tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight a conversation with david cross the. he has just released its first studio album in 25 years. this is his first interview since undergoing heart surgery just last month. we are glad you joined us. a conversation with david crosby coming up right now. ♪

>> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: it's easy to use shorthand of calling someone a legend in their fields, but david crosby has earned that monogram. the founder of two groups, the birds, and crosby stills nash and young. incredible talent and ability to produce beautiful harmonies has put him into rocco lead, and not

once but twice into the rock 'n roll hall of fame. on tour.k on to her -- we take a look at david singing to start our conversation. ♪ ♪ you know it increases my paranoia ♪ i'm not giving it an inch ♪

tavis: you still got it. after all these years am a you still got it. when you were supposed to be here, some time ago, we got a call just for your appearance that you had to be rushed to the hospital for a surgery. >> it wasn't quite a rush. i did that thing where you do all those test. test came back. a red light went off. it's just science fiction what they can do nowadays. to operate in your heart to go through your artery. we took a peek and said, that's almost close. open, and they slip a piece of macaroni. all of a sudden your blood flows. tavis: you have had serious health concern.

how about it has changed your ?iew >> it makes you try to take it more seriously. i have been working at it a long time. . i didn't a surprise feel bad. i felt great. that's why you go once again to check in with the doctors. weight?ou lost a lot of >> yes, i lost 50 pounds. i feel pretty good. tavis: has any of the weight loss and health challenges you have gotten through in any way impacted your sound, your style,

the way you feel when you are on stage? >> not a bit. i don't know why i can does sing. i have no idea, but i'm grateful. buy your own admission, you would be the first to tell us you have and always rejected your interest. >> that's a nice euphemism. that was very kind how you put that. you are a nice man. have urged it to the limit. ago.hat was 25 or 30 years i have had time to think about it. tavis: why this one?

>> i haven't done a solo album in a long time. you probably know this story. james was was up for adoption by his son. i knew he existed, but i didn't ago.him until 20 years i met him, and he was very kind and gave me a shot at earning my way into his life. we started writing together. he's a better musician than i am by a long shot. we communicate really well. this album wouldn't have happened without him. i think it has happened twice or three times to the level. intricateazz and melodies and harmonies, and that's where i live.

we pretty much went crazy on this. i think the writing is witty high bar. -- pretty high bar. i am pretty happy with it. my younger son took the cover picture. affair.t's a family >> it's a good shot. it makes me look younger than i am. you know where i got that look? from the statue of lenin. you know that one? he wouldn't be so happy these days. it didn't work out. >> it was never a communism that work. they were all dictatorships or oligarchies. tavis: if i get a bunch of mail saying tavis is a communist. phrase wheneautiful you said after meeting him 20 years ago after his mom put him

up for adoption that he gave you a chance to earn your way back into his life. meet upsow those commonly go wrong. both sides bring too much baggage, and he didn't. that was an act of generosity, an act of high ground. very appealing. allowed a chance to build something good. i will be grateful for that forever. he is the player for crosby stills and nash and my own band when i can go out. i think it's unusual. i think most times it doesn't go that way. i added it to the list of things for which i am very grateful. tavis: the other thing you said

that got my attention, which i knew, but is a little different, and that is the notion his mother puts them up for adoption. butonly meet 20 years ago, when you meet, without him having been in your race, he is already musically inclined. >> very. space, he isur already musically inclined. >> very. if anybody tells you it's not genetic. tavis: he's a music writer, and that's amazing. >> mind you, he likes elton and tillie joel because he is a keyboard -- delete jewel -- billy joel because he is a keyboard player. he knew crosby stills and nash. this: did that make collaboration suite or, even the back story? >> area. -- did that make this

collaboration sweeter? >> very. most of it is cowriting. his production talents, i'm surprised there's not a line of people out the door waiting for him to produce their records because he is really a. tavis: -- he is brilliant. >> i wish i could ask him the question. >> he thinks you are cool. tavis: i will put it forth anyway. how anybody writes with you and not be intimidated by writing .ith david crosby >> he is anything but intimidated. he knows what a bozo i really am. tavis: i would be scared to death to attempt to write with you.

>> he is not intimidated. he likes when i come with something good. missedmade as many takes, and he knows them all. that's as many mistakes, and he knows them all. i think that's a good. i don't want to look at my life life.ng bigger than i am struggling, trying to make sense. that. most ofws the people i really respect and play with know that. tavis: i appreciate that, yet the iconicize i hope role you have played in lives. >> i don't. tavis: you are the soundtrack of people's lives. >> i am goofy.

i try not to. i don't want to look at myself that way. i want to look at myself the way i do on purpose. if you aggrandize and try to look at yourself the way a review or everybodyviewer does, has got to write an opinion about it, but i have a pretty of the whole way to my life. there are things that are good, and i am proud of them. there are things i am really not proud of. withave to look at me respect you. i try to do that. starr is just a trick. they set you up to knock you over. you avoided. i avoid it. you think you

navigated it to be as well adjusted all these years later? you have been a star for a long time. >> i don't think our israel. i have been a magician. i don't think it's easy. and stayto work now straight and level and keep track of what i am doing. for me, i can't speak for all your other fans, but for me the greatest government i can a you is the seriousness with which you take your there a call content. >> if you don't have anything to say, what's the point? >> there are a lot of people who ain't saying nothing but are selling records. the lyrics for you has been important.

of folke from a school music. the tradition is troubadours. you are carrying a message. job is partly to make you want to dance. to take your job is on a voyage. i like toof the job. do all of those rings. i like to take you on a voyage. -- all of those things. what has been your particular and unique fascination with the notion of love as an artist?

