Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
E-mail from Ernie Osborne:

"diga" wrote...
>I also thought that Nash's modest, unadorned performance of "Half Your
>Angels" on solo electric piano -- with Croz singing harmony -- was THE
>emotional heavyweight moment of the last CSNY show I saw.  Not just
>because it's a three-kleenex weeper written for Oklahoma City that now
>seems all too relevant to 9/11.  But because it's a fucking beautiful
>melody, and putting Nash and Croz together in a completely uncluttered
>setting, harmonizing a gorgeous, dark theme, is THE stuff for me.
 
Not for me--this time around for that song, anyway.  See, I know someone
well whose father was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing, and it wasn't
appreciated the song was conveniently, it seemed, retreaded for the 9/11
survivors--it seemd lazy to do such a thing.  Anyway, the song didn't
catch on the first time, and didn't make much of a mark second time
around either.
 
Reality speaking,
Ernie
 
 
  

    
Well, the performance of it on Jay Leno was the first time *i* 
ever heard it...  probably true for much of the world.

> In the last moments of "Last Dance," the last track on Young's 
> 1973 "Time Fades Away" live album, a rough and ragged collection 
> of then new Young songs, Nash shrieks, 'Last DANCE!" with such 
> the-end-of-the-world ferocity; it's like a rock and roll 
> exclamation point turned upside down.

Yes!  complete agreement... a perfecly-done punctuation on a great-
but-obscure raw Rock'n'Roll treasure!   But, all these years i have
been sure that it was *Croz* who roared that... hmmmmm, this will 
require a re-listen on the good speakers at home.
  

    
Ernie O. wrote ...

>Anyway, the song didn't catch on the first time, and didn't make much
of a mark second time around either.

Didn't catch on? You mean it wasn't a hit or didn't move anyone? I
know that "Half Your Angels" moved me plenty when I first heard it in
1997, and it moved me again in 2002. I respectfully understand your
feelings. But I don't think Nash "conveniently retreaded" the song.
Bruce Springsteen wrote "My City In Ruins" for Asbury Park in New
Jersey, but the spirit of the song applied to 9/11, so he sang it for
the 9/11 telethon and put it on his new album, The Rising (die out next
month). 

About the C&N harmony album ... Mary E. wrote 

>Sounds just fabulous! What's keeping it from being released?

Only Croz or Nash know the answer to that question ...

>The Frozen Noses ...
Lenny, I believe the Frozen Noses demo was "49 Reasons (Bye Byes)" and
"Long Time Gone," recorded by Stills and Crosby without Nash. Those
other songs you mention were done by Croz on his own (with some help
from others).
  

    
Bon soir, friends ... thanks ... I will catch up with the
conversations tomorrow ... 
  

    
I don't recall anyone complaining when Jerry Garcia sang the line, "Sweet 
William he is dead," from the old British ballad "Peggy-O," at the first 
Dead show after Bill Graham's death, looking directly at one of Graham's 
sons, standing offstage.

Isn't a measure of music's greatness that its relevance keeps being 
restored by events in the changing world?  That's what great songs are 
FOR.

I've heard this complaint about "Half Your Angels" rather a lot.  What, is 
Graham supposed to go write a new custom song every time some maniac 
destroys a building?
  

    
I mean, I don't mean to sound harsh, or anything.  It's just that it seems 
like *every time* I mention that song, somebody says something along the 
lines of the "retreading" thing.  It indicates to me a profound 
misunderstanding of the uses of music -- particularly folk song --
in easing the woes of the human heart.
  

    
I certainly agree with you Steve... Half Your Angels fit perfectly at
the time... and it was from the hearts of those guys who sang it! Who
gives a rats ass if it ever was sung... In looking around the CSNY
shows I attended I felt that the moment was perfect when they did Half
Your Angels... especially in the two shows at Madison Square Garden,
which by the way were the two shows that really had the most energy
from both sides of the stage.. I saw it at the Greek in LA 5 nights
after 9/11 and I can tell you that you could almost hear a pin drop
when it was over... 
  

