David Crosby has released two new tracks from his forthcoming album For Free: the title track – a cover of Joni Mitchell's track of the same name – and an original titled Rodriguez For A Night.
Following the album's debut single River Rise – which arrived last month – Crosby's For Free remains largely faithful to the original – with lush and enveloping piano the central instrument – though it sees him team up with Texas singer-songwriter Sarah Jarosz for some truly gorgeous vocal harmonies.
“Joni's the greatest living singer-songwriter, and For Free is one of her simplest,” Crosby says. “It's one of my favorite songs because I love what it says about the spirit of music and what compels you to play.”
On Rodriguez For A Night, Crosby joins forces with his son Raymond and Steely Dan's Donald Fagen for a far more upbeat number, implementing clavinet-fueled funk stylings and smooth winding bass lines.
“Steely Dan's my favorite band and I've admired Donald a long time, so that was a thrill for us,” Crosby says of the collaboration.
On working with his son Raymond – who has also produced the album – Crosby explains: “Can you imagine what it's like to connect with your son and find out that he's incredibly talented – a great composer, a great poet, and a really fine songwriter and musician all around?
“We're such good friends and we work so well together, and we'll each go to any length to create the highest-quality songs we can.”
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David Crosby's For Free arrives July 23 via BMG. Pre-order is available now.
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Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.
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