CROSBY, STILLS AND NASH - JUST A SONG BEFORE I GO

JUST A SONG BEFORE I GO

CROSBY, STILLS AND NASH

SONGWRITER: GRAHAM NASH

COUNTRY: U. S. A. & U. K.

ALBUM: CSN

LABEL: ATLANTIC RECORDS

GENRE: FOLK ROCK

YEAR: 1977

 

          Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) is a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills, and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member, they are called Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY). They are noted for their intricate vocal harmonies, often tumultuous interpersonal relationships, political activism, and lasting influence on American music and culture.

             CSN formed in 1968 shortly after Crosby, Stills and Nash performed together informally in July of that year, discovering they harmonized well. Crosby had been asked to leave The Byrds in late 1967, and Stills' band Buffalo Springfield had broken up in early 1968; Nash left his band The Hollies in December, and by early 1969 the trio had signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records. Their first album, Crosby, Stills & Nash, was released in May 1969, from which came two Top 40 hits, "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" [#21] and "Marrakesh Express" [#28]. In order to tour the album, the trio hired drummer Dallas Taylor and session bassist Greg Reeves, though they still needed a keyboardist; Ahmet Ertegun suggested Neil Young, who had played with Stills in Buffalo Springfield, and after some initial reluctance, the trio agreed, signing him on as a full member. The band, now named Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, started their tour, and played their second gig at Woodstock Festival in the early morning hours of August 18, 1969. The first album with Young, Déjà Vu, reached number one in several international charts in 1970, and remains their best selling album, going on to sell over 8 million copies with three hit singles. Four singles were released from the album including "Woodstock", "Teach Your Children", and "Our House". The group's second tour, which produced the live double álbum 4 Way Street (1971), was fraught with arguments between Young and Taylor, which resulted in Taylor being replaced by John Barbata, and tensions with Stills, which resulted in his being temporarily dismissed from the band. At the end of the tour the band split up. The group have since reunited several times, sometimes with and sometimes without Young, and have released eight studio and four live albums.

             Crosby, Stills & Nash were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and all three members were also inducted for their work in other groups (Crosby for the Byrds, Stills for Buffalo Springfield and Nash for the Hollies). Neil Young has also been inducted as a solo artist and as a member of Buffalo Springfield but not as a member of CSN. They have not made a group studio album since 1999's Looking Forward, and have been inactive as a performing unit since the end of 2015. Whether or not this break is permanent remains to be seen, as the group has often been inactive for years at a time.

           "Just a Song Before I Go" is a song by Crosby, Stills and Nash that appeared on the 1977 album CSN. It was also released as a single and reached number seven on the Billboard singles charts, becoming the band's highest charting hit.

           The song was written by Graham Nash about leaving loved ones behind before going on a concert tour. It was written in Hawaii in about 20 minutes at the piano while Nash and Leslie Morris were staying with a friend, later revealed to be a rather "low-level drug dealer". Nash had a little while to get to the airport to head back to his home in LA. The dealer queried Nash something along the lines of "You're a big shot song writer, I bet you can't write a song just before you go." After Nash asking how much the dealer was betting, he responded $500. In a February 25, 2016, interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Nash stated that he still has that $500. This song came in the nick of time, because an upcoming hurricane was about to wreak havoc on the island.

           Billboard Magazine praised the "hypnotically soothing orchestration" and the vocal harmonies.

          Crosby, Stills and Nash arranged "Just a Song Before I Go" as a straight ballad, with mostly acoustic textures anchored by two electric guitar solos from Stephen Stills.

          In 2008, drummer Russ Kunkel and the group Chateau Beach covered the song on their album "Rivage."

[Intro. (Electric Guitar)]

Just a song before I go

To whom it may concern

Travelling twice the speed of sound

It's easy to get burned

 

When the shows were over

We had to get back home

And when we opened up the door

I had to be alone

 

She helped me with my suitcase

She stands before my eyes

Driving me to the airport

And to the friendly skies

 

Going through security

I held her for so long

She finally looked at me in love

And she was gone

 

[Instrumental (Electric Guitar)] 

Just a song before I go

A lesson to be learned

Travelling twice the speed of sound

It's easy to get burned

 

[Ending (Acoustic Guitar)]