David Crosby - King Biscuit Flower Hour

His famous return to the stage. Live at the Tower Theatre in Philadelphia on April 8, 1989. Features CSN classics. Collector's edition liner notes and vintage photos.14 tracks on this1996 release. Album Description

classic yet little known

here is david crosby in great form and fine voice.the very first song,"tracks in the dust" sets the tone for the whole cd.a little known "nighttime for the generals" rocks out.david and the band were one for this performance.
note-stipped down versions of this are available under different titles,so remember to specify the KING BISCUIT version. September 15, 2008

he didn't miss a step

There are several compelling reasons why one might be interested in purchasing this recording of David Crosby's April, 1989 concert at the historic, 3500-seat Tower Theatre in Philadelphia, not the least of which is the fact that Crosby was marking a return to the stage after nearly a decade of descent into drug abuse and, eventually, a prison sentence. An appearance on the King Biscuit Flower Hour, a nationally syndicated supplier of concerts prepared for radio broadcast, usually indicates that the performers are releasing a new album, and for Crosby that album was 1990's 'Oh, Yes I Can'.

In addition to this being Crosby's exclamation of triumph over drug addiction, 'KBFH Presents David Crosby' offers the listener a rare opportunity to hear Crosby sans his usual sidekicks, Graham Nash and Stephen Stills. So here we get a chance to hear David put his own spin on tracks such as 'Guinnevere', 'Deja Vu', and 'Wooden Ships', and while I certainly wouldn't go so far as to say that Still's guitar and Nash's harmonies aren't missed, there is an urgency and freshness to these performances that CS&N may never be able to muster again.

David offers up a compelling song list, delving back into his circa-1970 CSN&Y compositions such as 'Guinnevere', 'Deja Vu', 'Wooden Ships', 'Almost Cut My Hair' and 'Long Time Gone', along with tracks from two CS&N reunion's, 1977's 'In My Dreams' and 1982's 'Delta'. It's interesting just to hear Crosby cover these tracks with substitute harmonies and backing musicians, and I'm pleased to report that none of these versions disappoint. Keyboardist Michael Finnigan draws on his longstanding studio and concert work with CS&N, and adds some impressive harmonies, while guitarist Dan Dugmore (longtime session steel guitarist for Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor) takes over lead guitar duties for Stills. Crosby's band also features bassist Davey Farragher, who has backed John Hiatt, and drummer Jody Cortese, whose career may well have peaked out right here. All-in-all, a better-than-average collection of musicians, able to exhude their own personality, even over these nostalgic tracks.

Half of the setlist offered by Crosby is drawn from two new releases, 1988's CSN&Y reuinion disc 'American Dream' ('Night Time For the Generals' and 'Compass') and 1990's 'Oh, Yes I Can' (the title track, plus 'Drive My Car' [not the Lennon/McCartney classic], 'Monkey and the Underdog', 'Tracks In the Dust' and 'Lady of the Harbor'). While none of these numbers is on a par with Crosby's legendary compositions from the 1960's, they do show Crosby's musical genius was far from snuffed out by drug usage. And while 'Tracks In the Dust' and 'Compass' add to Crosby's lengthy acoustic legacy, 'Drive My Car', 'Monkee and the Underdog', and 'Night Time For the Generals' show Crosby still knows how to rock, as well as carry a politicized edge. Since most of the songs speak to his experience overcoming massive life problems, they are (for Crosby) uncharacteristically upbeat and optimistic. 'Lady of the Harbor', done in homage to the Statue of Liberty on her 100th birthday, is even patriotic. So these songs provide a vital contrast to Crosby's more dark and pessimistic fare from earlier in his career.

This King Biscuit recording is culled entirely from one night's performance, so the possibilities for an off-kilter performance or poor recording quality are high, but neither materializes as an unfortunate circumstance. In fact, Crosby and the band sound tight and energized, and the recording is just about flawless. There is the occasional missed note, and a couple untimely audience "contributions", but David and the band hardly seem fazed at all, and so for the most part neither will you. The 1996 'Collector's Edition' is digitally remastered and the package includes detailed liner notes with several photographs, presumably from this show. If you go for the analog-to-digital 1990 version, be sure to get it at a discounted price. It may be tough however to beat the $3.49 I paid (shipping included) for my 1996 copy on ebay. June 27, 2005

Crosby at his best - Buy this before it goes out of print!!

So it happens that this under-marketed CD chronicles one of the highest points in Crosby's career celebrating his triumph over chemical abuse.

Crosby's rendition of "Oh, yes I can" here is probably the most maginificent, moving and honest self-commentary in the history of rock music, coming from the man who had gone there and back who used to be, for want of a better word, so arrogant. The emotional content of this performance surpasses the subdued studio version (sadly out of print) by a gigantic margin.

The "monkey and the underdog" that follows, with the introduction "I am the underdog", hits the same emotional height as Crosby confesses "I'm fighting just to get from four o'clock to five".

I treasure this CD. You just listen to it. January 12, 2003

The best he can be !

Recorded in 1989, David Crosby was fresh out of prison, clean and sober, and by the sound of this live recording, was out to prove he could still be an important musician. He manages to prove just that !

The band at this time consisted of Dan Dugmore (lead guitar), Mike Finnegan (keyboards), Davy Farragher (bass), and Jody Cortez (drums), and David (rhythm guitar). That's it. No cameos from Graham or anyone else, and that suits me just fine. It's just David out in front of a simple band, with no one else vying for center stage. He actually plays guitar on every single track (except for the piano ballads "Delta",and "Oh, Yes I Can"),and although he's never been more than a marginal guitarist, he's does a respectable job grinding out chords behind Dugmore's excellent leads. This is most apparent on "Wooden Ships", where we hear David's twelve string ringing true, and it seems he was actually making an effort to get creative with it. This is most telling at closing portion of the song where he provides a goosebump provoking lick to close out the song. This is the best live performance of "Wooden Ships" I've ever heard, either by CSN, CSN&Y, Jefferson Airplane, or on Stills' solo efforts. We get similar results on "Deja Vu", "Long Time Gone", and "Almost Cut My Hair". The album is balanced out by material from the "Oh, Yes I Can" album, and basically mirrors the solo versions, which is ok. The material was new at this point in time. Per Croz's usual routine, the show starts out with an acoustic set (Tracks in the Dust, Guinnevere, Compass, and In My Dreams). He does a nice enough job with these (with the exception of the lyrically tortured "Compass", a song with such obscure lyrics that even the composer forgets the words on the first line !). But the real gems are the electric songs. Along with the aforementioned classics, we get the new composition "Nighttime For the Generals", which rocks (with David adding guitar...something he didn't do on American Dream).

All-in-all, this is one fine live album. I listen to it a lot. David should be proud of this one ! October 27, 1999

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