Rating: 
Summary: Crosby Stills & Nash: The Authorized Biography
Review: Dave Z. is a meticulous, lucid and utterly welcome credit to his profession. Unaffectedly poised above the silly sensationalism, spin and wordiness other writers employ for whatever reasons, DEZ offers a lovely, descriptive and respectful visit with the minds and hearts of the Fellas. Refreshingly, he lets CSN tell much of their story--I feel like I'm getting the goods in a cozy, firsthand manner; and Dave, like any artist occupying the upper crust of his/her form, makes the writing seem easy. Sharp and generous, though never starstruck, DEZ is the consummate biographer. Obviously, CSN feel safe with Dave--an opportunity as unwasted by him as any words he employs. This work makes me eager for more Zimmer, and I'd especially love to someday get a read of any fiction he might choose to create, as I'm ripe for a deeper peek into his heartful imagination.Henry Diltz also scores with some always fresh-looking work. Among other impeccable photos new to me, in Chapter 17 there's a gorgeous shot of Stills holding his daughter Eleanor, and another perfectly homey, happy picture of Nash and his family in what I guess is their kitchen. Again and making HD a natural partner to Dave Z., warmth and realness set an appealing and friendly tone. One soulful, irresistible thing about work like that of Dave Z. and Henry D.--and of CSN--you experience it again and again, but it remains new.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book for any CSNY fan!
Review: I bought this book when the group did their 2000 Reunion Tour and thoroughly enjoyed both. Looking back, I'd say that I liked the book in the same way that I liked the group....the early days and the early struggles were the best. What we forget about these guys was that their most productive years were from about 1968 to 1974 as a group and as individuals. All the years after this time, they have been only a shadow of themselves. If you like this book and are more of a Stills fan, be sure to read Richie Furay's book, For What It's Worth which is even more personal and detailed about the early days. As a CSN fan, I'll always treasure those first two albums as a couple of my all-time favorites. I would hope that there is a live album from the last tour. I also wish that someone would help Stills write a book, too. I'd love to hear his version of all that happened.
Rating:
Summary: Essential reading
Review: I have just finished reading C,S & N the biography,it is essential reading! It is one of thoughs books that once you pick up and start reading is very hard to put down.It covers the early history of each band member in their prospective bands through to the formation of C,S & N and also C,S,N&Y. There are also lots of good photographs throughout.Every fan of C,S,N &C,S,N&Y should read this book
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I saw and previewed this book while in Barnes and Noble in Downtown Pittsburgh and I thought WOW! Some of the stuff I never knew about them! I had to go back and buy it for my mother for mothers day who is a HUGE CSNY fan! great job! Also recommended: Classic Rock Stories - Tim Morse .. Stories behind the greatest songs of all time .. did you know the first 2 lines to Wooden Ships were taken from a church sign that Graham saw in Florida?
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I saw and previewed this book while in Barnes and Noble in Downtown Pittsburgh and I thought WOW! Some of the stuff I never knew about them! I had to go back and buy it for my mother for mothers day who is a HUGE CSNY fan! great job! Also recommended: Classic Rock Stories - Tim Morse .. Stories behind the greatest songs of all time .. did you know the first 2 lines to Wooden Ships were taken from a church sign that Graham saw in Florida?
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I saw and previewed this book while in Downtown Pittsburgh and I thought WOW! Some of the stuff I never knew about them! I had to go back and buy it for my mother for mothers day who is a HUGE CSNY fan! great job! Also recommended: Classic Rock Stories - Tim Morse .. Stories behind the greatest songs of all time .. did you know the first 2 lines to Wooden Ships were taken from a church sign that Graham saw in Florida?
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I saw and previewed this book while in Downtown Pittsburgh and I thought WOW! Some of the stuff I never knew about them! I had to go back and buy it for my mother for mothers day who is a HUGE CSNY fan! great job! Also recommended: Classic Rock Stories - Tim Morse .. Stories behind the greatest songs of all time .. did you know the first 2 lines to Wooden Ships were taken from a church sign that Graham saw in Florida?
Rating:
Summary: Better than I expected!!!
Review: I thought this book was great. Although I've been a CSN and CSNY fan my whole life, I'm only 25 so I wasn't around when Woodstock happened. This book gave me a new perspective on CSN and CSNY.
