Fire and Rain

by David Browne

  In the main, this book is a result of interviews conducted in person, by phone, and by e-mail between November 2008 and September 2010. For starters, I have to thank David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Stephen Stills, each gracious enough to allow me to dredge through this turbulent time for them by way of in-person and telephone interviews and e-mail follow-ups. As much as they probably didn’t relish talking about their ups and downs in 1970, they did it genially and patiently. I thank them for their time.

  For their insights, memories, and recall, thank you to Allan Arkush, Peter Asher, Bob Balaban, Johny (formerly Johnny) Barbata, Stephen Barncard, Joel Bernstein, Jacob Brackman, Bonnie Bramlett, John Brower, Peter Brown, Vincent Bugliosi, Gerald Casale, Kip Cohen, Rita Coolidge, Stan Cornyn, Charlie Daniels, Clive Davis, Richard DiLello, Robert Drew, John Eastman, Michael Finnigan, John Fischbach, Linda Garfunkel, Charles Grodin, Bill Halverson, David Hawk, Jimi Hazel, Monte Hellman, Arthur Janov, Vivian Janov, Alan Katowitz, Jim Keltner, Danny Kortchmar, Russell Kunkel, John Kurlander, Michael Lang, Richard Langham, Mort Lewis, Nils Lofgren, Mike Medavoy, Abbot Mills, Essra Mohawk, Terry David Mulligan, Chris O’Dell, Tom O’Neal (né Gundelfinger), Jonny Podell, Charles John Quarto, Frank Rich, Dan Richter, Susan Martin Robbins, Maggie Roche, Terre Roche, Amalie Rothschild, Calvin Samuel (formerly Samuels), John Scher, Sidney Schnoll, Leland Sklar, Joe Smith, Mark Spector, Toni Stern, Ron Stone, Barbara Stowe, Robert Stowe, Michael Tannen, Dallas Taylor, Joseph Turrin, Klaus Voormann, Paul Watts, Alan White, Nurit Wilde, Rudy Wurlitzer, and Peter Yarrow.

  The James Taylor and Livingston Taylor comments are outtakes from two long interviews I conducted with them in 2001 for a magazine article on James. Larry Knechtel and Ben Keith, musicians who combined consummate skill with splendid humility, both passed away shortly after I spoke with them, and my condolences goes out to their families.

  Thank you to Susan Braudy, Ray Connolly, Ben Fong-Torres, Ellen Sander, and Ritchie Yorke for documenting the times, the music, and the people behind them—and then helping me relive the era through their memories, insights, and transcripts. Henry Diltz was generous with his time, memories, journal entries, and remarkable photo archive.

  Dave Zimmer deserves special mention for his friendship, advice, and patience with all my annoying phone calls and e-mails. His detailed, year-by-year chronicle, Crosby, Stills & Nash: The Biography, is the required text for current or future historians of the band and the scene that created them. Our mutual friend Raymond Foye was also a supportive and helpful pal in this process, as was the legendary Debbie Gold, whose recurring refrain—“Is there any other way I can help?”—is rarely heard music to the ears of authors and historians.

  For helping me reach out to the appropriate parties or assisting in various ways, thank you, Malcolm Addey, Andy Adelewitz, Jeff Albright, Tony Arancio, Lisa Arzt, Jane Ayer, Nick Bailey, Tonya Bell-Green at Carnegie Hall, Gene Bowen, Kelly Bowen, Todd Brodginski, Christoph Buerger, Bud Buschardt, Frank Carrado, Atty Castle, Kay Clary at BMI, Liz Campanile, Tom Cording at Sony, Charles Cross, Michelle Delgado, Donna Dickman, Mika El-Baz, Jason Elzy, Denis Farley, Heidi Ellen Robinson Fitzgerald, Jim Flammia, Michael Fremer, Roger Friedman, Brian Galindo, Rick Gershon, Jill Gillett at Paradigm, Steve Gillette, Erica Hagen, Mike Heatley, Kathy Heintzelman, Meghan Helsel, Martha Hertzberg, David Hochman, Mike Holtzman, Michael Jensen, Jeff Jones at Apple, Meghan Kehoe, Harvey Kleinman at Pryor Cashman, Steve Knopper, Candace Lake, Evan Lamberg, Joe Lawrence, Diane Levinson, Susan Makarichez, Bob Merlis, Buddha and Cree Miller, Ryan Moore, Nelly Neben, Susan Novak, Mollie O’Neal, Binky Philips, Niki Roberton, Drew Rosenfeld, Richard Sandford, Gigi Semone, Adam Sharp, Bill Siegmund at the Audio Engineering Society, Susan Smith, Jim Steinblatt at ASCAP, Ken Stowar of CIUT, Gary Strobl, Anya Strzemien, Paula Szeigis, Alison Teal, Mary Tower, Traci Thomas, Yolanda Vega, Christina Voormann, Jonathan Wolfson, and Josh Young. Despite his insanely busy schedule, Bruce Feiler once again took the time to offer advice and wise counsel.

