If I Could Only Remember My Name

"If Only I Could Remember My Name" is the debut solo studio album by American singer-songwriter David Crosby. Psychedelic folk, freak folk and folk are the Wiki-listed genres. A few more could be added but fine. It was one of four high-profile albums released by each member of Crosy, Stills, Nash and Young after the success of their 1970 sophomore album "Déjà Vu." During the writing and recording of the album, Crosby was still in mouring the loss of his girlfriend, Christine Hinton, from a 1969 automobile accident and locked himself in a San Francisco studio and also did hard drugs. Many musicians dropped by and contributed on the album including Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Graham Nash, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Jack Casady, Mickey Hart, David Freiberg, Paul Katner and Grace Slick. The album reached #12 both in the US and UK. The album initially received negative reviews but has since gone on to receive praise and cult fandom fandom. An acoustic guitar opens the album in the first-released single "Music Is Love." Crosby's high-pitched voice with assistance on vocals by Graham Nash and Neil Young as they repeat singing the song's title. Young on congas too. "Cowboy Movie" is more rock with a slow, grinding guitar very remiscent of Young's "Cowgirl in the Sand." Jerry Garcia on guitar and Phil Lesh on bass. Crosby with throttled, screaming vocals as tells an Old West tale of outlaws torn apart by a femne fatale. Garcia continues on the pedal steel as well as Lesh bass in the wonderful "Laughing." Lovely melodies and Nash harmonies in Crosby's quest to find a wise guru to answer his life's questions which unfortunately leave him laughing. Garcia and Crosby spend the first part "What Are Their Names" noodling around on their guitars. The drums eventually come in along with a host of vocalists. A protest song questioning the unseen, apathetic ruling elite. Acoustic guitar strikes open "Traction in the Rain." A spiraling guitar joins in creating a guitar overlay. Crosby can't hold on and searches for a purpose in life. This album is another example of why 1971 just may be the best year in music. The summer of love is long gone as Crosby mourns the loss of his girlfriend and sinks himself deeper into drug addiction. This mood pervades the album as the tones are subdued, stoner and stark. In the lyrics, Crosby seems to be searching and yearning for deeper meanings of life in general. The music takes on the musicians that he is playing with whether it's more hippie-ish and jam band-y with Garcia and Lesh or more harmony-led folk with Nash and Young. In all cases, I found this a very compelling and a very good album. It's not the album, you want to whip out at a party but one worth a listen: it stands up to the other CSNY releases at the time.

Never heard of this album or artist before and, frankly, I have no idea what I'm in for. This brand of album cover is very 90s-coded, though I can't help but notice that this thing was released in 1971. Were I to guess, I suspect I'm in for a folk album, though I'm really taking a shot in the dark with that one. Yup, folk. I'm not a folker, and I suspect the ship for me to become one is already long at sea. There are a few interesting genres in here, though truth be told this album is deathly, deathly boring. There's a great bit of dead air in here, which is made even worse by the nondescript feelings I have for country. "Cowboy Movie" is pretty alright, even if the song is way too long. The bluesy/country sound is a good blend and an interesting pivot for the album. Crosby's vocals aren't half-bad, either. "Traction in the Rain" is a good tune from later in the album. The atmospheric acoustic guitar performance is pretty pleasing, and Crosby's vocals are once again good. "Song With No Words" is another good tune - I wasn't expecting to be hit with two good tunes back-to-back. The rambling vocal style is well-executed, and I am once again a fan of the delicate instrumentation. Book time. A lot of collaborators. Charted decently. Moving over to Wikipedia reveals that this album has a cult following. Yeah, nah. This thing kinda sucks dick. In place of this album, I humbly submit The Mollusk by Ween for inclusion on the list.

pretty cool but honestly nothing special. was hoping for a little bit more because crosby’s really cool

Very laid back. Nice vocal harmonies. I wish some of the songs were longer.

This sounds like an amalgamation of all other Crosby projects. Love the cameos from Neil and Joni.

I didn’t really enjoy the listen I found the album a little strange and there was kinda of only 1 song that stood out to me which was Traction In The Rain there was also definetely stuff that was interesting just not the type of album that has songs that go to the playlist. 5.5/10.

Y'know, this is something of a milestone for our group, actually. With this album, we've finally listened to the last of the CSNY-adjacent albums on this list! Well, subtracting the "Y" from the equation, anyway; we've still got three more of his albums to get through. But as for the main three, yeah, after this, we're all done with 'em. Did you know there's not a single N solo album on this entire list? S must've taken his spot and that's why he got to have two. But anyway: this guy! Y'know: C! Uuuhh, I mean, I'll be completely open up front: besides Y, I tend not to think about any of the members of the quartet on their own. So, in having any expectations for what C would bring to the table versus either of the S albums we've gotten... Beats the heck outta me. I had to look C up on Wikipedia to even remember that he was a part of The Byrds — or that he died three years ago. Taking this album just for what it is, then, without too much outside context to really push my opinion one way or the other... Did you know this album was panned on release? Yeah, apparently. For one reason or another, critics were just **not** kind to it. Christgeau himself gave the thing a D–. Imagine: the same guy who'd go on to praise Kid Rock's 'Devil Without A Cause' gave **this** a D–. Crazy! This is actually a very lovely album. Whatever I might've thought this thing would have sounded like given it's been described as a "progenitor as freak folk," I certainly wouldn't have guessed this. It's just got a lot of very nicely played, pretty folk stuff. The same paragraph on Wikipedia where I got that "freak folk" thing also mentioned someone comparing this material to the acoustic stuff on Pink Floyd's 'Meddle...' And, y'know, I'll say it: I might like summa this stuff **more** than the acoustic stuff on 'Meddle.' You compare "A Pillow Of Winds" or "Fearless" to the stuff here, yeah, I think C's got the better tone. Jury's out on the Nick Drake comparison, meanwhile, though it might swing in his favor. Really, I'd say the songs that didn't entirely do it for me are the ones that lean in more of a rock direction. "Cowboy Movie" is just kinda long, and "What Are Their Names" feels like it ends right as it's getting started. That's the one where he got the Grateful Dead and Joni Mitchell to appear, and we couldn't have gotten anything more interesting than this? I get the "slow burn/build" thing, but goodness. Meanwhile, my only other complaint is one I share with a fellow group member: the last song **not** being "Song With No Words" is weird. It really would have been a perfect closer to the record, but, no, instead we're treated to "Orleans" and "I'd Swear There Was Somebody Here". And those are both fine experimental "only vocals" tracks — "Orleans" in particular sounds great — but they both feel like... Preludes, right? Like they should be building anticipation for the big closer instead of being the closer all by themselves. It's odd But... Yeah! That's about all I have to say! Y'know, I've read that the Vatican City newspaper named this the second best pop record of all time behind The Beatles' 'Revolver.' And, y'know: second best? I don't think so; **far** from it. But, mm, yeah, it's still a really good record. Probably the best non-Y records of the solo CSNY albums on this list. I could just be forgetting how S's sounded, and maybe N's woulda cleared if he'd gotten one... Chances are good this one would still come out on top. In any case, it's probably the best one of the selection my group coulda bowed out of this sub-category on. Many farewells, C. Hope you remembered your name before you passed.

More of the typical CSNY member solo album goodness. 4.5 bumped down to 4.

