Fans have expectations about what they will hear when they pick up celebrity memoirs. Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life from musician Graham Nash is no different. We figure that we will hear him talk about growing up in England. About forming and singing with the Hollies. About coming to America. About teaming up with David Crosby, Stephen Stills and, sometimes, Neil Young. Not to mention pairing up with Joni Mitchell for a bit. Sure, there will be sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, all in heavy doses, liberally sprinkled with ferocious arguments and even occasional gunfire. Yes, this should be a wild tale indeed.

It is. Nash fills in all the details of the topics above. Of course, we even get the Woodstock experience thrown in for good measure.

I have read memoirs of Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Darius Rucker, Gary Wright, Carol King, Carly Simon and others. I can tell you that Nash's story follows the pattern you see in most musician memoirs. Someone gets the inner impetus to make music, no matter what. They learn their craft, they practice, they meet other like-minded musicians, and they start performing locally. Gradually the local gigs get farther away and more frequent. Then somewhere along the line, the Universe works a bit of magic. The fireworks go off, and our hero/ine is jettisoned into fame and fortune as a result of talent and hard work. The transition from a normal life to one with celebrity status can be a jolt. How the person responds to it is a key measure of their overall character.

Then again, by picking up such books, we run the risk of learning more about our heroes than we may have wanted to. Here, Nash nonchalantly tells tales of more sexual encounters and more drug use than you might have expected. Yet, it WAS the 1960s and '70s. He was a part of the culture at the time. The best tales are when he recalls the circumstances of how certain songs came about. Like watching Neil Young walk into the woods with his guitar for a few minutes, and soon coming back out having written the song "Ohio," just after hearing the heart-breaking news from Kent State on May 4, 1969. Nash was not only an important writer and creator of songs. He also took on the role of peacemaker with his bandmates. He gave much of his attention to Crosby's ever-growing self-destructive lifestyle. In fact, this book is as much about Crosby as it is about Nash.

As I often do, I chose to listen to Nash narrate his book on CDs. We shared the commute for more than a week. I drove him back and forth, and he in turn told me stories from the 1960s and '70s. Some of them I had heard before. I read Crosby's autobiography, Long Time Gone, when it was first published in 1988. So it was additionally interesting to hear Nash's versions of what I remember Crosby covering, back then.

I carry my own memories, too. I have seen various combinations of CSN&Y at least eight times in concert. I once shook Crosby's hand and got his autograph over a taller-than-me chain-link fence, while he was talking to someone else. On one steamy July afternoon in 1990, I witnessed Crosby, Stills, and Nash opening for The Grateful Dead at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. It was such a sweltering day that the stadium staff had opened large sprinklers on the ground floor, so that nearby folks could run through the spraying water. I didn't have easy access to such relief, since I was sitting in the unprotected upper deck, getting broiled. What I DID have was a clear view of CS&N, who were performing on stage, facing the sun. They played just one set before either Crosby got angry or Stills got angry. Or, it was just too darned hot. They stormed off into the wings and did not return for a second bow or an encore. I thought of this scene more than once, as I heard Nash tell of recurring arguments, miscommunications, hurt feelings and bad behaviors off stage. It almost seems as though the rare events were when they all got along. The music was what was most important, to all of them. It pulled them together.

If you are a fan of CSN-and-sometimes-Y, you may know some of these stories already. Maybe it's a good idea to go back and read Crosby's Long Time Gone, before or after reading Nash's Wild Tales. A full picture may emerge. Think well of Crosby, since we lost him in January 2023. As you flip through these pages, put some music on your stereo, or call up some tunes on your streaming service. Honor these incredibly talented songwriters, singers and musicians, who gave us wonderful, thoughtful melodies ... often, in spite of what was going on in their combined real lives.

Nash and his colleagues have given us many gifts. Here, we learn "the rest of the story."