Wild Tales

A Rock & Roll Life

By: Graham Nash

Narrated by: Graham Nash

Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

From Graham Nash - the legendary musician and founding member of the iconic bands Crosby, Stills & Nash and The Hollies - comes a candid and riveting autobiography that belongs on the reading list of every classic rock fan.

Graham Nash's songs defined a generation and helped shape the history of rock and roll - he’s written over 200 songs, including such classic hits as "Carrie Anne," “On A Carousel,” "Simple Man," "Our House," “Marrakesh Express,” and "Teach Your Children." From the opening salvos of the British Rock Revolution to the last shudders of Woodstock, he has rocked and rolled wherever music mattered. Now Graham is ready to tell his story: his lower-class childhood in post-war England, his early days in the British Invasion group The Hollies; becoming the lover and muse of Joni Mitchell during the halcyon years, when both produced their most introspective and important work; meeting Stephen Stills and David Crosby and reaching superstardom with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; and his enduring career as a solo musician and political activist. Nash has valuable insights into a world and time many think they know from the outside but few have experienced at its epicenter, and equally wonderful anecdotes about the people around him: the Beatles, the Stones, Hendrix, Cass Elliot, Dylan, and other rock luminaries.

From London to Laurel Canyon and beyond, Wild Tales is a revealing look back at an extraordinary life - with all the highs and the lows; the love, the sex, and the jealousy; the politics; the drugs; the insanity - and the sanity - of a magical era of music.

©2013 Graham Nash (P)2013 Random House Audio

AWESOME!!!

I LOVE this book and with Nash narrating and sometimes singing it us just the best!!!

Enjoyable biography by the man himself.

Wonderful, well told tale of Graham Nash. He was, at many times the glue that held it all together.

You really get a good sense of the man and what makes him tick, which all good biographies should do.

Honest account of an amazing life

This is one of the best bios of its kind. Spoken (and sung) by Graham himself, it feels like he’s sitting across from you telling his story rather than reading. He deals honestly with the good and the bad. While there are times when Graham seems a little like the typical bloated ego rock star he balances it by recounting his shortcomings as well. It really gives you a sense of who he really is, warts and all, and how he went on to accomplish so much in music, photography, art and life. Well done! I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in getting a true feel for what those magical 60s-70s classic rockers lives and times were like.

good story. focused on both sex and music :/

I have always been a fan Graham Nash. I respect his music both with The Hollies and in the states. I was looking forward to hearing the story. I've always been a big fan of Joni Mitchell's as well.

I have to say that something that really stuck out for me apart from enjoying the stories about the songs and the music making was the focus on getting high and getting laid. the author seems to still think that stuff is as cool as one thinks in young adulthood. I was especially struck by the contrast between Joni Mitchell's past comments about the effects of free love on herself and other young women--- and feeling passed around by the guys in Graham Nash's friend Circle ----versus Graham's comments alternatively between loving Joni Mitchell and bagging a lot of babes. Women as property to be gifted to a pal. So for me I respect the music and I like the author but I'm a little disappointed at what seems to be a lack of empathy for the recipients of all of his lust.

A Great Story for fans of the Hollies and CSN!

What did you love best about Wild Tales?

I loved hearing Graham's story from himself, rather than a paid reader, as was the case with Clapton's audio book and Keith Richards'. Graham is generous to the many people who came into his life and is full of wonder and excitement about how his life changed when he entered the music business. Escaping the rigidities of British society and learning to express himself musically is a major theme of his account, which led to his leaving the Hollies and coming to America and joining Steve Stills and David Crosby to start a new group, CSN. For those of us who are long time Hollies fans, his detailed account of the events leading to his departure is something we've wanted to hear from him, personally, for a long time. It was hard to stop listening to his story, and I give it a full five stars. The only negative was his constant use of the "F" word, which was ubiquitous! So, be prepared!

What other book might you compare Wild Tales to and why?

The audio versions of Clapton, Richards and Townshend autobiographies. Those where the author is reading his own book, are the best. Townshend's book is an example, whereas the Clapton book and Keith Richards is read by a paid reader. Even so, I recommend them all to those of us who are "children of the 60s"!

Have you listened to any of Graham Nash’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is his only performance that I am aware of for a book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, absolutely, although I was not able to. It is over 14 hrs long. A great buy.

Excellent!

Any additional comments?

Highly recommended if you are a fan of this genre. Nash does an excellent job of reading.

Loved hearing it from The author!

If you could sum up Wild Tales in three words, what would they be?

David Crosby constantly

Who was your favorite character and why?

Graham Nash seems like the perfect person to write about CSNY, since he seems to be the most normal of them all.

Which scene was your favorite?

I liked the Joni Mitchell parts and wish there had been more.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Drugs make you an artist

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed this book, but it did get bogged down with too much about drugs, and not enough about his relationships. Wish he had talked more about his wife, Joni, Rita Coolidge, not just constantly about David Crosby.

Good audio book

Well spoken, good story, interesting life. I would recommend. Didn't really follow graham when I was growing up but it was fun following his life and listing to his crisp clean views.

Entertaining account by Graham Nash

I love CSN! I grew up with the music and still listen to the music today.
I thought Graham Nash’s first hand account of their lives and of the times were fascinating. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Very enjoyable

Graham Nash has an interesting story to tell—many stories, in fact. I am a fan of his, but even more, of Joni Mitchell, and she figures prominently in his story. I learned a lot about many other people whose lives and careers intersected with Nash’s—of course his great friend David Crosby, and Stills and Nash—but so many others. Several times I felt that his narration sounded like “reading,” but not always. It was never a huge issue for me, but if you like rock autobiographies, be sure to listen to Roger Daltrey’s “Kibblewhite”—He never sounds like he’s reading—That book is like a conversation with a dear old friend! Anyway, I did enjoy this book and recommend it, especially if you love the music of the 60s-80s!