Legendary artist Graham Nash, as a founding member of both the Hollies and Crosby, Stills and Nash, is a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee who has seen rock history unfold at some of its seminal moments – from the launch of the British Invasion (that’s him on-screen in 1967, eyewitness to the Beatles global broadcast performance of “All You Need Is Love” from Abbey Road studios) to the birth of the Laurel Canyon movement a year later. He is an extraordinary Grammy Award® winning renaissance artist, and self-described “simple man” who has contributed a wealth of songs to the popular music canon. Nash was inducted twice into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, for his work with CSN and for his work as a solo artist.
Towering above virtually everything that Graham Nash has accomplished in his long and multi-faceted career, stands the litany of songs that he has written and introduced to the soundtrack of our lives for nearly six decades.
The original classic union of Crosby, Stills & Nash (&Young) lasted but twenty months. Yet their songs are lightning rods embedded in our DNA, starting with Nash’s “Marrakesh Express,” “Pre-Road Downs” and “Lady Of the Island,” from the first Crosby, Stills & Nash LP (1969).
On CSNY’s Déjà Vu (1970), Nash’s iconic “Teach Your Children” and “Our House” (for Joni Mitchell) beseeched us to hold love tightly, to fend off the madness that was on its way.
Nash’s career as a solo artist took flight in 1971, with the two aforementioned albums further showcasing the depths of his abilities as a singer and songwriter: his solo debut Songs For Beginners (with “Chicago/We Can Change the World” and “Military Madness”), and Wild Tales released in 1974 (with “Prison Song,” “Oh! Camil,” and “You’ll Never Be the Same”).
Three compositions on Songs For Beginners reflect back on the storied breakup of Nash and Joni Mitchell, “Better Days,” “I Used To Be A King” (which recalibrates the Hollies’ “King Midas In Reverse”), and “Simple Man.” A fourth song, “Wounded Bird” concerned the aftermath of Stills’ breakup with Judy Collins. “Military Madness” was dedicated to Nash’s parents, who quietly and bravely brought up their children in post-WWII England. “Chicago/We Can Change the World” was a plea to CSNY bandmates Stills and Young to join him and Crosby at a benefit concert for the defense of the Chicago Eight, (“won’t you please come to Chicago/ just to sing”).
1974’s Wild Tales addressed (among other issues) unfair jail terms for minor offenses (“Prison Song”) and the unfair treatment of Vietnam vets (“Oh! Camil,” inspired by Scott Camil, decorated founder of Vietnam Veterans Against the War). In his 2013 autobiography, Wild Tales, Nash described the eponymous Lp as “a good collection of songs but dark and moody, which was where I was at the time … in a deep emotional hole.” The autobiography is an engrossing, no-holds-barred look at his remarkable career and the music that defined a generation. The book landed him on the New York Times Best Sellers list and was released in paperback in late 2014.
The most resilient, long-lived and productive partnership to emerge from the CSNY camp was launched (before Nash’s Wild Tales) with the eponymously titled Graham Nash/David Crosby (1972), bookended by Nash’s “Southbound Train” as the opening track and “Immigration Man” as the closer. The duo contributed further to the soundtrack of the ’70s on their back-to-back Lps, Wind On the Water (1975) and Whistling Down the Wire (1976).
Nash’s passionate voice is frequently heard in support of peace, and social and environmental justice. The No Nukes/Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) concerts he organized with Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt in 1979, remain seminal benefit events.
In recognition for his contributions as a musician and philanthropist, Nash was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth. While continually building his musical legacy, Nash is also an internationally renowned photographer and visual
artist.
A photographer since the age of ten, Nash’s photos have been shown in galleries and museums worldwide. His company Nash Editions’ original IRIS 3047 digital printer and one of its first published works—Nash’s 1969 portrait of David Crosby— is now housed in the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution. A collection of his photos is featured in the book A Life in Focus: The Photography of Graham Nash which was released in November 2021 by Insight Editions.
Nash’s lifelong commitment to his work is unwavering. His inspiration is simple: “All the things we stood for, that love is better than hatred, that peace is better than war, that we have to take care of our fellow human beings, because that’s all we have on this planet – those things are still true today. I need to know that I’ve brought something into the world that was positive and not negative.”
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