Track Listing
1. Music Is Love
2. Cowboy Movie
3. Tamalpais High (At About 3)
4. Laughing
5. What Are Their Names
6. Traction in the Rain
7. Song With No Words (Tree With No Leaves)
8. Orleans
9. I'd Swear There Was Somebody Here
| Details | | Playing Time: | 37 min. | | Contributing Artists: | Graham Nash, Jerry Garcia, Joni Mitchell, Mickey Hart, Neil Young | | Producer: | David Crosby | | Distributor: | WEA (Distributor) | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | AAD |
Album Notes
Personnel: David Crosby (vocals, guitar); Jerry Garcia (guitar, pedal steel guitar); Graham Nash (guitar, piano, background vocals); Neil Young (guitar, vibraphone, bass instrument, congas, background vocals); Jorma Kaukonen, Paul Kantner (guitar); Laura Allen (autoharp); Gregg Rolie (piano); Jack Casady, Phil Lesh (bass instrument); Michael Shrieve, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann (drums, percussion); David Frieberg, Grace Slick, Joni Mitchell (background vocals).
Recording information: Wally Heider Studio, San Francisco, California.
For his highly anticipated 1971 solo debut, David Crosby recorded a unique, eclectic, and willfully expansive album. The cream of early-70s California rock is assembled here, with the various celebrities joining together in an organic, collective approach that's embodied in the opener, the free-spirited jam of "Music Is Love." Throughout the record, Crosby moves from the sauntering Western shuffle of "Cowboy Movie" to the wondrously spiritual harmonies of "Tamalpais High (At About 3)" and, eventually, the hallowed chants of "I'd Swear There Was Somebody Here."
Musically the album has an exploratory, almost jazzy feel, with its bright production cloaking the listener in acoustic strains and lush, layered harmonies. These qualities perfectly evoke the relaxed, hazy California lifestyle of the time. For all its dreaminess though, IF I COULD ONLY REMEMBER MY NAME rarely missteps, and the haunting melancholy of songs like "Laughing" and "Orleans" give the record a depth and durability that surpasses other recordings of the time. The result is an excellent, highly underrated album.
Editorial Reviews
Ranked #46 in NME's list of 'The Greatest Albums of the '70s.'
NME (09/18/1993)
5 stars out of 5 -- [S]ome of the most stunning and poignant music of his career...
Mojo
[T]he harmonies are golden, the pace dreamy, the views panoramic.
Mojo
[T]he music stands as some of the greatest to be produced by the early-'70s West Coast scene. -- Grade: A
Entertainment Weekly
3.5 stars out of 5 -- Utopia was so close you could feel it.
Spin
4 stars out of 5 -- Forgotten by rock history, and probably by most of its participants, this 1971 curio is a one-of-a-kind freak-folk apogee.
Rolling Stone
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