Yeah, that’s a 5. Hell, maybe higher. Very weird for this to shift from a traditional CSNY-esque album to something rather Eno-esque by its final 3 tracks, but something about this felt ethereally good. I really don’t know how to put it into words; I’m super stunned or anything, but I think it’s an album where the musicality more than speaks for itself. The first 2 tracks here are “normal” (and very good too!), and then once “Tamalpais High” hits, the album lets the aural side of music speak more for itself than the lyrics do. I could be wrong, but I think this is a really technical album for 1971. Nothing’s that crazy, but just in terms of the mixing, layering & harmonization required to achieve the sort of blend of melancholy & bliss told mostly through the music, this feels decently ahead of pace, and certainly far from expectations from one of the guys from CSNY. This also happens to be a remarkably star-studded record, which makes it all the more impressive that they signed up for an album like this & not something more adjacent to Deja Vu – the rest of CSNY are here, as is Joni Mitchell, plus the drummer from Santana in their Abraxas era, and seemingly all of both Jefferson Airplane & The Grateful Dead. Look, I ripped heavy on the Grateful Dead for their abysmally drab live album we got 502 albums ago, but their slow, building instrumental style works wonders here, especially when combined with the rest of the musicianship on this album & David Crosby’s penchant for harmonization. This is a slow 37 minute album, and it’s one that makes you just kind of sit in for the whole runtime, but it’s the sort of slow album that makes you really appreciate it by the end of it. Hell, it made me wish “I’d Swear There Was Somebody Here” would go for at least another 3 minutes, so they did something right. I guess my single nitpick would be that “Song with No Words” should’ve ended the album with how short the final 2 are, but regardless, it’s a deeply satisfying album, and honestly, it’s probably better than both of Stephen Stills’ solo albums on the list. I might need to listen to Graham Nash’s in my own time since it’s not here, but this shoots right up as one of the best CSNY-adjacent albums we’ve gotten. There’s still 3 more Neil Young albums on the list, which feels kind of crazy. Regardless of all that, this album exists in a blissful little space and I’m so very glad to have heard it. It’s an easy 5 for me, and probably a bit higher.

3.5

Strong hippie vibes. Can't say I enjoyed the album. Bits of it were nice — like Cowboy Movie as a track or some random progressions in other tracks — but that doesn't make a great album. The album experience feels like a comedy coming-of-age film soundtrack. I think the collaboration was the highlight rather than the music and inspiration itself. If you look at the albums released in 1970-1972 there is an incredible amount of psychedelic rock that blows this out of the water. I could barely finish the album because there's only so much "dee dum, deedle dee dum da" non-lexical vocables and harmonizing between soft voices that I can endure before I realize there has been zero oomph from anyone for a few minutes. I went back to Cowboy Movie after the last track, and even that managed to feel like an 8-minute slog instead of a redemption. 2.5 / 5 if I'm feeling generous.

Eh. CSNY but without any actual good songs? I enjoy the harmonies that are ubiquitous amongst their music, but that’s about it. This solo effort seems like it rode the wave of success of previous group efforts, but doesn’t hit the mark of quality for me.

2-3 seems like stuff my dad would like

Loved this album! Surprised but reallllly enjoyed it

David Crosby, I've come to learn from this list, seems to be a very well-respected and renowned figure in this era of folk rock, be it through The Byrds or his various collaborations with other folk-rock artists like Nash and Neil Young. So I was expecting a lot out of this album, and I wasn't really disappointed - I don't think so at least. It doesn't stick out as much as I'd like it to (unlike, say, his fellow Byrds member Gene Clark's album 'No Other'), but the performances here were clean, impassioned, and very layered. It's the type of serene, intangible, trance-inducing psychadelic music that defined this sound. 'Traction in the Rain' may be my favorite thing here, with a backing instrumental that's almost ambient in nature, with these subtly shifting chords. But then you get a long, rough, gritty, gut-punch like the early-record banger that is 'Cowboy Movie' that almost leans into a blues-rock Hendrix-esque jam and groove-based sound. The aptly named 'Song with No Words' is another perfect coast-tune, with music to soundtrack what I assume were days filled with pot smoking on the grass. Just the way the piano, bass, and guitar mesh so well with one another, it's so good. Again, it's far from the most interesting thing this genre has to offer, but I enjoyed how consistent it all was. I respect a record that understands what it's best at and sticks to refining that one thing, instead of opting to go in a million different directions that are nowhere near as fleshed out. I respect this record for sticking to the basics, in a time when it seemed like sounds were beginning to shift away from all this psychadelic stuff and into a darker, and more hard-rock driven one.

even while i was listening to this, it was just forgettable

From someone in Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young this was about the sleepiest album I have heard in a long time. I would have thought with the people involved this could have been a fun an rock forward album and not this weak showing.

Meh, okay, fine. Nothing special. I like the vibes more than the composition of the material here. Something you put on the background while you're stoned.

'Music is Love' was more 'Music is Hate' for me, are those Neil Young's thin, whiny vocals? Yup. Apparently he contributes vocals to 'What Are Their Names' as well. Lovely. The second track, 'Cowboy Movie' is much more to my taste. It does drag on a bit, though. 'Tamalpais High (At About 3)' sounds like 'Steely Dan' in one of their blander moments. and that's the album's 'three tracks to grab me' quota reached. I'll sample the others just in case. More of the same. According to Wikipedia 'In 2010, Crosby's album was listed second, behind the Beatles' Revolver, on the "Top 10 Pop Albums of All Time" published in the Vatican City newspaper'. Had they been at the communion wine? This isn't for me. It is terribly bland and self-indulgent. 2/5.

David Crosby was the guy everyone kept around because they could count on him to score drugs. This album is him cashing in those favors.

Tons of talent on the record, seemingly wasted. Tough to stay engaged with this one.

A very nice album. It has a good mixture of many genres. Nothing really stands out but every track is above a certain standard. Not sure if I will come back to the album but it does sound pleasant. A real good 3.

pleasant listen, but not much more than that. this didn't blow me out of the water, and not sure if I would ever return to it. but, it was a nice listen.

The album was pretty good - some parts were beautiful, others were just boring. I think that evens out to an unremarkable 3.

What do you know, Neil Young’s vocals coming in hot to absolutely ruin a song right off the bat. Who would have thought one of that crew would show up on another’s solo project? Aside from the first song, the album is fantastic. Great mixture of folk, rock, and hippy vibes. Could almost go up to a five from here, but when my first reaction is "what the hell is this?" to Neil Young singing it really ruins the whole experience. Please god, no more Neil Young features or solo albums.

It's fine. It's just....fine. Every album we've gotten by Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, or any combo of those names has been just.....fine.

This began the wave of solo works from each of Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young. Per usual with these endeavors, pretty much the whole group has guest features on this one too. But despite that, there are a few tracks that don't feature any actual lyrics. There's a mix of folk, psychedelia, and more jazz-oriented & inspired pieces, which I found unique. Things get pretty...spiritual with the last two tracks, though.

if only i could remember a single standout moment on this album. zzzzz

and the crowd goes mild!!!! this was boring when it wasn't actively annoying. there's just no need for yet another unnecessary bluesy-folk solo album by an old white guy from a more important band on this list... at least it's not neil young i guess. my favorite part of this is the album cover, specifically the title and artist. i like to imagine david crosby making the face on the cover trying to think of his own name, then immediately answering his own question. classic comedy. favorites: tamalpais high (at about 3), traction in the rain, orleans... mostly the songs where david does minimal singing.