  With her customary thoroughness and expediency, Anna Brenner excavated plenty of terrific archival material while attending to her burgeoning directorial career. For additional research assistance, many thanks to Lee Abrams; Pete Asch at the New York University Archives; Jennifer Burke at the Selective Service System; Gordon Carmadelle at Musicians Local 47; David Coleman at the Presidential Recordings Program at the University of Virginia; Claude Hall; Dan Levy; Chris Miller; Sean O’Heir; David Priest, who helped me navigate the National Archives in London; my old friend and Beatle and Dylan expert Steve Schwartz; Larry Shannon; and Tom Tierney at Sony.

  At Rolling Stone, many thanks to Will Dana, Jason Fine, Jonathan Ringen, Michael Endelman, and Nathan Brackett for the work, support, and extra time they afforded me to complete this book. Also at RS, thanks to Brian Hiatt and Andy Greene for sharing their thoughts and notes and to Alison Weinflash for the back issues on CD-ROM, which saved me days of library time. Michele Romero’s determined, exhaustive archival dig into numerous photo archives resulted in the terrific photos inside.

  My agent Erin Hosier of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner (no Nash or Young) was supportive from the moment I e-mailed her with the idea for this book. Writers can hope for nothing more than Erin’s energy and enthusiasm. Ben Schafer at Da Capo was again an encouraging and sharp editor, always up for a chat and always knowing when to ask (or not) for updates. For the third time in my career, Martha Trachtenberg brought her astute copyediting skills to one of my manuscripts, from which it emerged unquestionably improved. Thanks to Kathleen Kelly for the extra pair of eyes. Many thanks to Marco Pavia, Kate Burke, and everyone at Da Capo and the Perseus Books Group.

  Music has been a part of my family life for as long as I can recall. My mother, Raymonde, and my late father, Cliff, constantly played records on the family stereo in our New Jersey living room, and my sisters Linda Virginia and Colette initiated me into the music covered in this book by way of the LPs and singles wafting out of their bedrooms. My wife, Maggie, helped me conceive this project and, with her usual wisdom, astuteness, and breadth of knowledge, kept me on message when it came to the themes and presentation. Our daughter Maeve still doesn’t know what to make of those large, circular black objects called “records” floating around the house. But she knows they have something to do with music, and that’s good enough for me.

  NOTES AND SOURCES

  In addition to my own primary-source interviews mentioned earlier, the following books and magazine articles were also sources for some of the information in this book. Archives of the following publications were consulted regularly: the New York Times, Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and Billboard. The Time Inc. library was also a mecca of research and information.

  BOOKS:

  Ayers, Bill, Fugitive Days: Memoirs of an Anti-War Activist (Beacon, 2009)

  Boyd, Pattie, Wonderful Tonight (Harmony, 2007)

  Braudy, Susan, Family Circle (Knopf, 2003)

  Bronson, Fred, The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits (Billboard, 2003)

  Brown, Peter, and Steven Gaines, The Love You Make (McGraw-Hill, 1983)

  Bugliosi, Vincent, with Curt Gentry, Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders (Norton, 2001)

  Caputo, Philip, 13 Seconds: A Look Back at the Kent State Shootings (Chamberlain Brothers, 2003)

  Cross, Charles, Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix (Hyperion, 2005)

  Davis, Clive, with James Willwerth, Clive: Inside the Music Business (Ballantine, 1975)

  DiLello, Richard, The Last Cocktail Party (Playboy, 1972)

  Ehrlichman, John, Witness to Power: The Nixon Years (Simon & Schuster, 1982)

  Emerick, Geoff, Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles (Gotham, 2006)

  Fawcett, Anthony, John Lennon: One Day at a Time (Grove, 1981)

  Feiffer, Jules, Backing into Forward (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2010)

  Gitlin, Todd, The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage (Bantam,
1993)

  Giuliano, Geoffrey, The Lost Beatles Interviews (Cooper Square, 2002)

  Goldman, Albert, The Lives of John Lennon (Morrow, 1988)

  Goodman, Fred, The Mansion on the Hill (Times Books, 1997)

  Graham, Bill, and Robert Greenfield, Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out (Doubleday, 1992)

  Guralnick, Peter, Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley (Little, Brown, 1999)

  Harrison, George, I Me Mine (Chronicle, 2002)

  Hoffman, Abbie, Soon to Be a Major Motion Picture (Putnam, 1980)

