) to form what will become the epitome of the supergroup in the 1970s.

Crosby Stills & Nash (Atlantic, may 1969) sounds like the laid-back, atmospheric and slightly psychedelic version of what the three had done with their respective bands. Stills' Suite Judy Blue Eyes (1969), Crosby's Guinivere and, best of all, Nash's Marrakesh Express displayed gorgeous vocal harmonies and crystal-clear guitar work.

For the following album, Dejavu` (Atlantic, march 1970), the trio added Neil Young (also a former Buffalo Springfield member) and Young's Country Girl is easily the centerpiece. The others also get carried way, with Stills penning three of his classics (Carry On, 4+20 , Everybody I Love You), Crosby delivering three post-hippie manifestos (Almost Cut My Hair, Dejavu`, Shadow Captain), and Nash indulging in his soulful beat (Teach Your Children, Our House). The album was followed by the single containing Young's vehement political sermon Ohio and by a double live album, Four Way Street (Atlantic, 1971), that was mainly notable for the extended guitar jams. This supergroup had virtually invented a new genre, the sunny, melancholy, thoughtful country/blues/soul that will be called "West Coast sound".

In the meantime Stills had also started a solo career. Stephen Stills (Atlantic, 1970), with Love The One You're With and It Doesn't Matter, took advantage of guests Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and David Crosby, but Stephen Stills 2 (Atlantic, 1971) has little to commend itself (Change Partners).

There followed another ambitious project, this time involving Chris Hillman of the Flying Burrito Bros: Manassas. This band played more straightforward and traditional blues-tinged country-rock on Manassas (1972), a veritable encyclopedia of American music, and Down the Road (1973), but Hillman soon left to join Poco's Ritchie Furay.

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young recorded Human Highway (1974), but the album was never released.

Stills released the solo album Stills (Columbia, 1975) and the nostalgic Illegal Stills (Columbia, 1976), with a band of veterans. A collaboration with Young, Long May You Run (Reprise, 1976), was followed by another mediocre solo album, Thoroughfare Gap (Columbia, 1978).

In the meantime, Crosby and Nash had reunited with Stills to cut CSN (Atlantic, 1977), an uninspired follow-up to their supergroup days. Just A Song Before I Go and Dark Star were the least awful ballads, but the album nevertheless sold four million copies. Crosby, destroyed by drugs, wasn't even singing anymore on Daylight Again (Atlantic, 1982), whose relevant song is Nash's Wasted On The Way. After the live Allies (1983), Crosby was arrested on drug-related charges, and the trio seemed doomed.

Stills returned to his solo career with Right By You (Warner, 1984), then seemed to retire.

When Crosby finally rehabilitated, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young staged a reunion that yielded American Dream (Atlantic, 1988). But it's hardly a revolutionary album, notable mainly for David Crosby apologizing with his acid-rock fans in Compass.

Despite employing a cast of distinguished guests (including Bruce Hornsby and Branford Marsalis), Crosby Stills & Nash's Live it Up (Atlantic, 1990) was an utter failure. The best songs were even't written by them. This was a pop trio in search of a hit.

Following Stills' Alone (Vision, 1991) and another long hiatus, the trio returned with After The Storm (Atlantic, 1994), another disappointing album.

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young reunited one more time for Looking Forward (1999), again as radio-friendly and family-oriented as it gets. Still's Seen Enough is virtually a rewrite of Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues. Young wastes his talent in Slowpoke, Out Of Control, Looking Forward.

With hindsight, Crosby Stills & Nash were one of the most overrated albums of all times, competing with the Beatles, Emerson Lake & Palmer and other marketing scoops of that caliber.

Brother Thomas,

For a Moment thought I missed a WHAMMY !  What a very interesting post . Thank you for sharing the intel Enjoy your day my friend Gods speed :-) Lee

1. Peter Tork went to his Monkee audition with best friend Steven Stills. Stills was passed over. Peter Tork was in.

2. Michael Nesmith once put his fist through a door during an argument over the creative control of the music with The Monkees' television and record executives.

3. It was Michael Nesmith who talked Frank Zappa into guest starring in an episode of The Monkees. Zappa would later appear in the failed Monkees movie "Head".

Although a disaster, the money made from "Head" would go on to be used to make "Easy Rider". The Monkees would never receive any money from that project.