I found this somewhat meandering and aimless. Vocal mixing was not good either. This list has far too much CSNY for my taste.

Mellow (listening at midnite...ugh). Nice harmonies across a lot of the tracks, but all in all I was unable to focus thru the fog of sameness. Listened before? N Saved tracks? N Favorite tracks? Song with No Words ⭐️⭐️ Liked it OK

Ca commence très bien, puis ça finit en s'endormant un peu avec des trucs éthérés. C'était pas loin.

Ignoring the fact it’s got some of the worst cover art I’ve ever seen, and a couple of tracks that are just not good (looking at you, Cowboy Movie) this is a beautiful album. As a huge fan of the modern band Fleet Foxes, so much of it reminded me of them and I suspect Robin Pecknold must have been inspired by the sort of harmonies etc. present throughout, but especially my favourite tracks Tamalpais High, What Are Their Names (where the great Neil Young shines) and Orleans. Love the involvement of the Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell etc.

Pretty. And boring. Pretty boring.

Crosby er natl icon, og þessi plata sannaði fyrir mér afhverju, hef natl bara heyrt crosby stills and nash og crosby, stills, nash and young áður

This felt very late night Radio 2. Too mellow for me.

Not bad. But I think he misses his mates on this one.

Song with no words is like all of them I swear. Cowboy song felt like one of the only completed, thought out songs, the rest felt mostly like jam sessions. They were quite good though, felt quite jazzy and bluesy but ruined a bit by the annoying vocals with the wispy harmonies which felt like they struggled to reach those notes a little. It would have been better if it had been purely instrumental to be honest. The one that was purely an instrumental (Tamplais high) shows it would have better this way in my opinion, either that or more songs like cowboy song. The last 2 were such a strange way to end the album as well, this album lacked consistency. Favourites: Cowboy song and Tamplais High (as mentioned). Overall, 5/10

Great author, singer, guitarist, this is the best solo album. Better I think with CSN&Y

Me ha dado mucha pereza nada mas empezar, pero llegar a la tercera ha sido un regalo, quiza porque el pibe no cantaba. Definitivamente mejora mucho la musica cuando no canta, tampoco es que el cante mal, pero no se. La conclusion final es que me ha puesto un punto en la boca, no me acaba de encajar los vocales pero la intrumental brutal.

Terrific!

This was a pretty great ride all the way through. I'm not sure if David Crosby was influenced by others, or if he influenced other musicians, but this style of music felt so familiar to me. Can't quite pick out whose music this reminds me of. My highlights were Cowboy Dance, Laughing, and Traction In The Rain. I also liked the trippy-ness of Orleans. No real down points or a song that I didn't enjoy on my multiple listens. Strong 4. Ultimately there aren't enough elite-level songs to take this over the top for a 5 for me, but it was a very solid album overall.

Well this was a delightful way to start the day. Although they have their jams, I have never been a huge CSN/Y fanboi, and so I was not particularly excited to see Crosby singled out. Boy was I wrong. This is an extremely tasty album full of soulful jams, crusty guitar, and harmonies sweet enough to spike my blood sugar. Looking at the supporting personnel list, the cast on this thing is stacked. Alongside the unsurprising support of Nash and Young are all of the major players from the Grateful Dead. Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh carry four songs alongside Crosby and they are some of the best on here, with Mickey Hart playing drums on early standout Cowboy Movie. Cowboy Movie is a wonderfully crusty jam, just a raw pleasure. And What are Their Names is a standout to me -- just a beautiful and wandering song. Love the mood and Garcia's guitar tone on Song with No Words. Really no weak spots in this album. I'm floored by its quality and concision. Its a soft 5 for me

hell yeah this rocked

A nice soothing slightly psychadelic song rock album which was a great way of flushing that nerd Elvis Costello out of my brain.

David Crosby having Vietnam flashbacks on this album cover. Really enjoyed the CSNY that we've had and I think Crosby plays a major part in that because of his psychedelia. From the personnel this has a shit ton of famous musicians on here, from Joni Mitchell to Grateful Dead to Jefferson Airplane. Pretty sick. Cowboy Movie has me grooving HARD. Tamalpais High and Laughing sound like solid psychedelic CSNY songs. Love the end of Laughing. What Are Their Names sounds exactly what I would expect from a mashup of those artists. Excellent stuff. Love that harp in Traction In The Rain. Last few songs had me in a trance that was captivating. I wish younger Kev could've experienced this album for the first time. Surprise 5 and my favorite from the CSNY album groupings.

Some good vibes in this rock album, but some of the songs were a miss. Not bad, not going to remember.

Oh hell yeah. “Cowboy Movie” is such a jam. Probably my favorite track here. I’m a casual CSNY fan, and anything I’ve heard from a member of the group is reliably strong. This one leans into rock, but there are some lovely moments that draw on folk and psychedelic rock too. Wow, the closing tracks are very different but really beautiful. Those reverbed vocals! All around excellent album.

Solid classic rock with nice singing and compositions. It didn't necessarily blow me away but I can tell there's good music in here. To be honest it might be in that realm of "do you have to hear this album in your lifetime?" for me. "Orleans" is particularly pretty, with great vocal harmonies. 3/5.

Ouvi este disco pela primeira vez em setembro/2022 e achei fraco. Três anos depois concluo que fui negativamente impactado pela faixa de abertura, que fica muito aquém do conteúdo do álbum, especialmente a sequência de "Cowboy Movie", "Tamalpais Hight" e "Laughing", caiando um pouco em "What Are Their Names". O encerramento melancólico também não me agrada muito.

A little folk, not that good

I see that it was created in an act of dealing with the death of his girlfriend, but it still somehow vibes narcissistic to me. Same as the other solo albums of CSNY.

Beautiful music, great songwriting. Didn't like the first song Music is Love so much though but the album got better after that.

Whoever mixed this album should be fired

Great songs. This is nice album to relax to. It's not too complicated, it can just be.

Beautiful

Mellow but pretty enjoyable. Nice harmonies, gives me Simon & Garfunkel vibes.

I ended up listening to this at night while I was driving and it really set a beautiful tone. I think I love Mr. Crosby. His voice is so goddamn gorgeous and I love that. He dipped into some psychedelic grooves and the whole album kind of drones in an unexpected way. And then he was on the show Roseanne from the 90s go figure

enjoyed this a lot. super hippy album with a bunch of noodley crap. but it feels good. csny lite. Really pleasant. One for the mornings.

Fraco

fora, bolje nego što sam mislio. al na kraju krajeva ništa posebno

Pretty uninspired stuff. Not a single standout melody. It’s trying at once to be both experimental and straight-ahead folk and ends up falling between in no man’s land.

A trippy hippy dippy California folk album with cult leader David Crosby leading his band of stoner friends through a set of meandering, disconnected and randomly assembled jams. A few of them don't even bother to have lyrics. There are moments - like "Cowboy Movie" and "Laughing", where the vibe, Crosby's songwriting, and the crack team of ace musicians all click, but those moments are too few and far between.

