Hi,

I just discovered the music of CNS and CSN & Y. For some reason, until recently their art escaped me. Truth to be told, they are not that widely known here in Russia as other great 60s/70s rock acts.

What I noticed immediatelty is that they have many features that resemble me the other great American band from that era - the Eagles.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that these two bands are the berries from different fields all the same. I feel it, but I can not point my finger on what exactly make them different.

So what's your take on CSN and Eagles? Whom you prefer, why, and what's the principal difference between them?

a recent BBC " from the byrds to the eagles" charted the LA sound of this period. The Eagles probably lost it in spectacular fashion. Crosby said the difefrence between CSN&Y and the eagles was SOUL and the eagles were a well drilled soulless machine. when you add neil young to the mix anything can happen.
i kinda like them both, some of the csn stuff can be makish and ya some of th eagles can be bland but at their best..........

The CSNY wembley DVD (filmed forr BBC but never shown) is great if ya can track it down.

i was brougth up with both of those bands and it is diffucult to choose betwwen them but if against the wall i had to choose betwen going to a csny or eagles concert, i would choose csny i think..
why ? more roughness, not too slick, more neil young, more blues
at the same time i love the eagles ballads, the finesse

"eagles = plastic dry f*ck" -Gram Parsons

The Eagles are to CS&N and CSN&Y as the Monkees are to the Beatles.

Check out "Waylon, Willie, and Me" by David Allen Coe.

Here's my rankings of "California" sound acts

Gram/Burritos
70's Rick Nelson
Jackson Browne
Linda Ronstadt
CSNY
Eagles
Firefall
Poco
England Dan/John Ford Coley
All the rest

"No Anchovies, Please"

Monkeylad Wrote:
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> The Eagles are to CS&N and CSN&Y as the Monkees
> are to the Beatles.

That was a very cruel remark, I agree though...

California?

Beach Boys
Byrds
Mamas & Papas

Elmo Lewis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Check out "Waylon, Willie, and Me" by David Allen
> Coe.
>
> Here's my rankings of "California" sound acts
>
> Gram/Burritos
> 70's Rick Nelson
> Jackson Browne
> Linda Ronstadt
> CSNY
> Eagles
> Firefall
> Poco
> England Dan/John Ford Coley
> All the rest


Great rundown, thank you!

The 3 acts schillid mentioned certainly are "California", but just a little different than the country-rock sound.

The harmonys of all 3 of those certainly influenced the next generation. Gram Parsons actually being a Byrd at one time. Their Sweethearts Of The Rodeo album is arguablly ground zero for the country-rock sound.

BB and M&P's harmonies are really hard to beat. But Michelle looked a whole lot better than Brian Wilson!

"No Anchovies, Please"

Elmo Lewis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Check out "Waylon, Willie, and Me" by David Allen
> Coe.
>
> Here's my rankings of "California" sound acts
>
> Gram/Burritos
> 70's Rick Nelson
> Jackson Browne
> Linda Ronstadt
> CSNY
> Eagles
> Firefall
> Poco
> England Dan/John Ford Coley
> All the rest


you forgot the best of 'em all: fleetwood mac!

as for the eagles, i hope they go extinct . . .

Svartmer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Monkeylad Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The Eagles are to CS&N and CSN&Y as the Monkees
> > are to the Beatles.
>
> That was a very cruel remark, I agree though...


I agree, too, except that I'll rarely change the station when a Monkees song comes on the radio. The Eagles just may be the world's dullest band. I like Joe Walsh, though. Or, at least, I like the James Gang and his early solo stuff.

you forgot the best of 'em all: fleetwood mac!

Maybe Buckingham/Nicks - I think the rest were from England.

"No Anchovies, Please"

Elmo Lewis Wrote:
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> England Dan/John Ford Coley

How did they get in here?

Just the same acoustic based sound - America could proabably be in there too.

It's always hard to put a label on music - for example the Rolling Stones - World's Greatest Rock and Roll/Blues/Soul/Reggae/Country Band.

"No Anchovies, Please"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-08-22 17:44 by Elmo Lewis.

CS&N/ CSN&Y were hippies, belonging to the Woodstock generation. The Eagles were 70s stuff, just like Fleetwood Mac. If you want more CS&N, I would recommend America`s first album.

gram and burritos, sin city





older guys !











Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-08-23 17:05 by loochie.

noughties Wrote:
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> CS&N/ CSN&Y were hippies, belonging to the
> Woodstock generation. The Eagles were 70s stuff,
> just like Fleetwood Mac. If you want more CS&N, I
> would recommend America`s first album.


I think the last America's album is just absolutely brilliant. James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins did a great job at producing it.

You might want to try checking out most of Neil Young's 30+ albums.

Funny seeing the Monkees mentioned here.
There's so much more to the Monkees than people realize.
Being a huge Nesmith fan (I still do a song of his in my set to this day
and probably always will), I find his First Nationl Band and solo material
much more interesting than any CSNY or Eagles records.
Those bands did nothing for me. Zilch (Monkees pun intended).
Nesmith's Monkee songs and First National Band/solo albums
are, to me, far more influencial than Parsons' material, and I'm a Parsons' fan.
At least he never put a hot dog on an album cover (What CSN album was that?)
Funny, too, I love the Byrds, Hollies, and Buffalo Springfield,
but CSNY alwas left me cold. Horses for courses....

Mr. Dobolina? Mr. BOB Dobolina??

(I'm sure that meant zilch to about everyone else...)

I with you on the Monkees/Nez. Huge favorites of mine. I had the dj play Mike's Monkees song, "You Just May Be The One" at my wedding. I always say there are two kinds of people: Mike Nesmith fans and those who haven't heard his music!

