The story of the genesis and evolution of Looking Forward is as extraordinary as the history of a group who, although apart far more than they have been together, have maintained a lifelong musical connection requiring only proximity to set off sparks again. But more than just the long-overdue reunion of four, often fractious, friends, Looking Forward is the best evidence to date of the assessment made by Graham Nash on the meaning and motives of C,S,N&Y: "We still have it. We still mean it. It's not for the money. It never was. It's for the music."

The saga of that music is a matter of record-a lot of records. The oft-told tale of four formidable, ferociously gifted artists who, together and in various combinations, created a sound that defined an era. The career of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young could-and has-filled both library and record collection shelves. But what has always mattered to the group, individually and as a whole, is not what has come before, but what is still to be-a sentiment gloriously summed up on Looking Forward.

It was in early 1998 that the first tentative moves toward a reunion took place between Neil Young and Crosby, Stills & Nash, who had been working together as a recording and performing trio for nearly three decades. "We were playing the Fillmore," recounts Graham Nash. "Neil came to one of the shows and we ended up doing 'Ohio' and 'Carry On' together. It was a lot of fun, but nothing serious."

"We've always stayed in touch, but most of the time it's on the run," adds Stephen Stills, whose connection to Young stretches back to their '60s tenure in the legendary Buffalo Springfield. It was, in fact, their recent work together on an upcoming Buffalo Springfield retrospective box set that added the next element to the inevitable. "I was up at the ranch," continues Stills, "and we were listening to a lot of the old stuff. I think that process put a notion in the back of both our heads."

It was also during this time that Crosby, Stills & Nash had re-entered the studio to begin work on a new self-financed/produced album. "The songs we were doing were a little long on mellow," recounts Stills. "I thought we needed a bit more energy, so I asked Neil if he would come down to play on a few tracks for us."

David Crosby picks up the story: "I heard that Neil was coming down to work on one of Stephen's songs. I thought 'Great. It'll be good to see him again,' at the same time knowing that you don't hold your breath waiting for Neil Young. He's really on his own path."

That path did, however, eventually converge with that of his erstwhile bandmates in Los Angeles, with immediate and gratifying results. "We were sitting around the studio," recalls Nash, "and suddenly Neil ambles in, all alone with his guitar. It was hugs all around and then we got down to business."

"They were in the studio even though they didn't have a record company deal," is the way Young remembers the fateful meeting. "I thought that was telling. They really were into the music...they were committed." "We had my song 'Heartland' up on the board," continues Nash. "Neil asked to hear it, then suggested a guitar part. We were delighted, and I think we were all sort of holding our breath, waiting to see what would happen next."

What happened next was the musical equivalent of spontaneous combustion. David Crosby: "Neil listened to 'Heartland' and said, 'Hey, that's neat. Can I play on that?' And we all said, 'Are you kidding? Of course.' Then he heard another one and said, 'I kind of like that one, too.' Eight songs later, we all knew something special was happening. But nobody had given it a name. After those first four days, when I drove Neil to the airport I asked him what was going on and he said, 'It's as plain as the nose on your face.'"

On the cusp of a full-scale reunion, the next development was all but a foregone conclusion. "Neil asked us if we wanted to hear a few things he was working on to see if we could do anything with them," recounts Nash. "After that, it all just fell into place. We were obviously in the middle of a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young record."

Neil Young: "I'd recorded about fourteen or fifteen songs for my next solo record and it was too much. So I took some of them down to L.A. with me and when we were done playing their songs it seemed like a good time to bring in some of mine."

From the beginning, each of the four members shared a commitment to let the music lead. "All of us are really good record makers," asserts a matter-of-fact Stills. "We can step back at any time and see the big picture, without falling in love with the first thing we hear. We were able to take out everything that wasn't necessary and maintain the essential spirit of what was happening between us."

"We know what happens when Neil sings with us," continues Nash. "We know the edge that it brings, that slight ruggedness and that's very appealing." "He did a wonderful thing by getting us all to sing around one mike again," explains Crosby. "It got the music airborne and brought us back to a very organic sound. Before, we'd do separate takes for cleanliness sake, trying to get a perfect spread. But Neil's not into perfect. He's into making you feel."

"It was fun using live vocals," adds Young, "instead of overdubbing for years and trying to fix everything that was the slightest bit wrong. I think the best records we've made, together and separately, have been when we're singing and playing and recording all at once, which is the way I always try to do it."

Aside from a vocal approach that mixes spontaneity with the seamless harmonies that have long been the group's trademark, Looking Forward also boasts the potent guitar lineup of Stills and Young, firing and inspiring each other to new heights. Stephen Stills: "I learned to be very precise playing acoustic guitar in concert for Crosby, Stills & Nash and my technique really grew by leaps and bounds. And I knew that, with Neil on board, I'd have to be playing at the top of my game."

"The way Stephen and I played is very similar to what we did in Buffalo Springfield," is the way Young describes the process. "We'd stand by each other, watching and listening to each other play and interweaving what we do. It was really an extension of what we had started back with Springfield, picking up that ball again."

Before they would put the ball back down, some four months later, the quartet would have recorded over twenty new songs. Then began the difficult and demanding process of making the cut and mixing the final selections. "We mixed from January through July," Nash recalls, "and for some of that time, Neil was away on tour. We sent the results up to the ranch and waited to hear back." He laughs. "The message we got was that Neil thought we were off to a good start."

Dedicated to capturing the elusive, always-evolving essentials of the group, Young suggested that his three partners come to his ranch to cut new material-specifically three freshly minted songs including Young's "Queen of Them All" and Nash's affecting "Someday Soon." With the new material in the can, the album quickly began to take final form.

Not, however, without a final test of the foursome's determination to make the best record possible-regardless of personal priorities. "This group is a very full thing," remarks Crosby, adding with a laugh, "we're seven pounds of stuff in a three pound bag. We've got to make room for each other." "We were really trying to be sensitive," adds Stills. "We all have opinions and they're very strong opinions, but we've also all learned the hard way to listen to each other. Being kind was very much a factor in putting this record together."

Graham Nash: "Neil put up a big piece of paper on the wall of the studio and drew four columns with C,S,N and Y at the top. And he said, 'I'm going to put a check by the songs I can't leave off this record. You all do the same.' And we ended up with nine songs that we unanimously agreed on. After that, it was a question of balancing out the rest of the record."

What began as pure serendipity and grew into an extraordinary collaborative experience has resulted in Looking Forward, a dozen songs that place these four artists squarely at the juncture of what has been and what has yet to be. "One of the things they used to say about us," recounts Crosby, "was that we were speaking for our generation. And I think, in a sense, that it's still true. You hear a lot of music these days about rage and frustration and anger, but not much about hope and love and forward motion. That's what we want to continue to stand up for."

It's a contention brilliantly borne out on Looking Forward, an album in which each song carries the weight of personal meaning and universal implication. "I wanted to remind people that the heart of America is still good and solid and worth fighting for," remarks Nash on the inspiration for his original, "Heartland." "You can't have ever loved a child and not asked the questions that are in this song," asserts Crosby of "A Dream For Him," his musical meditation on his young son's future. "I didn't want to be an old guy preaching," says Stephen Stills on the impetus to his extraordinary original "Seen Enough," "but I wanted to use my own experience to let kids today know that no one should judge them unless they've walked a mile in their moccasins."