Croz is the fourth studio album by American musician David Crosby. The album was released on January 28, 2014, by Blue Castle Records. It is Crosby’s first studio album in 20 years.
In a November 2013, interview with Rolling Stone, David Crosby spoke about the album, saying: “I wanted to challenge myself. Most guys my age would have done a covers record or duets on old material. This won’t be a huge hit. It’ll probably sell nineteen copies. I don’t think kids are gonna dig it, but I’m not making it for them. I’m making it for me. I have this stuff that I need to get off my chest.” He also spoke about why they decided to release the album independently, saying: “We didn’t have any money. None. We could have gone and gotten a deal, but everybody in the music business is very leery about the big companies and what kind of lifespan they might have. Most people are doing it on their own, so that’s what we did.”
In the same interview, he explained that “If She Called” was inspired by a group of prostitutes that he saw near his hotel in Belgium, saying: “It was cold out and they had these skinny legs. They were trying to entice these drunk animals to fuck them. It was so gross, man. So sad. I imagined these girls had come from Kosovo or some place really hideous and they were working their way west, trying to get their way out of the horror show that happened in the middle of Europe. But that’s all imaginary. Mostly, I started thinking about where they hide their heart, their soul, their spirit when they’re doing it. How do they disassociate? You can be damn sure they do.”
He also spoke about what “Set That Baggage Down” was inspired by, saying: “That’s a thing you learn in AA. I went there for about fourteen and half years. You have to look at what got you there. You have to look at the mistakes, and I made some horrific ones, and then you have to learn from them, figure out how to not wind up there again. You have to set that baggage down and walk on. If you spend all your life looking over your shoulder at the things you did wrong, you’re gonna walk smack into a tree.” He also spoke about how he got Mark Knopfler to play guitar on “What’s Broken”, saying: “That was a huge piece of generosity on Mark’s part. We sent him the song and he just fucking killed it. He did me a huge favor and we don’t even know each other. He’s just brilliant.” He went on to explain how he got Wynton Marsalis to play trumpet on “Holding on to Nothing”, saying: “He’s a consummate musician. “I took a chance and asked him and he just said, ‘Yeah, send me the tape.’ What he played was just beautiful. He has tone for days.”
In a January 2014, interview with Billboard he spoke about recording the album, saying: “We decided we were making a record, and, God, it’s been the most wonderful experience. I don’t know how we pulled it off, ’cause we don’t have any money. Actually, I do know how we pulled it off; my son has a studio (the Bamboom Room in Altadena, Calif.) he built into his garage, and I would go down and sleep there on his fold-out couch and we would work on it. It took us about two and a half years to do it.” He also spoke about the songs on the album he wrote with his son James Raymond, saying: “He brings chemistry. These songs, we worked a lot on them, man, on things like ‘The Clearing’ or ‘Dangerous Night’…There’s probably six different sets of words to ‘Dangerous Night’ and four or five sets to ‘Find a Heart,’ different iterations of words that we kept going back and forth, ‘This isn’t good enough’ or ‘This really, really opens up another place for us to go. Let’s look there.’ It’s such an alive process. The communication is so good between James and I. It’s…well, the evidence is there before you” on the album.”
