Long Time Gone

David Crosby 

14th August 1941 - 18th January 2023

David Crosby has left the building and I’m left devastated by the sad news of his passing. He leaves behind a fabulous legacy of gorgeous music, not only with bands such as The Byrds and more notably Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young but also as a solo artist.

This man introduced the wonderful music of Crosby, Stills & Nash into my life, he also discovered Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne who were to enter my soul as well as my LP collection. CSN were my favourite go to band, a group of musicians I’ve grown up with, listened to forever and seen in concert many times. Their debut album back in 1969 is still one of the best albums in my collection. The blend of those three part vocal harmonies and the songs are simply perfect. At their peak CSN were unsurpassed, a true supergroup of musicians.

There was no other concert experience like watching Crosby perform live on stage. His angry masterpiece ‘Almost Cut My. Hair’ became a classic and the delightfully delicate and jazzy ‘Guinnevere’ showed off his acoustic guitar playing skills at their very best. He was the consummate musician’s musician.

Crosby was also a political animal who often courted controversy. He was the archetypal Woodstock hippy calling for peace and love, not war. But he took no prisoners in his calls for justice. Whether he was singing about student deaths at Kent State University in ‘Ohio’ or saving whales in ‘Wind On The Water’ or worrying about nuclear waste in ‘Don’t Dig Here’, David Crosby always had a cause to fight for and then bring it to our attention, he very much wore his heart on his sleeve.

David Crosby led a colourful and somewhat troubled life. In 1983 he was sent to prison for carrying a gun and drug offences, he narrowly escaped death several times due to his poor health and heavy habitual drug abuse. He also had a penchant for riling and upsetting those around him, including his closest friend Graham Nash.

Crosby somehow survived his wasted years of the 1980’s, got clean, started writing songs and playing guitar again and began his long journey back on the road to recovery with wife Jan. He reunited with CSN and his 'lost' son James Raymond and was to make some of the best solo music of his career in recent years before sadly passing away at age 81. Throughout his life it was his music that shone, that’s what he will be remembered for.

Danny Baker tweeted a tribute that sums up The Croz eloquently: ‘David Crosby was often an unlovable, egotistical, belligerent druggy old cuss. But he was genuinely touched with genius. To the end he cursed himself for squandering his gift. Creations like this are bordering on the divine’. Four sentences that sum up the man and his life perfectly.

RIP David Crosby.

An older Crosby performing an old favourite, 'Guinnevere'

Crosby Stills & Nash belting out Crosby's 'Almost Cut My Hair'

Eggbox

The Wilson household is home to Egg the giant cat. Now this cat just loves a box...no matter how big or how small. He decided he would try to see if he could turn this particular box into a new cat bed. He failed miserably. 

Sublime Brighton dominate Liverpool

Brighton & Hove Albion 3, Liverpool 0

Amex Stadium, Saturday 14th January 2023

Wow, just wow!!  What a stunning game of football this was. I think I might have just witnessed the best 90 minutes of football from a Brighton & Hove Albion team in all my 47 years of being a season ticket holder. Nothing compares to the 90 minutes of pure class that Albion put on show last Saturday. It was total football that any team in the country would have struggled against on the day. It's a big question but are we now seeing the best Albion team of all time? I say yes.

 
Given the quality of opposition on Saturday I can’t remember a game, when playing against one of the so called ‘big top six teams', that a Brighton side have outplayed and out passed the opposition for an entire match for every minute of the ninety. Sumptuous football and a dream to watch. They outclassed, outfought and outthought their rivals in every department, winning back the ball quickly on the rare occasion that they lost it and playing some beautiful one touch football.

Albion not only dominated the play in every area of the pitch but they also passed Liverpool off the park from start to finish. Albion were simply superb, it was a privilege to be there to see it. I sat there hardly believing what I was witnessing. Watching Roberto De Zerbi running up and down the touchline after each goal, high on emotion and full of Italian passion, was just so great to see. Albion fans love to see a manager who shows his passion and is prepared to take risks to get his team where he wants them to be.

I was so pleased for two goal Solly March who gave a man of the match performance. He has not only become so much more confident under manager Roberto De Zerbi but now appears to be turning himself into a goal machine. To be honest this is something that most Albion fans did not expect to ever see. Solly has grown mentally, physically and technically over the last year and is now showing himself to be a very talented and gifted footballer playing first under Graham Potter and now Roberto De Zerbi. Who knew? 

De Zerbi has propelled this team forwards after Graham Potter's departure. It’s amazing how he now has them believing they can win every game, no matter who the opponent is. He has them moving forward with positivity, creativity and confidence . He has unpicked the lock that Potter couldn’t open and finally got the team scoring goals…from every position.

A really strong team sprit and unity runs through this club, it’s players, staff and fans. There is no room for big egos or those who won’t give 100% commitment to the cause. Leandro Trossard can be brilliant on a match day but he is also prone to going missing in action on occasion. He and his agent may well regret their recent behaviour, no one player is bigger than the club as Leo has found out to his cost. Albion did not miss him on Saturday when they gave Liverpool a drubbing. Sometimes a player needs to appreciate what he has in front of him, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

I find it increasingly frustrating when commentators continue to show a lack of appreciation and respect for the so called smaller, less fashionable club. Yet again, after this match, most pundits focussed on Liverpool's weaknesses rather than Albion's strengths. I say why blame a defeat on the way the losers played rather than on the way the winners played. Please start to acknowledge that 'teams like Brighton' are beginning to reach levels not far behind the other top Premier League clubs. Teams such as Albion, Fulham and Brentford are all beginning to show that the old world order may well be in for disruption as they improve at a faster rate than the other teams above them.

Albion's squad now looks to have plenty of depth and strength to it. With the likes of Welbeck, Webster and Lamptey waiting to get in the starting eleven things are looking on the up. If De Zerbi can keep this squad together and keep moving in the same direction then further progress is surely bound to come. I'm not saying the 'E' word yet as we're only half way through the season and things can change very quickly at this level but it's 'so far so good' for Roberto De Zerbi and Brighton & Hove Albion FC.

Up the Albion!!