(Credits: Far Out / Acroterion)
Fri 5 December 2025 15:28, UK
It’s funny to think that some of the most important members of the rock and roll revolution of the 1960s and ’70s could likely walk past a lamen fan without ever being noticed. And, if there was one man who typified that, it might be Graham Nash.
An icon in so many ways, directly involved with Merseybeat legends The Hollies and the Laurel Canyon supergroup that bore their names, that he shared with David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Neil Young, Nash can be considered one hell of an important figure. He can also be considered well-versed in what it means to be in a band.
Every band member needs to learn the meaning of the word ‘compromise’ before even considering putting a group together. Unless you are the undisputed leader or your name is Bruce Springsteen, no one is the boss of a group, and the best music tends to come from people collaborating to make sure they make the best music possible. Graham Nash may have already had great songs at his disposal, but one of his nuggets of brilliance from Crosby, Stills, and Nash was enough to give him the boot from The Hollies.
Before he had become known as one of the biggest names in folk-rock, Nash had already been in the trenches with the golden age of British rock and roll. When working on the club circuit, Nash started to rub shoulders with The Beatles before they were even famous, eventually talking about working with John Lennon before the album Please Please Me came out.
By the time that the late 1960s rolled around, Nash had started to become a bit too stifled working with just one band. He wanted to spread his wings, and joining with David Crosby and Stephen Stills was almost too perfect not to work. Since the band never had any set plans, every record felt like a songwriter’s workshop, using strange tunings and incredible harmonies to flesh out every song.
Graham Nash singing with David Crosby. (Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Although they were far from the first supergroup to come out, the band’s debut album utilised everything every band member could do at their best. There was a little bit of folk, a little bit of rock and roll, and a whole lot of harmonies. Neil Young hadn’t quite come in yet to bring an edge to them, but that didn’t matter so long as fans could sing along to tracks like ‘Marrakesh Express’.
According to David Crosby, the folk direction was the antithesis of what The Hollies had been known for at the time. They had their folksy moments, sure, but they were never going to go full Bob Dylan or Joni Mitchell and make a song dominated by lush acoustic guitars and the kind of stoned-out imagery behind these lyrics.
Looking back on the band’s inception, Crosby thought ‘Marrakesh Express’ was the reason why Nash ended up joining the group, telling MusicRadar, “This is why The Hollies lost Nash. He was writing songs like this. If they had realized how good his songs were – ‘Right Between The Eyes’, ‘Lady Of The Island’, ‘Marrakesh Express’ – I don’t know what would have happened”.
What was one band’s slog became CSN’s biggest success story, standing proudly next to songs like ‘Suite Judy Blue Eyes’ as one of the greatest songs on their debut. Since it worked so well the first time, Nash reimagined himself as a folk songwriter on the next handful of albums, making the kind of blissful acoustic rock that made people take it easy on tracks like ‘Teach Your Children’.
After slogging it out with The Hollies for nearly a decade, though, Nash finally had somewhere he could let out his sensitive side a bit more. The studio environment wasn’t going to get any less volatile, but at least he could speak his mind a bit more than he used to.
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