Credit: Far Out / Marsha Miller / LBJ Library
Mon 18 May 2026 21:45, UK
If there’s one thing that Graham Nash was put on this Earth to do, it was sing.
Even though every member of Crosby, Stills, and Nash had a gorgeous voice whenever they made a record, the main draw of getting someone like Nash in the fold was knowing that he could add that subtle touch of melody to almost every single tune they made and turn it into a hit. If there was anyone who could have made a number one song in the band, it was probably going to be him, but there was a lot more that he had to offer aside from a couple of catchy tunes whenever they played.
He wanted the opportunity to make something no one had ever heard before, which is half the reason why ‘Marrakesh Express’ sounded so different for him. The Hollies would have never gone for a song like that back in the day, and if he wasn’t going to get what he wanted out of them, the least he could do was work with someone like David Crosby to help turn his dreams into a reality whenever he could.
After all, he had already known what experimenting could do when listening to The Beatles’ records, and with every subsequent release, Nash was looking to make something that could hold up to those standards. The Fab Four had made an entire empire out of breaking the rules, and while John Lennon was already going well outside everyone’s comfort zone, Nash most identified with the kind of music that Paul McCartney was making.
That said, it’s not like Macca is the chipper balladeer that everyone talks about these days. Everyone likes to paint a picture of ‘Granddude’ being the one who wrote the more mindless songs for the band, but even back in the day, McCartney was the one who was stretching his voice half the time. He sounds like three distinct people throughout every section of ‘You Never Give Me Your Money,’ and that was the kind of voice that Nash was after when he looked back on his career goals.
He had already wanted the chance to collaborate with Macca on the song ‘Yesterday’, but beyond adding his own spin to that tune, Nash wanted to learn how the former Beatle was able to turn his voice inside out like that, saying, “I would love to be onstage with Paul with just his acoustic guitar. Paul has got one of the great voices in the world as far as I’m concerned. So that might be interesting. I keep imagining what I could bring to that song. It doesn’t need anything; it just needs Paul and an acoustic guitar, I know that, but I think I can add something that would make Paul really smile while we’re doing it.”
And it’s not like Nash didn’t know what that voice sounded like firsthand when he first started. Even when The Hollies were lower on the bill in their salad days, he did have fond memories of seeing the band before Beatlemania kicked in, with John Lennon even coming over and asking him what the lyrics to ‘Anna (Go To Him)’ were before they went into the studio to record Please Please Me.
Nash has had his fair share of moments where he could be considered one of the greatest singers in the world, but what makes McCartney so singular as a singer is how much he can change up his voice. Everyone usually knows when they’re listening to Crosby, Stills, and Nash based on the harmonies alone, but even looking through Macca’s solo career, you’ll spend a few seconds wondering who the hell you’re even listening to.
ADD AS A PREFERRED SOURCE ON GOOGLE 