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The Supergroup of the Woodstock Era
Troubled by turbulence, CSN(Y) still had a remarkable run
Crosby Stills & Nash (CSN), with the later addition of Young (CSNY), is widely credited with being the first folk rock “supergroup.” What does that mean exactly? It’s when musical artists who are already successful, either on their own or within another group, join together to form a new group.
The official formation of CSN occurred in 1968. David Crosby had left The Byrds, Stephen Stills exited the recently defunct Buffalo Springfield, and Graham Nash resigned from The Hollies late that year. These three stars in their own right managed to find each other.
CSN began informally percolating at the June 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival. David Crosby played with The Byrds on the third evening of the festival, but his relationship with the other members was already deteriorating. On the fourth evening, Buffalo Springfield performed but without Neil Young, who had abruptly left the band right before the festival. Stephen Stills did something unusual — he invited David Crosby to come on stage and play with Buffalo Springfield.
That was the first piece of the CSN puzzle. In August, Crosby left The Byrds; by the next summer, Buffalo Springfield had split up. Meanwhile, Crosby and Stills were working together on…