IT's OK. NOt amazing, but not bad. I fun listen

Enjoyed this more than expected. Functions really well as an album; no real standout tracks but coheres nicely, with enough variety within the sound to keep it interesting.

Nice enough but all seems a little safe. When think back to when I was listening to it yesterday I can barely remember any of the songs which segments none of it is good enough to stick. I can’t imagine it was all that groundbreaking at the time let alone looking back.

Never heard or listened to this album, but being very familiar with "Deja VU" by CSNY, this sounds quite like a decent follow up, albeit a bit more bluesy than CSNY were. I didn't liked the opening track, but after that it became a lot more interesting with "Cowboy Movie" which is a standout, an 8-minute epic that really shows Crosby at his most adventurous, and the layered vocals and guitars is truly mesmerizing. it gets into more familiar territory with tracks like "Tamalpais High (At About 3)", "Laughing" and Song with No Words (tree with no leaves)". It does indeed sound at times as a jam with friends along a campfire ('What Are Their names") but considering the guest list on this album when you dig into it like members of the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Joni Mitchel and more, it feels justified. it never feels like showing off; it genuinely sounds like friends making music together. A nice listen altogether! 4/5

Not a bad album. But certainly not something. I’d listen to all the time.

This is a very pretty record. I've always enjoyed his stuff with CSN (and sometimes Y) and this is quite nice. A bit laid back, but not boring.

Liked it more than I expected.

It's a little too much of the same thing for me, maybe a little too much mellow? David Crosby is great, and if I had to hang out with someone from CSN, it would be him. But this album just isn't for me.

Very serious melodic sometimes trippy and pretty damned good overall. No one song that stands out

I SO BADLY wanted to like this. I love CSNY. I love his voice. I love the musicians who played on this record. But it sounds incomplete, like they were just screwing around in the studio and hit “record”

I really enjoyed the CSNY album I generated last year, Deja Vu, and it's been interesting exploring the various solo projects from the respective members. Here, Crosby pushes the psych-rock envelope with long, meandering tunes that showcase his guitar playing with dreamy, ethereal elements. I found it a bit lacking in direction and purpose at time, I'd be interested to hear what he'd have made with a producer pushing him to tighten up the arrangements as there are glimmers of lovely harmony and superb guitar work. For me it was just a bit vague and loose but at no point did I find it a difficult listen. Nice stuff.

There were a couple cool jammy tracks and the rest were pretty chill.

Not bad. Enjoyable overall, but not particularly compelling.

Good to listen through... Cleaning, road trips, lounging, etc.

Some really great moments (Music is Love, Tractions in the Rain). 2 longer songs feel like they are a bit lost in direction in a while, so only four.

nah

приятно, порадовало немного

крутые мужички собрались поджемить - результат закономерный.

One surprise from this project is how much I like CSN (cooler response to CSNY) and their related outputs. This is a really great album, and just looking at the credits there are just so many important, talented people involved, that it's not hard to appreciate the greatness here, even if it sounds "loose" and "casual". There are so many great moments, but right now I'm captivated by the etheral pedal steel coming in toward the end of "Laughing" and wouldn't you know it, Jerry Garcia. And i think that is really indicative of the album - it has so many guest appearances by great musicians, and the function more as cameos than features, just adding great textures to the music.

Some really good songs and some filler. Laughing and What are their names were standout tracks.

respectfully, he doesn’t have the sauce of a solo artist. the guest spots on this make it shine at moments, but it’s weirdly lethargic

Nope 2.5

Nice album, I liked how there was songs with no lyrics interspersed throughout. Music is love, cowboy movie and laughing are my picks.

Bizarrement prenant.

Grew on me after the first listen. I was sitting on my veranda watching the afternoon fade into pinks and deep blues, and this album was a perfect companion. 4 stars but I could see this going up on subsequent listens.

Inoffensive, the guy can really play but still better as a part of a larger group.

Mildly entertaining; well produced. Probably excellent if high. Three stars

Mellow and enjoyable, I enjoy the vocals and soft beats. Pairs well with cooking or driving in the hot sun.

The album ended and 10 minutes later honestly I can’t remember what it sounds like

Day 44- First listen- The beginning was a bit slow and not very memorable but songs 4-9 were GORGEOUS, i enjoyed listening to the album overall! (3/5)

Не слухав альбом поза відомим тріо. Цей дуже сподобався. Звук дуже крутий, класний баланс між фолковою простою та психоделік фішками. Один з кращих альбомів в підбіріці для мене, якщо обирати з тих, що не слухав раніше

Я відкрив для себе цей альбом відносно нещодавно, здається у ковідні часи, хоча ще з давніх-давен шарив кросбі, стілс енд неш. Але сольнік Кросбі це дуже класний психоделічний фолк, такий трохи мрійливий, який дуже класно слухати якраз восени. Не на рівні з Ніком Дрейком, якщо вже розмовляти про таку музику, але все ще дуже й дуже класно. По праву має культовий статус.

O bom desse album generator é dar chance para artistas que eu nunca ouvi falar, e com isso as comparações ficam inevitáveis. Music is love me lembrou a frase do RHCP "Music the great communicator", e a voz dele me lembrou a do Axl Rose (no auge, não a atual) em alguns momentos. Cowboy Movie é, na minha opinião, a melhor do álbum, parece algo da trilha sonora de cowboy bebop e lembra Bob Dylan, ou até um Hendrix, por que não? Mas para não ficar apenas comparando na review, o disco tem méritos próprios. Acredito que seu grande acerto seja na ambientação, com algumas músicas quase 100% instrumentais (caso de Tamalpais High, que é um monte na Califórnia), que passam um ar contemplativo, como se estivéssemos ouvindo a trilha sonora ou encerramento de uma série no qual nós mesmos construímos as cenas na cabeça. Gosto como nessas músicas os elementos vão sendo colocados aos poucos, primeiro a guitarra, depois a bateria, depois o baixo, e assim por diante, até chegar no canto, como no caso de "What are their names", que também trazem uma camada política, ainda que sutil, para o álbum, como no apelo da frase "peace is not an awful lot to ask" da mesma música (algo que pelo o que pesquisei posteriormente, era uma característica marcante, e muitas vezes controversa, desse músico). A viagem proposta pelo álbum como em "Orleans" acerta em nos proporcionar aquele sentimento de nostalgia por situações que não vivemos e locais que nunca visitamos, quase como se tentassemos lembrar dessa experiência assim como o autor tenta lembrar o próprio nome no título do álbum, e por esse motivo, acho que já vale o play. 8/10

4/5

This was better than listening to some metal album that hurt my ears. I’ll give it that, but that’s about it. This album was boring. I kept hoping the next song would become a favorite, but that never happened. Oh well. On to the next one!

no.

Not what I expected from David Crosby. The features really shine here and pleasant surprise of surprises, the Grateful Dead. 4/5

Not unpleasant, just boring. With no redeeming features. That's about All I can say.

I really loved parts of this. ‘Cowboy Movie’ was beautifully bluesy. ‘Laughing’ was great. Some nice guitar work throughout. Lost it for me with way too much ‘do-be-doo-ing’. Sometimes for whole songs. A high 2

Nice and mellow psychedelia. I liked quite a bit. A good surprise.

Nice harmonies, but slow and repetitive is just not for me. So bored. At least I was able to do some yoga to it. Listened before? N Saved to library? N Favorite track(s): N/A

Not sure why this one is on the list. It’s not bad but doesn’t seem very remarkable

Lite av ett sömnpiller.

