Hear David Crosby’s Joni Mitchell Cover And Donald Fagen Collab

Hear David Crosby’s Joni Mitchell Cover And Donald Fagen Collab

David Crosby, legendary folk-rock survivor and Twitter curmudgeon, recently announced plans to release the new solo album For Free, and he shared its first single, the Michael McDonald duet “River Rise.” Crosby recorded the LP with his son, producer and multi-instrumentalist James Raymond, and it features a couple of other nods to Crosby’s peers — a Joni Mitchell cover and a song written with Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen. Today, he’s shared both.

The title track of For Free is Crosby’s version of his old friend Joni Mitchell’s 1970 classic. (Lana Del Rey recently covered the same song.) In Crosby’s version, he and Americana musician Sarah Jarosz sing “For Free” in close harmony over a sparse piano. In a press release, Crosby says, “Joni’s the greatest living singer/songwriter, and ‘For Free’ is one of her simplest. It’s one of my favorite songs because I love what it says about the spirit of music and what compels you to play.”

Crosby’s other new song is called “Rodriguez For A Night,” and he co-wrote it with Donald Fagen and with his son James Raymond. It’s a story-song about a jealous cowboy, and Crosby sings it over a delicately percolating beat and a whole lot of horn-bursts. Crosby says, “Steely Dan’s my favorite band and I’ve admired Donald a long time, so that was a thrill for us.” The song sure sounds a whole lot like Steely Dan. Check out both tracks below.

For Free is out 7/23 on BMG. Joan Baez painted that album cover!

more from New Music