Graham Nash will play a series of special shows in September that will feature complete performances of his 1971 debut solo LP Songs For Beginners and the 1974 follow-up Wild Tales. People have been suggesting I do this it a long time, Nash tells Rolling Stone. But it was pressure from my wife that finally convinced me. She loves those two albums and she wanted to hear them, so Im going to do them.
Nash is on the road in America now with a show that mixes in songs from his whole career. Only guitarist Shane Fontayne and keyboardist/singer Todd Caldwell accompany him currently, but he plans on assembling a much larger band for these shows that will include a drummer, bassist, backup singers and a pedal steel player. The show will begin with Songs For Beginners followed by Wild Tales after a brief intermission.
Songs For Beginners contains many of his most enduring solo songs, including Military Madness, I Used to Be a King and Chicago. The album reached Number 15 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart, but Wild Tales didnt generate any hits and stalled at Number 34. It was actually shit on by Atlantic, says Nash. They never put any energy into promoting it.
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He hasnt played some of these songs in decades, so in recent weeks hes gone over some of the more obscure ones with Fontayne and Caldwell between gigs. We are going through song choruses and getting three-part harmonies down, he says. We want to make sure were comfortable with the songs before we start rehearsing.
As of now, Nash only has plans to play them at four shows on the East Coast. But he says if they go well, he might add more. Were kind of testing the waters here, he says. Ive had a lot of enthusiastic responses from the web about it, so well see.
Graham Nashs Songs For Beginners and Wild Tales Tour