Tracks
1 What’s Broken (James Raymond) 03:49
2 Time I Have (David Crosby) 03:49
3 Holding On To Nothing (David Crosby; Sterling Price) 03:41
4 The Clearing (James Raymond) 04:00
5 Radio (David Crosby; James Raymond) 03:46
6 Slice Of Time (David Crosby; James Raymond; Marcus Eaton) 04:16
7 Set That Baggage Down (David Crosby; Shane Fontayne) 04:01
8 If She Called (David Crosby) 04:59
9 Dangerous Night (David Crosby; James Raymond) 05:57
10 Morning Falling (David Crosby; James Raymond) 03:41
11 Find A Heart (David Crosby; James Raymond; Marcus Eaton) 05:06
Musicians
1 What’s Broken
Bass (synthesizer) | James Raymond |
Drums | Steve Distanislao |
Guitar (solo) | Mark Knopfler |
Acoustic Guitar | Marcus Eaton |
Pedal Steel Guitar | James Raymond |
Fender Rhodes | James Raymond |
Piano | James Raymond |
Synthesizer | James Raymond |
Programming | James Raymond |
Background Vocals | Marcus Eaton |
Vocals | David Crosby |
2 Time I Have
Bass | Kevin McCormick |
Drums | Steve Distanislao |
Guitar | Shane Fontayne |
Acoustic Guitar | Marcus Eaton |
Hammond Organ | Todd Caldwell |
Piano | James Raymond |
Percussion | Steve Distanislao |
Background Vocals | Marcus Eaton |
Background Vocals | James Raymond |
Vocals | David Crosby |
3 Holding On To Nothing
Frettless Bass | Kevin McCormick |
Acoustic Guitar | Marcus Eaton |
Fender Rhodes | James Raymond |
Trumpet | Wynton Marsalis |
Vocals | David Crosby |
4 The Clearing
Bass (synthesizer) | James Raymond |
Drums | Steve Distanislao |
Drums (programming) | James Raymond |
Guitar | Shane Fontayne |
Guitar | Marcus Eaton |
Acoustic Guitar | Marcus Eaton |
Sitar | Marcus Eaton |
Synthesizer | James Raymond |
Percussion | Steve Distanislao |
Background Vocals | Marcus Eaton |
Vocals | David Crosby |
5 Radio
Bass (synthesizer) | James Raymond |
Drums | Steve Distanislao |
Acoustic Guitar | Marcus Eaton |
Piano | James Raymond |
Synthesizer | James Raymond |
Background Vocals | James Raymond |
Background Vocals | Marcus Eaton |
Vocals | David Crosby |
6 Slice Of Time
Bass | Kevin McCormick |
Drums | Steve Distanislao |
Guitar | Shane Fontayne |
Acoustic Guitar | Marcus Eaton |
Piano | James Raymond |
Synthesizer | James Raymond |
Background Vocals | Marcus Eaton |
Vocals | David Crosby |
7 Set That Baggage Down
Bass | Shane Fontayne |
Bass (synthesizer) | James Raymond |
Drums (programming) | James Raymond |
Guitar | Shane Fontayne |
Acoustic Guitar | Marcus Eaton |
Percussion | Shane Fontayne |
Background Vocals | Shane Fontayne |
Background Vocals | Marcus Eaton |
Vocals | David Crosby |
8 If She Called
Guitar | David Crosby |
12 String Guitar | Marcus Eaton |
Vocals | David Crosby |
9 Dangerous Night
Bass (synthesizer) | James Raymond |
Drums | Steve Distanislao |
Drums (programming) | James Raymond |
Guitar | Shane Fontayne |
Acoustic Guitar | Marcus Eaton |
Piano | James Raymond |
Synthesizer | James Raymond |
Background Vocals | James Raymond |
Background Vocals | Marcus Eaton |
Vocals | David Crosby |
10 Morning Falling
Bass (synthesizer) | James Raymond |
Drums (programming) | James Raymond |
Piano | James Raymond |
Synthesizer | James Raymond |
Synthesizer | Steve Tavaglione |
EWI | Steve Tavaglione |
Woodwinds | Steve Tavaglione |
Vocals | David Crosby |
11 Find A Heart
Bass | Leland Sklar |
Drums | Steve Distanislao |
Fender Rhodes | James Raymond |
Piano | James Raymond |
Synthesizer | James Raymond |
Sax | Steve Tavaglione |
Percussion | Steve Distanislao |
Vocals | David Crosby |
Liner Notes
Producer – Dan Garcia, David Crosby, James Raymond
Engineer (Assistant)- Bil Lane, Eddy Santos, Glenn Suravech, Rich Tosi
Mastered By – Doug Sax, Robert Hadley
Mixed By – Dan Garcia
Recorded By – Dan Garcia
Recorded By (Additional) – Kevin Madigan (Track 2)
Recorded By (Additional)- Jeffrey Jones (Track 3)
Recorded By (Additional) – Shane Fontayne (Track 7)
Technician – Michael Kemper
Art Direction, Design – Brian Porizek
Photography – Django Crosby, Buzz Person, Dan Garcia, Marcus Eaton
Mastered At The Mastering Lab
Recorded At The Bamboom Room
Recorded At Groove Masters
Recorded At Radio Hill Recorders
Recorded At Rumor Mill Recording
Recorded At Jazz At Lincoln Center
Phonographic Copyright David Crosby
Phonographic Copyright Blue Castle Records LLC
Copyright David Crosby
Copyright Blue Castle Records LLC