So much timeless music came floating through my open door around the year 1969, with one of the seminal albums being, for both its innovative sound, character and quality, the first Crosby, Stills & Nash release. Looking back at the cover, I can only wonder if I was ever so young, where if I didn’t have the pictures to prove it, I may have dismissed those years as nothing more than a long series of hallucinogenic dreams.

So ... I could talk about the groups these amazing artists sprang from, but you all know those stories. Or I could talk about the splendid harmonies, jangling guitar playing and the return to an authentic Americana musical sound, but it would be much more pleasant to listen to them than to read my words. Of course, I could always speak of the times, or the counter culture, yet all of that is now the stuff of history at this juncture. So where does that leave us at this point ... why with me, and the effect this album had on my life.

I had just landed in Vietnam when I finally got myself a copy of this album, thought I didn’t need one, as it was drifting from record players and reel to reel tape machines from every hootch ... at times the whole base was awash in the sounds of Crosby, Stills & Nash. With this release, the world was finally to came to terms with the mighty ‘Air Guitar,’ and though it was not a very feminine or a girlie thing to do, I swear, you guys have never experienced ‘Air Guitar’ until you have seen a woman in olive drab BDU’s (Battle Dress Uniform), left foot on her camouflaged helmet, wailing away, using a fully automatic M16 (with the safety in the ‘On’ position) as a guitar, with the music blasting to the max. That was the one good thing about being in Vietnam, there weren’t a lot of people to disturb, and I was the undisputed champion of the ‘Air Guitar’ for the entire 44th Medical Unit. I was lightening fast on the draw, I had the power chords down, I could reel back and bow forward with my head almost touching my knees, I had blisters on my fingers, and a smile on my face ... of course we all scrambled when we heard the feedback from the rotors, as a line of choppers were circling to touch down.

And even in the OR, some kind soul had made a tape mix of songs which always included, “Guinevere,” “Wooden Ships,” “Lady Of The Island” and of course “Helplessly Hoping.” I can still taste the tears from that song, as they inched their way down my cheeks, leaving tiny trails in the red dust that caked my face. Sometimes now, back in the real world, I’ll hear a song from this precious album ease its way through an open car window at a stoplight, turn slowly, knowing that for a brief second, that the girl in the other car will look, once upon a time, just like me.

*** The Fun Facts: The current residents don't wanna see your face on their porch, it's now a private residence at 809 Pam Avenue in West Hollywood, California. The truer side of the story goes thusly … when the to be album cover photo was developed, the boys realized they were not in Crosby, Stills and Nash order. Returning to the house a few days later to reshoot the photo, they discovered that house had been torn down and carted away, meaning the out of order photo was the last of the house at 809 Pam Avenue in Laurel Canyon.

Review by Jenell Kesler