7. The theme song for "Head", The Porpoise Song, was written by Carol King. It would be later used in the Vanilla Sky soundtrack.

8. Neil Diamond got his start in music writing for The Monkees. His biggest contribution - "I'm a Believer".

9. Although it is Michael Nesmith who was most famous for his discontent over The Monkees, it was Peter Tork who quit the band first.

10. The Monkees were offered the song "Sugar Sugar" to record before it was given to The Archies. However, all four of them thought the song sucked ass and refused to record it.

11. Jimi Hendrix's first American gig was opening for The Monkees on their first tour. Mickey Dolenz saw Hendrix in a club in London and got him and "The Experience" to commit to the tour. The pre-teen fans of The Monkees and their parents didn't jive with Hendrix's psychedelic sound and booed Hendrix off of the stage. After three disastrous performances Hendrix told The Monkees to, "Stick it up their asses."

12. Davy Jones appeared in animated form on an episode of Scooby Doo in the early seventies and performed a song called "I Can Make You Happy". He is also famous for making an appearance on the Brady Bunch as well as the first Brady Bunch movie where he sang a new version of "Girl". Mickey and Peter also appeared in cameos.

13. Michael Nesmith's mother invented liquid paper and left him a fortune with the patent as well as the liquid paper company. The acquisition made him a very rich man. Making him richer was the fact that Nesmith invested in a neat little idea called MTV in the early eighties. As a result, Nesmith rarely does public appearances with The Monkees because he doesn't need the money.

14. Peter, Davy and Mickey appeared in a Pizza Hut commercial with Ringo Starr in the early nineties.

15. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame refuses to put The Monkees in the hall claiming that they are not a real band. However, every year REM frontman Michael Stipe lobbies for their inclusion.

Initially formed by the trio of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, the genesis of the group lies in two 1960s rock bands, The Byrds and The Hollies, and the demise of a third, Buffalo Springfield. Friction existed between David Crosby and his bandmates in the Byrds, and Crosby was dismissed from the Byrds in the fall of 1967.

By early 1968, Buffalo Springfield had also disintegrated over personal issues, and after aiding in putting together the band’s final album, Stephen Stills found himself unemployed by the summer. He and Crosby began meeting informally and jamming, the results of one encounter in Florida on Crosby’s schooner being the song “Wooden Ships,” composed in collaboration with another guest, Paul Kantner.

Graham Nash had been introduced to Crosby when the Byrds had toured the UK in 1966, and when the Hollies ventured to California in 1968, Nash resumed his acquaintance with Crosby. At a party, Nash asked Stills and Crosby to repeat their performance of a new song by Stills, “You Don't Have To Cry,” with Nash improvising a second harmony part. The vocals gelled, and the three realized that they had a unique vocal chemistry.

Creatively frustrated with the Hollies, Nash decided to quit and throw his lot in with Crosby and Stills. After failing an audition with the Beatles' Apple Records, they were signed to Atlantic Records by Ahmet Ertegün, who had been a fan of the Springfield and disappointed by that band's demise. From the outset, given their respective band histories, the trio decided not to be locked into a group structure, using their surnames as identification to ensure independence and a guarantee against the band simply continuing without one of them, as had both the Byrds and the Hollies after the departures of Crosby and Nash. Their record contract with Atlantic reflected this, positioning CSN with a unique flexibility unheard of for an untested group. The trio also picked up a unique management team in Elliot Roberts and David Geffen, who had engineered their situation with Atlantic and would help to consolidate clout for the group in the industry.Roberts kept the band focused and dealt with egos, while Geffen handled the business deals, since, in Crosby’s words, they needed a shark and Geffen was it. Roberts and Geffen would play key roles in securing the band’s success during the early years.

When it was announced that the band was forming, they ran into a slight contractual problem. Nash was already signed to Epic Records, the North American distributor of records by the Hollies, while Crosby and Stills were signed to Atlantic. In order to resolve this problem, Geffen engineered a deal whereby Nash was essentially traded to Atlantic for the rights to Richie Furay's band Poco; Furay was signed to Atlantic as a result of his membership in Buffalo Springfield. http://youtube.com/watch?v=iXRF1u4vQcQ  CARRY ON - Live . CSNY