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Woodstock performer David Crosby passes

By Derek Kirk
Posted 1/27/23

BETHEL – David Van Cortlandt Crosby of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, and Nash (later Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) passed away at the age of 81 on January 18. 

One of his notable …

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Woodstock performer David Crosby passes

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BETHEL – David Van Cortlandt Crosby of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, and Nash (later Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) passed away at the age of 81 on January 18. 

One of his notable performances was at the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival in the Town of Bethel.

Crosby was born August 14, 1941 in Los Angeles, California to a cinematographer and an artist. He formerly attended school at Santa Barbara City College before pursuing music. As his career in music progressed, he would go on to assist in forming staple 60’s rock bands, including the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY).

CSNY would go on to produce eight studio albums together, in addition to each individual member being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Dr. Neal Hitch, Senior Curator at the Museum at Bethel Woods, said that Crosby’s band, CSNY, were still in their infancy, with their performance at Woodstock being only their second together as a full band.

Playing at 3 a.m. on the final day of the festival, August 17, 1969, the members of the band felt as though the early morning had caused issues with the tuning of their acoustic guitars. 

Their set consisted of 16 songs.

Dr. Hitch said that although the band was not entirely enthused with their performance, the band’s part of the legendary festival line-up helped to further establish the band as an icon in musical history.

According to documentations and the oral retellings kept preserved at the Museum at Bethel Woods, people who attended the original 1969 Woodstock music festival remembered them being great on stage that summer night.

The band continued through ups and downs until finally officially disbanding in 2016.

For more information on Crosby’s story at Woodstock, visit the Museum at Bethel Wood’s website at www.bethelwoodscenter.org.

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