Crosby, Stills & Nash release CSN, their third album

CSN Crosby, Stills & Nash

Released: June 17, 1977 Peak: 2 US, 23 UK, 9 CN, 7 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, -- UK, 6.0 world (includes US + UK) Genre: folk rock/classic rock

Tracks: Click on a song title for more details. Shadow Captain [4:32] See the Changes [2:56] Carried Away [2:29] Fair Game [3:30] Anything at All [3:01] Cathedral [5:15] Dark Star [4:43] Just a Song Before I Go [2:12] Run from Tears [4:09] Cold Rain [2:32] In My Dreams [5:10] I Give You Give Blind [3:21] Total Running Time: 43:50 The Players: David Crosby (vocals, guitar) Stephen Stills (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, organ, piano, percussion) Graham Nash (vocals, guitar)

Rating: 3.673 out of 5.00 (average of 14 ratings)

The Establishment of a Supergroup The trio of David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash emerged in 1969 as arguably the most celebrated supergroup of all time. They had previously been in the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and the Hollies respectively. When they started singing together, they realized they had struck gold with their harmonies. Their self-titled debut album was a multi-platinum success, they won the Grammy for Best New Artist, and they performed at Woodstock. They followed up in 1970 with Déjà Vu, which brought Stills’ former Buffalo Springfield bandmate Neil Young into the fold. The album did even better than its predecessor, topping the Billboard album chart and selling eight million copies. Attempts at a Follow-Up Over the next few years, the four released individual albums, all reaching the top ten and going gold at least once. Still, the pressure to produce another blockbuster under the CSN or CSNY banner was immense. A 1971 compilation and 1974 live album each reached #1 and sold at least four million copies, but the public really wanted a new studio effort. The four tried to reconvene and record together several times from 1973 to 1976 for what was intended to be the Human Highway album, but it never came to fruition. The Eventual Reunion Crosby, Stills & Nash eventually reunited for 1977’s CSN album. It was only their second album as a trio, although they’d all been busy collectively releasing 14 studio albums since 1969. “Times had certainly changed…nevertheless, there was a hunger in audiences for a return to the harmony-soaked idealism with which the trio had been catapulted to popularity.” AM How the Album Did The album actually outperformed the 1969 Crosby, Stills & Nash album. Both have sold four million copies but as of 2012, the later album outsold the earlier one by 200,000 copies. WK “The music here is very good, though probably not up to the hard-to-match level of Crosby, Stills & Nash or Déjà Vu. Still, the songs showed a great deal of lyrical maturity and compositional complexity compared to those earlier albums (from a far more innocent time).” AM “CSN was the trio’s last fully realized album, and also the last recording on which the three principals handled all the vocal parts without the sweetening of additional voices. It has held up remarkably well, both as a memento of its time and as a thoroughly enjoyable musical work.” AM The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Shadow Captain Crosby, Stills & Nash

Writer(s): David Crosby, Craig Doerge Released: November 1977 (single), CSN (1977), Replay (compilation, 1980), CSN (box set, 1991), Carry On (compilation, 1991), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2005) Peak: 47 CL, 19 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 4.59 streaming About the Song: AllMusic.com’s Jim Newsom said that for CSN, “David Crosby contributed three classics from his distinctive oeuvre;” AM this was one of them.

See the Changes Crosby, Stills & Nash

Writer(s): Stephen Stills Released: CSN (1977), CSN (box set, 1991), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2005) Peak: 21 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 4.81 streaming About the Song: This song was recorded back in 1973 when CSNY were working on the intended Human Highway album. AllMusic.com’s Jim Newsom says this ranks among Stephen Stills’ best work. AM

Carried Away Crosby, Stills & Nash

Writer(s): Graham Nash Released: CSN (1977) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 7.00 streaming

Fair Game Crosby, Stills & Nash

Writer(s): Stephen Stills Released: September 1977 (single), CSN (1977) Peak: 43 BB, 47 CB, 56 HR, 21 AC, 16 CL, 42 CN Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.04 streaming About the Song: Cash Box said this song “combines a snappy Latin rhythm, neatly interlocking harmonies, and layers of Stephen Stills’ thoughtful acoustic guitar work.” WK Record World called it a “mid-tempo Stills song with samba touches, with the trio’s trademark vocal harmonies again standing out.” WK?sup>

Anything at All Crosby, Stills & Nash

Writer(s): David Crosby Released: September 1977 (B-side of “Fair Game”), CSN (1977) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.19 streaming About the Song: AllMusic.com’s Jim Newsom said that for CSN, “David Crosby contributed three classics from his distinctive oeuvre;” AM this was one of them.

Cathedral Crosby, Stills & Nash

Writer(s): Graham Nash Released: CSN (1977), Replay (compilation, 1980), CSN (box set, 1991), Carry On (compilation, 1991), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2005) Peak: 21 CL, 21 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 7.70 streaming About the Song: This was Nash’s “elaborate set piece re-creating a vision of an LSD experience that he had in Winchester Cathedral” WK on his 32nd birthday. AM It “became a staple of the group's live repertoire.” AM

Dark Star Crosby, Stills & Nash

Writer(s): Stephen Stills Released: June 1977 (B-side of “Just the Song Before I Go”), CSN (1977), CSN (box set, 1991), Carry On (compilation, 1991) Peak: 10 CL, 19 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 20.71 streaming About the Song: This song found Stills “returning to the Latin rhythms he had favored all the way back to his Buffalo Springfield days.” WK AllMusic.com’s Jim Newsom says this ranks among his best work. AM

Just a Song Before I Go Crosby, Stills & Nash

Writer(s): Graham Nash Released: June 1977 (single), CSN (1977), Replay (compilation, 1980), CSN (box set, 1991), Carry On (compilation, 1991), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2005) Peak: 7 BB, 8 CB, 15 GR, 12 HR, 5 AC, 7 CL, 10 CN, 59 AU, 8 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 43.92 streaming About the Song: Nash offered “a radio-ready acoustic ballad with ‘Just a Song Before I Go.’” WK It was the first single from the album, reaching #7. It was the group’s first trip to the top ten and would remain their biggest hit for the rest of their careers.

Run from Tears Crosby, Stills & Nash

Writer(s): Stephen Stills Released: CSN (1977) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.37 streaming

Cold Rain Crosby, Stills & Nash

Writer(s): Graham Nash Released: CSN (1977), CSN (box set, 1991) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.10 streaming

In My Dreams Crosby, Stills & Nash

Writer(s): David Crosby Released: CSN (1977), CSN (box set, 1991), Carry On (compilation, 1991), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2005) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.48 streaming About the Song: AllMusic.com’s Jim Newsom said that for CSN, “David Crosby contributed three classics from his distinctive oeuvre,” AM including “the beautiful ‘In My Dreams.’” AM

I Give You Give Blind Crosby, Stills & Nash

Writer(s): Stephen Stills Released: December 1977 (single), CSN (1977), Replay (compilation, 1980) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.06 streaming About the Song: Cash Box commented on this song’s “surging guitars and piano,” “harmonic hooks,” and “powerful rhythmic elements.” WK

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review by Jim Newsom WK Wikipedia.org Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/19/2026.