It’s been a bittersweet year thus far for Crosby Stills & Nash member, Graham Nash. Between losing bandmate, David Crosby earlier this year and readying a new record, the 81-year-old says there’s been a lot to process in a few short months.
LISTEN NOW: Graham Nash on the day he met David Crosby on the Broken Record with Rick Rubin podcast
“It’s been an intense year so far,” Nash told Rick Rubin during a recent episode of the Broken Record podcast. “Losing friends and a combination of being incredibly sad because of the loss of friends and incredibly excited that I have a new record coming out. It’s like I’m in-between this thing — it’s been very strange this year.”
While emotions have been all over, the one thing that remains constant is Nash’s love for music and the heartwarming memories he cherishes of his time with Crosby. He proceeded to share one of those memories, which ended up being about the very first time they met.
“One day, I’m in Los Angeles and Cass [Cass Elliot from the Mamas and the Papas] calls me and she said ‘What’re you doing? I’ll come pick you up, I want to introduce you to a friend of mine.'”
After picking him up from a hotel in Los Angeles in her Porshe convertible, Nash recalls Elliott taking him to a “strange little house,” where he eventually met Crosby.
“We go upstairs and there’s this nice living room, very little furniture. A couch, a couple of speakers and a stack of music stuff, and then there’s this guy lying on the couch in a white and blue striped t-shirt and his jeans, no shoes.”
He continued, “On his chest was a shoebox lid full of grass and he was looking at me while Cass introduced me as her friend. He never lost eye contact with me whilst shaking the lid of the shoebox and separating the seeds from the stems of the grass and I thought that was amazing. Then he proceeded to roll one of the most perfect joints I’d ever seen in my life.”
That marked the beginning of not only a one-of-a-kind friendship for Nash and Crosby, but also a highly successful creative partnership that provided them many years of success and memories to last a lifetime.
Hear more about some of Nash’s favorite memories with Crosby — like the time Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia improvised a near-perfect pedal steel solo on “Teach Your Children,” and much more by checking out Part 2 of his conversation with Rick Rubin on the Broken Record. Plus, hear the inspiration behind his new solo album and more.
LISTEN NOW: Graham Nash on the Broken Record with Rick Rubin podcast (PART 2)
The Broken Record podcast features hosts Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam, and Justin Richmond as they talk about their life, inspiration, and craft with special guests.
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