Were CSNY really considered the "American Beatles" in the early to mid 1970s?

I was reading the book that came with the CSNY 1974 box set, and the writer of the essay Pete Long talks about what was going on in 1974 and says that CSNY were still regarded as the American Beatles - not an epithet to take lightly.

I've always enjoyed CSN's (and Y) music and knew they were popular, but I never thought they were considered that huge. So I am curious if any of you who were around at that time have any memories of CSNY's popularity and influence at the time. Were they really that big of a deal? Was it more so when Young was in the group, or were CSN just as big?

 

If they weren't they certainly should have been. Their 70s output, together, solo, as duos, etc reined supreme and represented the best the 70s had to offer. The songwriting, the musicanship, and vocals were second to none. If anyone was worthy of being called "American Beatles" or "70s Beatles" in the early to mid 70s it was them.

 

I was around at the time (mid teens when they broke). My recollection is that they were extremely popular, but didn't come anywhere near being considered as the American Beatles. Ironically, they auditioned for Apple Records and failed just before being signed with Atlantic Records. Amazing to think that the wonderful Woodstock 69 performance was only the second time CSNY had played in front of an audience.

 

I always sort of considered The Byrds to be the American Beatles, both career wise as a group and as solo artists with the projects that they've been involved in since the Byrds disbanded. And while they didn't share the same amount of success as the Beatles did per se, they were up there for sure. Also, much of Rubber Soul was inspired by the music of the Byrds.

Either way though, most people will tell you that the Beach Boys were the American Beatles.

 

As good as they were...in my opinion...no.

 

Yup, Think Pet Sounds in particular.

 

No.

 

Exactly. Very similar to Revolver, released around the same time. I just don't say the Beach Boys because I'm not a fan, and they're run of success only went until 1971 (if I'm not mistaken) right after the Beatles broke up, but they continued their career after that with little success. I think it's better to have a shorter but near flawless career than a career that starts out great but continues with mediocracy, albeit with a hit or two here and there.

 

At the time, I never heard CSNY called the American Beatles. I wouldn't have said that, and I was a fan of theirs. The Beatles showed tremendous change and growth from year to year. CSNY were who they were pretty much from the start.
In retrospect, I don't think there was an American Beatles.

 

Never heard that at all... however did hear back-in-the-day "Aerosmith" callED 'The American Rolling Stones'.

 

"The Monkees"
JJ

 

Nope, no one was really known as the American Beatles. I've only heard that about the Byrds from time to time but they certainly weren't known as the American Beatles.

 

It's funny my first reaction was to offer a suggestion of what band other than CSNY would qualify as the "American Beatles" but that's not what you are asking for so I don't think they were. But I was just a kid in the mid 70's, I think someone over 50 who was more aware of such things at the time could give a better answer. Oh look while I was typing this response Steve Hoffman chimed in with what I suspected.

 

No… never.

 

The book Fire and Rain by David Browne does a pretty good job of telling the story of how that myth/idea/concept/misconception might have started.

http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Rain-Beatles-Garfunkel-Taylor/dp/0306820722/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410667207&sr=1-1&keywords=fire and rain.

NY Times review: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/24/books/fire-and-rain-by-david-browne-book-review.html?_r=0.

 

How could they be the American Beatles when half of the members weren't even American?

 

I've seen the phrase "American Beatles" thrown around in the rock press a few times, but not in regard to CSN and sometimes Y. I think I once saw the Eagles referred to as the American Beatles. My thought was "really?". Nothing against Henley and Frey, but no. Just no.

CSN and CSNY were very huge for a while. Almost every other picture in the booklet that accompanies the recent CSNY 1974 live set is them performing for the masses in packed sports stadiums. I think the theme for the artwork was "make sure people remember how popular we once were."

 

Never heard that expression.
Though the USA already had their own Beatles "The Monkees".

 

It's simply PR hype. Before them it was The Byrd's are the new Beatles, then it was the Monkees, etc. One person says it in the press then it gets repeated. The same thing with Dylan. Every singer songwriter who wrote reasonably intelligent lyrics would receive the Dylan label. Now that I think about it, do critics even say that anymore? I don't read music magazines and reviews nearly as much as I used to so it could be happening and I might be missing it.

 

Stills once said something to the effect that CSNY could have been thought of in the league of the Beatles and the Stones but blew it due to egos. Add drugs to that mix and I will agree.

 

They were of course huge, seems everyone had one or more of their albums. Just check out the used bins today. But they were never called anything like that (that I recall) back in the day

The way I remember a 'comparison' association with the Beatles was an article or review, many years later, i.e. late 70's or an early 80's Rolling Stone Record Guide etc. Anyway, the line went something along that in 1969 they became Americas answer or closest rival to Beatles cultural predominance. Which they were.

 

It was sooooooo post-Beatles in the early 1970's, it wasn't even funny. C,S,N and later Y were very "post-Beatles", much like Brown Record covers and James Taylor. Electric excitement was yesterday's news, this was a time for regret.

 

I certainly never heard that comparison at the time, and I grew up with these records. Sounds rather ridiculous to me, imho.

 

Thanks for the link, that book looks worth checking out.

I wondered this also, as Nash was from the UK and Young is Canadian, I guess the writer figured they had that California sound, that's all I can think of.

Thanks for the input. As I said I read this in book for CNSY 1974 set, and it struck me as odd, I could never picture Young in paticular thinking this, so I wondered what everyone here thought.

I get where you are coming from, and your term "70s Beatles" makes much more sense, especially for CSNY. Harmony wise CSNY, The Byrds amd The Beach Boys are right up there with The Beatles, and I know CSNY tackled a lot of the social problems of the late 60s and into the 70s.


Of course I've read at one time or another that bands like CCR. and Three Dog Night and The Band among others were also "the American Beatles". I've always considered CSNY very influential, but I compare them more to CCR actually. I do have to agree that The Beach Boys are probably the closest to the title, especially if you look at their work from when The Beatlse released Please Please Me to Let It Be, The BB's canon in that period of time is very strong.

In the end it is apples and oranges I guess.