Noted musician David Crosby, who of course was part of the legendary Crosby, Stills, and Nash (or sometimes, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young), and who played with that band at Woodstock, the most legendary of all concerts, has been showing that the spirit of peace and love that he was a part of in the sixties is apparently not seemingly still with him more than half a century later, at the very beginning of the 2020's.
He received a ton of criticism recently after he needlessly - and I might add classlessly - tweeted a dismissive "meh" in response to the death of legendary rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen. To his credit, he did apologize for it, admitted that it "lacked empathy" and was "disrespectful."
Gee, you think?
One cannot help but wonder just what was going through his head when he posted this. The more cynical side of me feels (in fact, is almost certain) that he surely knew in advance (I mean, he surely must have known) that it would get a rise out of many people, which was perhaps precisely why he did it.
Maybe that sounds overly cynical, but I suspect that this was the reason, especially since he even more recently followed that up with a dismissive comment on all of the so-called "grunge" bands of the nineties.
When asked about many of the bands, including pretty much all of the noted Seattle bands, he simply stated that he did not like any of those bands. While he is certainly entitled to his opinion, this dismissive comment, which of course includes Pearl Jam, the band that his own former bandmate, Neil Young, often played and even toured with. Young and the members of Pearl Jam (sans Eddie Vedder) even released an entire album together in the mid-nineties.
As an artist of some repute, and one who seemed to embody much of the spirit of peace and love and who aspired to greater enlightenment back in the sixties, I would tend to think that he would try to qualify his response a bit more than that. After all, criticism of that style of music is, again, a matter of opinion. I have known some people - including musicians - who were not fans of one, and in some cases even all - of those aforementioned bands. But there is also quite a bit of variation between them, and even within the history of some of those bands. Chris Cornell, who was with two of the bands mentioned - Soundgarden and Temple of the Dog - had an amazing range of musical styles and tastes, for example. And Pearl Jam's sound has changed dramatically over the course of many years. You might never suspect that, however, with Crosby's short and dismissive response. I would expect a little bit more of a desire to actually grow familiar enough with those bands to have a more measured response, not to mention the respect factor.
Then again, it seems like Crosby is relying on disrespect lately to generate news headlines. Again, he was a big part of a great band, and produced some decent music on his own, as well. He should feel appreciative of that, and surely, on some level, he does. But his recent comments towards more recent musicians smacks of sour grapes and jealousy, frankly. And that is a sad thing to see from someone who at least pretended to be a bit more enlightened back in the past. Then again, maybe that is why Graham Nash once dismissed Crosby himself as being a jerk. Maybe he was on to something. Nor is it just him, as Neil Young also seems to want nothing to do with Crosby these days. Crosby is, undeniably, a great musician. But it seems that he leaves something to be desired in terms of his personality outside of creating music.
David Crosby apologizes for ‘meh’ response to Eddie Van Halen’s death By Ben Cost, October 14, 2020:
https://nypost.com/2020/10/14/david-crosby-sorry-for-meh-response-to-eddie-van-halens-death/
David Crosby Disrespects Layne Staley & Chris Cornell By Brett Buchanan - Oct 23, 2020
That's disappointing to hear. While the part regarding his feelings about the Seattle grunge scene don't particularly bother me, the fact that he felt the need to use a public forum to callously say "Meh" regarding EVH's death is more than a little tone deaf. I don't care that he's not a fan – that's his prerogative. But his comment is tantamount in my view to walking up to a group of mourners and saying "Whatever, who cares?"
ReplyDeleteIn addition to his music, I also enjoy his – get this – advice column, which is semi-regularly featured in Rolling Stone magazine. (He himself has quipped that it's completely incongruous for him of all people to be offering advice.) But in it, he projects a self-deprecating humor and some hard-won wisdom. Which contrasts sharply with comments such as this one. It's becoming less surprising why most if not all of the big-name musicians with whom he's worked over the years either have strained relationships with him at best (like his former CSNY bandmates), or have simply become completely estranged from him, like Roger McGuinn. To the point that when Crosby recently suggested a Byrds reunion, McGuinn didn't even respond directly to shoot that idea down, but through a spokesperson.
Yes, this was another disappointing reminder that not everyone who's creative work we admire proves to fall far short of admirable in the way that they conduct themselves outside of their artwork. It's sad. I think that he seems to speak before thinking, and then only regrets it later.
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