David Crosby: Remember My Name – Unforgettable!

David Crosby is a fascinating man, and this documentary captures well how complex, charismatic, and mysterious he is.  As much as I liked the Toni Morrison and Leonard Cohen documentaries (see my reviews), I like this one even better.  Unfortunately, it has already left the theaters in Orange County.  I had to drive to Long Beach to see it (the things I do for blog fans!), but I think a few theaters in L.A. are still showing it.  Make sure you see it when it’s available on Amazon Prime Video if you don’t see it in the theater.  It’s a MUST-SEE for David Crosby fans.

This film is directed by P.J. Eaton and produced by Cameron Crowe, who both serve up very intelligent and interesting questions to Crosby.  His responses appear to be honest (but who really knows), and he is such an intelligent and perceptive man that his answers are fascinating.  David is also a superb story-teller.  The questions involve his music, his relationships with his band mates, his love affairs, his drug abuse (primarily heroin and cocaine), and lots more.  For instance, Crosby seems to sincerely regret his severe drug abuse that wasted over 10 years of his life and nearly killed him.

The film covers the Byrds and how Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman had to fire Crosby from the band because he was “insufferable.”  He tells how ‘Crosby, Stills and Nash’ was born “in about 40 seconds” when Graham Nash started singing harmony while Stills and Crosby were singing a song at a house in Laurel Canyon.  In addition to being blessed with a spectacular voice with few peers at singing harmony, David is a terrific guitar player, known for his unique tunings.  He has written some great songs, including “Wooden Ships.”

Crosby’s descent into hell with drug abuse, resulting in a jail sentence in 1986, appears to be at least partly due to the tragic death of his girlfriend, Christine Hinton, at age 21 due to an automobile accident.  David truly loved her, and he never fully recovered from that loss.  Prior to Christine, Crosby had an on-and-off love affair with Joni Mitchell.  He produced her first album (although he didn’t think he did a very good job).  He thinks Joni is “the greatest of our singer/songwriters, hands down.”

David is now in his mid-70’s, happily married to Jan Dance.  McGuinn, Hillman, Nash, Stills, and Young all hate his guts and they won’t even talk to him.  He has serious medical problems including a liver transplant, diabetes, and severe coronary artery disease (8 stents), and will probably die soon.  Crosby hopes for forgiveness from his prior friends, and he seems to be to trying to “do the right thing” before he sails off into the sunset.  He recently had a creative re-birth and is out on the road giving concerts with young musicians.  He has put out a couple of solo albums since 2016 that have been favorably reviewed.  If David Crosby comes this way again (he played at “The Grove” last year, but I didn’t go), I plan to catch his show.  Despite my advancing years, I will always remember his name.