>> as an elevating force. i think it is a lifting force. i think music is a lifting force. i think love is a lifting force. someone loving as a child and it moves you. it brings something that elevates us as human beings. i treasure that. i think it is one of the great things about human beings. i don't like greed. i don't like area. i really don't like anger, but i love love. >> what have you got against anger? >> i have wasted a lot of time. you don't accomplish a lot. tavis: you will concede that anger is different from righteous indignation. i have heard in your writing righteous indignation. >> these are two different things. easy to mistake one for the other.

i got to be really careful about that. i'm not a preacher. i don't aspire to that. i don't inc. being angry is useful or healthy. usually when i get angry my brain goes right out the window. instant stupid. add water and mix. tavis: a great song lyric. you come from this folk music tradition. you have become iconic in your own right, and you are singing about this, that, and the other, yet this is the worldview now and have it. -- now in habit.

feel music is still pregnant with the power to make ce?ifferen >> that's a fascinating question. my heart wants to believe we can make a difference. music is a great way to transmit. after all the time we , even with great leaders like martin luther king, racism is so alive. it's ill here. -- it still here. war is a stupid way to solve stuff. you are trying to make money. we are in a war because you want to make money? you corporations just walked the government. -- bought the government. that is disparaging.

this country. i believe in the idea of this country. so -- cheaheap and pened so is very discouraging. and say,just roll over i can't deal with it. tavis: but you have to have reason to believe. petertin luther king, seeger. doest they are dead. what david crosby believe in? >> i believe in the same things i believed in the first place. i think the value of the human individual is crucial for the whole thing. not believe the founding fathers of this country intended the guy with the biggest tv theld get the keys to

kingdom. masscouldn't envision media. they couldn't envision you could just buy populations and shape it. are in a lot of trouble if you want to know the truth, but i don't want to get discouraged. i don't want to let that make me shut up. tavis: you are not shutting up to my thankfully. a lot of great stuff. is there a message you want to communicate through this? why these tracks? i am trying to get a sense of what is on this for everyday people. >> story, glimpses of stuff that is true, celebrations of the things we liked in the first ,ase, love, intelligence

loyalty, gentleness, kindness, empathy, looking out for your brother. tavis: i feel like -- if i am wrong you can let me. >> -- slap me. >> slap the guy your size? tavis: i love you so much i wouldn't hit you back. i would turn the other cheek. i get the sense you did this as much for you as for the rest of us. this is a project you love doing for you. >> i love making music. i love making songs. what greater than having this you what you do with your life. doing this or you ouldn't be so good at it. that's how i feel.

i'm given a path where i can contribute, where i can protest if somebody does something obviously wrong in front of me, where i can make a difference, where i can especially elevate, , elevate they thing. if i could raise it a quarter of an inch, god knows we have enough people shoving it down. tavis: i want to ask about how fortunate you feel, how blessed you feel. what do you feel about being born with this gift to be an artist? s more talking to artist reasons,ody for a few

but sometimes i wish god had made me an artist, because you guys -- >> isn't it that are to be able to earn a living -- isn't it better to be able to earn a living? tavis: i ain't doing much worse than you. how grateful do you feel to be born an artist? >> grateful. i have been given a gift. don't miss use it. i spent a lot of time wasting that talent, not treasuring it, not valuing it, not risk acting it. just taking it for granted. -- not respect him it -- respecting it. that was a hard lesson to learn. it doesn't come for free. don't do that. it, treated as a responsibility, and enjoy it.

don't waste the time. time is the best currency. not money, not power. i need another 100 years. i have so much stuff i want to know, and i would go back to college in a second to try to aarn major scientific is blimp about when wages. history, i could but my whole and learning about history not feel like i wasted a minute. your: how much has integrity of baited your genius? >> did he say genius? nobody disagrees with me. this grew if they disagree, they would tell me. crew if they disagree, they will tell me.

>> i am fascinated by people. i am fascinated by the way the world works. i remember being a kid and sitting in grand central's asian -- central station and that is when i fell in love with people watching. i am fascinated i people. there are some fascinating people. then i learned to read. i read constantly. i am very curious. tavis: you are fascinated by people, and a bunch of people are fascinated are you, inspired by your gift. soloew project, his first project in many years, a great photo by one of his sons. it was reduced and written with

another of his sons. it has a lot of good stuff on it from the two-time inductee into the rock 'n roll hall of fame. congratulations. you are going to be touring? we will get you somewhere. honored to have you on. that's our show for tonight. as always, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a conversation with franklin langella. that's next time. we will see you then. ♪

>> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> be more. >> be more. pbs.

steves: westminster abbey. this most-historic church in the english-speaking world is where kings and queens have been crowned and buried since 1066. while it was first built in the 11th century, much of what we see today is 14th century. when there's a royal wedding, the world looks on as, amid all this splendor, thousands of britain's glitterati gather under these graceful gothic arches. the centerpiece is the tomb of edward the confessor, who founded the abbey. and surrounding edward are the tombs of 29 other kings and queens. this is the tomb of queen elizabeth i. her royal orb symbolizes she was queen of the entire globe. the abbey is filled with the remains of people who put the "great" in britain -- saints, musicians, scientists, and soldiers.

for lovers of english literature, strolling through poets' corner can be a pilgrimage in itself. king henry vii's lady chapel, with its colorful windows and fanciful banners, has the festive air of a medieval pageant. the elaborate ceilings is a fine example of fan vaulting, a style that capped the gothic age. at the far end, a wall of modern stained glass marks the royal air force chapel. it honors the fighter pilots of all nations who died defending britain in 1944. with saints in stained glass, heroes in carved stone, and the remains of england's greatest citizens under the floor stones, westminster abbey is the national church and the religious heart of england.

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