Songs for Beginners

Graham Nash | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic / Wea
• ASIN: B000002I6V
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,625 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Military Madness

2. Better Days

3. Wonded Bird

4. I Used To Be A King

5. Be Yourself

6. Simple Man

7. Man In The Mirror

8. There's Only One

9. Sleep Song

10. Chicago

11. We Can Change The World

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

After finding fame with the Hollies and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, expatriate Englishman turned West Coast rock icon Graham Nash made an auspicious solo debut on this 1971 disc. It's an exemplary singer-songwriter effort, striking a vital balance between graceful introspection and political fervor, with an organic intensity that Nash would never quite match in his subsequent solo work. With assistance from the likes of David Crosby, Jerry Garcia, and Dave Mason, highlights include the sensitive internal explorations "I Used to Be a King" and "Man in the Mirror" and the impassioned protest anthems "Chicago" and "Military Madness." --Scott Schinder

Product Description

A few years removed from the Hollies and in the midst of his CSNY success, Nash issued the 1971 LP (a #15 hit) that established him as one of the great singer-songwriters of his time. His hits Chicago and Military Madness join I Used to Be a King; Simple Man , and more reflective gems! --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nash's 1st solo album, September 19, 2005

By 

Barry Folsom "Bearhawk" (The Colony, Texas,USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Songs for Beginners (Audio CD)

I bought this LP at the same time I bought Wild tales in 1973. It had been out for a couple of years. My girlfriend told me it was great. My 23-year old brother had died in a car accident 6 months earlier so I was "all tore up". This album and Songs for Beginners soothed my aching soul for many years. I don't know how these songs stand up in the historical perspective of CSN. Some of the songs do sound a little dated now. I know every song on these two albums by heart because I sang and played along for years and lived them. Friends were going to prison for 20 years for a joint in Texas and Graham was just singing and writing about what was going on around us. What a back up band he had back then. David Lindley was superb. I liked Graham so much I named my white German shepherd,"Nash" after him. He was my best friend for ten years. We named the cat, "Crosby". I never missed these guys in concert with and without Stills and Young. Wild Tales is a little more up-tempo than "Songs for Beginners." It's all a matter of taste. If you like CSN then you'll like these first two solo projects by Nash.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best hippie albums ever, August 17, 2002

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Songs for Beginners (Audio CD)

Hey, laugh if you will, but this is one of the best albums of the hardcore hippie era, and a still-beloved favorite from my childhood years. These quiet singer-songwriterish tunes are very much in the soft-pop mould of the Crosby, Stills & Nash ensemble, which was in one of its periodic stages of disintegration when this album was recorded. David Crosby and Jerry Garcia pitch in from song to song, adding a melodic country-ish feel throughout. Overall, this is possibly the best of Nash's solo albums, a cohesive, beautiful, heartfelt set of twee counterculture lullabies. The dewy-eyed, tender romanticism of Nash's love songs heightens the painful anguish of the political material, the anthemic "Chicago," which served as a harsh postmortem of the chaotic demonstrations at the 1968 Democratic Convention, and the simpler (and more powerful) "Military Madness," which gains considerable strength from its understated tone. This disc also features some of Jerry Garcia's best pedal steel work, particularly on elegaic tunes like "I Used To Be A King." I could go on and name all the other songs; in my opinion there isn't a weak tune in the bunch... If you're a staunch, sneering, anti-hippie type, I know -- from experience -- that there is little that I can do to convince you that this record isn't just a bunch of stoned-out, goopy-headed pablum. But those of you inclined to be more open-minded may find this disc to be quite rewarding. It's sugary, but also quite sweet.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Genius in his Own Right, May 26, 2006

By 

Amy Hickey (Marquette, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Songs for Beginners (Audio CD)

"Songs for Beginners" is one of my all-time favorite albums. I can't stop listening to it. Graham Nash has proved himself to be an excellent musician even without the presence of his band members of either the Hollies or CSN/Y. It's a wonderful, mellow album to just relax with. My only complaint with the entire album is the presence of the choir in "Be Yourself." Otherwise, it is beautiful and touching and I wish it was much, much longer. I cannot emphasize enough how much I love this album!