Rich here, reflecting on David Crosby, who was the archetypal hippie musician who always got noticed in whatever band he was in . . . and often alienated his bandmates for his boorish behaviour and obliviating. Even his best friend, Graham Nash, found him infuriating.
But like him or hate him, David Crosby had the uncanny ability to harmonize with almost anyone, and he wrote some of the most head-scratching songs of the Sixties.
Take, for instance, "Mind Gardens," from The Byrds groundbreaking album "Younger Than Yesterday" (1967). David thought "Mind Gardens" would prove what a genius he was. But the song alienated his fellow band members, and it's one of the few songs in the Byrds catalog that didn't involve the singing of Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman.
And it's one of the most un-melodic songs ever written for a major Sixties pop group.
But I'll admit it -- after about 25 listens to the sonic experimentations of "Mind Gardens," I finally came to enjoy it. The rest of the band didn't, however, and early in the sessions for their next album, David Crosby got fired from The Byrds.
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