‘A difficult cat’
Aging rocker Crosby reflects on his life (and turning it around) in documentary
What would Crosby, Stills,
Nash & Young have been without David Crosby? Or Crosby, Stills & Nash? Or even Crosby & Nash?
A lot happier, maybe. That’s one of the take-aways of A.J. Eaton’s documentary on the pioneering rocker, who started performing with The Byrds (he was later kicked out of the band) before joining up with Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young to create the famous supergroup with the law firm name.
But for all the hits and accolades, he doesn’t seem to have engendered much love from his former bandmates. “I was a difficult cat,” he says mildly..
That’s hard to believe when all you’ve got is the grandfatherly 77-year-old in front of you, expressing regret and sorrow at having hurt so many people, especially the women in his life. Crosby was an addict who spent nine months in prison in 1982 on a variety of drug and weapons charges.
He’s since cleaned himself up, and his wife of 28 years seems both devoted and in love. “When the light does go out, I hope it’s when he’s singing,” she says, adding she can’t bear to think of a life without him.
Eaton’s doc walks a fine line between the “difficult cat” of the ’60s and ’70s and the man today. In spite of his years of substance abuse, Crosby retains the voice of a man half his age, which means his performances still rock.
But he’s also suffering from diabetes, liver failure (he had a transplant in 1994) and heart problems. “I’m afraid of dying,” he relates in the film. “And I’m close.”
Remember My Name, which takes its title from Crosby’s first
solo album in 1971, finds the musician looking back at those who didn’t make it this far. It’s not always a kindly remembrance.
He recalls bonding with Mama Cass over a shared love of good weed, but he never liked Jim Morrison: “What a dork!”
The album If I Could Only Remember My Name featured the song I’d Swear There Was Somebody Here, written in tribute to Crosby’s girlfriend Christine Hinton, who died in a traffic accident in 1969. We hear Eaton asking Crosby: “What would you want to say to her?”
His response, even 50 years on, is choked with emotion: “Sorry. Could have loved you better.”
There might not be a sadder line in a movie or documentary this year.