Whistling Down the Wire is the third album by Crosby & Nash, released on ABC Records in 1976, the second of the duo's three-album deal with ABC Records. Cassette and 8-track tape versions of the album were distributed by Atlantic Records, to which Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were signed. It peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard 200 album chart and was certified gold by the RIAA.Billboard David Crosby chart history retrieved 11 April 2018RIAA database retrieved 11 April 2018 Two singles were released from the album, "Out of the Darkness" and "Spotlight", of which only the first charted on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #89.Whistling Down the Wire MCA 088 112 032-2, 2000 reissue, liner notes.

Background In the summer and fall of 1975, after the success of Wind on the Water, David Crosby and Graham Nash took the band that played on the album out on tour. In the course of recording sessions for this album, both were invited to add vocals to a project by Stephen Stills and Neil Young that would become that pair's only duo album to date, Long May You Run credited to the Stills-Young Band. What could have been a potential CSNY reunion got torpedoed after Nash and Crosby left Miami to finish the sessions for what would become Whistling Down the Wire, and Young and Stills reacted by removing the duo's vocals and other contributions from the master tapes.Zimmer, Dave, and Diltz, Henry. Crosby Stills & Nash: The Authorized Biography, St. Martin’s Press, 1984. , p. 185. Crosby and Nash vowed never to work with either again. They toured again to support this album in 1976, but by the end of the year reunited with Stills for the second CSN trio album, released in 1977. That album successfully reactivated the trio on a more or less permanent basis, and there was not a new Crosby & Nash studio album for another 28 years.

Content As on their previous two albums, the instrumental backing was provided by the group of session musicians known as The Section, here consisting of keyboardist Craig Doerge, guitarist Danny Kortchmar, and drummer Russell Kunkel, along with multi-instrumentalist David Lindley and bassist Tim Drummond and known as 'The Mighty Jitters' when on tour with the duo. Many tracks for this album, including "Time After Time," "J.B.'s Blues," and "Marguerita" were left over from the sessions for Wind on the Water.Whistling 2000 reissue liner notes. The song Mutiny is a reference to the Mutiny Hotel in Miami, a noted hotspot in the 1970s.

Both this album and its predecessor exemplify the sub-genre of soft rock prevalent in much of mid-1970s popular music. With two gold albums in a row, the duo's success on records had outstripped that of their former partner Stills, whose only gold album certification among his most recent five albums had been the one in tandem with Young.RIAA database retrieved 11 April 2018 Yet, when the opportunity arose, the pair agreed to join up with Stills and continue as Crosby, Stills, and Nash.

Sessions took place at Rudy Recorders in San Francisco, and the Sound Lab in Los Angeles. Whistling Down the Wire was reissued for compact disc on January 11, 2000, on MCA Records. It was made available again as part of MCA's new manufacture on-demand process.

Track listing Side one

Side two

Personnel David Crosby – vocals, acoustic guitar Graham Nash – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica

Additional personnel Craig Doerge – acoustic piano, electric piano, organ, glass harmonica David Lindley – electric guitar, slide guitar, pedal steel guitar, viola, violin Danny Kortchmar – electric guitar, Dobro Laura Allan – zither Tim Drummond – bass Russ Kunkel – drums, percussion Lee Holdridge – string arrangements (4, 10) Sid Sharp – orchestra leader (4, 10)

Production personnel Crosby & Nash – producers Stephen Barncard and Don Gooch – engineers Lanky Linstrot – mastering at ABC Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California) Gary Burden and Jenice Heo – art direction Joel Bernstein – photography Stephen Barncard and Mike Ragonga – reissue producers Erick Labson – remastering engineer

Chart

Chart (1976)Peak positionUS Billboard Top LPs26Canadian RPM 100 Albums17Dutch MegaCharts Albums12Italian Album Charts17US Cash Box Top 100 Albums23US Record World Album Chart23

+Sales chart performance for singles from Whistling Down The WireYearSingleChartPosition1976"Out of the Darkness"US Billboard Hot 10089US Top Singles (Cash Box)77US Top Singles (Record World) 117"Spotlight"US Billboard Hot 100109US Top Singles (Record World) 127

Certification

Tour +DateCityCountryVenue23 May 1976AnaheimUnited StatesAnaheim Convention Center6 August 1976ConcordConcord Pavilion12 August 1976Los AngelesGreek Theater18 August 1976IllinoisSouthern Illinois University20 August 1976TroyPine Knob21 August 197622 August 1976AkronBlossom Music Center24 August 1976PittsburghSyria Mosque25 August 1976PhiladelphiaTemple Music27 August 1976HolmdelGarden State Art Center28 August 19763 September 1976LenoxTanglewood Music Center4 September 1976RochesterCommunity War Memorial8 September 1976New York CityCentral Park9 September 197610 September 197611 September 197616 September 1976EdinburghUnited KingdomEdinburgh Playhouse17 September 1976ManchesterFree Trade Hall22 September 1976AmsterdamNetherlandsJaap Edenhal23 September 1976EppelheimGermanyRhein-Neckar-Hall28 September 1976LondonUnited KingdomHammersmith Odeon22 October 1976SpringfieldUnited States26 November 1976AnaheimAnaheim Convention Center1 December 1976TokyoJapanBudokan1 December 197612 December 1976OsakaFestival Hall

External links Crosby & Nash

References