Ranking CSN&Y by order of significance

Stills

Crosby, Young
Nash

 

In terms of talent, Young then Stills. In terms of what they brought to the table, Stills then Young.

That's it. I don't think of C or N as having any significance at all.

 

Agree with the first statement.

The second? Guinnevere, Marrakesh Express, Long Time Gone, Teach Your Children, Déjà Vu, Our House...

 

A very good thread indeed, the band is one of my all time favorite.
The songs Graham Nash made touch me far more deeply than the songs of the other three members. In fact,
I am really surprised he's got the 4th rank on almost all of the posts above!
Nash is very melodic, poetic and harmonic in fact he is the closest to the heart.
Nash, Young, Crosby and Stills would be my personal order of significance.

Music with a lot of substance:

 

Maybe we should poll who prefers "vs threads" vs "non vs threads"

 

Sadly, One of the most beautiful and the most underrated albums of all time.

 

Have to agree--picked it up used and heard it for the first time last year and it's really marvelous.

Crosby's material, "Whole Cloth", "Games" and "The Wall Song" in particular are standouts for me. Love the cameos by the Grateful Dead members.

 

Guys, you have been really unfair with this gentleman,
One rare album with no single bad track.

 

Young......enormous gaping chasm......Nash..tiny gap..Crosby.....big gap....Stills.

If we consider recent output, I think it's possible to make the case that Crosby is overtaking Nash.

 

I love this album. Best post-Deja Vu collab of CSNY members.

 

Only difference is that I prefer The Nash material with his splendid harmonica:
Southbound Train, Stranger's Room and Frozen Smiles.

 

Nash's stuff is really good on there as well, it's just that Croz's stuff stands out to me more.

I do think as a duo they were just as great, and are underrated.

 

Yeah, I know. In 1970 I thought they were the greatest thing since $10 lids, but now I just think of them as an inferior version of Buffalo Springfield. I still like "Marrakesh Express," but that song is nothing without Steve Stills doing a Todd Rundgren impersonation.

 

I was thinking how could I do this using space to give some weight to the rankings when I saw this, and I think this is pretty much what I would have come up with. But definitely three or four fewer line returns between Y and S and I think c deserves a capital, just for If I Could Only Remember my Name.

 

Crosby overtook Nash before the Byrds were even finished.

 

To me, they're really 2 different bands.
CSN was Stephen's vision of Buffalo Springfield melded with The Byrds.
Young brought another unique musical POV that the others were able to adapt to.
It's funny to me that Nash got on so well with Crosby while Crosby was a major PITA in Stills' eyes.

Young is just too mercurial and controlling to last long in a band where everyone is equal.
That they are all so uniquely talented and that each of them admires the other is what pulls them back together even after being totally fed up and generally with good reason.

As with most things that involve ratings, I think is pointless.
I rate all of them as equal.
CSN or CSNY without any one member is not the same.

 

Young
Stills
Nash
Crosby

 

I’m not trying to get on a soap box, either, Lightbulb. Discussing and comparing each one’s relative musical merit is fine, of course. I guess I’m just wondering if concluding with “So he’s better than this guy, then” is really beneath our generally higher standard and tone.

 

As far as I can tell Neil Young's still a viable performer, David Crosby's been on a tear musicwise the past few years, Stephen Stills has squandered whatever talent he one possessed, and Graham Nash seems like he'd be a nice guy to have tea and crumpets with and talk about the old days.

 

Talent .... Stills - by far

 

To my knowledge, only Sonny Boy Williamson can master the Harmonica better.

 

Fascinating how we all have different views.

For me, Neil has been more miss than hit throughout his career, though I have to admit that the hits have been sublime. However, he's done nothing interesting for ages. David lost many years to his lifestyle but whenever he does get into a studio he somehow manages to pull a rabbit out of the hat. Graham had one minor aberration with Innocent Eyes which is okay just a bit generic. Apart from that, he's rarely less than engaging whereas Stephen, from his very early days has manged to be completely on the button. His solo work is much more consistent than Neil's, to my ears at least, and his work with Manassas and more recently The Rides and Judy Collins has been superb.

Reckon we're both right to our own tastes.

 

Nash, the harmony.
Crosby, the hippie cred
Stills, the chops
Young, the attitude

 

Y'all need to listen to some early Hollies.

 

That, actually, seems to sum it up nicely