When I was in junior high school, our music teacher made the entire class watch the original Woodstock movie. It was a big deal. We even had to have permission slips signed by our parents to watch the film. In retrospect, it’s certainly an odd movie choice for junior high students, and most of my classmates thought it was weird. Very weird. I however, found the sex, drugs and rock and roll utterly fascinating.
I remember the movie opened with “Long Time Gone” by Crosby, Stills & Nash. There were hippie chicks riding horses and galloping across Max Yasgur’s picturesque farm, dudes cruising around on dirt bikes and 4-wheelers, and a crew of engineers assembling the massive rotating stage. I was hooked. To this day, I still love Crosby, Stills & Nash and music documentaries.
I’ve been meaning to watch Remember My Name, the David Crosby documentary, for some time now and when I read the news he had passed, it was finally time to watch the film.
Of course, the movie included Crosby’s musical accomplishments. He helped shape the sound of psychedelic folk rock in the 1960s and was a founding member of two influential bands—The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash—both in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He also had a successful solo career. I’m a big fan of his first solo album, If I Could Only Remember My Name, which was the inspiration for the film’s title. The documentary explores the recording of the album and the musicians who played on it. The guest musicians included members of the Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, Santana, and more.
Crosby was notoriously ornery and unpredictable. He was a man who burned bridges, lost friends, alienated band mates, and regretted all of it. Crosby spoke honestly about his substance abuse and being incarcerated. He discussed the death of his girlfriend, Christine Hinton, who was tragically killed in a traffic accident in Marin County in 1969. She was only twenty-one. He shared his health issues. Crosby suffered multiple heart attacks (he had 8 stints in his heart), contracted Hepatitis C, which destroyed his liver and ultimately forced him to have a liver transplant, and he was also a diabetic. Crosby also wrestled with the fact that friends like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Cass Elliot, all who lived similar lifestyles, had died and he was still alive. Through it all, he had music.
Remember My Name isn’t a movie about redemption per se. Rather, it’s a documentary about an imperfect man who overcame adversity, acknowledged his regrets, and continued to share his talents with the world. And that’s a story about what it means to be human.
I was lucky enough to see Crosby, Stills & Nash open for the Grateful Dead in 1990 at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, New York. After CSN took the stage, Jerry grabbed a chair and sat on the side of the stage for the entire set—bopping his head to the beautiful harmonies. It’s a memory I will never forget.
Fare thee well, Croz.
P.S. If you want to learn more about David Crosby, I recommend the Freak Flag Flying podcast where Crosby shares intimate details of his life with author, Steve Silberman. It’s a wildly entertaining conversation.