CSN (album)

CSN is the fifth album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, released on Atlantic Records in 1977. It is the group's third studio release, and their first since their debut album without Neil Young. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart; two singles taken from the album, Nash's "Just a Song Before I Go" and Stills' "Fair Game" peaked at No. 7 and #43 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100. It is currently the trio configuration's best selling record, outselling 1969's Crosby, Stills & Nash by 200,000 copies.[3] It has been certified quadruple platinum by RIAA.[4]

For the box set of the same name, see CSN (box set).

CSN
Studio album by Crosby, Stills & Nash
Released	June 17, 1977
Recorded	1976–1977
Genre	Rock
Length	43:50
Label	Atlantic
Producer	David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash with Ron Albert and Howard Albert
Crosby, Stills & Nash chronology
So Far (1974) CSN (1977) Replay (1980)
Singles from CSN
"Just a Song Before I Go" Released: June 17, 1977 "Fair Game" Released: 1977

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	D+[2]

Content

In the interregnum that followed their tour in the spring and summer of 1970 to support Déjà Vu, Crosby, Stills and Nash had only completed one project together, a 1974 reunion tour of CSNY. David Crosby and Graham Nash had recorded three albums as a duo, with Crosby releasing a single solo album (in addition to a Byrds reunion album) and Nash a pair. Stephen Stills pursued other projects including the release of four solo albums, a short career with Manassas that yielded two albums, as well as a tour and an album with Neil Young, which itself nearly became a CSNY project.

CSN featured strong writing from all three members, the last time for seventeen years that the band would compose songs and handle vocals without major assistance from outside sources. The production of the album fits in well with the ruling aesthetic of the time as featured in other blockbusters such as the Eagles' Hotel California and Fleetwood Mac's Rumours: well-crafted, melodic songs played with precision and balance, chronicling the personal travails of the authors.

Many of Stills' songs on the album echo his marital problems,[5] with "Dark Star" returning to the Latin rhythms he had favored all the way back to his Buffalo Springfield days. Crosby continued the existential probings consistent with much of his past work, and Nash offered both a radio-ready acoustic ballad with "Just a Song Before I Go", and an elaborate set piece re-creating a vision of an LSD experience that he had in Winchester Cathedral with "Cathedral".[6] Many tracks included a string section, a first on a CSN project.

The album was released for compact disc an initial time in the 1980s,[7] then again at Ocean View Digital from the original tapes and reissued on September 20, 1994. It was remastered once more by Steve Hoffman in April 2013, for an Audio Fidelity 24kt gold disk release in the summer of 2013.

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead Vocals	Length
1.	"Shadow Captain"	David Crosby Craig Doerge	Crosby, Stills & Nash	4:32
2.	"See the Changes"	Stephen Stills	Stills with Crosby & Nash	2:56
3.	"Carried Away"	Graham Nash	Nash with Crosby	2:29
4.	"Fair Game"	Stephen Stills	Stills with Crosby & Nash	3:30
5.	"Anything at All"	David Crosby	Crosby	3:01
6.	"Cathedral"	Graham Nash	Nash with Crosby	5:15

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead Vocals	Length
1.	"Dark Star"	Stephen Stills	Stills	4:43
2.	"Just a Song Before I Go"	Graham Nash	Nash	2:12
3.	"Run from Tears"	Stephen Stills	Stills	4:09
4.	"Cold Rain"	Graham Nash	Nash	2:32
5.	"In My Dreams"	David Crosby	Crosby	5:10
6.	"I Give You Give Blind"	Stephen Stills	Stills with Crosby & Nash	3:21

Personnel

• David Crosby – vocals; rhythm guitar on "Fair Game" and "Dark Star"; acoustic guitar on "Just A Song Before I Go" and "In My Dreams"; string arrangements on "Cathedral" and "Cold Rain"
• Stephen Stills – vocals; guitars on all tracks except "Carried Away," "Cathedral" and "Cold Rain" electric piano on "Anything at All"; piano, string arrangements on "I Give You Give Blind"; timbales on "Fair Game"
• Graham Nash – vocals; piano on "Carried Away," "Cathedral," "Just A Song Before I Go," and "Cold Rain"; harmonica on "Carried Away"; string arrangements on "Cathedral" and "Cold Rain"

