Since Then: How I Survived Everything and Lived to Tell about It

I found this book in the bargain bin of my book store. Let's just say I got my money's worth. If I would have paid hardcover list I would have still got my money's worth. This book has two fabulous features. It's co-author/subject David Crosby... and his thoughts and opinions (even two years after it's publication) are even more powerful and clear and obviously written by a true protector of the constitutional right of free speech (let alone free thought). He eviscerates Bush, admits to a former fondness for McCain (poisoned by McCain's positioning on religion via Falwell and Robertson) and a one paragraph mention of the future of the democratic party in the form of one Barack Obama. This is the kind of guy you want at your side when the poop hits the fan. He admits his faults but at the same time makes such clear and well supported statements about the world, religion, politicians, the future, the past, and the kitchen sink. Sheer genius in it's best form. Crosby makes you understand what it is (or was) to be an artist in this world with an opinion who can create and who is not afraid to speak his mind AND the truth. America needs a lot more people like David Crosby to overcome it's own short-sightedness. I'm going to get the first autobiography and I bet his next one will blow this one away (as hard as that is for me to even believe).

This book, particularly when read in conjunction with Hotel California, was so interesting and enlightening. Crosby's music and his troubled relationships made so much more sense to me after I had read his story. This s a great read for all of us Woodstock babies.

In Aspen Colorado a few years ago at xmas, I came across a poster advertising a concert given by CPR featuring David Crosby. CPR? CSN+/-Y, yes, but...Pevar and Raymond? Hmmm. MUST be sold out. Box office lady: tickets are available. Hmm, doesn't that mean this will suck? "No, its because it's the 23rd and most folks don't show up in Aspen till the 26th, and this concert was a last minute booking, it should be a real treat." I buy two tickets. Night of the show, sold out, killer crowd, my date bailed due to a dinner party, i gave the other ticket to someone on the street (proves I had no idea what was in store, bc if I had I would have been calling friends all over town), went inside, worried, what will Mr. Crosby's voice sound like these days. Didn't he almost die about ten times over the past years, and who are these guys he's playing with? 1st thing, Pevar is playing with the warm up band, and he's just amazing even though I don't know its him till intermisson. Then the show. David emerges...a white haired sage from a medieval movie, his buddha's "Hello" as he walks onto stage just somehow instantly heartwarming. There's a big drum set, a bass player, a young keyboardist. Great energy in the room. Then, an explosion of pure voices in the high altitude air, jazzy, complex, rich music, David's voice faltering every once in a while due to the altitude (8,000 feet), but lent a clarity in the upper registers that I've never heard before. The drummer is killer. The bass player solid & perfect. Pevar, spectacular. And the keyboardist is James Raymond, Crosby's son (!?) -- and there is a palpable loving energy between them. Song after amazing song, one of the nicest musical nights of my life. All a suprise. That evening was a gateway for me into the world of Neil Young's solo work, the many CPR recordings, a few more CPR concerts, a benefit concert with Crosby/Nash/Raymond/Pevar in Solvang, and all the non-hit CSN/Y stuff I'd never really listened to. But ever since then, I've been wondering: how did David have a son by a different last name and what is their relationship beyond their wondeful musical collaboration? How did he find Pevar? Who is Pevar? How did drummer Stevie Stanislau find them? What is up with Neil Young? What complex and amazing story was playing out on that stage that made it so magical? Was it magical, or was I just imagining it? Well, for me, this book is a continuation of the gift I received that evening. It explains the remarkable story of David's recent years picking up around the Jan. 1994 Northridge earthquake. Like Crosby's music, the life is complex, authentic, maddening, hilarious, uplifting, and unimaginable -- which is why you have to read the book. So many great moments and stories. So interesting to watch this man evolve and wear his life's mantle as a messenger/sentinel with such humor/wit/grace through triumph and tragedy alike. So wonderful to get to know all the incredible people in his life. I loved it!

As with "Long Time Gone," I couldn't put this book down. After reading the first one just a couple of years ago, I remember feeling like I was left hanging because I knew so much had happened to him "since then." I was so hoping he and Carl Gottleib would do a sequel with the same substance, candor and wit. I'm happy to say, mission accomplished. Since you can learn what topics are covered in the editorial review, I'll talk a little bit about how the book is put together. As with the first one, the text of the book toggles between David's commentary, input from Carl, and then also contributions from other people like Bonnie Raitt, Graham Nash, Grace Slick, Kirstie Alley, Robin Williams and Noah Wyle. If you're scratching your head about the last three, those are only a few of the surprise relationships. The one thing that comes gushing out of this book is his love for family and country. He's hopelessly and helplessly in love with his wife and children, and this is a side of him we only started to see in his last book. His love for country is also intense, but as you can imagine, that relationship is a little turbulent at the moment. He lays it all out towards the end of the book and holds nothing back. If you share his sentiment, you'll find it exhilarating. All in all, I highly recommend this book for all music fans. And, I absolutely hate to say it, but I sincerely hope this is his last autobiographical book and that the rest of his life is too blissfully boring to write about. How about a novel?

This book is even more amazing than its predecessor, LONG TIME COMING, and even more fun to read--because this is the story of the very best part of David Crosby's remarkable life: the Sane Years, in which he finally found The Handle, and everything that could possibly go right went way better than that. As before, he is utterly candid about everything he's done, smart or silly--and as before, he writes most eloquenlty and evocatively of one of the more amazing lives lived in his time. He writes prose as well as he writes lyrics--I have no higher praise. Okay, I am quoted on page 2--but that doesn't explain why I've been reading the entire volume aloud to my wife since it arrived. Co-writer Carl Gottlieb (who wrote the screenplays for JAWS and THE JERK) once again skillfully manages to bring coherence and a dramatic through-line to a disordered life. Read this while listening to David's magnificent new box-set, VOYAGES.