(Credits: Far Out / Marsha Miller / LBJ Library)
Graham Nash is someone very susceptible to the moving nature of music. It’s followed him around his whole life.
It was there in The Hollies, it’s been there as a solo artist, and it was overwhelming when he first performed with Crosby, Stills and Nash. He was reminded of how powerful music can be and how moving, sweet-sounding harmonies can be so long as they’re performed by the right people. He has been chasing that initial feeling he had with Crosby and Stills his whole career.
“I was born and raised on the outskirts of Manchester, and I heard a magical sound when me and David and Stephen put our three voices together to try and make one voice,” he said, “And when I heard that I had to go back to England, leave The Hollies and instead go back to that magical sound that we had created.”
Throughout his career, recognising the power of music, he was always trying to use what he wrote to inspire, move and educate people. This meant using his art as a reflection of whatever time he was living in. Everything from the personal to the political was laid out in his songs, up to as far as his most recent album, NOW, where he talks about his life, his emotions, and his disdain for certain politicians.
He knows that because of how influential music can be, people will refer to it as a reflection of a historical moment. There are some artists he believes will always be referred to as legends in music, even hundreds of years later down the line, and one of these is Joni Mitchell. The two of them were in a relationship for a while and worked together a lot, leading to them having an influence on each other’s work. While some people often compare the two artists, Nash admits that said comparison isn’t fair, as he thinks Mitchell is a better songwriter than him.
“I would never, ever try to compare any of my work with any of Joni’s work. I think she’s a genius,” he said before talking about the lasting influence of her work.
Adding, “I think in a hundred years’ time, when people are looking back at this century and what happened in music, they are probably going to remember The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, and they’re definitely going to remember Joni Mitchell.”
He then spoke about his favourite Joni Mitchell song, specifically, saying that while he likes her versatility as an artist, it’s always been her stripped-back numbers which appeal more to him. There is something about those subdued songs that really allows her ability as a folk singer to shine through, and it’s those songs that Nash (and the future of the human race, apparently) will never tire of.
“There are so many brilliant songs,” he said, “I tend to go towards a simple song, and one of my favorites is ‘A Case Of You’. I think it’s an unbelievably beautifully recorded, simple folk song. It’s beautiful.”
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