GRAHAM NASH

Songs For Beginners

$24.98 CD

“...restrained and beautiful production.”  - Los Angeles Times

 When it was first released in 1971, legendary singer-songwriter Graham Nash's emotionally charged solo debut came on the heels of a temporary split with his CSN band-mates, David Crosby and Stephen Stills, and a permanent break with his then love, Joni Mitchell. The album was a hit, climbing to #15 in Billboard and introducing the now classic songs “Military Madness,” “We Can Change The World” and the Top 40 single “Chicago.” Rhino's landmark upgrade of Nash's early masterpiece as a two-disc, CD/DVD-A reissue presents the original album in remastered stereo on the CD plus a DVD-A featuring a High Resolution 5.1 Surround Sound Mix as well as a new interview with the artist, lyrics, photos and more. 

 Recorded in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Nash made SONGS FOR BEGINNERS with a array of notable performers and friends from both cities, including David Crosby, CSNY touring drummer Johnny Barbata, original Flying Burrito Brothers bassist Chris Ethridge, singer Rita Coolidge, fiddler David Lindley, the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh and Neil Young, who is credited on the album as “Joe Yankee.”  

 While the album's best known selections are protest songs, the album also features several moving tracks about Nash's breakup with Mitchell, including “Better Days,” “I Used To Be King” and “Simple Man.” Throughout, SONGS FOR BEGINNERS is written and performed in a warm and honest conversational tone of voice, often just above a whisper - in its original review, Rolling Stone praised the album's “restrained and beautiful production.”  

 “Yes, it was quiet,” Nash has said. “But I wanted it to be straight from my heart to whoever listened to it. What I'm saying has survived pretty well.” 

Selection # 352572