On album opener, “Things We Do For Love,” written for his wife of nearly 40-years Jan, Crosby’s vocals reflect a poetic tenderness. On “Paint You A Picture,” a cinematic tale of romantic regret co-written with Marc Cohn (“Walking In Memphis”), they are filled with remorseful resignation. The longtime social activist lands his political punches as he bitingly condemns the craven politicians who send other people’s children to war on “Somebody Other Than You,” and compassionately reminds us that we are all the same on “Look In Their Eyes,” a poignant tale about immigration inspired by the Syrian refugee crisis.
Listen to “Things We Do For Love” below, from Baker & Taylor.
Particularly striking on Lighthouse is Crosby’s piquant guitar playing, which is as inventive as always, but never flashy. By turns gentle and caustic, his work here surprised even him as he discovered new tones. “I put a guitar in a strange tuning and I see what I find,” he says. “It gives you different inversions of the chords and it gives you different sounds. I have many tunings. It helps me find things that are fresh and that are mine rather than just repeating stuff that other people have done.”
“Among folk rock songwriters, David is a real outlier,” League says. “He brought an element of color and exploration and risk to the writing process in his lyrics, in the guitar parts, in the vocal harmonies. He isn’t afraid to put notes in the chords you normally wouldn’t hear.”
Crosby and League recorded the album at Groove Masters, the Santa Monica studio owned by Crosby’s longtime pal Jackson Browne. League co-wrote half the songs on Lighthouse, with Crosby. In one of their rare disagreements, Crosby asked League to put aside a month for recording, though League insisted they only needed two weeks. “I said, I’ve never done a record in two weeks, I’m an old guy and you’re a young fireball. You have to slow down a little bit and give me a whole month,” Crosby recalls. “We recorded the record in 12 days,” he adds with a hearty laugh.
In Crosby’s unparalleled six-decade career, the native Californian has created songs that resonate as indelible cultural touchstones for more than three generations, not only as a solo artist, but as a founding member of The Byrds in the mid-60s, Crosby, Stills & Nash (recipients of the Grammy for best new artist in 1969), and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. He’s collaborated with dozens of artists, including Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, Phil Collins, Elton John and Carole King. The folk rock pioneer, who was inducted into the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2009, has also served as our social conscience, not only eloquently writing about societal issues on such songs as “Almost Cut My Hair” and “Wooden Ships,” but continuously donating concert proceeds to likeminded causes.
Crosby will head out on a summer North American tour, and will be accompanied on those dates by his son James Raymond on piano. A fall tour is in the works.
“An Evening with David Crosby” – Summer North American Tour
Aug 18 - South Orange, NJ - South Orange PAC
Aug 20 - Poughkeepsie, NY - Bardavon Opera House
Aug 21 - Bethlehem, PA - Musikfest Café
Aug 23 - Alexandria, VA - The Birchmere
Aug 24 - State College, PA - The State Theatre
Aug 26 - Greensburg, PA - Palace Theatre
Aug 28 - Evansville, IN - Victory Theatre
Aug 29 - Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater
Aug 31 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
Sept 2 - Kitchener, ON - Centre In the Square, Main Hall
Sept 4 - Toronto, ON - Danforth Music Hall
Sept 6 - Thunder Bay, ON - Community Auditorium
Sept 8 - Winnipeg, MB - Burton Cumming Theatre
Sept 9 - Regina, SK - Casino Regina Show Lounge
Sept 11 - Calgary, AB - Jack Singer Concert Hall
Sept 12 - Edmonton, AB - Winspear Centre For Music
Sept 14 - Kelowna, BC - KelownaTheatre
Sept 15 - Vancouver, BC - Vogue Theatre
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