Five musicians David Crosby hated with a real passion: “Grotesque, negative ego trip”
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In bleak times, the world needs heroes such as David Crosby. Despite his many flaws, you’d be hard-pressed to find any culturally significant figure who doesn’t have serious pitfalls; this internal dichotomy produces both triumph and the obstacles that make their victories resound even more.
A folk-rock pioneer famed for his work in The Byrds, CSN, and CSNY, there can be no doubt regarding Crosby’s talent as a songwriter, guitarist and vocalist. From the early moments of The Byrds to their psychedelic classic Fifth Dimension and on to the defining opus of the countercultural era, CSNY’s Déjà Vu, he resoundingly showed his genius on many occasions. Furthermore, his unwavering creativity would later be heard with the jazz-rock outfit CPR and his solo work.
Yet, Crosby’s character afforded his many consequential musical efforts a different dimension. A divisive figure unafraid to make his opinions known, he would be fired from The Byrds for voicing those thoughts and later have a strained relationship with his CSNY bandmates, particularly Neil Young. Crosby burned that particular bridge after Crosby felt compelled to offensively criticise the Canadian’s wife, actor Daryl Hannah.
Giving a taste of Crosby’s fire and his comical way with words, after things had reached boiling point with Young in 2021, he maintained: “Neil has got a genuine beef. I did say something bad about his girlfriend [Daryl Hannah]. I said I thought she was a predator. OK, he can be mad at me. That’s all right.”
But while it would be easy to add those names to the list, it’s hard to imagine Crosby ever truly hating those people. They were, whether he always liked it or not, some of the most important musicians he ever worked with, and there’s a good chance he recognised that.
If it wasn’t already clear, the late Californian was unafraid of making his opinions known. From interviews to Twitter – the latter encompassing taking down musical peers and judging fans’ joint rolling skills – he was a real one until the end. Even those he irked will certainly miss his impish character to some degree. Prone to providing challenging insight and pure comedy, bleak times such as the present are made that bit worse without figures as complex and perenially fascinating as he was.
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