David Crosby: If I Could Only Remember My Name : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Forgotten by rock history, and probably by most of its participants, this 1971 curio is a one-of-a-kind freak-folk apogee. It's a solo album in name only, since the Croz operates as a cosmic cruise director, bringing in pals like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Jerry Garcia and Grace Slick. In hydroponic jams like "What Are Their Names," you can hear each guest wander into the studio, plug in, play a few licks, sing a few harmonies ("Peace is not an awful lot to ask" -- dig it!) and raid the fridge. Garcia steals the show, and the two killer tracks are the ones where he burns on guitar, playing in a dark "Wharf Rat" mood: "Song With No Words (Tree With No Leaves)," where Garcia cuts Jorma Kaukonen in a guitar duel, and "Laughing," featuring Jerry's profoundly sad pedal steel.