Almost 56 years after his first success, David Crosby continues to write, sing, tweet, despite his age and the pandemic, which he hopes will end soon in order to be able to return on stage and take his audience once again to do “a little trip”.
The native Californian has not raised the pen since last March, and is even working on a script, he told AFP. “But the producer has just told me not to talk about it any more,” slips mischievously, the septuagenarian with the sparkling eye.
“Normally with age you turn off. You write less,” observes the famous mustached man, who still wears the mocking air that American viewers discovered in 1965. “You write better, but less. “
The secret of this vigor? Collective writing. “It’s beautiful,” enthuses David Crosby, 79, who draws an analogy with painting. “You have one 7 color palette, and the other has seven more! The result is better.”
He collaborates in particular with his son James Raymond, also a musician and producer. “He’s better than me,” slips the father. “And that’s saying a lot. I’m a good composer.”
“I just finished a record”, he says, opus which is not yet released. “And I think I’m going to have to start another one, because I have songs left.”
– Break the imaginary wall –
But the music, David Crosby wants above all to do it on stage, his element. Last spring, the one who was in the historic Woodstock concert had to cancel yet another tour, due to coronavirus.
Regular critic of Donald Trump, the one who became known with his group The Byrds is worried about the success of the vaccination campaign currently underway and the possible resistance of antivaccines.
For him, it is above all supporters of the outgoing president. “They are not going to do what is necessary”, that is to say to be vaccinated, he fears. “It is a problem.”
One of the four musketeers of the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young group does not fear for his health, if the sanitary conditions are met. “I’ll be careful, but I really want to sing.”
“What I do is not just sing and play guitar,” explains David Crosby. “I’m not the best at any of these things.”
“Me, I’m really good at breaking the fourth wall”, the imaginary wall that separates the spectators from those who give the performance. “You’re taking you on a little trip. Make you laugh, so I can make you cry. That’s my job.”
“I can’t do that in front of a plexiglass panel, a mask or people sitting in shelters,” says the one who started out in pop before navigating different musical universes, from folk to jazz to rock.
If he sees himself back on stage, it will no longer be with his partners from “CSNY”, none of whom still speak to him today. He had mentioned the idea in 2019, but now sweeps it away.
“It’s over,” said David Crosby of what remains arguably the most famous “supergroup”, made up of members of other teams who had themselves already experienced success.
“CSNY was a very good thing,” says the facetious musician. “I’m very proud of it. And I think it’s over.”
In December, David Crosby announced that he was going to sell the rights to his music catalog, as recently did Bob Dylan, Shakira or Neil Young.
“I can’t work,” he tweeted, referring to the restrictions related to the pandemic, “and streaming has stolen the money from my records.”
Today, David Crosby dreams of the stage, but also of a leap from his country, the United States. “I think democracy will win, in the long run,” he said. Many Americans “believe it” and will “keep fighting”. “I need to believe this, to keep my spirits up.”
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