Graham Nash holds a place in rock ’n’ roll history
For more than half a century of his “Rock & Roll Life” (the title of his autobiography), Graham Nash has performed with a quintet (the Hollies), a quartet (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), a trio (Crosby, Stills & Nash), a duo (Crosby-Nash) and as a solo performer. His preference? “Right now, it’s being a solo,” Nash said. “When you write as much as I do, it’s confining to be in a band with three or four very strong writers who deserve to have their songs heard, too. If we do 20 songs, I get only five of them. As a solo artist, I get to do a lot of my songs that I’ve never gotten a chance to sing onstage.”
That’s what fans will get Friday at the Stafford Centre, “An Evening with Graham Nash.” Just the beloved folk-rocker with a guitar, a piano and his life’s work of music. Tickets are available at staffordcentre.com.
“You’re going to get everything from my past and my future,” Nash, 74, said. “I’m a curious man, I’m always searching and trying to make my way through the world and talk about it honestly. That’s what I’ve always put into my songs. That’s the duty of an artist, to be honest.”
Nash’s past so far has been remarkable. In 1962, while a teenager in England, he formed the Hollies. On the back of their first album, Nash is called “the group’s leader.” Fifteen albums and 30 smash singles later, Nash and the Hollies were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Their “Greatest Hits” album is packed with “Just One Look,” “Look Through Any Window,” “Bus Stop,” “On a Carousel” and “Carrie-Ann.” That’s just Side 1.
Then Crosby, Stills & Nash — more gold records — inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, again.
Which became Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, one of the most respected and politically active supergroups in rock history. Their first onstage performance was at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago, a 4,000-seat venue. The next night they played Woodstock, in front of a slightly larger crowd.
Nash wrote some of their biggest hits, “Marrakesh Express,” “Our House,” “Teach Your Children,” “Wasted on the Way” and “Just a Song Before I Go.”
In 2010, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for “services to music and charitable activities.”
Add six solo albums along the way. That’s a lot to put into just one “Evening with Graham Nash.”
“I have a skeleton of a setlist, but very often I make left turns, usually just to upset the crew. They’re expecting me to do ‘Helplessly Hoping’ (1969, Crosby, Stills & Nash), and I do something else. It’s very interesting preparing the setlist when it’s just my music. I’m going way back. I may even start with ‘Bus Stop’ (1966, Hollies) and make it all the way through a lot of the new stuff.”
The “new stuff” is his latest CD, “This Path Tonight,” his first collection of new songs in 14 years. What took so long? “I just didn’t have much to say. I was immersed in the music of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. We put out 16 CDs around the world in that time. We did over 400 shows,” Nash said.
Now is different. Things certainly have changed, and he has a lot to say.
“My divorce from my wife of many (38) years took place, and I’ve fallen deeply in love with a beautiful lady artist from New York. My life is different. The songs on my new CD are emotional feelings that I have to get off my chest right now. The CD has been out for a week, and the response has been mind blowing. I’ve been all over the world promoting it. I’ll be playing a lot of the new songs — and the old songs — when I get to Texas.
“When I was inducted into the Hall of Fame with David Crosby and Stephen Stills, and the Hollies, I was amazed. I mean, look at the people who are in there, from Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin all the way to the Beatles and the Everly Brothers and Elvis. These are my heroes.
“So many years later, I’m amazed that I can still see so much beauty in the world. I can still create, and I can be satisfied with who I am and what I’ve done with my life. I’m grateful to have been born when I was. I’ve been witness to some incredible music. When I wrote my autobiography, I looked down at what I had written, all the stories about those incredible times and music and people, and I thought, ‘I wish I had been there’ — and I was!”