M- 1971 PROMO GRAHAM NASH - 1st CROSBY GARCIA YOUNG

$

56

SUPER RARE 1971 WHITE LABEL PROMO                                  

MINT CONDITION                                    

CROSBY - GARCIA - YOUNG + + +                            

             Songs For Beginners

\                 USA - Atlantic Records - SD 7204 (1841 Broadway NY NY) = White Label Promo

MINTY CLEAN

STUNNING 1972 ORIGINAL vinyl WHITE LABEL PROMOTIONAL of the classic and legendary great first and best Graham Nash solo album featuring prominant members of the West Coast sixties...In 1971, singer Graham Nash became the last member of Crosby, Still, Nash and Young to release a solo album. Songs For Beginners, Nash's debut, is a collection of material that he had written over the previous couple of years. Calling on the talents of some of his friends – musicians like the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, multi-instrumentalist David Lindley, journeyman saxophonist Bobby Keys, and even fellow band members Crosby and Young (under the pseudonym "Joe Yankee") – Nash crafted a brilliant album of technical virtuosity and intelligent lyricism.

Old white label promo albums such as this are very hard to find some 40 years later...pressed up as limited editions by major labels to be sent out to media publications and radio stations for review, the white label albums were the first to be pressed off the freshly cut masters and retain the best sound quality ...naturally collectors seek these pressings and most of the good titles (like this) are tucked away in private collections...

SONGS FOR BEGINNERS opens with the plaintive "Military Madness," an ole-fashioned, anti-war protest song, your standard folkie plea for peace-n-love all gussied up with some wikka-wikka fretwork (courtesy of Mr. Dave Mason), Nash's considered lyrics sung above his gentle acoustic guitar-strum. Although the song was originally written with Nash's soldier father in mind, set in WWII England, its simple message is applicable to all wars, in all places, and the "madness" that often accompanies such mindless aggression.

At its heart, however, Songs For Beginners is an album of love songs…tales of lost love, yes, but a romantic collection nonetheless. No less than three songs among the eleven – "Better Days," "Simple Man," and "I Used To Be A King" – deal with Nash's heartbroken break-up with singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell, of whom he wrote the CSNY gem "Our House." Another song here, "Wounded Bird," was written for friend and bandmate Stephen Stills, who was going through his own break-up with folk singer Judy Collins.

Because of this romantic focus, much of Songs For Beginners sounds slightly morose, but there are a few rays of hope that shine through these stories if one digs deep enough in the grooves. "Better Days," which features one of Nash's better vocal performances, one that displays the range of the man's talents, lyrically has the conscience of the song's protagonist telling him "remember better days" and "don't you cry 'cause she is gone." That is, remember the joyous laughter and loving moments and move on with your life, regardless of her reasons for leaving.

"I Used To Be A King" is a title that plays on words, evoking Nash's Hollies-era hit "King Midas In Reverse." Nash continues this clever wordplay in the lyrics, likening his lost relationship to the king for whom "everything around me turned to gold." In the flush of a romance, it does seem that one is on top of the world, a king of sorts, but here we have Nash…obviously the song's protagonist…doubting himself and his former royal status. Although he tells himself "it's alright, I'm OK," he also says, "everything around me turned to rust…'cause I built my life on sand." Although the song is ostensibly one of redemption, Nash's declaration that "no one is going to break my heart again" says otherwise.

Whereas the previous two songs display a certain amount of self-deception, "Simple Man" – the original song in the lovesick Mitchell trilogy – is a poetic attempt to come to grips with the songwriter's loss. With the lovely Rita Coolidge providing backing harmonies behind Nash's cracking voice and mournful piano, the song is one of wistful self assurance (that most likely failed). With David Lindley's high lonesome fiddle work low in the mix, the song provokes a truly melancholy vibe.

As befitting the time and place of its release, Songs For Beginners includes a pair of topical songs that hold up remarkably well. " Chicago," written about the Chicago Seven trial, was targeted at Nash's CSNY bandmates Stills and Young. Asked by hippie legend Wavy Gravy to perform a benefit concert for the Chicago Seven protesters – which included the late Abbie Hoffman and Black Panther Bobby Seale – evidently Nash and Crosby were ready to roll, but the other half of CSNY displayed a certain reticence.

"Chicago" was Nash's plea to get the pair on board, the up-tempo song opening with the lyrics "so your brother's bound and gagged, and they've chained him to a chair, won't you please come to Chicago just to sing…." From there it sort of evolves into a sort of "we can change the world" mantra so prevalent in late-60s/early-70s rock music. As for the album-closing "We Can Change The World," it is no more than a coda, really, a minute-seventeen of chiming piano and harmony vocals that flows effortlessly from the end of "Chicago." As a sign of the times, "Chicago" would become a Top Forty hit and drive Songs For Beginners to #15 on the charts, the album achieving Gold sales status.

Songs For Beginners is an impressive and unexpected debut from an artist that even CSNY fans didn't know all that well at the time. Introspective to a fault, these are songs of change, of transition, masterfully capturing a tumultuous period of the artist's life and setting them in amber for listeners to hear nearly forty years later. The music and lyrics are perfectly matched, and the emotions expressed herein by Nash are universal, lending the album a timeless status. Nash would go on to record a handful of subsequent solo works, but none would so perfectly document what was on the man's mind as did Songs For Beginners.

• Military Madness

  • Graham Nash – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
  • Johny Barbata (from The Turtles") – drums
  • Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels – bass
  • Joel Bernstein – piano
  • Dave Mason (Traffic) – electric guitar

  Better Days

  • Graham Nash – lead vocals, background vocals, acoustic guitar, organ, piano
  • Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels – bass
  • Dallas Taylor – drums
  • Neil Young – piano

  Wounded Bird

  • Graham Nash – lead vocals, acoustic guitar

  I Used to Be a King

  • Graham Nash – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
  • Johny Barbata – drums
  • Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead) – bass
  • Jerry Garcia – piano, steel guitar
  • David Crosby – electric guitar

  Be Yourself

  • Graham Nash – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
  • Johny Barbata – drums
  • Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels – bass
  • Everyone Loose There – chorus

  Simple Man

  • Graham Nash – lead vocals, background vocals, piano
  • David Lindley (Kaleidoscope) – fiddle

  Man in the Mirror

  • Graham Nash – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
  • Johny Barbata – drums
  • Neil Young – piano
  • Jerry Garcia – steel guitar
  • Chris Ethridge (Burrito Brothers) – bass

  There's Only One

  • Graham Nash – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, organ
  • Johny Barbata – drums
  • Rita Coolidge – background vocals, piano
  • Larry Cox – whiskers
  • Chris Ethridge – bass
  • Bobby Keys – saxophone solo  

  Sleep Song

  • Graham Nash – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, paper, comb

  Chicago / We Can Change the World

  • Graham Nash – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, organ on "We Can Change the World", piano, tambourine
  • Johny Barbata – drums, tambourine on "We Can Change the World"
  • Rita Coolidge – background vocals
  • Larry Cox – whiskers
  • Chris Ethridge – bass

CONDITION: The cover is top level  M- stiff and strong all over with no bends, no split seams, no writing ...having a round promo sticker at top right that only enhances the value...

The vinyl with white promo labels, all glossy clean, the labels and vinyl grooves clean and clear, M- 

      A cool addition to anyone's music library!

SEE: SELLERS OTher items for similar cool sounds for "head" people...

EFFICIENT/CAREFUL GRADING

All imperfections are noted both cover & record