CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG VS BUSH, CHENEY, RUMSFELD & ROVE

In 1999 I was still president of Reprise when a quartet of college faves of mine, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunited to record, release and tour behind LOOKING FORWARD. So long ago... remember what it was like in the world before George Bush? The new CSN&Y tour, Freedom of Speech Your '06, is very different from the LOOKING FORWARD Tour.

Ben Werner of the Orange County Register doesn't want to mince words. "The quartet of 60-somethings has rallied around a decidedly strident work, Young's LIVING WITH WAR, easily the most bluntly outspoken response to the president and the Iraq war yet recorded. Slammed out in a six-day rage, the disc's nine straightforward anthems (and choir rendition of "America the Beautiful") scream for CS&N's harmonies and willingness to take a similar stand... Trust me, these won't be your grandfather's CSN&Y shows. Yeah, across 30-plus songs in two sets, they typically toss in 'Our House' and 'Helplessly Hoping' to temper the attack. But with the majority of Young's fed-up firebombs alternating with Vietnam-era staples like 'Ohio' and 'Chicago' and 'For What It's Worth,' this throwback to change-the-world rock will surely be the most protest-heavy series of shows since 2004's Vote for Change.

Crosby was interviewed by Werner and he pointed out that "part of our job is just to rock you, and part of our job is to be like troubadours, carrying the news from one town to another, like town criers. And that part of our job this time is much stronger because Neil came with an entire album of immensely strong songs. And they're very direct songs, man. They're not complex and wispy and out there. They're not 'Guinnevere.' They are right in your face. You know, Neil's (angry). He doesn't think this is a just war, and neither do we. A lot of people in this country feel like they've been hoodwinked. If they're Democrats, they feel that the elections were stolen. If they're Republicans, they feel like their party got swiped and dragged off to the extreme right. There are a lot of people who are unhappy about the lies that have been told. There's a huge mistake going on there, man. It's war for profit rather than principal, and that's really, really a gross thing. The way we feel-- we think that the young people who go to war are some of the best ones we've got. They're the ones who believe in this country enough to put their lives on the line. And to send them over there so Haliburton and Bechtel and Exxon can make a profit, man? That's just not good enough. This administration has been disrespectful to those soldiers all along-- unless they're behind them on the TV cameras. To them, they're just cannon fodder. But to us they're human beings, and every one of them has a mother."

Werner points put the Republican bastion of Orange County is (finally) receptive to and ready for this message but he asks Crosby how the mood of their audiences compare to how it was during the Vietnam era.

It's very similar, man. The country is very, very polarized. There are two distinct sides, and they have very strong feelings. And the administration that is in power is doing a lot of the very same things that were going on during the Nixon years. What people seem to dislike most is having this administration try to marginalize them, tell them that if they don't agree with their politics, then they are being un-American.

Which is just nonsense. We don't agree with this administration, but we love the country. And the people in our audience seem to feel the same way. They believe in this country, in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence. They love this place, and they don't like having it swiped away. We don't either... I guarantee you we will make some people leave. And I'm fine with that. I'm very happy to see that sort of dissent. I heard, actually, that there were going to be people picketing us at some of the places. I think that'd be great, but I haven't seen it yet.

Watch this awesome 9 minute documentary about the tour and the why its relevant to the war and the Bush Regime:



After you watch, if you feel like helping Patrick Murphy's campaign... here you go.