    
OOps!!!  Should have been "ever was sung before"....
  

    
What Steve said.

Didn't Springsteen's song about Asbury Park get "repurposed" after 9/11?
  

    
Really;  how many times have "Blowing In the Wind" and "The Times
They Are A-Changin'" been re-used for a new situation or era by now?
quite appropriate to do so, in my opinion.
  

    

>Isn't a measure of music's greatness that its relevance keeps being 
restored by events in the changing world?  >That's what great songs
are FOR.

Exactly, Steve ... As you, Buzz, David Gans and David Mason remind,
the mark of a timeless song is its ability to apply to multiple events,
people and eras.  

The other recent example that Gans and I mentioned, Springsteen's "My
City of Ruins," may have been written for Asbury Park, but the message
and emotional framework applied perfectly to post-9/11 New York as
well. I don't remember anyone accusing Springsteen of "conveniently
retreading" his song last fall. 

To my ears, "Half Your Angels" has already earned its stripes as a
timeless song. And the unfortunate reality of our times is that future
tragedies will probably occur that will further enhance its ability to
capture the aftermath of destruction and loss.  
  

    
I wasn't going to post on this "Half Your Angels" issue, not wanting
to be in the minority, but then that would be kind of cowardly,
wouldn't it?

I'm one of those that it just never sat well with. And I've wondered
all along how it would have felt to those who lost somebody in
Oklahoma. Interesting to have had Ernie share on that aspect of it.

I think it's a beautiful song.

And I think anybody who knows a single thing about Graham Nash knows
there's not a chance in hell the song was offered as anything other
than a sincere tribute to the victims of BOTH tragedies.

And I think the word "retread" is a poor one. To me that somehow has
the connotation that it was "pulled out of the closet" for some
financial or personal gain. Clearly neither could be further from the
truth.

With all that said, it doesn't change the fact that four out of the
five times I saw the song performed I couldn't help but feel funny
about it. And I stress the word feel. It was never so much an opinion
as a strange feeling in my stomach.

I'm not even saying I'm right. I'm merely sharing the response I felt
at the time. And I just couldn't help thinking, man, what if I had
somebody who'd died in Oklahoma? 

I have a great deal of respect for both Mr. Silberman and Gans. And I
would offer that if they're getting as many people as they suggest
bringing up the "retread" issue, perhaps there's something to it?

As for other songs being written for one event and then rededicated to
another, I don't have a definitive answer to that.

I think some of it might have been the timing. I'm no music historian,
but it just seems that Oklahoma and the Twin Towers were closer
together than some of the other songs and their events (writing and
re-dedication).

The other thing might have been the nature of the events. Graham
writes a song for a building bombing, and then within about four years
the song is rededicated to another building bombing.

And it may also have something to do with the fact that the band tied
to two events together themselves when introducing the song. In all but
one of the performances I saw, it was announced as a song originally
written for Oklahoma.

In Grand Rapids Michigan, the intro was much more simple. Graham just
said..."Here's a song for the victims of New York..." or something to
that effect.

That was the time the song hit me deepest.

An important note. I'm not trying to persuade anybody, so I'm really
not looking for a debate. Just trying to share from the other side.
  

    
I saw it performed about several times, 10 I think, during the csny
tour... crosby and/or Nash usually said something to the effect "this
was written right after the Oklahoma City tragedy, but somehow it seems
appropriate now". They certainly didn't hide the fact that it was
generated as result of another tragedy.
  

    
Well, cmf, one of my best friends, a true CSNY scholar and friend of 
Graham's, utterly loathes the song.  He finds it sentimental, and it has 
nothing to do with the repurposing issue.

Frankly, I haven't deconstructed the lyrics on paper to see if they strike 
me as overly sentimental or not.  For me, it's the melody, which I feel is 
one of the most profoundly sad, and subtly emotionally shaded, melodies 
that Graham has written in a while (though I also like "House of Broken 
Dreams" on the overproduced hot dog album.)  And when I see them sing it. 
what lyrics I do "get" arrive at exactly the right time in the song.

 
  

    
Buzz --

I must not have communicated well on that point. 

