Long time gone

Dozens of “dinosaur bands” go on tour every summer on the amphitheater circuit for a pleasant, and occasionally, inspired night of nostalgia. It seems almost incredulous to suggest that any of them might be suddenly relevant again, 35 years past their prime.

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If any band from the era had the chops to pull that off, it would be Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the first American “supergroup” that performed its second gig in front of more than 500,000 people at Woodstock. Stephen Stills famously looked out at the masses after “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” and confessed, “This is the second time we’ve ever played in front of people: We’re scared shitless.”

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The band was formed in 1968 at Joni Mitchell’s house in Laurel Canyon (the inspiration for “Our House”) when Graham Nash, who was a member of the Hollies, stopped by to see Mitchell. Stills and David Crosby were there working on a song called “You Don’t Have To Cry.” Nash joined in on high harmony and everyone in the room froze. “Nothing in my life, musically, has ever been so right,” Nash has said. Young joined the group in 1969, and CSNY became the poster child of the Woodstock generation.

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The group’s greatest songs — especially “Long Time Gone,” “Immigrant Song,” “Woodstock” and “Ohio” — were all informed by the war in Vietnam. The buzz for this reunion tour jumped in May when Young released an album, Living With War, that protests the war in Iraq and includes the angry and biting “Impeach The President.” CSNY songs that are 35 years old have a sudden freshness and relevance that resonate with audiences. “Unbelievably so,” says Graham Nash. “The songs are just resonating with people on this tour. It’s both thrilling and incredibly depressing.”

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The country is only three years past the Dixie Chicks boycotts and having the first war protesters dismissed as “unpatriotic.” And here is Young releasing an angry anti-war album and CSNY on a tour they’ve dubbed “Freedom of Speech ‘06.”

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The tour, which will not go through Texas, is all about politics and protest. “We’re very focused on a patriotic message,” Nash says, calling from Colorado on his way to a soundcheck at Red Rocks where CSNY recently did a three-night stand. “We’re united in support of Neil and his new album and we’re performing eight songs from it. Neil has put his finger on the pulse of the nation and saying things people have wanted to say.”

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Young did much the same thing in 1970 when he wrote “Ohio” in the aftermath of the Kent State massacre, when four unarmed students were killed by the National Guard during an anti-war protest. Nash recalls that he got a call from David Crosby a few days after the killings. Crosby and Young were at Crosby’s house, and Crosby said he’d given Young a copy of Life magazine that had Kent State on the cover. Young read the story, then walked into the woods and came back a while later with a song. “You have no idea what Neil’s written,” Crosby breathlessly told Nash. “We’ve got to record this. Now. We’re coming back. Book studio time tomorrow.”

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Young played the song to Nash and Stills the next day. “Chills just went up my spine,” Nash recalls. “And we recorded it that day.” They also recorded “Find The Cost of Freedom” in 15 minutes for the B-side. It was released within weeks of Kent State.

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That kind of political activism through music doesn’t happen today. Record companies fixated on the bottom line aren’t interested in it, and a new generation of kids equally fixated on being rich and famous aren’t interested, either. Nash thinks he knows one reason why. “There’s no draft,” he says. “Students aren’t being slaughtered by the thousands today. I think if there was a draft, this war would be over. I really sense a tipping point. I feel the mid-term elections will sink the Republicans.”

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Perhaps the Dixie Chicks were ahead of the curve. Their new album, Taking The Long Way, debuted at No. 1, and the first single, “Not Ready To Make Nice,” unapologetically addresses their controversy. Crosby can call President Bush a “chimpanzee” on stage and it barely causes a ripple; no one is calling for CSNY boycotts. Instead, the inherent politics in their message has galvanized the band’s fans just as it has given the group a shot of musical Viagra.

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“We’re part of a long line of troubadours who went from village to village, singing songs that told people what was happening,” he says. “The American public has realized it’s time to stand up and speak out and show their disapproval.”