Do you ever wonder?

on a certain level, martykl has david crosby pegged. he was, however, one of the great harmony singers (go back and listen to the early byrds stuff) and has his name on a fair number of classic songs--8 miles high, wooden ships, triad, etc.--and was actually somewhat groundbreaking in his use of alternate tunings, unconventional song strctures and eastern modalities. mostly, i think he was a great counterculture symbol--the anti-authoritian, outspoken mustachioed jerk in a fringe jacket. dylan, for one, praises him mightily in his autobiography.

Loomis,

In my post I acknowledged that he has a singing voice - I was alluding to the
harmonies. OTOH, even Artie Garfunkel couldn't live off his harmonies for a
decade. I never really appreciated his songs - maybe they deserve another
listen these many years later, but still... I'll take the first Stills solo record,
the early Neil Young solo stuff, Graham Nash's "Songs For Beginner's. You
can keep "If Only I Could Remember My Name".

As to alternate tunings, it's funny, but I always think of Joni and Ritchie
Havens (but not DC) as the pioneers of that approach, I might have to revisit
that one, too. I still suspect that the real reason for his enduring presence is
that he had to have the best drugs.

Marty

marty, you've turned me around on this subject. i retract my earlier post and now concur that he's a drug addled ass clown. his solo work does suck. there's less talented people in the biz, but fate is a fickle mistress.

Read one of Crosby's books.

I admire him as a musician/performer but he's basically a self absorbed, ego driven prick.

The most frequently used words in his books are me and I.

i do think that certain guys can only make worthwhile music in the context of a band--when they step out solo, they flail around miserably. look at the solo records from mick jagger, roger waters, clapton, pete townsend, roger mcguinn et. al.--very little is in the same league as the stuff they did with their bands. pride goeth before the fall, i guess.