This group, to me, is right up there with the Beatles. Great harmony, great chemistry, great songs. And like the Beatles, they've endured their share of arguments and yet still manage to reach out to their fans with simple lyrics and songs.
I loved the biographical nature of the book. Sure, there were times I would have liked to have known what they were thinking as they wrote/sang a particular song, but I don't think this book was meant to discuss those details specifically. I loved reading about the bizarre details that few people know about them. There were many times I could not stop reading.
The only problem that I saw with the book was that there was not enough material. It can only go so far, but I would like to see an up-to-date version. When I finished, I felt like I could have read 100 more pages.
If you're a CSN/Y fan at all, you will not be disappointed. It will only leave you wanting more.
Rating: 
Summary: Too biographical...
Review: It is a biography, and so one should expect to be sauntered through the births, childhoods, teen years, and adulthoods of these three rock mega-stars. With that simple framework in hand an author should then consider, I believe, what the readers connection is to your subject. With David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash, the obvious link is the music. There is also the rather chaotic, evolutionary decades of the sixties and seventies to be considered, which the music reflected and effected, as well as the more transient experiences most people had with the band, such as their concert appearances. But what I would guess most people really tune into when they read a book like this is the product the trio produced, which served as our "middle-man" to their individual and collective psyche, and creative spirits over those decades.
Even Graham Nash intones late in the book, "People have always tended to place far too much importance on the nature of the personal relationships between us, instead of what is created out of these relationships". Amen, Graham. You would think a light bulb should have ignited over author Dave Zimmer's head as he considered this statement, and allowed it to act like the beam from a lighthouse to guide his work. Instead that's exactly what the book focuses on. The first several chapters, of course, offer a succinct and necessary descriptive overview of each of the performers childhood roots. Once you're into the CSN and CSNY segments, however, the book devolves into tale after tale of how the boys couldn't play nice together. To be honest, I really don't care about their squabbling. I care about the music, and for the most part, the music took place independent of the squabbling. There is a place for the 'squabble-tales', such as when the music was a product of them, such as Nash's 'Wasted On the Way'. But most of the squabbles tended to damn rather than redeem the music. I really wish Zimmer would have taken liberties with, rather than literally pursuing the definition of 'biography'. Further editing could have been done with the tales of rock and roll excess. Did I really need to be told what great weed David Crosby was able to score? I probably would have ventured to guess that it was primo.
And what do you replace these ditties on the cutting floor with? More of the stories behind the music, which the book is not devoid of. There is a nice discourse on 'Wooden Ships' for instance. But by and large, vast segments of the CSN and Y catalog are ignored. Of the thirty-one songs recorded by Stills with Manassas, for instance, only a handful (yeah, I count five) are given any mention at all, and most of that information could have been gleaned from the album jackets. There have to be stories behind these songs, and since I don't spend much time with David, Stephen, and Graham, but do spend time with their music, it would be nice to know more about it. Gosh, what IS IT Stephen is wailing in Spanish while Graham and David do the "Do-do-do-do-do..." coda on 'Suite: Judy Blue Eyes'? You won't find out here, though it's probably the most-asked question about their music.
I was going to give this work three stars, and probably should have, but it IS a biography and perhaps I'm being unfair in wanting it to be something it isn't. When the book 'Crosby, Stills and Nash: The Story Behind the Music' arrives, perhaps then I'll be happy. For now, if you want to hear about the naked ladies walking around Crosby's pad, or how Still's was cajoled into performing in an afro wig, this book is your baby! On the other hand, if you want to know what inspired Stills to dig back into the Buffalo Springfield catalog to graft 'Questions' onto 'Carry On', you'll have to be a bit more patient... and you may never know.
Rating: 
Summary: CSN---Blah,Blah,Blah.......
Review: OK--I bought this book,because I really do love those guys---but I am sorry to say that the author's sugary treatment of his subjects are probably all that one is ever going to get of CSN. I know that Crosby has written an account. I wish that Graham would write a book--but out of respect for his Bandmates,probably won't---and that's a shame. Because I think he would write an honest account,of how things really went down.But the saddest thing is that Stephen will probably never write an honest,open account---too much pain to re-live,again.
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