Posted on 08/11/2004 7:39:02 PM PDT by Dr. Scarpetta
A summer night of love for protest songs of the Sixties
They came from the 1960s. Most were in their sixties.
But the crowd listening to Crosby, Stills & Nash in Bethlehem, PA did cross generations, and even the youngsters were singing the tunes that gave a bittersweet taste to those years seemingly long ago.
The band, however, brought them to the stage at MusikFest's RiverPlace Tuesday night.
With a vengeance.
They opened with "Carry On," and on a sour note to boot. Oh lordy, if this was the sound they were going to offer all night long, this was also a good time for them to retire for good.
But they pulled themselves together and, despite their old men bellies -- at least on Stills and Crosby -- and despite more gravel in their throats than they had when they mesmerized the megacrowds at Woodstock in 1969, these guys hadn't lost it.
And they were, after all, playing to an adoring group of fans. Many wore CSN and CSNY T-shirts, for Crosby, Stills & and Nash, with the Y bringing up the rear with Neil Young.
Nash did most of the singing Tuesday night, but Stills and Crosby were no slouches when it came to mixing it up with a pile-on style of harmonies. It was difficult to understand how such musicianship was possible outside of a studio setting.
And Steven Stills must have done a lot of practicing in the last 35 years to be able to whale away on his guitar the way he did. No, make that at least four guitars that he used in just the first set of songs.
The "Carry-on" opener, which most folks the age of these guys would recognize immediately oozed right in to "Questions."
Both songs had more of an edge to them than when originally brought out by the group. In fact, the sweet folksiness CSN was known for had a pounding rock beat that was occasionally distracting. Good stuff, but not what it had been.
Their third song was a new one -- "MILITARY MADNESS." It was a protest song, as many of their songs were. This one stung.
IT RAILED AGAINST THE WAR IN IRAQ and its chorus went like this:
"MILITARY MADNESS IS KILLING MY COUNTRY. /Solitary sadness creeps over me."
The last chorus ended in a mantra of "NO MORE WAR! NO MORE WAR! NO MORE WAR!" ever louder; ever harsher.
You can easily tell the politics of Crosby, Stills, & Nash. Just go to their official Web site. At the bottom is a banner urging visitors to "VOTE FOR KERRY."
Crosby was the clown of the bunch. He looked out over the extensive crowd and wondered aloud, "Boy that goes back a long way. That's OK, we go back a long way, too."
Crosby sang a solo bashing Enron and corporate executives who steal from the little guy and get away with it.
"Ain't no different than taking your money with a gun," he sang.
Later he said, "In my time, I think I've (angered) every group of people in the U.S. Government, except one. Being the fair and even-handed guy I am, I thought I'd sing one for the CIA."
And he did.
They ended the first set with Steven Stills' "Love the One You're With," and drew the audience into the chorus.
It was a love fest with a group who had been at the center of the love generation.
And the music wasn't bad either. Tony Nauroth is local desk editor for The Express-Times. He can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at tnauroth@express-times.com.
Well, nobody, actually. But Warren Haynes and Jimmy Herring are sharing lead duties and Warren sings with the band.
"Yep, it's an unwritten law that nostalgic 60's burnouts only protest Republican administrations"
That is true now but not during the 60's. Lyndon Johnson took a lot of heat from the protesters...."hey hey LBJ how many kids have you killed today"
They do however, only protest wars that the US is involved in.
Burned out old hippies are the most boring thing in the world today....jeez can't they get a life?
Stills loves Castro
Neil Young is still kicking ass onstage, although He is a lefty also. He is probably one the most prolific songwriters in the past 40 years. Only a small handful of guitarists have, or ever will surpass him.
Perhaps he will wise up someday, on all the save the whales stuff. Maybe when He's touring in 2026, which he probably will be.
I went to Saratoga again this year and I went to Scranton PA. Both shows were tons of fun. The band had some good ones and some bad ones. As always. I go for the party as much as the music, and it was awesome.
So sept 10th
I'll give you one guess what the "AF" in my screen name stands for.
I saw CSNY at Atlantic City Racetrack on the day Nixon announced his resignation in 1974. It was the best concert I ever saw. Santana was the opening act.
The group's liberal looniness (especially David Crosby, who got kicked out of the Byrds for being a political whacko) is absolutely no surprise. Everybody (my age) just smiles and remembers those incredible days from 1963 to 1974 (aka, "the sixties"). I think the younger crowd just laughs.
Be careful! Salon has a spoof site that is easy to land on if you don't watch what you're doing.
well, after misreading Dolphy's "Support Swiftvets.com" and actually including the word SUPPORT as part of the websites address, I'd better not guess. Obviously I'm suffering from brain hiccups.
Kidding.
Awesome! A fellow wingnut! How long were you in?
Okay. I'll type slowly.
BTW does the salon site look as authentic as the
www.swiftvets.com site looks?
And, how would I know if a site was not a real site?
Boy, I'm sooo naive.
The Lawrence Welk Show of the hippie generation. Just as deep. Just as lasting. Yawn!
Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.
Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.
>> As usual, faulty reporting. Military Madness
>> was on a Nash album from the late 70's I believe.
It was on a Graham Nash solo album called "Songs For Beginners". A bunch of 3 chord strum-along whines.
I wonder if the brown acid over by the first aid tent was still a bad trip?
I'm new...what does ping mean.
I think I've figured out Bump, but I'm lost on the Ping thing.
I'm thinking Golf Balls... LOL
They're still alive and not being fed pureed food and having their Depends changed on a regular basis?!
It's easy to spot time you get there. Someone posted a link to it early this morning, but I sure as heck didn't bookmark it.
I thought they died in a plane crash.
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