But I like the CSN/Y thing too. Even though that band was basically over during their 1974 mega-tour, when the news came out that Nixon resigned. They no longer had a reason to exist. Tricky Dick was their nemesis...without him they were pointless.

When they went back to being just CSN in '77 it was bland cocktail lounge music. And it fit the times, too. They were now on the same level as those awful Eagles, who despite having the Biggest Selling Album of All Time (Greatest Hits) couldn't come close to the greatness of CSNY in their prime. If Neil's movie Journey Through The Past is ever released on DVD, you'll see footage of them live that is ELECTRIC--they were musical giants those guys. And there's also a scene of Crosby railing about Nixon.

Last year's CSNY tour pushing Neil's Living With War album brought back a lot of the old fire--with Bush/Iraq now the proxy for Nixon/Vietnam. I'm sorry that's what it took to make it happen...but it's a miracle those guys are still around.

Wow, lots of Eagles bashing here. I'm a fan of their music, although not fanatical. They must be doing something right if they have the biggest selling album of all time in the States. Eagles Greatest continues to sell a ton of copies every year. Sales really picked up in the mid 90's when they did their big reunion tour. The only two bands to outsell the Eagles in the States are the Beatles and Zeppelin. We can blame the Eagles for high ticket prices since they were the first to have tickets over $100!

euromik Wrote:
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> You might want to try checking out most of Neil
> Young's 30+ albums.

I think I've heard at least half of them! ^)

Check out some of Gene Clarks solo stuff, in particular "the Other One" just re-released. I just read today by complete chance whilst flicking thru one of those A-Z books, that he was influnced by Stevie Wonders Innervisions and The Stones Goats head Soup, he was listening to both albums consintantly at the time. to be honest i cant hear it but as Gene said maybe he fell somewher between the spritual high of Innervisions and the dark underbelly of GHS. in any event its a beautiful album.

DGA35 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wow, lots of Eagles bashing here. I'm a fan of
> their music, although not fanatical. They must be
> doing something right if they have the biggest
> selling album of all time in the States. Eagles
> Greatest continues to sell a ton of copies every
> year. Sales really picked up in the mid 90's when
> they did their big reunion tour. The only two
> bands to outsell the Eagles in the States are the
> Beatles and Zeppelin. We can blame the Eagles
> for high ticket prices since they were the first
> to have tickets over $100!


It's a lowest common denominator thing. They're unrelentingly bland .... and bland sells.

The Eagles are a great band, IMHO. Desperado is a stunningly beautiful song.

loog droog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>If Neil's movie Journey Through The Past
> is ever released on DVD, you'll see footage of
> them live that is ELECTRIC--they were musical
> giants those guys.


Wow, I haven't seen that film since maybe 1979 or something like that. Great Midnight Movie. I'd LOVE to see that again. It's EXTREMELY weird!

Russlan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> noughties Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > CS&N/ CSN&Y were hippies, belonging to the
> > Woodstock generation. The Eagles were 70s
> stuff,
> > just like Fleetwood Mac. If you want more CS&N,
> I
> > would recommend America`s first album.
>
>
> I think the last America's album is just
> absolutely brilliant. James Iha of Smashing
> Pumpkins did a great job at producing it.


It's no accident that in March 1972, America's A Horse With No Name knocked Neil Young's Heart of Gold out of the #1 spot on the Billboard singles chart. CSNY didn't record very much, leaving lots of room for imitators. America did a pretty good CSNY imitation. But that's all it was, an imitation.

When I saw the title of this thread I thought "you have to be kidding me." I guess as a big CSNY fan I took it as an insult almost. These bands are really not alike, yeah maybe they both harmonize but thats about it.

For me I love the CSNY that involves the dualing guitars of Neil and Stills. These guys really rock together. Each member of CSNY brings something to the table and watching these guys perform live is really something else. Depending when you have seen them you may get Neil on the piano most of the show, an all acoustic show or a rock n roll show with heavy guitars. Some of their newer material is a bite weak, not Neil but the last few CSNY albums, but these guys are great with diving into their song book and they also play solo material. So when you get the whole big picture of their body of work its quite impressive.

Monkeylad Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Eagles are to CS&N and CSN&Y as the Monkees
> are to the Beatles.

LOL...OUCH. It's true, though. The Eagles have even admitted, like umpteen million other California soft-rockers, that CSN is what inspired them.

The difference is, Crosby, Stills and Nash (I prefer them without Young- he's totally like a third wheel with them and infinitely better on his own) are natural harmonizers, second only to The Beatles, in my not so humble opinion. Everything they write, good, bad or indifferent,is from the heart. Back in the day, Stephen Stills was a f---ing musical genius; after all, he played just about everything on their first album (and most of the second) except the drums himself. The only 'musical genius' The Eagles ever had -and even then I use the term lightly- was Joe Walsh, and he was only there for the last two albums. The Eagles may be more 'commercial' than CSN, but the commerciality of their music makes me sick. It's like those guys WANTED to sell out, and as soon as possible (they succeeded, and deserve to be shot for it...if I never heard "Hotel California" on classic rock radio again I could die a happy man!) CSN actively wanted to REACH OUT to people with their music, and I think managed to do so in a way few other bands could. They didn't call them "The American Beatles" for nothing, folks.

I mean...The Eagles personify 'nostalgia band'. They haven't had anything new to say since 1979 and still tour with obscene ticket prices (they actually started the trend, as I recall)...that is sickeningly arrogant to me and an insult to all their fans. CSN at least still make new music, and some of it actually isn't that bad. They still manage to be relevant- that's the difference right there, I'd say.