Quite nice.

2.5 - kinda slow, no songs really stand out to me, but not horrible - expected a little more from all the names attached to this production

That's a David Crosby album for sure. Chill.

...my name, my excitement, my will to live...

Smooth, but a bit boring. Hilarious cover. Better than On the Beach.

Good album with good vocals and interesting guitar. I felt it drags a bit at times.

Had very cool vocal parts, and you could really tell how influential this sound was in the music around the time right after this album. However, wasn't necessarily my style, and I don't see myself returning back to this album. There are newer and more interesting albums that play deeper into the folk rock and ambient sounds.

As part of a group, Crosby is great. Solo is not as great. Personal enjoyment: 1/5 Relevance to this list: 2/5

The grooves and jams seem uninspired after so much exposure to the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young anthology and all its spinoffs. I do love the activism and have a soft spot for the vibe.

Lester Bangs famously dismissed it as indulgent, and frankly, he had a point. The songs often drift without direction, and unless you’re in a particularly mellow, altered state of mind, it’s hard to latch onto anything concrete. There are moments of beauty, sure, but they’re buried under a fog of cosmic noodling. If you’re looking for structure, hooks, or lyrical clarity, you might find yourself wondering—as the title suggests—what exactly you’re supposed to remember.

Quite enjoyed as a background track but wouldn’t listen again

Very enjoyable, I was expecting straight folk but this did some cool blues/prog things too that I really really liked. Maybe Crosby Stills Nash and Young are great too because all the individual components I like.

This is a solid album. Real acid rock here, and puts you right in that era, with Jefferson Airplane. The whole thing comes on well written and psychedelic. I honestly didn't know as much about some of the other guys in Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young other than Neil, but this is really good stuff. It makes me curious to check out some of his other solo stuff. A rare case of a 5/5 that I hadn't previously heard (though realistically more like a near 5/5). Will definitely come back to this.

This really had me in the first half then fell off a cliff in the second. Song with No Words is a straight up accidental parody and rarely impressed by blues rock instrumentals. I'm still a sucker for this country blues rock though so I'll be coming back to it anyway.

Meh. Some glimpses here and there of what was to come via Crosby Stills Nash & Young. But on the whole I found it rather insipid.

Soothing hippy-dippy folk with some impressive harmonies. Makes me wish I were high around a campfire.

I feel like if I was doing worse mentally and emotionally this album would hit harder. Still pretty good tho. Best song: Cowboy Movie Notable(s): What Are Their Names

Seems like a pretty important album in music history, it was pretty ok. It felt very much of the time period. 3/5 it was OK

Not listened to this before. Obviously feels very similar to CSNY, which is a very good thing.

I like him with CSN/CSNY much better. Nothing to write home about.

Occasionally there are moments of respite on tracks such as "Tamalpais High (At About 3)" or "Laughing", but mostly it's just tiresome uncreative Laurel Canyon rock and folk. The instrumentals are mixed wonderfully but the vocals are frustratingly buried in the mix like needles in a haystack. If I wanted jam I would get some toast. Feels crappy like the Nick Drake albums. So, of course Mr. Dimery loved it. I'll bet you could have remembered your name if you'd just managed to put down the beer, doobie, and cocaine, but it was LA in the early seventies, so who are we kidding?

Well, if he can't remember, how can we?

Oh god, this is going to suck. It's whatever, man. I'm getting so much 70s shit that it's all starting to meld together. It all sounds like three things: hippie shit, rock shit, or nascent punk shit.

It was fine, laid back psych blues rock. Didn't find it particularly special

Despite obviously knowing CSN and CSNY, and having listened to pretty much all of Neil’s solo albums, I’d never listened any of the solo Crosby, Stills, or Nash albums. ‘If I Could Only Remember My Name’ struck me as so excellent, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t dug into Crosby’s solo work. This is take drugs by the campfire music. It sounds of its time, but I would argue it doesn’t feel dated. This is the sort of jammy music my friends and I will play on long nights in the woods, feeling spiritual, but probably sounding somewhat incoherent to onlookers. Coherency doesn’t matter to me here. Beyond lyrics, vocal delivery, and technical prowess, music is nothing more than a vibe, and this vibe resonates with mine. I also went on to listen to the high-profile post- Deja vu Stills and Nash solos. Steven Stills definitely had the most commercial appeal, but aside from the opening track, which was enough of a hit that I knew it, that album feels a little much to me. It lacks soul. Nash’s first solo is excellent, however, although it lacks the pure experimentation of If I Could Only Remember My Name. Aside from Neil, I think Crosby’s the winner for me! I’ll be sure to return to this and expand on his discography.

Rad

It's a great album with unique harmonies, song structures and a relaxed, atmoshperic mood. Crosby invited a lot of his friends from the West coast psychedelic/folk scene and they made this album special together. I haven't listened to his solo albums before but this was a pleasant surprise.

Surprised how much I enjoyed this. Cowboy Movie is cool, but kind of overstays it's welcome. Nice arrangements and harmonies throughout. Mellow, but engaging listen.

Positive: great sounding album. Creates a vibe like making an album late night on good substances with your buds Negative: at best pleasant, and at worst boring. not an album I would return to. If Crosby’s name wasn’t attached it would be a curio from the period with a small cult

Not real familiar with this one, but it is great fun. Will return.

4/5. I am not sure how I feel about this album. It feels otherworldly in a way, like a floating in an endless sea. Some of the songs are jams while others feel like half ideas, yet still wanting more. It feels like this album has a lot to say but with very few lyrics for the most part. I think I've come away with this not being a perfect album but I am intrigued to repeat listen and what I heard was different and felt special. The folksy tunes with the relaxed but solid guitar solos give an air of experimentation while falling into known genres. It was a good time, but not perfect yet. Best Song: What Are Their Names, Cowboy Movie, Laughing

Short and sweet - if you're after this kind of thing then it's pretty decent. I can't say I'll be reaching for it regularly though

sehr abgespaced oder, wie heißt es....psychedelisch? :D Klang aber gut finde ich und war irgendwie auch entspannend

Es war so durchschnittlich ich hab nichtmal ne Meinung hierzu

some parts and songs reminded me of fleet foxes. love the different uses of guitar layering. layering in general with different instruments and techniques. A mix of folk with psychedelic rock

mimimi

Pleasant and at-times ephemeral. Probably won't go back for much of the album, but glad for the introduction.

Some beautiful work in the first half

Meh nothing to get too excited about

There was a lot of pleasant sounding instrumentals throughout this entire project, which made for good background music. There was nothing that stood out to me in particular, however.

Pleasant enough psychedelic folk, but nothing really jumps out.

che sbatti

kelpo albumi

LOVED the harmonies on this album. Otherwise, sounds like standard laurel canyon-esque folk rock (not a bad thing)

Fint album med enkelte gode låter. Favoritt sang: Song with no Words

The bluesy bits were surprising to me, not so much the folky bits. Better than what I expected, but ultimately a bit to laidback for my liking.

After the success of the great first CS&N album, I anxiously awaited the three solo albums from the boys. Had highest hopes for Stills, then Crosby, then Nash. All were pretty mediocre with few tracks as good as when they were together. The Nash album was a pleasant surprise and turned out to be the best of the three. Crosby still came in last. All pale in comparison to any of Neil Young’s first three solo albums.

Gorgeous chord (my favourite one) towards the end of Music Is Love. All quite nice but a too uneventful. That was a LONG 37 minutes. Woah hang on now - I'd Swear There Was Somebody Here is spooky ethereal! Great album-ender.

Perhaps my favorite voice in Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. His raspy voice is a great addition to the nice vocal harmonies they have. The other members chime in on his solo album as well, which I think are the best moments here. It's a nice album, but it's very light on hits and memorable moments. I've listened to it about 5-10 times but I can never really recall anything from this album. I wish it stuck with me more, but alas it doesn't.

I grew up with my dad's Byrds albums and other related releases by members of the band but he had no time for Crosby so I was never introduced to this album. I assumed my dad's opinion was the right one so while I've listened to lots of Gene Clark, Gram Parsons, Roger McGuinn I've sadly never checked this out, I love it. I think it's time for me to convince his to change the error of his ways.

great

3.5

Some nice ideas on here but not the strongest album by any means.

Hmm. Fine to listen to, but pretty boring, all told. Spotify moved on to play another track after the album ended without me realising, and I thought 'finally some life' before checking to see it was a different artist. Cowboy Movie was certainly the outstanding track on the album. 5/10

Didn't care for the album. Felt bored throughout the album.

Partito male, poi si è ripreso. Ma in generale non è proprio il mio mood.

If I was being tortured I would like for this album to be playing in the background, that way my soul will be encouraged to leave my body sooner. 1/5

Good album, not too remarkable.

6/10

The best I can say is it's listenable.

Good night nurse. Pure magic. The quality of music that was coming out of this scene at the time was amazing. The whole psychedelic folk rock vibe of this album is perfect. Early Sunday morning with coffee, dog walking, stopping to watch deer eating grass in a field, birds singing. A sublime soundtrack.

This is album 445 for me and we’ve been squarely in the “your dad’s record collection” for a few weeks now. I feel like this is deliberate. A fair number of intriguing artists and albums to get you hooked, but now you’re in too deep and you can’t give up now. So lately it’s been solidly forgotten albums from between 1968-1972. That tirade aside, I don’t know how you’re not supposed to like an album like this. Folk rock royalty doing what he does best on this album. A delight.

Kind of a bland and blissed out post summer of love album with a bunch of Crosby's pals. It just washed over me.

This sounds like the album that every jam band of the 90s and 00s listened to and began emulating. The songs are nice and chill and meander like some Appalachian creek in July.

2+ Stars (6/15)

I like CSN&Y but only Young could really make it on his own. The album is pleasant but that’s all. 2

Only the airy elements of CSNY. Sounds like a less cool version of Grateful Dead jams and a dude who smoked a little too much before the session.

This is pretty decent but kind of forgettable. I like the psychedelic influences its very vibey and fits pretty well with the cover. Kind of just sounds uninspired compared to David's contemporaries at the time. "Cowboy Movie" is great. 6/10 Favourite: Cowboy Movie Least Favourite: Music is Love

Tough one to rate. Many points felt like a two staff album but then would hit some really great listening. So many of the songs built and droned for too long only to get a small crescendo. With the guests musicians on the album, I expected more but they kind of blend in too. This is what I assume a CSN jam session sounds like.

This album is a great listen. It's dreamy, loose, and full of atmosphere. It feels like a late-night jam session with some of the best players of the era, and it works. “Cowboy Movie” stands out as a personal favorite.

Interesting, easy to listen to; some tracks very reminiscent of CS&N

pas mal

i have a real love-hate relationship with david crosby. the love: he had a phenomenal knack for vocal harmonies. some of the greatest vocal harmonies put to tape were under his direction. some of them are even on this album! the hate: my god, his pompous ass writes some of the most droning, boring shit i've ever heard. it's not bad, i guess. it's not unlistenable. it's just so goddamn boring. this is no exception. really what you're getting a lot of is CSNY lite. a lot of the characteristics of great music with not a lot of the payoff. unfortunately, david needs a bit of help and guidance to make interesting music. for a guy who loaded his entire body with drugs for 25 straight years, you would think his music would be a little more interesting.

Imagine Ringo Starr wandered into Laurel Canyon, lit some incense, and said, “𝘏𝘦𝘺, 𝘭𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥 — 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴.” That’s more or less what David Crosby did here. The album floats somewhere between grief and a stoned group hug, full of reverb-drenched harmonies, shimmering guitars, and loose, drifting jams. Some moments feel improvised, others like sonic prayers. Sure, it’s occasionally aimless — but that’s part of the charm. It’s less a singer-songwriter album and more a 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: reflective, cosmic, slightly sad, and beautifully strange. A flawed but glowing gem of the post-hippie haze.

What a cast of characters on this lp. Crosby’ a first solo lp had a variety of songs and styles. A very good lp

So fun :) might actually relisten to this one lol. 4/5

# 509 /1001 : If I Could Only Remember My Name Zzzzz. BORED. A two line bio, not much meat and just a sad dude with a guitar. 40 minutes of sadness and it feels more like this album is on the list for Crosby's reputation, rather than for the music... Listened : 24/06/2025

When smoking and jamming with the boys in your garage becomes an album.

Meio psicodélico, numa pegada parecida com Led Zeppelin. Não curti.

A very meh album. 4/10

nice background listen overall, but as someone said there's basically no song in this

Mmh

Classic Folk-Rock Album

It's fine. It didn't hurt my ears but hopefully I don't listen again, either.

not my type

Points for Cowboy Movie.

Listening to his solo stuff highlights how much influence he had on the CSN(Y) sound, even with the understanding that some of them appeared on this album to varying degrees. I’ve never been a huge dan of their sound, although I appreciate the talent, particularly the harmonies and songwriting. This album keeps the same vibe, including the guitar noodling that one would expect. Of the four artists, I may enjoy this solo material most. I should say Neil Young’s works are my favorites, and they may be better, but much to my own sadness I could never really get into him, mainly the nasally voice. That all said, I have some trouble really getting into this album purely out of “separating the art from the artist” issues. I have heard too many times how Crosby was a class A jerk, even admittedly so. Like a really awful person, among the worst in the industry. Which is saying a lot. Is the music still great? Yup. Does that make the sincerity of his work seem hollow? Sadly, also yup. I’d like to give four stars, probably deserves at least that. But just can’t get there.

Pleasant and pretty background music. Nothing earth-shattering.

Nothing but folksy left turns

sng with now rods

I would like to be able to write like this

Relaxed 70s rock. Not anything special but just solid songs

Has a moment or two but really forgettable. Just feels bland and I don’t think I will be revisiting

I played it and I didn't remember any of the songs. It's not bad, but it doesn't appeal to me at all.

Good album, was not very familiar with it. Crosby was an original.

Why do I always mix up David Crosby and Gallagher?

I cant remember how one track goes.

Not my cup of tea personally Best track cowboy movie, music is lovely also ok.

Not really songs, just loose jams with a bunch of happy musicians. Loose and spooky

I like the Byrds, CSNY, and David Crosby as a person, but I don't understand why this particular item was on the list. It feels unambitious and unintentional.

This was more pleasant than I expected, but still a little corny for my taste. I like hippie shit, but even I've got my limits.

-just some real real good folk music with a diversity of sound. You can hear how much he influenced the superbands -also some absolute collaborators

largely forgettable

It was okay, but I won't want to listen again.

Yes it’s not his best but who doesn’t like more CSN?

Good, but a bit blah.

David Crosby on his own is prettttty trippy (and bluesy), isn't he?

This was so good. It’s like if CSN got a little more experimental. Obvs. Album art gets a 1-⭐️ review

A fine album of pretty songs but I believe the below to be true: Crosby, Stills, or Nash – ⭐️⭐️ Crosby & Nash/any other pairing – ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Crosby, Stills & Nash – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – ⭐️⭐️⭐️ While I like Crosby & Nash joints like Mama Lion and Carry Me, and of course CSN&Y tracks like Our House and Teach Your Children, the sweet spot is the trio of CS&N. Their 3-part harmonies are incredible and they each bring a little something different to the gumbo that is missing when it's just one or two of them, and gets too muddled with the addition of Young IMO.

what am i missing

I love all the iterations of CSNY, but this David Crosby album just did not do much for me.

Chill chill chill

liked!

The first and last songs were odd miscues for the rest of the album, which was solid.

beauty

I love David’s voice, and I love his work with CSN&Y (in all their iterations). And one or two songs of his on those albums is the perfect amount. But a full record worth is just too much. Too meandering. Too everything. I had this album on vinyl back in the day and I’m pretty certain I only listened to it once.

Well, so I love Crosby, Stills, Nash (and sometimes Young), and this entire album was _very_ reminiscent of that sound, for good reason obviously. I didn't recognize any of the songs on this album, but I did enjoy them. It was a good collection of music, with a sound that I really enjoyed listening to. It wasn't anything mind-blowing, but I get why it would be included in this collection of albums. Four stars.

Aaá

It was relaxing by the end, but didn't stand out to me.

Meh

Liian hentoista, hiljaista, pehmoista, utuista, epäkiinnostavaa menoa omaan makuun. Paremmin en osaa asiaa ilmaista.

Het begint een beetje als zo'n Hare Krishna plaat, maar daarna krijg je gewoon hele aardige jaren '70 luistermuziek. Het doet me een beetje denken aan The Eagles, al ken ik daar ook weer minder van dan je zou denken. Opzich een prima plaat. Het 3,5je kon weer twee kanten op. Die laatste track overtuigde me niet om een 4 te geven.

Dreadfully slow. I liked it at times but more often than not it failed to hold my attention.

i hated when it was rock n roll but i loved when it was hippy

One of the albums of all time

Liked Tamalpais High and eventually enjoyed Laughing, but long intro that was very diff from the rest of the song. Pretty old school and lots of instrumental in gene .

Doux-amer, à la fois planant et menaçant

It’s a very open hearted, deeply chilled out and vulnerable folk rock record. The pleasingly jarring, conspiratorial lyrics on What are Their Names is the definite highlight for me. Though pretty pleasant, it did get a little tedious the longer it went on. Worst offender for this is the extended length second track Cowboy Movie.

Very much up mybstreet, my kind of slightly psychedelic folk

A nice, austere, moody record. Not at all what I expected from David Crosby. I suppose that's why it got such poor reviews in the beginning, but those critics had some whack standards. This is acutally good. It's nice to get a positive surprise from this 1001 list finally.

Overall: 5/10 I was really looking forward to this one. I really like Crosby, Stills and Nash and David Crosby is obviously a big part of that love. For some reason, this album took a few songs for me to really get into it. There's nothing wrong with it at all, I just wasn't vibing with it all that much. It feels like a bunch of unfinished ideas that he decided to slap onto the same album. I'm sadly dissapointed by it. Fav Song: Traction in the Rain Least Fav Song: Music is Love

J'ai failli abandonner après deux minutes J'aurai raté le morceau suivant (dommage) mais aussi le reste de l'album (pas dommage)

J'ai trouvé l'album excellent au point d'en avoir réécouté une grosse partie après la première écoute !

Great!

This is the perfect album for when you want to feel like you've wasted 3 hours of your life but only have 37 minutes to spare.

There has been far worse things on this list….. I was about to give this a two, until that weird chanting came on at the end of the album. Thank you, David for finishing this out strong. It really helped me think more clearly.

This was surprisingly super good. Bluesy, soul, rock, folk, and tons of personality and lyrical talent. Will need to give it a re-listen for sure.

It’s a bit of a shame this album takes up a spot on this list. I’ve had two Neil Young albums in the last few weeks, and I think the universe could sense my complaining and threw me an album with Neil featured at the end of its first song. In the spirit of all that, just copy and paste my reviews for those Neil Young albums - anything that sounds like the harmonizing of CSN&Y is worth your time, leave out all the rest. “Tamaplais High” was a good group jam. “Laughing” achieved a similar sound. Most everything else was a bit bland and forgettable. Put it on in the background of doing something else to get at least something out of it. 2/5 much too similar to all other classic folk rock without doing anything unique, memorable, or something that CSNY didn’t do better

4/10

It's fine. Nothing special...everything sort of all sounded the same. Wouldn't go outta my way to listen to this album again by any means. Even the most popular songs on the album were not ones that I knew or really loved.

Another similar album to Neil Young, with no standout songs you would want to skip but nothing to really skip, hop, or boogie along to and is mostly just background noise while working. Giving a 2.5/5 rating which will be bumped to 3 to differentiate between 2s.

Got excited when I saw the album. First song was kind of off putting and 'Cowboy Movie' was decent and the rest of the album was tame. For the list of talented people on this album its a disappointing one. Originally had this as 2.5 but came to Song with No Words. Now thats some self-indulgent shite. 2/5.

All a bit meh...

Pretty forgettable - even Neil Young can’t make this better.

10/10 such beautiful sound scapes I love David Crosby ❤️

Dear God this album bored me to death. Not even the harmonies, which I’m usually a sucker for, could save this one. Some post hippie BS. I have nothing good to say about If I Could Only Remember My Name by David Crosby. Many thumbs down. A 1 rating is too generous, but there you go. 1/5

Kinda slow

I love this album—it's a much-needed departure from the usual CSN/Y material. The music feels free and atmospheric, expanding beyond the confines of the studio and blending seamlessly into the environment.

A record I’d never heard before. I think I’d need another listen or 2 to really understand it better or find the right mood for it.

Reminded me a lot of Deja Vu by CSNY but wasn't as good for me. It was fine to have on. At it's best it made me want to listen to CSNY instead.

Quite a bit here I liked a lot, the guitar work is minimal but equally interesting. However, it does tend to get a bit too far into the jam band territory for me. I think I'm going to rate it higher than I expected because some of the work is just so good. It's probably a high 3, but I'll round up.

3 stars

It’s alright

Not a new album for me. This man has one of the great voices of all time. Didn't realize the band is mostly members of the Dead, but I definitely hear that influence this time around. It's got a loose, rambling feel to it, emphasized by the couple of tracks that haven lyrics but feature Crosby vocalizing over the instruments. Despite that rambling feel, Crosby's voice holds it all together very nicely.

Going to need a few more listen to appreciate and understand but background noise for now

Some really cool psychedelic folksy songs on here that were really unique and I really dug. A couple of the songs were meh (especially 'Song with No Words') but a solid album overall.

Cowboy Movie absolutely rocks. The other tracks are pretty as well, but they generally beat around the bush too much.

It's fine. A lot of doodling in between mediocre melodies. The musicianship is top notch.

Enjoyable if a bit short 3/5

It was ok. I much prefer Crosby in his band. This album didn’t have the same magic, but it was still listenable.

Musically, a solid 5. Lyrics? Not so much

This was ok, a little sleepy. The musicianship is there, but I guess I just prefer his work with CSN&Y.

It’s a totally fine listen. But if I could only remember…why this was included in this exercise…

This was a surprise and a good listen, several really beautiful songs on here. I think the number of instrumentals and lengthy jam out periods of this makes it feel like it doesn’t quite have enough meat to it.

Methinks I needed to mellow out a little more to enjoy this, if ya know what I mean 😉 I’m talking about drugs…ya know… Blazing the Broccoli, Hitting the Devil’s Lettuce, Roasting the Jazz Cabbage, Taking the Green Elevator, Puffin’ the Magic Dragon, Firing up the Salad, Greening the Gills, Launching the Lawn Clippings, Baking the Potato, Riding the Pineapple Express, Crisping the Kale, Mowing the Mind Grass, Toasting the Turnip, Rippin’ the Herb Bongos, Lighting up Old Mary Jane, Visiting Planet Pot, Hotboxing the Honda, Brewing the Leaf Soup, Getting Silly with the Sticky Icky, Pulling a Cheech & Chong… All that to say this was pretty 🥱 😴 2.5 but rounding up for his mustache and generous sperm donation to Melissa etheridge. Shouldn’t that kid be a musical super star by now?

This is fine. Totally fine. 2.75/5

Nope. Not my thing although not bad

Man I thought Crosby, Stills, and Nash were a bunch of old lame folk singers. This is cool. It meanders a bunch but it really grooves so I don't mind the scenic routes it takes. Laughing is too country for me, but otherwise this feels like classic rock flirting with psychedelic music, experimenting with new sounds and arrangements and collaborators in the studio. And it sounds like a great time.

Strange album, a mesh of different styles, but didn't grab my attention fully. There's prog, psychedelic, rock, country and a bit of jazz and probably something more on here. Some songs have more structure, but most of them don't follow a straight line. You can never guess what will come next. But the album lacked some virtuosity or energy for me. Twin guitar setup, I'm guessing that's what it is, sounded kind of strange, because they were both playing melodies in the same frequency range. So they sort of blend together and it sounds a bit dissonant, like you are listening to something which wasn't planned.

5/6/2025: RiverNerns, but more shouty to start. Lacks cohesion.

Music Is Love 3.3 Cowboy Movie 3.7 Tamalpais High (At About 3) 3.4 Laughing 3.3 What Are Their Names 3.2 Traction in the Rain 3 Song with No Words (Tree with No Leaves) 3.3 Orleans 3.1 I'd Swear There Was Somebody Here 3 Score: 3.255555556

Excellent

Dull, uninspiring, background music at best. Sing me a lullaby

3.5 Stars

It's very good, but I don't do those drugs anymore.

not too bad. I liked this more than I usually like CSNY; but some of this just reminded me of other, more interesting Eagles songs

Run of the mill CSNY album (not memorable, listenable, sounds like chez 106.1)

It's great, because it's Crosby. But again ponder what made ^this^ album make the list over, oh I don't know, some revolutionary Japanese band. Or the band that changed the music scene in Uruguay forever.

This is what it sounds like to live on a California commune in the 1970s. Genuinely thought I was going to hate this. I do not. This is among the most successful albums of this genre. Really great music, gentle harmonies. All the chill bits from Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. There’s no assault on the ears, like Dylan’s mumbling twang, or The Dead’s meandering noise mush. This is both loose and tight at the same time. Serious composition and arrangement. Gentle af. And yet, you can hear the influence this record had. This is crazy good. Did not expect to be impressed. But goddamn. You can tell that every great musician has studied this. I need a hero dose of shrooms and some alone time with this one.

Boy oh boy is this album is totally fine.

Soft dad rock. Honestly kinda bland for me. Maybe it had a lot of big names, but still 2*

I find it legitimately hilarious that Graham Nash is the only member of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young that doesn’t have a solo album on the 1001 albums list. Poor Graham Nash. Now that I’ve completed the entire discography of the CSNY members contained on this list, here’s how I rank all of them with a quick justification for each position: 1. Neil Young (and it’s not even a contest) - He forged his own path, was ahead of his time and completely unique. Of the four, the only one who made consistently great music throughout his entire career, was highly influential and remained relevant well past the 1970’s. One of the all time greats. 2. Stephen Stills - As much as I dislike most of his music it’s hard to deny his talent and ambition. That first CSN record was a showcase of his talents and, of the four, he was the first to have a fully formed idea of who he was as an artist. His musical output fell off very quickly, however, and I must once again refer you to the song “Can’t Get No Booty” from his 1978 solo record, Thoroughfare Gap. 3. David Crosby - Coming in at three, but just barely, behind Stills. His work with the Byrds and this excellent, hazy psych record are high water marks. His latter day solo work, team ups with Graham Nash and his band CPR are not for me at all and not very good, but I think his early work and curmudgeonly online persona towards the end of his life makes up for most of it. 4. Graham Nash - Nash has always struck me as an off-brand Paul McCartney and, with Crosby, he created a lot of very forgettable Lite FM-ish soft rock. His catalog is the least essential of the 4. “If I Could Only Remember My Name” is consistent from start to finish and documents a difficult time for Crosby, following the death of his girlfriend and features the friends who tried to help him through that trauma. It becomes somewhat self-indulgent towards the end of the record, with a lot of wordless vocalization, but as a whole, it is probably the best non-Neil Young solo outing from the CSNY camp.

I listened to the SACD release of this album. When it hit, it worked really well for me. I admire how experimental it is for a major release, but feels too much like a grab bag. I liked the more ethereal tracks.

Awesome sound. Need to listen again but really liked it, very mesmeric.

Takovy typicky americky bard, neni to uplne moje.

Meh

I love Crosby, Stills and Nash. They're even better with Neil Young. But David's solo career is a huge disappointment. The songwriting is subpar, especially "Cowboy Movie", the instrumentals interludes are stupid, and even the Neil collab was trash. The best song is Laughing.

Some nice guitar work and harmonies, enjoyable album, probably not an essential listen for me

I couldn't give lower than one. He is horrible this album is horrible and he's an even worst human being.

An oddly chill and enjoyable album. This really sounds like a group of friends getting together over an extended weekend to play and record songs and things take a strange turn. Plus, I have a feeling this was a pivotal shift for the Dead.

3 out of 5. So-so, nothing stood out but no real bad tracks either.

In a nutshell: folk rock cartharsis* *Carthartic more on David's part, not mine. He wrote most of the songs after the sudden death of his girlfriend. It was his way to grieve and to vent. This was popular because of Deja Vu's success. If this factor was removed from the equation, the only thing going for it are the backing musicians. But it's not enough to make it a great album. Overall: 2/10

Really a 3.5 but this was dreamy and relaxing, if not a bit incoherent. What Are Their Names the highlight (and I'd only heard live before)

Some really interesting songs on this album. Love the harmonies