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Long Time Gone: The Autobiography of David Crosby
A thorough and candid autobiography that is both a personal journey and a cultural history of American pop music. From the early folk era to the Golden Age of rock & roll, Crosby's story is both a cautionary tale and an insight into one of pop music's enduring legends.
Paperback
,
489 pages
Published
September 26th 2007
by David\Crosby#& Carl Gottlieb
(first published October 15th 1988)
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Community Reviews
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Jul 13, 2008
queen esther
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
musicians
you can learn a lot from biographies/autobiographies. this was no exception.
when it comes to rock and roll excess, who can separate truth from fiction from legend? when i saw the book i thought, cool—i can hear all about it from him. and that’s kind of the way the book goes, except that it augments what he says with what everyone else says: roadies, ex-lovers, business partners, damaged hippie freaks, ex-managers, fellow musicians and everything inbetween. all of that stitched up together gives ...more
when it comes to rock and roll excess, who can separate truth from fiction from legend? when i saw the book i thought, cool—i can hear all about it from him. and that’s kind of the way the book goes, except that it augments what he says with what everyone else says: roadies, ex-lovers, business partners, damaged hippie freaks, ex-managers, fellow musicians and everything inbetween. all of that stitched up together gives ...more
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At one point, while reading this book in a coffee shop, two policemen sat at a table next to me and I got paranoid.
What I liked about "Long Time Gone" is the unique way that the story was told, alternating between Crosby's personally written recollections, co-author Carl Gottlieb's third-person accounts where he could lasso in Crosby and place his story in a broader context, and the stories shared by the witnesses. I can't recall reading a book written in this style before, and I thought it work ...more
What I liked about "Long Time Gone" is the unique way that the story was told, alternating between Crosby's personally written recollections, co-author Carl Gottlieb's third-person accounts where he could lasso in Crosby and place his story in a broader context, and the stories shared by the witnesses. I can't recall reading a book written in this style before, and I thought it work ...more
Meh. This was written very shortly after Crosby got out of rehab, so (understandably) he focuses quite a lot on his drug abuse. Now, I enjoy a good addiction/recovery story, but I do not need 200 pages of detailed descriptions of how tricky it is to freebase (or just "base," as the cool kids apparently call it).
Especially when the addict in question is David Crosby, who is at least partially responsible for some of my most favorite music in the world. I love the Byrds, I adore CSN/Y, the Crosby ...more
Especially when the addict in question is David Crosby, who is at least partially responsible for some of my most favorite music in the world. I love the Byrds, I adore CSN/Y, the Crosby ...more
This is actually a pretty unique and admirable book. It might be one of the earliest versions of the combination autobiography supplemented with bit-player oral history memoir - and for Crosby's truly "lock him the f' up" lifestyle - it really works. Basically for a solid 10-15 years of his life "the Cros" (as he is called) was chained to the crack pipe. Day by day he was pouring money and talent into the cesspool of umm. . .Dionysus? That's putting too fine a point on a grotesque display of ram
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I've seen CSN&Y in their various formations many times over a period of 30 years and they've always been one of my all time favorite groups. I was captivated by David's rise to fame and felt sorry for him over his addictions, but came to almost hate him as I read the details and realized I could never imagine such a selfish person.
And then I came to understand that SO much of his dysfunction was drug related. He is one lucky man to have the love of so many true friends and one brave and str ...more
And then I came to understand that SO much of his dysfunction was drug related. He is one lucky man to have the love of so many true friends and one brave and str ...more
I love to read a book like this and be on the computer to look up and listen to music from the author! Looking back at videos of nash and crosby its so very clear to hear how beautiful their voices mesh! I am a big crosby fan, and found this book very entertaining and also sad to see what happens with money, fame and drugs......but he has managed to come thru it all with his wife Jan and lots of details into the music and the times! I just bought new Cros album and love it and also found used cd
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The story of one of the most influential bands of the 1960s and 70s, this is a brutally honest account of the singers life, loves and vices. A charter member of the generation of sex, drugs and rock-and-roll, Crosby indulged unstintingly in all of the above.
Crosby is a combination of many traits: a good friend and fair weather lover; a talented musician and drug addicted idler; a man who fell in and out of love with the ease of the true artist. We see him in all his glory and shame, culminating ...more
Crosby is a combination of many traits: a good friend and fair weather lover; a talented musician and drug addicted idler; a man who fell in and out of love with the ease of the true artist. We see him in all his glory and shame, culminating ...more
About halfway through . . . up to the photos, the late '70s, about the time I was also living in Miami and involved in the music scene there. In a sense, the story is close to me although I've never met him, while having interacted and been friends and acquainted with some of the folks, places and objects mentioned. This is the third of his books that I've read, working backward chronologically from the last to the first.
Well, I love the personal take on the music, and the music biz, (especially ...more
Well, I love the personal take on the music, and the music biz, (especially ...more
This is kind of the 'unfinished' story of David Crosby as the book ends in 1988 which is almost twenty-five years ago. I picked up the book because I was interested in his time in The Byrds, and this is covered fairly well.
After The Byrds broke up, he became a founding member of the super group, 'Crosby, Stils, Nash, and Young' which took off at nearly the same time that his drug habit spiraled out of control. He certainly makes the case that 'free basing' cocaine takes addiction to an entirely ...more
After The Byrds broke up, he became a founding member of the super group, 'Crosby, Stils, Nash, and Young' which took off at nearly the same time that his drug habit spiraled out of control. He certainly makes the case that 'free basing' cocaine takes addiction to an entirely ...more
I am a huge fan of David Crosby's music. Suffice it to say if you are not, you may not enjoy this book as much as I did. It contains everything you would expect from a "rock bio", from sexual escapades to heart-breaking and career breaking drug use and prison time. He remembers enough of the sixties to really let you in on what it was like to experience it, and what he doesn't is relived honestly in the voices of his friends. What sets it apart, in my opinion, is David's non-narcissistic and can
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Think I may have liked this one more than Keef's.
