If I Could Only Remember My Name

If I Could Only Remember My Name is the debut solo album by David Crosby, released in February 1971 on Atlantic Records. A number of guest musicians appear on the record, including Graham Nash, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and members of Jefferson Airplane, Santana, and the Grateful Dead, including Jerry Garcia who helped to arrange and produce the album. The ensemble was given the informal moniker of The Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra. Two singles were taken from the album, including "Music Is Love", a collaboration with Nash and Young that was released in April 1971 and reached #95 on the Billboard Hot 100.

If I Could Only Remember My Name
Studio album by
David Crosby
ReleasedFebruary 22, 1971
Recorded1970–1971
Studio
GenreRock, folk rock, psychedelia
Length37:04
LabelAtlantic
ProducerDavid Crosby
David Crosby chronology
If I Could Only Remember My Name
(1971)		 Oh Yes I Can
(1989)
Singles from If I Could Only Remember My Name
  1. "Music Is Love"
    Released: March 1971
  2. "Orleans"
    Released: May 1971

It was one of four high-profile albums released by each member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the wake of their chart-topping Déjà Vu album (along with Stephen Stills, Songs for Beginners, and After the Gold Rush). It peaked at #12 on the Billboard 200 and earned a RIAA gold certification for selling over 500,000 copies in the United States. The album gained new recognition in 2010 when it was listed second on the "Top 10 Pop Albums of All Time" as published in the Vatican City newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.[2] It was voted number 156 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[3] He stated "if you are not familiar with this miraculous record, please take the risk."

Recording

Many prominent musicians of that era appear on the record, including Nash, Young, Joni Mitchell, members of the Grateful Dead (most notably Jerry Garcia, who helped to arrange and produce the album), Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Santana. The ensemble was given the informal moniker of The Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra by Jefferson Airplane bandleader, longtime Crosby associate and fellow science fiction fan Paul Kantner;[4] the core of this agglomeration (including recording engineer Stephen Barncard) also worked on Kantner's Blows Against the Empire (1970) and the Grateful Dead's American Beauty (1970), both recorded concurrently with Crosby's album at San Francisco's Wally Heider Studios.

Release

If I Could Only Remember My Name was released in February 1971 on Atlantic Records.

Two singles were taken from the album, including the minor hit "Music Is Love", a collaboration with Nash and Young that was released in April 1971 and subsequently peaked at #95 on the Billboard Hot 100.[5][6] The album has remained continuously in print.[7][8]

In October 1990, a compact disc version was released, having been digitally remastered from the original master tapes, using the equipment and techniques of the day, by Barncard. A double-compact disc version appeared in November 2006, with an audio disc remastered in HDCD, including a bonus track (the hitherto unreleased "Kids and Dogs", previously earmarked for an unreleased Crosby solo album slated to appear on Capitol Records in the early 1980s) and a second DVD Audio disc of the original album remixed for 5.1 digital Surround Sound.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Pitchfork8.7/10[9]
Rolling Stone[8]
The Village VoiceD–[10]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[11]

Reviews of the 2006 reissue compare the album with Nick Drake and Meddle-era Pink Floyd; and discuss it as a progenitor of the freak folk and New Weird America subgenres of indie rock.[12][13]

Legacy

On 18 November 2013, Crosby appeared on an edition of the BBC Radio 4 programme Mastertapes, which was dedicated to the making of the album.[14] The following day, he took part in the programme's "B-side" edition, answering audience questions and performing songs from the album.[14]

Japanese musician Cornelius included it in his list of "10 Experimental Albums that Everyone Should Own."[15]

The title of the album served as basis for the title of the documentary David Crosby: Remember My Name (19th July, 2019).

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Music Is Love"David Crosby, Graham Nash, Neil Young3:16
2."Cowboy Movie"David Crosby8:02
3."Tamalpais High (At About 3)"David Crosby3:29
4."Laughing"David Crosby5:20
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."What Are Their Names"Crosby, Garcia, Lesh, Shrieve, Young4:09
2."Traction in the Rain"David Crosby3:40
3."Song with No Words (Tree with No Leaves)"David Crosby5:53
4."Orleans"traditional1:56
5."I'd Swear There Was Somebody Here"David Crosby1:19
2006 reissue bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."Kids and Dogs"David Crosby7:01

Personnel

Musicians

Production

  • Stephen Barncard – engineer, digital remastering producer
  • Ellen Burke – assistant engineer
  • Gary Burden – art direction
  • Henry Diltz – photography
  • Elliot Roberts, Ronald Stone – management
  • David Geffen – direction
  • Steve Hall – surround mastering engineer 2006 DVD reissue
  • Bill Dooley – compact disc digital mastering engineer 2006 reissue

References
  1. http://www.4waysite.com/publications.../articles-1990s-if-i-could-only-remember-my-name... |
  2. Quinlan, Carrie (February 15, 2010). "Revealed: The Vatican's Favourite Bands", The Guardian
  3. Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 89. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  4. By Craig Fenton. Have You Seen The Stars Tonite. p. 69.
  5. If Only I Could Remember My Name – David Crosby > Charts & Awards > Billboard Album at AllMusic. Retrieved 22 May 2006.
  6. If I Could Only Remember My Name at the Grateful Dead Family Discography
  7. Swihart, Stanton. "If I Could Only Remember My Name". AllMusic. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  8. Sheffield, Rob (January 25, 2007). "If Only I Could Remember My Name – David Crosby > Album Reissue Review". Rolling Stone (1018). p. 75. Archived from the original on January 14, 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2007.
  9. "David Crosby: If I Could Only Remember My Name Album Review". Pitchfork. 10 March 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  10. Christgau, Robert (June 10, 1971). "Consumer Guide (18)". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
  11. Larkin, Colin (2011). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. p. 3074. ISBN 978-0857125958.
  12. "Review". www.headheritage.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-18.https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/review/1264/
  13. Giles, Jeff. "Revisiting David Crosby's 'If I Could Only Remember My Name'". Ultimate Classic Rock.
  14. "David Crosby". Mastertapes. November 18, 2013. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  15. "Cornelius on the 10 Albums Everyone Needs to Hear".
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