After six or seven performances of any song, you begin to perform it rather than feel it.
After the lukewarm promotion of our last couple of records, we felt nobody at the company really understood us and cared about us. In days past, record companies were committed to working a band over several singles not just giving up if the first single did not set the charts on fire.
All the signs were right. And when I mean all the sings were right, the only signs that we care about when we start a project of making a record is, do we have the songs - it's that simple.
As artists, we reacted to our environment and wanted to speak about it. When Crosby handed me the Time magazine with the picture on the cover with the girl crouching over the body of the slain student, I watched him write Ohio.
Being in a different band always brings great musical experiences to be able to draw on.
Generally, my writing is influenced by living, by absorbing everything that happens to me and my actions.
I don't have to ask anyone's permission to do anything. It's nice not have to get decisions out of three, sometimes four people, which can be like pulling teeth. So the amount of control that I have over what I'm doing is better for me as a solo artist.
I fail to see the issue that will shock the people of this great country of ours into some decisive action.
I find it somewhat difficult to write with other people, although it has happened occasionally.
I mean, there's times to rock and roll, and I love that too. But I think my first love is acoustic music.
I only do solo albums when songs are screaming at me to be let out of my mind.
I realized at one point that David and I had not made a record together in almost 26 years and I thought that that was absurd because, first of all it had gone so fast, I didn't really realize, neither did David, that it had been that long.
I think Stills has been playing better than ever. I know a lot of it sounds self-serving, but he truly has.
I wasn't thinking of the longevity of any of my songs, but I am extremely pleased with the lasting effect.
I worked very hard on me and David's record and I'm extremely proud of the record, as most people are who were involved with it. And, it's been wonderfully received by people who like our kind of music, they think it's something special, and so do I.
I'm not so sure that people consider homelessness to be as important as, say, the Vietnam War. One should never even try to equate them because, of course, they're tragedies on both sides of the coin.
I'm trying to communicate here. I'm a communicator, I like to communicate, and if a million people buy it then we've touched a million people, if only 10 people buy it, then we've only touched 10, and that's important, because I'm satisfied with only 10. But, I love a million.
I've been a photographer all these years... I haven't been in my own darkroom for 10 years.
I've been listening to a lot of Hollies stuff lately, and it's beginning to sound pretty good to me.
If every human being disappeared off the face of the earth in an instant, the earth would still keep spinning and the planet would develop new life forms.
If I read or listened to critics of our music, I'd have been discouraged a long time ago.
If you don't want to be there, it shows in the energy that you put out and in your actions.
It was very important in the beginning, because we'd all come out of bands that were the Buffalo Springfield, the Hollies.
It's impossible to know why some people don't get the recognition that they deserve.
Just with the basic one guitar, one piano and one vocal and an audience, I think that the intimacy comes through more. People feel much more connected to the song because there's nothing in the way, and I actually enjoy doing that.
Martin guitars have now brought out, you know, on a more traditional level, the Stephen Stills' model of Martin guitars. It's beautiful. I just went inside. I bought one immediately.
Neil's effect on the band was immediate and very fulfilling. He adds a certain edge to the sound and, of course, he is an incredible musician. We became a better band because of the inclusion of Neil Young.
One can't deny what has happened to us in the past. The secret is to enjoy and be proud of the music we've created and the people with whom we have been linked. It's all a long chain of involvement in the world, and we are proud to be yet another link in this chain.
People like Beck and Shawn Colvin are some of the people I listen to lately.
Stephen is playing better lead guitar and he's singing better, and I think this is the best we've sounded in years.
There are always new things to experience, internalize then write about. This process is ongoing with me. It never stops. The opportunity to reach new audiences with all of the music that we have made is thrilling.
There is a great correlation between music and images.
This digital world is completely fascinating to me.
We are excited about the music, past and present and future, and are really looking forward to playing.
We can't forget what happened on May 4th, 1970, when four students gave up their lives because they had the American constitutional right of peaceful protest. They gave up their lives. And to sing that song in that spot on that anniversary was very emotional for us.
We only had enough money really to cut 10 things and be in there for a month because it's expensive, you know. And, singer/songwriters, today are lucky if they can get a deal, you know. So, we actually worked so fast that we really cut 20 things.
We seem to somewhat be behind an eight ball, and what I mean by that is we're constantly waiting for a call from Neil as to whether he wants to do CSNY.
We want to get this good music to as many people as possible because I think it heals, it soothes, I think music is incredibly important, especially in today's chaos.
We were one of the very first people way back in '69 to do fully acoustic and electric sets within the same show.
We will take it one album at a time. We have other tracks in the can, but we'll see.
When I was born in 1942, World War II was still going. And I began to realize when I became a young adult that if we don't teach our kids a better way of relating to their fellow human beings, the very future of humanity on the planet is in jeopardy.
With Crosby, Stills, and Nash and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young... we're very strong individuals, and we want our lives to be led the way we want them to.
You don't get on your feet if you don't have to, you know. And these people were on their feet rockin', and that was thrilling for David and I, absolutely.
You know, every year has been fantastic for me, I'm still here, I'm still alive and it's been fantastic.
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