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Dec 15, 2021 Web Exclusive By Hays Davis

When David Crosby began work on his first solo album in 1970 he was still grieving the loss of his longtime girlfriend from a car accident the year before, and friends began dropping by regularly to join in in what became a true labor of love during a healing period for Crosby. Though that original emotional framework was essential in the creation If I Could Only Remember My Name, released in 1971, there’s a value in having listeners hear it with fresh ears 50 years later to consider it on its own merits. This anniversary edition adds a bonus track to the original album, along with a second disc of demos and session tracks.

With some of the album’s material featuring wordless, scatted vocals, critics at the time considered it among accomplished releases by Crosby’s contemporaries and were less than kind. However, the contributions captured here by Graham Nash, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and members of the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Santana are notable, helping to raise the finished record to meet Crosby’s cathartic vision.

The opening “Music Is Love,” with Nash and Young joining on vocals, sets the tone for what could serve as a theme for the record. “What Are Their Names” begins as what seems to be a loose jam before Michael Shrieve’s drums and Phil Lesh’s bass set a structure for group vocals to present a brief, arranged set of lyrics. Stacked vocal tracks from Crosby are the centerpiece of “Orleans,” which he referred to studio engineer Stephen Bancard as “Mormon Tabernacle me.” A high point is the richly textured “Laughing,” colored by Jerry Garcia’s pedal steel guitar.

Where “Cowboy Song” tells a tale that Crosby’s friends would have been in on at the time, other material goes more directly to Crosby’s state of mind during the recordings. “Traction in the Rain” offers a poignant lyrical delivery from Crosby, while “I’d Swear There Was Somebody Here” opens a cappella with his own haunting, echoed, and wordless vocals before settling into a warmly arranged tune that layers a set of upbeat vocal tracks with no lyrics, providing all that needed to be sung in that moment. (www.davidcrosby.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10