Closer USA – August 05, 2019

HEART to heart

Didyoujustknowthat,oh, it’sover?

Yeah,thatwasa verydefinitemessagethere.

She’squitea lady.

You’vehadbig falling-outswithStephen

St ills,GrahamNashandNeilYoung.

Is thisfilman olivebranchto them?

No, definitelynot.I thinkall of us were

horribleto eachothermany,manytimes.

And we probablyshouldall apologizeto each

otherrepeatedly.

It does seemlikean apologyon-screen.

Somepeoplereadit thatway.I’mnotreally....

I’ve alreadyapologizedto thoseguysfor

mostof thethingsthatI thinkI shouldhave

apologizedfor—thebiggestone,of course,

beingme turningmyselfintoa junkie.That

was theworstthingI didto anyof them.

But I don’tthinkthere’san entitythere

toapologizeto.Thatbandis history.It’s

done.We didgoodwork.I’mproudof it and

I’mdoingwhatI’mdoingnow.I’vegotno

bad stuffin my heartforanyof thoseguys.

They’reall OKandI wishthemwell.I want

themto havegoodlives.

Givenall your drugandalcohol

abuse,howhasyour voicestayed

sogood?

Myfriendswhoarereallygoodsingers,

peoplethatI reallytrust,tellme thatI’m

si ngingprobablybetterthanI havein my

li fe,andthey’reas baff ledby it as I am.

Noneof us canfigureit out.

FLYAWAYDavid[farright]co-foundedtheByrds

in 1964 andhadhitslike“Turn!Turn!Turn!”butwas

fi redin 1967.“I wasyoungkidandI wantedmore,”

hesaid.“I wasprobablynoteasyto dealwith.”

DARK DAYS

He was

arrested

in Dallas in

1982 on drug

and gun

possession

charges.

EARLYYEARS

Asa highschool
fr eshmanin 1957
atCateSchoolin
Carpinteria,Calif.

LONG TIME

GONE BY

You’ve also made a lot of music lately.

I’m certainly not a candidate for having

four albums in the past four years, but that’s

what’s happened, and I’m halfway through

a fifth one. Yes, it doesn’t make any sense.

What? Why? How? Who? [Laughs]

What was your inspiration?

I think it’s that I didn’t have a welcoming

place for the last 10 years of CSN. We weren’t

friends, and I didn’t feel I could take songs

there, so I had some songs saved up. Then I

started writing with my son James, and he

changed everything. And then I wrote with

incredibly talented young people who are

brilliant writers. I’m a very lucky guy.

Did you always know you’d make music?

I wanted to be an actor ’cause my dad was a

cinematographer. It sounded good, ’cause

girls liked actors. Then in my middle teens

I started singing in a coffeehouse in Santa

Barbara. That was it, boom.

What are you proudest of?

Well, my kids, I guess.

What are they up to?

Erika has three kids, lives in

Florida and is an incredibly smart,

wonderful woman who I visit

regularly because I love her dearly.

Donovan doesn’t really talk tome.

Django lives with me and is anabsolute

joy. I don’t parent Bailey andBeckett,the

CARRY ON

After a 1994 liver

transplant, 2014 heart

surgery and getting

type 2 diabetes, David says

he feels “pretty good. I

started eating about half as

much food a couple of years

ago and lost 60 pounds.

That helped.”

LOVE &

HARMONY

With girlfriend

Joni Mitchell

and Cass Elliot’s

daughter Owen

in Cass’ California

backyard in 1968

46 August 5, 2019 CLOSER