The Crosby, Stills, and Nash song made without David Crosby

Credits: Far Out / Alamy)

Fri 17 October 2025 14:10, UK

As Ronan Keating once honourably noted: “Life is a rollercoaster,” and if that old adage is to be believed, then some bands are decades’ worth of corkscrews. Fluctuation was nothing new within the ranks of Crosby, Stills, and Nash and they spent most of their time on the rails.

When the trio first got together in late 1968, all three members had recently departed from massively famous bands – Crosby from The Byrds, Stills from Buffalo Springfield, and Nash from The Hollies. It wasn’t even a year later that they saw their first major addition: Neil Young came aboard as a full-time member, officially expanding the band to become Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young only lasted roughly two years together. Internal tensions and disagreements caused friction in the band almost immediately. By the end of 1970, all four members wished to separate themselves and work on solo material. A massive deal to embark on the first large-scale stadium rock tour in 1974 was too good to pass up, but drug use and bickering once again caused the band to fight.

Young remained largely aloof of his bandmates on the ‘74 tour, later dubbed ‘The Doom Tour’. Instead of travelling with the rest of the band, Young instead drove in a separate bus with his son and a small entourage compared to the circus of hangers-on and plus-ones floating around the main caravan. That aloofness eventually led to Young separating himself from the group. By the time they were reunited, they were back to their original configuration of Crosby, Stills, and Nash.

1977’s CSN remains the trio configuration’s highest-selling album. Soon afterwards, however, Crosby’s dependence on cocaine threatened his status within the group. His drug addiction caused Stills and Nash to work on a new album, Daylight Again, without Crosby’s involvement. Instead, to replicate the trio’s signature harmony blend, Stills and Nash brought in a ringer: former Eagles bassist and high tenor singer Timothy B Schmit.

While he was never considered to replace Crosby in the group fully, Schmit’s professional attitude and singing skills made him a valuable asset during the recording of Daylight Again. However, just before the album was complete, Stills and Nash got word that Atlantic Records wouldn’t release the album or reimburse the duo unless Crosby was involved.

Crosby came in at virtually the last minute, contributing the song ‘Delta’ and a cover of ‘Might As Well Have a Good Time’. His vocals are used sparingly throughout the album and are nowhere to be found on ‘Southern Cross’. Released as the album’s second single, ‘Southern Cross’ made it to number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November of 1982, making it certainly the biggest CSN song not to feature one of the band’s key members in any capacity.

Stills remembered of the song’s writing: “The Curtis Brothers brought a wonderful song called ‘Seven League Boots,’ but it drifted around too much. I rewrote a new set of words and added a different chorus, a story about a long boat trip I took after my divorce. It’s about using the power of the universe to heal your wounds. Once again, I was given somebody’s gem and cut and polished it.”

Check out ‘Southern Cross’ down below.