Happy Birthday David Crosby: Performing Live With CSNY In 1988

David Crosby celebrates his 79th birthday today. A co-founding member of The Byrds, the legendary singer-songwriter and guitarist — known for his tenor voice and writing songs with jazz-tinged chords in open guitar tunings — Crosby was at the forefront of the mid-1960s folk-rock movement. The Byrds achieved a No. 1 hit with their cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” in 1965.

But like Dylan, Crosby began to look beyond folk music as the ‘60s progressed. In 1967, David joined the heavier folk-rock group Buffalo Springfield, whose members included Stephen Stills and Neil Young — onstage at the famed Monterey Pop Festival, which may have contributed to his dismissal from The Byrds shortly thereafter. Crosby famously said that he wanted to join Buffalo Springfield.

But Springfield was not long for the world, breaking up in 1968, and Crosby would end up teaming up with Stills and Graham Nash (formerly of The Hollies) to create the legendary supergroup, Crosby, Stills & Nash. Young would join the band for their second gig in 1969, which just so happened to be Woodstock, and the equally legendary Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young came into being. While the four members would have their own ups and downs, they always managed to come back together throughout the decades.

On December 4, 1988, CSNY performed for the Neil and Pegi Young-organized Bridge School Benefit at the Oakland Coliseum. The nonprofit’s mission “is to ensure that individuals with severe speech and physical impairments achieve full participation in their communities,” as per Bridge School’s website, through the use of innovative and inclusive educational techniques.

CSNY — who shared the bill with Jerry Garcia & Bob Weir, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and more — would perform a set featuring classics from CSN’s 1969 self-titled debut including the opener, “Helplessly Hoping,” and the Crosby-penned “Long Time Gone.” The quartet also performed tunes from their current album at the time, 1988’s American Dream, in “This Old House” and “Compass.” CSNY also fit in Stills’ “Love The One You’re With” and Young’s “Southern Man” as well as the title track to their 1974 album Southern Cross and set closer, the Nash-penned “Teach Your Children.”

To celebrate David Crosby’s birthday, watch CSNY’s entire 1988 Bridge School performance below: