CSNY 1974 is the nineteenth album by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, their seventh in the quartet configuration, and their fifth live album, the third as a foursome. Issued on Rhino Records in 2014, it consists of concert material recorded in 1974 on the band's tour during the summer of that year. It was issued in several formats: a standard compact disc box set consisting of three audio discs and a standard DVD; as one pure audio Blu-ray disc and a Blu-ray DVD; and a more expensively packaged limited deluxe edition consisting of the material on six vinyl records along with the Blu-ray discs and a coffee table book. Two single disc samplers were also issued, one of the acoustic material exclusively available at Starbucks in the United States and Canada, and another at normal retail outlets. Each of the non-sampler sets also contained a 188-page booklet, and all formats were released the same day. The three-disc and DVD package peaked at #17 on the Billboard 200, while the Starbucks sampler peaked at #37 and the selections sampler at #81.
Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) is a folk rock supergroup made up of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. They are known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY) when joined by occasional fourth member Neil Young. They are noted for their intricate vocal harmonies, often tumultuous interpersonal relationships, political activism, and lasting influence on US music and culture. All four members of CSNY have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, though Young's inductions were for work not involving the group.
Prior to the formation of CSN, each member of the band had belonged to another prominent group. David Crosby played guitar, sang and wrote songs with the Byrds; Stephen Stills had been a guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist and songwriter in the band Buffalo Springfield (which also featured Neil Young); and Graham Nash had been a guitarist, singer and songwriter with the Hollies.
Due to internal friction, Crosby was dismissed from the Byrds in late 1967. By early 1968, Buffalo Springfield had disintegrated, and after aiding in putting together the band's final album, Stills was unemployed. He and Crosby began meeting informally and jamming. The result of one encounter in Florida on Crosby's schooner was the song "Wooden Ships", composed in collaboration with another guest, Jefferson Airplane's Paul Kantner.
The boat that failed it's only sail
is burning in the river
It's heating up the water mains
while the rest of the house just shivers
It's sinking fast
straight through the grass
A buoyant mask
A medical grasp
and that... was
all I had to give her
...but I will take my hand's mistakes
Stay afloat in
this flushing river
With the smell of your soul
and fix the bridge that
bowed
from the blows that age delivers
But I fear collapse...
as your
weight will pass
You know... I love you more that you will know
Something
is coming for us
t's coming through the vents
.for the worst and
best.
And so it seems
Like old beliefs...
We're struggling in the
water
Fishing for a fish that knows
of a way to save the other...
Don't turn
blue
It's turning the room...
and as it spins the violence
coats the walls
in bother...
Carousels and comet tails
are somewhere in this river
...and