David Crosby continues to cheat death
PUSSSYKATT
--------------------------
DAVID Crosby should probably be dead now, but this much-loved musician is still
very much part of contemporary music, thanks to a donor liver he got seven
years ago to replace his own, which was ravaged by the incurable disease
hepatitis C.Crosby was hardly an angel during the '60s, '70s, and '80s. He'd be
the first to admit he ate a pharmacy of recreational drugs while writing some
of the most memorable music of his generation.
But in the past seven years, he's been straight and sober, living life to it
fullest.
Family has become more important to him. The singer is the patriarch of a clan
that includes two sons with his wife, Jan; a daughter who is 26; a 37-year-old
son named James Raymond (Crosby knew nothing about him until 1994); a
granddaughter; and Bailey and Beckett, his much-publicized genetic children
with Melissa Etheridge and Julie Cypher.
Crosby says donating his DNA to Etheridge and Cypher was an easy decision,
although it earned him the title of Sperminator with late-night talk-show
hosts.
Despite the ribbing he took, Crosby told Rolling Stone a couple of years ago
that he was happy to oblige because "Melissa and Julie are good people, nice
set of values, they're funnier than s - - - , and they got courage. All rare
stuff."
Speaking from rehearsals for the Crosby Stills Nash & Young tour that lands at
the Madison Square Garden for sold-out shows tonight and tomorrow, the
avuncular music icon was robust and full of life.
Post: How are you feeling?
Crosby: Great. Very healthy. I have seven extra years on my life after I was
supposed to be dead.
Post: You had a liver transplant, and you have hepatitis C.
Crosby: Yeah. It's a slow-moving disease, and it'll take another 20 years for
it to kill this liver. I'll take the 20 years. Hep C is one of the worst
problems the world has to face. Do you know the numbers?
Post: No.
Crosby: The World Health Organization says there are close to 5 million cases
inside the United States right now, and worldwide they say there are 120
million.
There is no cure for it, and we are merrily passing it along any time there's
blood-to-blood contact. It's spreading very fast, and there are people out
there who believe this is going to be worse than AIDS.
Post: Why?
Crosby: More cases, more people, more dead.
Post: Besides finding a cure, what should be done?
Crosby: People should get over the fear of going to the grave with all their
parts, as if it mattered. It's nonsense. When the spirit is gone, it's ashes to
ashes, dust to dust. After the spirit is gone, all that's left is parts that
can save somebody else's life or their sight. Anybody who would take their body
parts to the grave rather than help another human live is extremely weird, but
they do.
Post: Your driver's license says you're an organ donor?
Crosby: No. I can't. I've got hep C. My parts are no good.
Post: Your voice is still pretty good. What can you say about the new tour?
Crosby: It was good last time around. This time, it's better. We really lucked
out. We have a better band, there's absolutely no poison in the water and we're
all being extremely nice to one another. And the music is so strong, it's
ludicrous. We're gonna knock everyone's socks off.
Post: Why do you think Neil (Young) wanted to get back on the road?
Crosby: The last tour was fun for him. He liked it. He was also very affected
by the terrorist attacks in the fall. He told me that music has a healing
quality, and I think he wanted to reach out to people.
Post: What are the tunes this time around that really stand out?
Crosby: Well, there's a number of songs that we didn't do last time out that
are really working well. We've taken "Wooden Ships" to another level. "Deja Vu"
is also just amazing.
Post: Anything new?
Crosby: Neil's song about Flight 93, "Let's Roll," is pretty excellent, very
strong stuff. Things are coming along really well, but the band makes it easy.
Post: You mean Neil, Graham (Nash) and Stephen (Stills)?
Crosby: Yeah, but I'm talking about Booker T. and the MG's. We have Booker T.
on organ, Duck Dunn on bass and Steve Potts on drums. The band locks us all
together this time around.
Post: Who could have predicted 25 years ago that CSN&Y would be welded together
with Booker T. and the MG's?
Crosby: It's a wild combo, but it works like a bandit.
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