The musicians whom David Crosby described as “advanced” singer-songwriters

In a 1979 interview with Rolling StoneMitchell recalled the first time she met Crosby after her performance in Florida. “He was tanned. He was smooth. He was cleaning out his boat and it was supposed to be the start of a new life for him,” she recalled fondly. “I remember him being paranoid about his hair. Long hair in a short-haired society.” The hippie ideals that Crosby held onto stayed with him throughout his life and rubbed off on everyone he met.

Looking back, Mitchell remembered Crosby’s supportive attitude and the crucial role he played in her career. However, as many colleagues have recounted over the years, his personality had a caustic side that he struggled to keep under control. “Crosby has an enthusiasm like no other,” she said. “He can make you feel like you’re worth a million dollars or bring you down with the same force.” Although she alluded to Crosby’s long-running feud with her former partner Graham Nash, Mitchell remembered him fondly. “He did me an incredible service that I will never forget,” she said. “He used his success and his name to make sure my songs weren’t adulterated to fit the folk-rock trend.”

In return, Crosby was immensely proud to have been part of Mitchell’s career and considered her one of the best musicians of all time. “She is the best songwriter alive, at least as good as Bob (Dylan) and ten times the better musician,” he said. The times in 2018. “When she was my old lady, I would always write something and say, ‘Listen to this!’ She would say, ‘That’s nice, Dave,’ and play me three new songs of hers that were much, much better than mine.”

In 1994, after suffering from addiction problems for many years, Crosby’s doctor told him he needed an immediate liver transplant because his current liver was damaged beyond repair. While preparing for the risky transplant, Crosby learned that his long-lost son, James Raymond, had been searching for him. Fortunately, the operation was successful and the couple were reunited.

Crosby and a former girlfriend had given Raymond up for adoption in 1962. Although he lived a life separated from his father, Raymond followed his genetic calling and became a respected keyboardist and composer. “I was lying in the hospital dying, and I knew I had a son out there somewhere,” Crosby said The Baltimore Sun“I blamed myself for years because I wasn’t there for this child.”

With a new lease on life, Crosby rebuilt his music career in collaboration with his long-lost son. “He was this nice, decent young guy, and we became friends right away,” Crosby said. The reunited pair formed a jazz-rock band called CPR (Crosby, Pevar and Raymond), and by January 1997 they were touring and performing together.

In 1998, after the first successful CPR tour, Crosby spoke about the new band. He showed nothing but respect and admiration for his son and felt that together they made a first-rate songwriting duo. With his son’s jazz leanings in the mix, Crosby called their material “advanced singer-songwriter stuff.” He compared their work to some of their influences. “Steely Dan, Bruce Hornsby, James Taylor, Jackson Browne,” he listed. “There’s tons of people out there. And you know, people like Paul Simon, people who like Shawn Colvin, people who like Mark Cohen, people who like good singer-songwriter stuff. They’re going to love this damn band for doing that stuff.”

Although CPR never achieved the same level of fame as Crosby, Stills & Nash, the band gained a large following among Crosby’s fan base and also gained some fusion fans thanks to their jazz influences. The band’s most important achievement, however, was the reconciliation of father and son after more than three decades of separation. The power of music should never be underestimated.

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