Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young are a pioneering folk-rock/rock supergroup that formed from the ranks of three 1960s bands: Stephen Stills and Neil Young from Buffalo Springfield, David Crosby from The Byrds, and Graham Nash from The Hollies. The band is primarily known for their four-part vocal harmonies. They have a strong association with the Woodstock Festival, having played their second ever gig there, and they are one of the few North American groups that rivaled The Beatles in popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They are commonly referred to by their initials CSNY.|Members are David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young.
After the 1970 shootings at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, Neil Young wrote Ohio, a tribute to the four students who were shot by the Ohio National Guard. Many radio stations would not play the song Ohio because of the anti war tone of the song. Even so, largely because of its topical nature, “Ohio” bumped “Teach your Children,” released three weeks earlier, from its ascent on the charts, replacing it on the popularity climb, ending at #14, while “Teach your Children” ended at #16. Largely as a result of Ohio and the unpopularity of the war, students at many universities went on strike. More than a million people descended on the Capitol in Washington, D. C. bringing government to a halt and causing the National Guard to repel tens of thousands with tear & pepper gas. The war in Vietnam would be brought to a end by the escalation of protest from young and old as well as the advance of the Vietcong supported by China. CSNY is bound to this history through its music, both supporting the end of war as well as a message of peace.
Neil Young continues to protest, having written Living with War in 2006 against the Iraq War. He offered the album over the Internet for free download.
Neil Young was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash were inducted in 1997.
|
