of my favorite new bands out of England VAN TRAMP (more about them soon, promise!).

Last year, the kind folks over at Rhino Records sent me a copy of the amazing Faces Box Set "Five Guys Walk Into A Bar"...a labor of love produce by the band's keyboardist IAN MACLAGAN. 4 discs, chock FULL of the hits, previously unreleased material, and a terrific 60 page booklet. Many of the highlights for me are the alternate takes, and the Live/BBC recordings. Which include - Maggie May, Maybe I'm Amazed, Bad 'n' Ruin, Angel, Stay with Me, The Stealer, Love in Vain, and Flying to name a few.

Sadly, Ian lost his best bloke, (Faces bassist, vocalist) Ronnie Lane after a long battle to multiple sclerosis in 1997. "5 Guys" is dedicated to him.

Anyway, back to Rod. Do yourself a favor and get any Faces recordings, and several of the first few Rod "solo" records, which usually featured the Faces backing him up (I think that was a corporate move - although Rod didn't seem to fight it).

Titles to look for:
Faces: Long Player, A Nod is as Good as a Wink...to a Blind Horse, Ooh La La, and Coast to Coast/Overtures and Beginners (one of my all time favorite Live albums).
Rod: Every Picture Tells a Story, Never a Dull Moment, Smiler, and Atlantic Crossing.

Maybe Im Amazed - (Faces Live).mp3

Borstal Boys - (Faces Live).mp3

Aint No Lady - (Ronnie Lanes Slim Chance).mp3

Hope & Pray -(Van Tramp).mp3

Rhino Records

Ian MacLagen's Macpages

buy Ronnie Lane Slim Chance

Van Tramp's Website