He is a singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer born
David van Cortlandt Crosby in Santa Barbara, California into a family where
his father was the cinematographer Floyd Crosby who won an Academy Award in
1931 for Tabu and also worked on High Noon and The Pit and
the Pendulum.Starting out
on his musical journey he used to appear in his school musicals and sing in
Santa Barbara coffeehouses before going on to become a drama student.This wasn't for him though and he
decided to pursue a musical career and became a member of the folk group Les
Baxter's Balladeers.In 1963
he ventured out as a solo artist where he cut his own work in the studio
for the first time and sometime between then and 1964 he teamed up with
Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn as a member of the group The Jet Set which
would become the successful group The Byrds.They
were later joined by Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman and recorded
"Mr. Tambourine Man" after obtaining a Bob
Dylan
demo
of it.This went to No. 1 on
the Billboard Chart and put them on the musical map.Turning his hand to songwriting for
the group as well as appearing as rhythm guitarist and singer, he co-wrote "Eight
Miles High" along with many others for the group.He has also been cited as one of the people being
responsible for bringing to light and popularising the song "Hey Joe" which
was recorded by The Leaves, The Byrds and The Surfaris and later became the
first single by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.After some problems with the other members of The Byrds
when he substituted for Neil Young in Buffalo Springfield at Monterey and
the non-use of his song "Triad" reportedly because of the subject matter, he
started to stay out of sessions and was subsequently let go by the group.Not staying out of work for long,
he met up with Stephen
Stills
in 1968 at a party given by Cass Elliott and
they decided to meet up and jam together.Not long after, Graham Nash joined them after leaving
The Hollies and their album Crosby, Stills & Nash soared up the
charts as well as producing hit singles for them.They were joined by Neil Young in 1969 and recorded Deja
vu, with David writing the title track and "Almost Cut My Hair".They followed that by releasing Four
Way Street and then the group members took time out to follow their
solo careers.He appeared in
the band David and the Dorks in 1970 with members of Grateful Dead,
recorded a solo album in 1971, recorded Crosby & Nash with
Graham Nash in 1972 and then CSNY got back together in 1973.Things did not go as planned though
and constant arguments between the members resulted in the album they were
recording being cancelled, although they did complete a re-union tour in
1974.A further attempt at
recording an album in 1976 also failed and this would mark the end of CSNY
performing as a foursome.The
loss of Neil Young did not deter the remaining members though and they got
back together in 1977 and carried on as CSN until 1985 when Neil Young
joined them back on stage for Live Aid in 1985.1985 also saw him being arrested for drug related
offences and spending the next year in jail in Texas.This re-union was a lot more
successful, however, and further albums were released in 1988 and 2000. In between these two albums his personal
life made the news twice, starting in 1995 when he took time out for
medical reasons to be given a liver transplant.Then 2000 saw him being named as the father of Melissa
Etheridge's two children after she had been artificially inseminated. 2000
onwards then saw him touring with CSNY three times in 2000, 2002 and 2006.He has also been a member of CPR
since 1998, David Crosby, Jeff Pevar & his son James Raymond, and
recorded several albums with them.Working with a multitude of acts
during his career he has performed and/or written songs with Jackson
Browne, Jimmy
Buffett, Marc Cohn, Dan Fogelberg, Jefferson Airplane, Indigo Girls,
Carole King, Nicolette
Larson
, Kenny Loggins, Joni Mitchell, Stevie
Nicks, Bonnie Raitt, John Sebastian, Grace Slick, among others. The countless albums he has appeared
on during the course of his career include the ones mentioned above and his
own If I Could Only Remember My Name, It's All Coming Back To Me Now, Oh
Yes I Can and Thousand Roads as well as Turn! Turn! Turn!
by The Byrds, But Seriously...
by Phil
Collins , Just Like Gravity by CPR, Wind
on the Water by Crosby & Nash, Daylight Again by Crosby,
Stills & Nash, Replay by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Under
the Red Sky by Bob
Dylan , Stories We Could Tell by The Everly
Brothers, Breakaway by Art
Garfunkel , Cracked Rear View by
Hootie & The Blowfish, Blue Moves by
Elton
John , Songs for
Beginners by Graham Nash, Black Rose by John David
Souther , In
the Pocket by James
Taylor and Harvest by Neil Young and the
soundtracks of Flipper, 1969 and Strawberry Statement
among many others. No stranger to the acting studio either he has made
several appearances in movies such as Backdraft, Hook and Thunderheart
as well as TV's The John Laroquette Show, Roseanne and The
Simpsons.In the most
recent years, 2006 saw David recording On An Island with David
Gilmour
as well as touring the United States and appearing at the Royal
Albert Hall in London with him.He also recently released his autobiography Since Then.In recognition for his contribution
to music he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice as
a member of The Byrds and CSN.