Remarkable similarities between the two -- time period, extravagance + excess, addiction and recovery -- but at heart I'm more interested in Crosby's scene (West Coast beats begetting folk-rock, country-rock, and rock-rock), and he tells his story with a little more reflection and scope. His downward spiral is riveting, until it becomes overwhelming, at which point a couple weeks ago I put the book down, but was prompted to pick it up after finis ...more
Remarkable similarities between the two -- time period, extravagance + excess, addiction and recovery -- but at heart I'm more interested in Crosby's scene (West Coast beats begetting folk-rock, country-rock, and rock-rock), and he tells his story with a little more reflection and scope. His downward spiral is riveting, until it becomes overwhelming, at which point a couple weeks ago I put the book down, but was prompted to pick it up after finis ...more
David did a college tour upon finishing the book and I had a chance to talk with him while at the University of Maine back in 1988. The book details a true story David's rise and fall, and rise again. Long Time Gone also illustrates how powerful addiction can be and offers some insight into the uncertain world of drug dependency.
How this man is still alive remains a great mystery. Fascinating life story!
Everything up until Crosby leaves The Byrds is fantastic, but everything after that is more Crosby than any sane person should digest.
This is a must-read for any avid CSN fans. Being a music fan but not a freak, I found myself almost bored with the details of the various band members and their comings and goings. I wanted the meat of the thing...details of David's descent into addiction and his climb back out. Sadly, that was saved for the last quarter of the book. I think that perhaps he wrote it too soon after stopping the abuse. He still has a sort of "pink cloud" effect going on, although in the case of a star, perhaps tha
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Long Time Gone: the Autobiography of David Crosby
by David Crosby (Doubleday 1988) (780.92). Crosby tells it all. He was there in the middle of it all in the 1960’s, and he was usually stirring it up. Crosby was widely known to have the best dope and the most women of any rock star of his era. This is a tale of terrifying addiction, but Cros has proven that anyone can recover and live a happy and purposeful life. My rating: 7.5/10, finished 2011.
I love David Crosby, I love his voice, his music, his banter with Nash and Stills and of course the 'stache. However this book is a
dis-organized mess. The events in Crosby's life are basically revealed by close friends, not-so-close friends and fellow druggies, with minimal commentary by David himself. In spite of some descriptive passages, one is left with a chronology of events that unfolded in Crosby's life, rather than a story being told.
dis-organized mess. The events in Crosby's life are basically revealed by close friends, not-so-close friends and fellow druggies, with minimal commentary by David himself. In spite of some descriptive passages, one is left with a chronology of events that unfolded in Crosby's life, rather than a story being told.
Jan 01, 2014
Gary Geiger
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
pop-culture
,
music
I like rock from this era. Sadly, I haven't read that many books about it. This was one of the few, and I don't remember much about it other than Crosby's heroic consumption of drugs. It is a shame because I do like a lot of his music; esp the harmonious CSN tunes and "Eight Miles High" by the Byrds.
The first third of the book -- which covers Crosby's early years, the Byrds, CSN(Y)'s prime era -- is amazing. But it almost gets short shrift compared to the next two-thirds, which drag out a tedious history of drug use and sailing (Cros would try to get clean by escaping onto his beloved schooner). Written as an oral history, which is mostly refreshing. Just wish there had been more from his friends in the 60s.
Definitely one of the better music bios I've read. I have never been a huge fan of Crosby Stills and Nash. Except for when they had Neil Young. But he only stuck around for a bit.
I recall being impressed at Crosby's honesty after reading this book, and like his little trick of peppering the narrative with passages he asked others to write. Not all of them complimentary. Nice touch.
I recall being impressed at Crosby's honesty after reading this book, and like his little trick of peppering the narrative with passages he asked others to write. Not all of them complimentary. Nice touch.
Such an awesome saga of Rock and Roll excess in the late 60's and 70's, Crosby lays it all on the line and it makes for a very entertaining read. A humbling experience indeed, one hopes that others with perhaps a similar bent might choose wisely and live vicariously through Crosby, rather than make their own attempt at living life like Icarus.
Whoa!!!! Drug,Sex,Rock&Roll!!!!!!
Having seen David Crosby perform live when he could barely stand I wanted to read this book. I think it was an honest account of his life. I enjoyed the book and hope David can keep his life in order and find peace.
This is a suprising book. I read this before sitting behind his wife in a concert where he sang our house while looking at her. They have been to hell and back together and there love is inspiring.
I don't know how this guy has lived to be 71 as of 2012. Amazing how a man with so much talent could be so screwed up. But he survived. And thrived in his old age. Gives me hope.
Interesting autobiography, if you're into the rock & roll years of the late 60s & 70s, or are a fan of CSN. Recounts beating his drug addiction, among other things.
I enjoy autobiographies and this one was especially good. I love David Crosby and am happy he has survived all these years. Entries by Jackson Browne are touching.
I've actually read it before, but I think this is a great book about love, sex and drugs and coming out of the 70s alive. That and I adore Crosby. He writes honestly.
How do you do that many drugs & come out alive!? His path crosses Chris O'Dell's. Consider reading her autobiography if you like the music of this period.
Great autobiography with stories told from three points of view: the narrator's, David's, and whoever else happened to be around when stuff happened.
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