"Pre-Road Downs"

You think of Crosby, Stills & Nash as a folk rock group.  But according to David Crosby, the song “Pre-Road Downs” is a tune that Graham Nash put together “after he realized he could write fierce rock and roll.”

One of Graham’s inspirations was the powerful chords he could generate with the unique, nearly unison guitar tuning that Stephen Stills used to create “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.”  And as he jammed with his acoustic guitar, he found his mind putting some pieces in place.

In a 2019 article for Music Connection magazine, Graham recalled, “I was playing around with that tuning one day at Joni’s house, and I was beginning to realize two things.  First of all, she had her own career, and she would have to go on the road at some point even though we were together right then.  And at some point when this record took off like we knew it was going to do, [my band] would have to go on the road.

“And that made me kind of sad.  Because I know what the road is.  It can be a lonely place.  And so ‘Pre-Road Downs’ was me feeling down about having to go on the road.”