Mister Tee wrote:Genetics sometimes overrule all. For a guy who, to put it mildly, didn't take pristine care of himself, to last to his 80s is remarkable.
So much music from my formative years -- Turn Turn Turn, Teach Your Children, Ohio...that barely scratches the surface. A giant.
When Rick Ocaesik of The Cars died, I was amazed to learn how old he really was. Turned out, he was older than two of the four members of CSN&Y. And then I was amazed again to reflect that all four members of CSN&Y were still alive. (By contrast, every single member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience has been dead for 15 years.)
My formative years were closer to the generation of the Dead Milkmen’s “The Thing that Eats Hippies” (in which David Crosby makes a “cameo”) than “Eight Miles High”, so even though I grew up on a lot of 60s music, I don't have as much sentimental attachment towards him personally. Oh yes, one of the edifices of a huge cultural foundation has shattered, and it's really disconcerting to see these rock and pop giants passing away one by one. (One day, it's gonna be Bob Dylan, which is unimaginable to me.) And between him, S, N & Y, Crosby had the strongest singing voice by far. But he really didn't do the legacy of the 60s many favors. For years, he was the 60s-hating reactionaries' Exhibit A of everything that was wrong with the decade. And frankly, he buttressed their case not only with his lifestyle but even with his music. Google David Crosby Triad. I dare you to listen to that song without grimacing or at least laughing.
BTW, quite a few musical giants recently passed that did not recieve a thread, and they deserve acknowledgement. Jerry Lee Lewis, the very last (I think) of the 50s icons; Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie and guitar titan Jeff Beck. We all knew this was going to happen eventually, but seeing so many rock and roll passings at an accelerated rate is, as I said, really disconcerting to witness.