From his pioneering folk-rock with the Byrds to his hippie classics with Crosby, Still & Nash (and Young), David Crosby was a pivotal figure in rock’s history.
David Crosby was a crucial voice of both the hippie idealism and the world-weary realism of the classic-rock era. As a founding member of the Byrds and later Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, he helped invent folk-rock and country-rock in the 1960s and was instrumental to the sensitive singer-songwriter scene of the 1970s; his singing and guitar playing broadened the way people thought about pop music’s meaning even as it helped create a culture in which rock stars were encouraged to enjoy every earthly excess available.
Crosby, who grew up in Southern California and did as much as anyone to define the region’s sound, died on Wednesday at age 81. Here are 12 songs that encapsulate his life and work.
1. The Byrds, “Mr. Tambourine Man” (1965)
Crosby didn’t write the Bob Dylan tune that served as the Byrds’ debut single — nor did he play guitar on the chart-topping hit, having been replaced in the studio by the more experienced L.A. session pros of the Wrecking Crew. But “Mr. Tambourine Man” offers an early showcase of the flair for close harmony singing that would define much of Crosby’s work over the decades to come.
2. The Byrds, “Eight Miles High” (1966)
The first real-deal psychedelic rock song? Many have made the case for this lush yet ferocious guitar jam about the lack of warmth “to be found among those afraid of losing their ground.” Co-written by Crosby and the Byrds’ Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark — and later referenced by Don McLean in no less a rock history than “American Pie” — “Eight Miles High” went on to be covered by the likes of the Ventures, Roxy Music, Hüsker Dü, Tom Petty and the Netherlands’ Golden Earring, which stretched the song to a mind-obliterating 19 minutes.
