MUSIC NEWS - Know as one of rock's first supergroups, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash helped define the Woodstock generation through their harmonies, pointed resonant songwriting and deep commitment to political and social causes. The trio is back touring this summer in the USA and Europe, with more dates to be added to the USA leg. In between the late-spring North American and early summer European segments of the tour, Crosby, Stills & Nash will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 18 in NYC, and in preparation for the tour, Rhino will release a behind-the-scenes look at the group's early days with a collection of 12 previously unreleased demos recorded between 1968 and 1971. CROSBY, STILLS & NASH DEMOS is out June 2 from Rhino Records at all retail outlets (order below). MNN is thrilled to offer a first listen of three tunes ! (see after the break )

While many demos feature members performing solo, the opening cut includes all three harmonizing on the Nash-penned hit "Marrakesh Express," recorded four months before the release of the trio's debut in 1969. Crosby and Stills are heard on another song from that blockbuster album, "Long Time Gone." The two recorded the demo in June 1968, just a few weeks before Nash joined the group. Neil Young, whose arrival in 1969 launched CSN&Y, performs with Crosby and Nash on "Music Is Love," a song the three cowrote that appeared on Crosby's 1971 solo debut, If I Could Only Remember My Name. Crosby lets loose with his "freak flag" on the anthemic "Almost Cut My Hair," a track featured on the group's 1970 #1 album Déjà Vu. Stills performs unaccompanied on a 1968 demo of "My Love Is A Gentle Thing." Recorded in 1968, the song was never released on a studio album, although a 1975 recording of the track did surface in 1991 on the boxed set CSN.

(photo, Elde Stewart)