CSN is the third studio album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, released on Atlantic Records on June 17, 1977.Greene, Andy. "Flashback: Crosby, Stills and Nash Perform 'Just a Song Before I Go' in 1977," Rolling Stone, January 9, 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2021 It is the group's second studio release in the trio configuration. 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" (No. 7) and Stills' "Fair Game" (No. 43) charted on the Billboard Hot 100. As of 2012 it is the trio configuration's best selling record, outselling 1969's Crosby, Stills & Nash by 200,000 copies. It has been certified quadruple platinum by RIAA.

Content Following 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 seven years that the band would compose songs and handle vocals without major assistance from outside sources.

Many of Stills' songs on the album echo his marital problems, 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". A few tracks included a string section, a first on a CSN project.

The album was remastered for compact disc an initial time in the 1980s,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. 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.

Critical reception

Cash Box said that "Fair Game" "combines a snappy Latin rhythm, neatly interlocking harmonies, and layers of Stephen Stills' thoughtful acoustic guitar work." It commented on the "surging guitars and piano" and "harmonic hooks" and "powerful rhythmic elements" of "I Give You Give Blind".

Record World called "Fair Game" a "mid-tempo Stills song with samba touches, with the trio's trademark vocal harmonies again standing out."

Track listing

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 guitar on "Shadow Captain", "Fair Game", "Anything at All", "Cathedral", "Dark Star", and "I Give You Give Blind" Jimmy Haslip – bass guitar on "Carried Away" Tim Drummond – bass guitar 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 CSNChart (1977)Peak positionUS Top LPs & Tape (Billboard)2UK Album Charts23Canadian RPM 100 Albums9Norwegian VG-lista Albums10New Zealand Albums Charts24French Album Charts23Swedish Kvällstoppen Chart17Spanish Album Charts21Australian Kent Music Report Chart7Dutch MegaCharts Albums4Italian Album Charts24Austrian Albums Chart23Japanese Oricon LP Chart54US Cash Box Top 100 Albums2US Record World Album Chart2

+Sales chart performance for singles from CSNYearSingleChartPosition1977"Just a Song Before I Go"US Billboard Hot 1007Netherlands (Single Top 100)23French Singles Charts30Canada Top Singles (RPM)10US Easy Listening (Billboard)5Australia (Go-Set National Top 40)59US Top Singles (Cash Box)8US Top Singles (Record World)121977"Fair Game"US Billboard Hot 10043Canada Top Singles (RPM)42US Top Singles (Cash Box)47US Top Singles (Record World)56

Year-end charts Chart (1977)PositionCanadian Albums Chart52Italian Albums Chart65Dutch Album Charts 40US Billboard 20083US Cashbox Charts15

Certifications

Tour

Tours1977 Tour – Leg #1DateCityCountryVenue11 May 1977South BendUnited StatesAthletic & Convocation Center2 June 1977ClarkstonPine Knob Music Theatre3 June 19774 June 19777 June 1977LandoverCapital Centre8 June 197710 June 1977BuffaloWar Memorial Stadium11 June 1977PittsburghCivic Arena13 June 1977ProvidenceProvidence Civic Centre14 June 1977BostonBoston Garden15 June 1977HartfordHartford Civic Centre17 June 1977UniondaleNassau Coliseum18 June 1977HartfordHartford Civic Center21 June 1977New York CityMadison Square Garden23 June 1977PhiladelphiaSpectrum24 June 197725 June 1977SaratogaSaratoga Performing Arts Centre28 June 1977Los AngelesThe Forum29 June 197730 June 1977San DiegoSan Diego Sports Arena26 August 1977HoustonSix Flags Astroworld1977 Tour – Leg #2DateCityCountryVenue18 October 1977PortlandUnited StatesPortland Memorial Coliseum19 October 1977VancouverCanadaPNE Coliseum20 October 1977SeattleUnited StatesSeattle Center Coliseum22 October 1977OaklandOakland-Alameda County Coliseum23 October 197725 October 1977Salt Lake CitySalt Palace27 October 1977DenverMcNichols Sports Arena28 October 1977LincolnPershing Municipal Auditorium29 October 1977AmesHilton Coliseum31 October 1977St. PaulSt. Paul Civic Center1 November 1977ChicagoChicago Stadium4 November 1977CincinnatiRiverfront Coliseum5 November 1977South BendAthletic & Convocation Center6 November 1977LexingtonRupp Arena9 November 1977MemphisMid-South Coliseum10 November 1977MurfreesboroMurphy Athletic Centre12 November 1977GreensboroGreensboro Coliseum14 November 1977AtlantaThe Omni15 November 1977BirminghamJefferson County Civic Center16 November 1977MobileMunicipal Auditorium18 November 1977JacksonvilleJacksonville Memorial Coliseum19 November 1977LakelandLakeland Civic Center20 November 1977MiamiSportatorium22 November 1977HoustonThe Summit23 November 1977Fort WorthTarrant County Convention Center24 November 1977Oklahoma CityThe Myriad1978 TourDateCityCountryVenue7 July 1978IndianapolisUnited StatesMarket Square Arena8 July 1978LouisvilleFreedom Hall11 July 1978ClarkstonPine Knob Music Theater12 July 197813 July 197814 July 197815 July 1978DetroitMasonic Temple16 July 1978BuffaloMemorial Auditorium17 July 1978SaratogaSaratoga Performing Arts Centre18 July 1978MontrealCanadaMontreal Forum20 July 1978ProvidenceUnited StatesProvidence Civic Center22 July 1978New York CityMadison Square Garden23 July 1978New HavenNew Haven Coliseum24 July 1978Saratoga SpringsSaratoga Performing Arts Center26 July 1978PittsburghCivic Arena Pittsburgh28 July 1978LandoverCapital Center30 July 1978UniondaleNassau Coliseum31 July 19781 August 1978SpringfieldSpringfield Civic Center2 August 1978BostonBoston Garden4 August 1978PhiladelphiaRobin Hood Dell West5 August 19786 August 1978HamptonHampton Coliseum8 August 1978HuntingtonHuntington Civic Center9 August 1978ClevelandRichfield Coliseum10 August 1978CincinnatiRiverfront Coliseum

References

Further reading

External links