Four Way Street: The Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Reader

If one can track down this book, get it. It is a marvelous collection of articles on CSNY, from some of the best, like Cameron Crowe. Unlike the CSN book, Zimmer does right, by this one.

A fully fascinating review of the personalities involved in creating heavenly music. While occassionally repititious, it satisfies whatever curiosities you may have about this splendid group.

This book is riveting, even electrical, for anybody who wants an inside look at the music business. The selections are in interview form, so as you read, it feels like the music stars are sitting in nearby chairs as they detail inside stories, opinions and perspectives. The author/editor who put it together, Daved Zimmer, did a fantastic job, and no one came better prepared for the job. When Crosby was arrested, I saw that Mr. Zimmer was the one who the New York Times sought out for comment. Even if you are only distantly interested in CSN & Y, but are fascinated with the music biz, you will find the book hits the bulls-eye.

Thirty years ago my dad "accidentally" flooded the garage, destroying my carefully harvested collection of UK and US publications containing interviews with, articles about and occasional references to CSNY, who for me were "the" band of the early to late 1970's. This latest manifestation of Dave Zimmer's love for the music of, and fascination about the individuals in, the USA's first "supergroup" means I now have access again to many of those writings.Ranging from 1970 to 2002 in terms of first publication, the articles and interviews cover the development of CSNY from a self confident, but untested, aggregation of individuals through to being elder statesmen of rock capable of selling out tours of major venues in the early 21st century. Although the primary ingredient is pieces that focus specifically on the band as a whole, Zimmer leavens the mix with items that focus on the individuals, using them to cast a more oblique and often revealing light on the activities and behaviour of the "main" band. Not surprisingly, the majority of the articles come from US publications; that said, these include both the usual suspects - primarily "Rolling Stone" and writers such as Cameron Crowe - and also less well known (at least in the UK) publications such as "Crawdaddy" and "Creem". There are, however, some significant pieces from UK publications such as "Melody Maker" and UK writers such as Roy Carr and Vicki Wickham.Music is the central interest of Zimmer's selection of pieces. CSNY were, however, notable for the nature of their personal, as well as professional, lives and the issues are not shied away from. Some of it requires reading "between the lines", but such articles as Roy Carr's interview with David Geffen, Zimmer's own major interview with Graham Nash and the pieces on David Crosby's drug addiction deal with the issues head on. Inevitably, there are some personal favourites that didn't survive what must have been a rigorous editing process. Dave Zimmer is, however, to be massively congratulated for delivering a consistent and coherent narrative thread and fitting together the jigsaw like pieces of 30 years of writing to present a clear and illuminating picture of one of the major popular musical outfits of the late 20th century. A worthy companion to his and Henry Ditz's "Crosby, Stills and Nash: The Biography".