In the wake of their 1974 reunion tour, which filled stadiums from coast to coast across the United States, the superstar aggregation of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young embarked on a productive period of recording that brought a glut of albums – the only one missing from a variety of releases being that bearing the name of the mothership.
Despite a follow-up to their era defining ‘Deja Vu‘ (1970) being long overdue, speculation a new studio release would be part of the resumption proved unfounded, the extensive run of concert performances commencing and ending without such a record appearing.
Indeed, they had barely hit the road together when Neil Young released ‘On the Beach‘ (June 1974), this enthralling collection followed by the equally compelling ‘Tonight’s the Night‘ and ‘Zuma‘, both of which came along before the following year was out.
When clashing egos among this often fractious four made a collective effort increasingly unlikely, Stephen Stills resumed his solo activities with the likeable ‘Stills‘ (June 1975). But the best-selling CSNY offshoot of that year was ‘Wind on the Water‘, (August 1975), an excellent duo effort from Crosby & Nash that reached number six on the U.S. charts.
As 1976 unfolded Stills issued the lacklustre ‘Illegal Stills‘ (May), this rapidly extending list was lengthened again five months later by ‘Long May You Run’, a Stills-Young collaboration that promised far more than it delivered.
At one stage there was potential for this ultimately disappointing affair to develop into the elusive quartet-based bonanza devotees had long been hoping for. Invited by Young to attend recording sessions being held at Criteria Studios, Miami, Crosby and Nash added harmonies to a number of tracks for his intended album with Stills, the come-lately couple turning up with songs (‘Taken at All‘, ‘Time After Time‘) of their own, for which four-way arrangements were created.
What looked promising one day, however, was pulled apart the next. Under the impression they had just contributed as one half of an impending album, Crosby and Nash returned to L.A. in order to complete the L.P. they had in waiting – but with expectations of making a prompt return to fine tune the first new CSNY offering in six years.
Yet no sooner had their California-bound flight left the ground when Young and Stills switched to rethink rather than realignment mode, taking the decision to pursue two rather than four-way ambitions. As a result all trace of C & N was wiped from the recently cut music of S & Y.
When notice of developments reached Los Angeles the mood here was more rancour than reunification, Nash so aggrieved by his input being erased he vowed never to work with Stills again.
Four months on from the hysteria at Criteria, or Miami splice if you prefer, ‘Long May You Run‘ appeared to negative reviews (in the interim Young extricated himself from a joint tour with Stills despite there still being several dates to play). Meanwhile Crosby & Nash issued WHISTLING DOWN THE WIRE (July 1976), a ten-track collection that was also disparaged by the critics.
With their stock riding high following the critical and commercial success of ‘Wind on the Water‘ (as a pairing they had also put out a generally impressive 1972 self-titled set), for the second of a three-album deal C & N signed with ABC Records in early 1975, the duo enlisted the same cast of renowned Hollywood session players. They also continued the respective jazz-rock/country-pop stylings associated with them as songwriters.
While the support troupe (dubbed ‘The Mighty Jitters’ by Crosby) of Craig Doerge (keyboards), David Lindley (guitars/violin), Danny Kortchmar (guitars), Russ Kunkel (drums) and Tim Drummond (bass) are in customary fine form throughout, overall the material presented by the two central figures for ‘Whistling Down the Wire‘ falls well below the standard attained on its predecessor.
In truth, the record is not without moments of accomplishment, but they are insufficient to fully redeem a bland, somewhat pedestrian entity.
As a consequence Rolling Stone magazine offered the appraisal ‘smug, elitist‘ which suggests the reviewer may have had a personal axe to grind, although in adding ‘and dull‘ to his or her opinion, offers a more valid description.
Written by Nash and guitarist Kortchmar, opening track ‘Spotlight‘ is a jaunty country-rock piece depicting the performer as a lightning rod for emotions felt by the audience, ‘Something happens to you/And the same things happens to me/So if I sing about the places you’ve been to/You can see them once again through me.’
With Nash decorating the track with some breezy harmonica, it slides by without creating any lasting impression, James Taylor saying much the same, only with greater resonance, in the song ‘Music‘ from his ‘Gorilla‘ album of the previous year.
Boasting greater depth is ‘Broken Bird‘ a mid-paced soft-rock song credited to the main protagonists while conjuring distinct overtones of a George Harrison track.
Drawing an analogy between a forlorn woman and injured winged-creature, some vague lyrics incorporate the line from which the album takes its title, (‘Sending them back over the lines/Whistling down the wire/From pole to pole‘). This well-crafted piece, distinguished further by a classy slide solo from Lindley and suitably pristine harmonies from the writers, easily stands among the superior material on offer.
First aired in the live performances of CSNY two years before, Crosby takes centrestage on his self-written piano ballad ‘Time After Time.’
Featuring excellent keyboard work from Doerge, the composer writes with rare simplicity, (given his history of abstract lyricism), in describing the opening throes of a romantic entanglement, ‘And the love that is growing in my heart/We should not be apart/After part of the puzzle/Falls into place.’
Taken to Miami a few weeks earlier for CSNY consideration, it is hard to imagine where the guitars of Stills and Young would fit and although no issue can be taken with a fine Crosby vocal, the track is rendered inconsequential by some trite couplets that do his reputation as a wordsmith few favours.