Additional musicians

• Joe Vitale – drums on "Carried Away," "Fair Game," "Cathedral," "Dark Star," "Run From Tears" and "I Give You Give Blind"; organ on "Shadow Captain," "Fair Game," "Anything at All," "Dark Star"; electric piano on "Carried Away," "Just A Song Before I Go"; percussion on "Cathedral," "I Give You Give Blind"; flute on "Shadow Captain"; timpani on "Cathedral"; vibraphone on "In My Dreams"
• Craig Doerge – piano on "Shadow Captain" and "Anything at All"; electric piano on "Shadow Captain" and "Dark Star"
• Mike Finnigan – organ on "Run From Tears"
• George "Chocolate" Perry – bass on "Shadow Captain," "Fair Game," "Anything at All", "Cathedral," "Dark Star," and "I Give You Give Blind"
• Jimmy Haslip – bass on "Carried Away"
• Tim Drummond – bass on "Just A Song Before I Go"
• Gerald Johnson – bass on "Run From Tears"
• Russ Kunkel – drums on "Shadow Captain" "Anything at All," "Just A Song Before I Go," and "In My Dreams"; congas on "Shadow Captain" "Dark Star"; percussion on "Just A Song Before I Go"
• Ray Barretto – congas on "Fair Game"
• Mike Lewis – string arrangements on "Cathedral," "Cold Rain," and "I Give You Give Blind"
• Joel Bernstein – string arrangements on "Cathedral"

Production

• Crosby, Stills & Nash – producers
• Howard Albert, Ron Albert – co-producers, engineers
• Steve Gursky – assistant engineer
• Joel Bernstein – photography
• Gary Burden – art direction, design
• Joe Gastwirt – digital remastering

Charts

Chart performance for CSN

Chart (1977)	Peak position
US Top LPs & Tape (Billboard)	2
UK Album Charts[8]	23
Canadian RPM 100 Albums[9]	9
Norwegian VG-lista Albums[10]	10
Swedish Kvällstoppen Chart[11]	17
Australian Kent Music Report Chart	7
Dutch MegaCharts Albums[12]	4
Italian Album Charts	18
New Zealand Albums Chart[13]	24
Austrian Albums Chart[14]	23
Japanese Oricon LP Chart	54
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums[15]	2
US Record World Album Chart[16]	2