  Hoskyns, Barney, Hotel California (Wiley, 2006)

  Kingston, Victoria, Simon & Garfunkel: The Biography (Fromm, 1998)

  Lang, Michael, with Holly George-Warren, The Road to Woodstock (Ecco, 2009)

  Lewisohn, Mark, The Beatles Day By Day (Harmony, 1990)

  Lewisohn, Mark, The Complete Beatles Chronicle (Harmony, 1992)

  Lovell, Jim, and Jeffrey Kluger, Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 (Houghton Mifflin, 1994)

  Luftig, Stacy (editor), The Paul Simon Companion (Schirmer, 1997)

  McDonough, Jimmy, Shakey: Neil Young’s Biography (Random House, 2002)

  Norman, Philip, Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation (Fireside, 1981)

  O’Dell, Chris, with Katherine Ketcham, Miss O’Dell (Touchstone, 2009)

  O’Neil, Thomas, The Grammys: The Ultimate Unofficial Guide to Music’s Highest Honor (Perigee, 1993)

  Oudes, Bruce (editor), From: The President—Richard Nixon’s Secret Files (Harper and Row, 1989)

  Perlstein, Rick, Nixonland (Scribner, 2008)

  Reeves, Richard, President Nixon: Alone in the White House (Simon & Schuster, 2001)

  Rogan, Johnny, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: The Visual Documentary (Omnibus, 1996)

  Sandercombe, W. Fraser (ed.), The Beatles Press Reports 1961-1970 (Collector’s Guide, 2007)

  Santelli, Robert, Aquarius Rising: The Rock Festival Years (Delta, 1980)

  Schulman, Bruce Jr., The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics (Free Press, 2004)

  Taylor, Dallas, Prisoner of Woodstock (Thunder’s Mouth, 1995)

  Weller, Sheila, Girls Like Us (Atria, 2008)

  Wenner, Jann, Lennon Remembers (Popular Library, 1971)

  Weyler, Rex, Greenpeace: How a Group of Ecologists, Journalists, and Visionaries Changed the World (Rodale, 2004)

  White, Timothy, Long Ago and Far Away: James Taylor, the Life and Music (Omnibus, 2001)

  Zimmer, Dave, Crosby, Stills & Nash: The Biography (Da Capo, third edition, 2008)

  Zimmer, Dave (ed.), 4 Way Street: The Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Reader (Da Capo, 2004)

  Zollo, Paul, Songwriters on Songwriting (Da Capo, 2003)

  SELECTED ARTICLES

  Alterman, Laraine, “Paul Simon,” Rolling Stone, May 28, 1970

  Aronowitz, Alfred G., “In Paul’s Own Write,” New York Post, April 20, 1970

  Aronowitz, Alfred G., “Phil Spector Finds a Group,” New York Post, February 3, 1970

  Bailey, Andrew, “George Does a Turn for Ravi,” Rolling Stone, October 29, 1970

  “Beatle Asked to Testify at Tate Trial,” Washington Post, October 29, 1970

  Bernstein, Carl, “Gentle James,” Washington Post, July 29, 1970

  Braudy, Susan, “James Taylor, a New Troubadour,” The New York Times Magazine, February 21, 1971

  Browne, David, “James Taylor: The Greats,” Entertainment Weekly, December 7, 2001

  Caldwell, Earl, “Tate Jury Denied Death-Site Visit,” New York Times, January 19, 1971

  Connolly, Ray, “The Party’s Over, but None of us Wants to Admit It,” London Evening Standard, April 21, 1970

  Darnton, John, “20,000 Youths Attended Rock ‘Festival for Peace’ Here,” New York Times, August 7, 1970

  “Fatal U. of W. Blast Laid to Bomb in Truck,” Chicago Tribune, August 25, 1970

  Fong-Torres, Ben, “Art Garfunkel: The Rolling Stone Interview,” Rolling Stone, October 11, 1973

  Fong-Torres, Ben, “Hello Darkness, My Old Friend,” Rolling Stone, January 12, 1971

  “Frantic Filming of a Crazy Classic, The,” Life, June 12, 1970

  Fremer, Michael, “Veteran Recording Engineer Roy Halee on Recording Simon and Garfunkel and Others,” Musicangle.com, July 1, 2005

  Gould, Jack, “Ed Sullivan Devotes Show to Music by Beatles,” New York Times, March 2, 1970

  Harris, Lew, “Like Old Times Again,” Chicago Tribune, July 6, 1970

  Heckman, Don, “View from Simon’s Bridge,” New York Times, February 27, 1972

  Kneeland, Douglas E., “Campuses Quiet but Not Content,” New York Times, December 20, 1970