There are no words, simplistic or otherwise on ‘Dancer‘, the latest Crosby composition to be made up overlapping vocal segments. While there is jazz-orientated instrumental accompaniment, at almost five minutes (qualifying as the longest track included), it long outstays its welcome.
On the previous C & N album his ‘Critical Mass‘ piece, that serves as a prelude to thought-provoking closing track ‘To the Last Whale‘, is two-thirds shorter and more affecting in proving less is more.
Side one closer ‘Mutiny‘ is a brooding folk-rock effort from Nash whose central theme is betrayal.
Punctuated by fiery electric guitar work by Kortchmar, it can be no coincidence the place referenced in the chorus (‘Mutiny/On Sailboat Bay‘), is a Miami location given the soured relations with Stills and Young. The lyric offers nothing in the way of resolution as the track meanders to a conclusion, although ironically the nautical connotations are in keeping with a number of songs (‘Ocean Girl‘, ‘Black Coral’ ‘Midnight on the Bay‘) found on the ‘Long May You Run‘ album by those aforementioned, if estranged, compadres.
Of the two Nash songs, ‘J.B.’s Blues‘ and ‘Marguerita‘ that open side two, the former is an easy going, pop-reggae number attesting to a close friendship between the writer and rock photographer Joel Bernstein, who incidentally took the cover photo of this album. Heartfelt but without any real heft, it comes and goes in the fashion of a pallid Paul McCartney song from this period.
In contrast the latter is a downbeat piece based on Nash and a female companion ordering beverages on a hot day by a swimming pool, (‘I’ll have a glass of red wine/If you don’t know what you want/Take your time/She looked at me and ordered a Marguerita/With no salt‘).
The folk sensibilities of the melody are accentuated by a mournful fiddle contribution from Lindley, yet despite the impeccable ensemble playing it is hard to not to conclude inclusion on ‘Wind on the Water‘, for which it was originally recorded, would have slightly diminished a work of consistent high standard.
On the other hand, ‘Taken at All‘ (for which Crosby and Nash share co-write credit), would have been a welcome addition to any CSNY-related album of the time.
Recorded at Criteria with Young and Stills in early April, their exquisite take was included on the 1991 career retrospective box-set ‘CSN‘, when Nash wrote of this delicate, instantly engaging piece:
‘Personally this is my favourite CSNY track. Four guitars, four microphones, one take. Written about the group situation in 1976.’
For their rendition C & N expand the instrumentation in creating a more refined version, indicative of current L.A. soft-rock tendencies. But even amongst the chiming guitars and understated drums, allusions to the erstwhile quartet are hard to miss, (‘Were you looking for signs along the way/Can you see by your lonely light of day/Is this road really the only way/Can this road be taken/Taken at all‘) – Nash adding a sense of urgency to his relaxed vocal when adding:
‘We lost it on the highway/Down the dotted line/You were going your way/I was going mine.’
Essentially it is Crosby who closes out the album, submitting two songs that while different in perspective offer no great improvement to the general mediocrity.
Built upon a base of jazz-infused electric piano, ‘Foolish Man‘ voices some self-admonishment, (‘And I keep expecting things that don’t happen/Should but they don’t/Could but they won’t’), but amongst some searing guitar work, the ruminations come across as forced rather than forthright. Crosby sounds more assured in terms of self-analysis on ‘Anything at All‘ from the ‘CSN‘ album of the following year, describing himself, with no hint of irony, as ‘(I’m) the world’s most opinionated man.’
Final track ‘Out of the Darkness‘ (co-written with Doerge), is strong on good intentions in conveying how salvation is never far away, (‘I’m coming out of the darkness finally my soul can take a rest‘).
While all very earnest in the manner of Dan Fogelberg (‘Be the light or love will fade away‘), the sentiments never quite sound convincing from one as notoriously errant as Crosby, the redemptive point of the message eventually swamped by a mawkish string arrangement.
Met with a tide of negativity from the music press, (Rolling Stone assigning a one-star, from five, rating) and greeted by only moderate chart success (highest placing U.S. 26), Crosby and Nash toured with The Mighty Jitters in support of ‘Whistling Down the Wire‘, performances from which a passable 1977 live album was compiled.
With the Stills-Young combination having fallen apart well before ‘Long May You Run‘ (September 1976) was issued, as the year drew to a close options for each faction beneath the CSNY umbrella were apparent if not altogether enticing – Young and Stills rumbling along with their solo careers while Crosby and Nash ploughed a furrow together.
Young resumed in his own inimitable way with ‘American Stars ‘N Bars‘, but a week after it appeared in June 1977, the very same Stephen Stills, who would never darken the door of Nash again, appeared on the cover of the ‘CSN‘ album – a huge-selling effort that ended an eight year wait for a sequel to the 1969 debut album of Crosby, Stills & Nash.
The eventual follow-up to ‘Deja Vu‘ however, was still another 11 years away. Even then it arrived long before the next Crosby & Nash venture – the duo waiting until 2004 to reprise their joint activities after ‘Whistling Down the Wire.’
CROSBY & NASH – WHISTLING DOWN THE WIRE (Released July 2 1976):
Spotlight/Broken Bird/Time After Time/Dancer/Mutiny/J.B.’s Blues/Marguerita/Taken at All/Foolish Man/Out of the Darkness;
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