Being two rock music icons of the same era isn’t the only thing David Crosby and George Harrison share. These two musicians also had a close friendship, so much so that the CSNY icon wrote a song dedicated to the Beatles’ lead guitarist earlier in his time with the band. During a recent interview with Goldmine, he remembered its creation process as well as his relationship with Harrison.
When the interviewer mentioned the 1973 Byrds reunion album, Crosby first said, “It is a better album than most people give it credit for, I think. Thanks, man.” He then went on to talk about ‘Laughing,’ revealing that the song had an intention, “I think ‘Laughing’ is one of my better songs. It was written with a purpose.”
Later in the conversation, David Crosby opened up about his relationship with the Beatles members and said, “I was friends with George Harrison. He was the Beatle who I was closest to. I was friends with all of them, and I am still friends with Paul and Ringo, but I was closest with George. I would go to his house for dinner. We hung out. We talked a lot. He was very friendly. We played a bunch of music together. We had a long and fruitful relationship. I liked him a lot.”
“He called me up one day and said, ‘I have met this guru.’ I talked with him about it and was happy for him,” said the CSNY icon about George Harrisson’s religious practices. He then continued, “What I really wanted to say was, ‘That’s nice but take it with a grain of salt.’ I don’t believe in religion. There is a borderline between religion and philosophy. It is not something I like externally imposed.”
Crosby also didn’t forget to mention that he respected his close friend regardless of his beliefs and lifestyle. “I didn’t say that out of respect for him. I had tremendous respect for George Harrison with the way he lived his life,” noted the musician and later said that he didn’t directly say his opinions to him, “but I didn’t want this to overwhelm him with my opinions, so I wrote the song ‘Laughing’ instead because the wisest person I think I have ever seen is a child laughing in the sun.”
“I think that is the real truth instead of one of these people out selling their version of religion and God. That is how that song came about, and ‘Laughing’ is a very significant song for me,” said Crosby, which revealed the true reason he came up with the song dedicated to his friend George Harrison.
David Crosby’s tribute song ‘Laughing’ had a demo version named ‘Song with No Words.’ Crosby, Stills & Nash tried this version during the sessions for their second studio album named ‘Deja Vu.’ Eventually, Crosby released it in his debut record titled ‘If I Could Only Remember My Name’ in February 1971, creating an immortal piece dedicated to his friendship with the Beatles icon George Harrison.