You're exactly correct. In fact there's only the one occasion I'm
aware of (Grand Rapids) that they "didn't" announce it that way.

What I was trying to say was that it just felt a lot better to me when
they DIDN't connect the events.
  

    
Dave, this has been fun and very informative.. thank you very much.. I
am leaving this morning for Europe and will be having dinner with the
Italian contingient of CSN fans next Monday night in Rome so this is my
last post... thanks again...
  

    
Buzz, thank YOU for participating ... travel safely ... 
  

    

> I have a great deal of respect for both Mr. Silberman and Gans. And I would
> offer that if they're getting as many people as they suggest bringing up
> the "retread" issue, perhaps there's something to it?

It hasn't come up anywhere but here, as far as I know.  Doesn't make the
point less worthy of discussion, but it's not exactly a topic of conversation
in my travels.
  

    
E-mail from Bill Evans:

Dave:

I'm heading out of town too for my son's high school baseball tournament
(he has a tryout with the Atlanta Braves Wednesday) and just wanted to
thank you so much for doing this.  I have really enjoyed your stories and
behind the scenes imput as well as the input from everyone else.
 Facinating stuff.  I hope you get that Joni project as I would love to
read that one.  Thanks amigo for taking the time to do this interview.
 It was great!  

Bill Evans
  

    
It is in mine, because I'm a fanatic.  I've heard that comment after 
several shows, which is why I was touchy about it.

About all those announcements before the song:  One of my LEAST favorite 
things about CSN shows in general is that there are several canned 
"schticks" that get recycled, show after show, tour after tour, year after 
year.  Nash can get a little over the top, such as when he used to yell 
"That was Stephen Stills, ladies and gentlemen!" after Stills executed a 
good turn in "Suite: JBE."  I mean, yes, that was Stephen Stills, but 
imagine how you would feel if there was someone standing at the museum 
shouting, "That was Rembrandt, ladies and gentlemen!"

Yes, I know.  A rock and roll show is not a damn museum.  Cheerleading 
like that probably does make a significant portion of the crowd feel that 
they are at a special, unique event, even if it's just a mediocre show on 
the 20th stop of the 15th tour.  But that's one thing I thought that CSNY 
never GOT about touring the way the Dead, Phish, etc. did -- that there 
might be a bunch of people in the crowd following them around, and that 
they should just let it rip, change setlists, change orchestrations, and 
at least, change the jokes!

I always have felt that CSN was blowing off the possibility of garnering a 
serious touring audience by being unwilling to be THAT improvisational, 
although I've always admired the fact that <croz>, say, will subtly change 
his fingerpicking pattern on even an old warhorse like "Guinnevere" from 
night to night.

What do you think, Dave?
  

    
Sorry, slipped by <castle>.
  

    
My apologies David. I must have lumped you in with something Diga
wrote about lot's of people calling it retread.

Personally I'm a little thrown by the recent announcement that Pevar
and Raymond will be accompanying Graham Nash on his new album tour.
Instead of CPR we'll have NPR (national public radio?)?

I mean good for Nash and Pevar and Raymond... but as a, well, as a fan
(God I hate that word) of Msgr. Crosby it leaves me wondering... where
exactly does that leave him? I mean if the P and R are touring, that
certainly doesn't leave much room for CPR to be either touring or
recording...
  

    
As far as I understand it, CPR can't *afford* to tour that much.  Which is 
sad, and which is why it's so important to spread the word.
  

    
On that "retread" subject again, I wonder why no one ever complains about 
CSNY or CPR playing "Ohio," and why it always seems relevant, though the 
students at Kent State died long ago, and the line "Nixon's coming" has as 
much relevance to the kids who see them now as "Hoover coming" would have 
had to the '60s kids?

Perhaps we're more comfortable with anger as an expression of outrage in 
rock and roll than we are with something more quiet and tender.
  

    
I have a couple of questions: What is the allure of the huge arena tour 
scale? Why don't acts like this play smaller venues? It is just considered 
beneath them? 

also, is there a generic term for the kind of harmony CSN do?