Last week brought the news of David Crosby's death, as well as a great many tributes to the life and legacy of the storied songwriter and Twitter user extraordinaire. Surprising no one, Croz was not only posting until the bitter end, having innocuously tweeted about heaven on the day of his death, but hard at work on his music. According to musician and collaborator Steve Postell, the singer-songwriter was in the process of putting together a new album and tour plans.
In an interview with Variety, Postell wanted to set the record straight — despite Crosby's death being described as "after a long illness," that didn't mean he wasn't actively creating.
"David didn't think he was gonna last for years, which he joked about all the time. But there was no sense that we weren't gonna be able to do this show and these tours," Postell said. "We were talking tour buses, and what kind of venues, and the whole team was all back together again — the road manager and tour manager and sound guys — on top of this band we'd put together. There was not even a remote sense that we weren't about ready to hit the world."
He continued, "And it's a shame people didn't get to hear it. This was something else. This was as close to the original thing" — referring to the classic sound of Crosby, Stills & Nash — "as we were gonna get. It was very powerful."
After a full-band rehearsal in mid-December, Postell had visited Crosby in person for an intimate rehearsal in Santa Barbara the week prior to his death. The musician said Croz "seemed practically giddy with all of it," adding, "He was showing us new songs, like, 'What do you think of these lyrics?' He hadn't lost the fire. I'd like people to know that he was on it. He was writing, playing, singing his ass off and preparing a fantastic show. That's what he was doing. He was not lying in a bed for two years, out of it. That's not what happened at all."
Postell had been on the phone with Crosby on Wednesday (January 18) morning to go over plans for a two-night stand in Santa Barbara scheduled for February, which they had planned to record for a potential live album to follow last year's Live at the Capitol Theatre. When the musician texted Crosby in the evening, he received a text from James Raymond, Crosby's son and fellow member of the band, saying that his father had suddenly died.
"There was some misinformation," Postell said of Crosby's state leading up to his death, "but there always is. It's hard for people to get the straight story." The musician went on, "He was a weakened guy from a lot of different preexisting conditions, and everyone knew it — he talked about it in his documentary [2019's David Crosby: Remember My Name] — but he was not dying. We were rehearsing. We were going out to dinner."
In an interview with Variety, Postell wanted to set the record straight — despite Crosby's death being described as "after a long illness," that didn't mean he wasn't actively creating.
"David didn't think he was gonna last for years, which he joked about all the time. But there was no sense that we weren't gonna be able to do this show and these tours," Postell said. "We were talking tour buses, and what kind of venues, and the whole team was all back together again — the road manager and tour manager and sound guys — on top of this band we'd put together. There was not even a remote sense that we weren't about ready to hit the world."
He continued, "And it's a shame people didn't get to hear it. This was something else. This was as close to the original thing" — referring to the classic sound of Crosby, Stills & Nash — "as we were gonna get. It was very powerful."
After a full-band rehearsal in mid-December, Postell had visited Crosby in person for an intimate rehearsal in Santa Barbara the week prior to his death. The musician said Croz "seemed practically giddy with all of it," adding, "He was showing us new songs, like, 'What do you think of these lyrics?' He hadn't lost the fire. I'd like people to know that he was on it. He was writing, playing, singing his ass off and preparing a fantastic show. That's what he was doing. He was not lying in a bed for two years, out of it. That's not what happened at all."
Postell had been on the phone with Crosby on Wednesday (January 18) morning to go over plans for a two-night stand in Santa Barbara scheduled for February, which they had planned to record for a potential live album to follow last year's Live at the Capitol Theatre. When the musician texted Crosby in the evening, he received a text from James Raymond, Crosby's son and fellow member of the band, saying that his father had suddenly died.
"There was some misinformation," Postell said of Crosby's state leading up to his death, "but there always is. It's hard for people to get the straight story." The musician went on, "He was a weakened guy from a lot of different preexisting conditions, and everyone knew it — he talked about it in his documentary [2019's David Crosby: Remember My Name] — but he was not dying. We were rehearsing. We were going out to dinner."
