Pre-Road Downs

Album: Crosby, Stills & Nash (1969)
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Songfacts®:

  • Crosby, Stills & Nash first sang together during an informal jam at the house of Cass Elliot. The trio were so fond of the Mamas And The Papas' singer that they let her sing backing vocals on this song during the part that goes "Hotels and midnight coaches. Be sure to hide the roaches."

    "She insisted, and with good reason," Nash recalled to Uncut magazine in 2014. "Nobody else would have the balls to do that, that we loved her dearly. So we agreed."

    "I've always thought that Cass understood intuitively what the sound of me, David and Stephen singing together would sound like, and when she introduced me to them, she knew they were trying to put something together," Nash added.

    Cass Elliot was the only person outside of the trio who sang on the Crosby, Stills & Nash album.
  • David Crosby commented to MusicRadar.com of this Graham Nash-penned tune: "A Nash song after he realized that he could write rock 'n' roll – fierce rock 'n' roll."
  • The backwards guitar was played by Stephen Stills. Said an admiring Crosby: "This is real backwards guitar, and how he got it match up to the forwards stuff, I have no idea. He did it, and we looked him and thought, This guy is from f---ing Mars! I'm still freaked out by it."

Comments: 2

  • Babe Root from Houston TexasOne of the most underrated Crosby, Stills, and Nash tracks of all time. Sure...The Beatles had worked in backward guitar picking before...but what Stills did here...was genius. And to make it even that more special...sweet Mama Cass Elliot sang harmonies with them on the chorus. A beautiful track, that will put you right in the middle of the atmosphere of the times.
  • Mauro from Milan, ItalyFantastic song: "midnight roaches"
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