Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Crosby’s first solo effort a who’s who of music legends

If you thought David Crosby played with some fine musicians with the Byrds or Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, just wait until you see the liner notes for this album.

Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash, the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen and Santana's Michael Shrieve and Gregg Rolie are just a few of the greats who contribute to Crosby's superb 1971 solo debut.

Informally known as the "Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra," the Bay Area's top musicians routinely sat in with one another, producing some of the era's most memorable music, including the nine tracks that comprise "If I Could Only Remember My Name."

The fuzzy details about who played which parts on which songs remain the subject of much online debate today, but that really isn't of great importance to me. If anything, I rather enjoy trying to identify specific instrumental styles and picking specific voices out of harmonies when I listen to the all-too-brief, 38-minute CD.

That's definitely Garcia's trademark spacey guitar picking coming through the left channel at the start of "What Are Their Names." That fuzzy guitar at the song's 2:30 mark must be Young's, and I'm sure I can hear Slick's vocal piercing through its male counterparts during the chorus.

That haunting number has always been my favorite on the disc. The understated instrumental intro slowly builds into something far more ominous, before ultimately giving way to the short, anguished lyrical segment:

"I wonder who they are / The men who really run this land / I wonder why they run it with such a thoughtless hand / What are their names? / And on what streets do they live? / I'd like to ride, ride over this afternoon and give / Them a piece of my mind for the peace of mankind / Peace is not an awful lot to ask."

The album's longest track, the eight-minute "Cowboy Movie," sounds as if it might have been pulled from one of Young's early solo efforts, but is said to feature only Crosby and the four Dead members. Regardless, the rumbling number is one of Crosby's all-time best, transporting the listener to a far-off time and place.

The twangy "Laughing" and "Song With No Words (Tree With No Leaves)" -- a piece that utilizes vocal sounds as instrumentation -- are two other standout numbers.

But really, there are no lemons in this bunch. Even the closing a-capella number, "I'd Swear There Was Somebody Here," offers a unique glimpse into Crosby's ability to create quality music with seemingly little effort.

All that, and it retails for around $10. What more can you ask for? Except maybe for a remastered, deluxe edition featuring more music from those amazing collaborative sessions.

Artist: David Crosby.

Title: "If I Could Only Remember My Name."

Year of release: 1971 (Atlantic).

Tracklisting: "Music is Love," "Cowboy Movie," "Tamalpais High (At About 3)," "Laughing," "What Are Their Names," "Traction in the Rain," "Song With No Words (Tree With No Leaves)," "Orleans," "I'd Swear There Was Somebody Here."

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