Tour dates

Tours[17]
1977 Tour Leg 1
Date	City	Country	Venue
11 May 1977	South Bend	United States	Notre Dame Athletics Centre
2 June 1977	Clarkston		Pine Knob Music Theatre
3 June 1977
4 June 1977
7 June 1977	Landover		Capitol Centre
8 June 1977
10 June 1977	Buffalo		War Memorial
11 June 1977	Pittsburgh		Civic Arena
13 June 1977	Providence		Providence Civic Centre
14 June 1977	Boston		Boston Garden
15 June 1977	Hartford		Hartford Civic Centre
17 June 1977	Uniondale		Nassau Coliseum
18 June 1977	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center
21 June 1977	New York City		Madison Square Garden
23 June 1977	Philadelphia		Spectrum
24 June 1977
25 June 1977	Saratoga		Saratoga Performing Arts Centre
28 June 1977	Los Angeles		The Forum
29 June 1977
30 June 1977	San Diego		San Diego Sports Arena
26 August 1977	Houston		Six Flags Astroworld
1977 Tour Leg 2
Date	City	Country	Venue
18 October 1977	Portland	United States	Portland Memorial Coliseum
19 October 1977	Vancouver	Canada	PNE Coliseum
20 October 1977	Seattle	United States	Seattle Center Coliseum
22 October 1977	Oakland		Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
23 October 1977
25 October 1977	Salt Lake City		Salt Palace
27 October 1977	Denver		McNichols Sports Arena
28 October 1977	Lincoln		Pershing Municipal Auditorium
29 October 1977	Ames		Hilton Coliseum
31 October 1977	St. Paul		St. Paul Civic Center
1 November 1977	Chicago		Chicago Stadium
4 November 1977	Cincinnati		Riverfront Coliseum
5 November 1977	South Bend		Notre Dame Athletics Center
6 November 1977	Lexington		Rupp Arena
9 November 1977	Memphis		Mid-South Coliseum
10 November 1977	Murfreesboro		Murphy Athletic Centre
12 November 1977	Greensboro		Greensboro Coliseum
14 November 1977	Atlanta		The Omni
15 November 1977	Birmingham		Jefferson County Civic Center
16 November 1977	Mobile		Municipal Auditorium
18 November 1977	Jacksonville		Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum
19 November 1977	Lakeland		Lakeland Civic Center
20 November 1977	Miami		Sportatorium
22 November 1977	Houston		The Summit
23 November 1977	Fort Worth		Tarrant County Convention Center
24 November 1977	Oklahoma City		The Myriad
1978 Tour
Date	City	Country	Venue
7 July 1978	Indianapolis, IN	United States	Market Square Arena
8 July 1978	Louisville		Freedom Hall
11 July 1978	Clarkston		Pine Knob Music Theater
12 July 1978
13 July 1978
14 July 1978
15 July 1978	Detroit		Masonic Temple
16 July 1978	Buffalo		Memorial Auditorium
17 July 1978	Saratoga		Saratoga Performing Arts Centre
18 July 1978	Montreal	Canada	The Forum
20 July 1978	Providence	United States	Providence Civic Center
22 July 1978	New York City		Madison Square Garden
23 July 1978	New Haven		Veterans Memorial Coliseum
24 July 1978	Saratoga Springs		Saratoga Performing Arts Center
26 July 1978	Pittsburgh		Pittsburgh Civic Center
28 July 1978	Landover		Capital Center
30 July 1978	Uniondale		Nassau Coliseum
31 July 1978
1 August 1978	Springfield		Springfield Civic Center
2 August 1978	Boston		Boston Garden
4 August 1978	Philadelphia		Robin Hood Dell West
5 August 1978
6 August 1978	Hampton		Hampton Coliseum
8 August 1978	Huntington		Huntington Civic Center
9 August 1978	Cleveland		Richfield Coliseum
10 August 1978	Cincinnati		Riverfront Arena
Odd Dates after 1978
Date	City	Country	Venue
23 September 1979	New York City	United States	Battery Park "No Nukes"
			Madison Square Garden "MUSE Concert"
Date	City	Country	Venue
25 May 1980	Los Angeles	United States	Hollywood Bowl

References

1. Newsom, Jim (2011). "CSN – Crosby, Stills & Nash | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: C". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 23, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
3. "RIAA – Soundscan". Greasylakes. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
4. RIAA Gold and Platinum Database retrieved 8 September 2015
5. https://www.crosbystillsnash.com/discography/1977/csn/
6. https://www.crosbystillsnash.com/discography/1977/csn/
7. The date constantly given for first generation remastering for digital as issued on compact disc, October 25, 1990, is the earliest date for which amazon.com has records regarding compact disc releases. So, for any CD that came out prior to that, they simply put in that date rather than an actual one since they do not have it. Every single first generation compact disc was not issued on October 25, 1990.
8. "CROSBY STILLS NASH & YOUNG | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
9. Canada, Library and Archives (2013-04-16). "The RPM story". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
10. "norwegiancharts.com - Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
11. "Swedish Charts" (PDF).
12. "Dutch Charts - dutchcharts.nl". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
13. "charts.org.nz - New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
14. "charts.org.nz - New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
15. "CASH BOX MAGAZINE: Music and coin machine magazine 1942 to 1996". worldradiohistory.com. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
16. "RECORD WORLD MAGAZINE: 1942 to 1982". worldradiohistory.com. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
17. Dunn, Dean A. "Crosby Stills & Nash 1977 Concerts". www.geocities.ws. Retrieved 2018-08-19.

Further reading

Herbst, Peter (2011). "Crosby, Stills and Nash: CSN : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on February 14, 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2011.

External links

• CSN at Discogs (list of releases)