  Landau, Jon, “Paul Simon: The Rolling Stone Interview,” Rolling Stone, July 20, 1972

  Large, Arlen J., “Gore, Brock and ‘Southern Strategy,’” Wall Street Journal, October 20, 1970

  Lee, Victoria, “Teen Songwriters Hit,” New York World-Telegram, December 27, 1957

  Montgomery, Paul L., “Slain Youths Lacked Time for ‘Politics,’” New York Times, May 16, 1970

  “New Rock: Bittersweet and Low, The,” Time, March 1, 1971

  “Nixon Requests Broadcasters to Screen Lyrics,” Billboard, October 24, 1970

  North, Patrick, “Ringo & Friends in Country Country,” Rolling Stone, August 16, 1970

  Pagliasotti, Jim, “Concert Proves Again CSN&Y Without Peers in Rock Music,” Denver Post, May 13, 1970

  Palmer, Tony, “Super-group Mythology,” London Observer, January 11, 1970

  Robinson, Douglas, “Manson Called a Megalomaniac by Prosecutor as Trial Begins,” New York Times, July 25, 1970

  Schultz, Terri, “Old Beatles Never Die; They Just—,” Chicago Tribune, March 12, 1970

  Siegel, Jules, “Midnight in Babylon,” Rolling Stone, February 18, 1971

  Taylor, Derek, “The Beatles Split: Report from a Front Row Seat,” Chicago Tribune, July 26, 1970

  Volsky, George, “Illicit Traffic in Cocaine ‘Growing by Leaps and Bounds’ in Miami,” New York Times, February 1, 1970

  Watts, Michael, “Stephen Stills,” Circus, July 1972

  Weiler, A. H., “Son of ‘Help!’,” New York Times, February 15, 1970

  Wierzynski, Gregory H., “New Campus Mood: From Rage to Reform,” Time, November 30, 1970

  Wright, Robert A., “Youths Battle Police on Coast,” New York Times, February 27, 1970

  Yorke, Ritchie, “A Visit to Steve Stills’ House,” Los Angeles Times, June 14, 1970

  Yorke, Ritchie, “John, Yoko, Kyoko Get Trimmed,” Rolling Stone, February 21, 1970

  ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION

  Archives of New York University, Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, New York

  Assorted documents and “President Richard Nixon’s Daily Diary,” Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

  Catch-22, DVD commentary (Paramount, 2001)

  “James Paul McCartney vs. John Ono Lennon, George Harrison, Richard Starkey, and Apple Corps Ltd.,” court documentation and affidavits, National Archives, London

  “James Taylor,” Warner Brothers press bio, 1970

  Two-Lane Blacktop, DVD commentary (Criterion Collection, 2007)

  U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, “Current Population Reports,” March 5, 1971

  INDEX

  Abbey Road (album)

  ABKCO

  Acevedo, Susan

  Acoustic guitar sales

  “Across the Universe” (song)

  Advertising Age

  After the Gold Rush (album)

  cover art of

  Reeves and

  Agnew, Spiro

  Ailes, Roger

  Airport (film)

  Alberto-Culver

  Alice in Wonderland (play)

  All Things Must Pass (album)

  Allen, Woody

  Allman, Duane

  Allman Brothers Band, The

  “Almost Cut My Hair” (song)


  Altamont Speedway

  Altman, Robert

  “America” (song)

  “American Bandstand” (television show)

  Animals, The

  Ann-Margret

  Antiwar movement

  films

  “Anywhere Like Heaven” (song)

  Apollo

  Apple Corps

  dissolution of

  McCartney, Paul, separation from

  royalties and

  Apple Records

  Asher, Peter, and

  Crosby, Stills & Nash and

  Get Back and

  O’Dell and

  Taylor, James, and

  Apple Scruffs

  “April Come She Will” (song)

  Aragones, Sergio

  Arkin, Alan

  Arkush, Allan

  Army Mathematics Research Center

  Aronowitz, Al

  “As I Come of Age” (song)

  Asher, Betsy

  Asher, Jane

  Asher, Peter

  Apple Records and

  Carnegie Hall and

  Crosby, Stills & Nash and

  Hellman and

  Klein and

  McCartney, Paul, and

  MGM Records and

  O’Dell and

  Reprise Records and

  Sklar and

  Sweet Baby James and

  Sweet Baby James tour and

  Aspinall, Neil

  Associated Press

  Atkins, Susan

  Atlanta International Pop Festival

  Atlantic Records

  Déjà vu and

  AT&T

  Au Go Go Singers

  Austin Riggs Center

  Autry, Gene

  “Awaiting on You All” (song)

  “Baby Driver” (song)

  Bacall, Lauren

  Bach to Rock Music Festival

  Baez, Joan

  “Bag One” (exhibit)