海角大神

David Crosby belies F. Scott Fitzgerald鈥檚 claim that there are no second acts in American lives. A former member of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, and Nash, the veteran songwriter is enjoying a late-career renaissance. He鈥檚 released four acclaimed solo albums since 2014. A fifth is halfway finished.聽

Now, the musician鈥檚 creative and spiritual rebirth is the subject of a documentary, 鈥淒avid Crosby: Remember My Name,鈥� directed by his friend A.J. Eaton. 鈥淗e kept saying, 鈥榊ou know there鈥檚 this weird thing going on with your life here. There鈥檚 a big resurgence in your 70s when everybody else is shutting down the shop and moving back home. And why? What the heck? I want to do a documentary about it,鈥欌�� recalls Mr. Crosby in a phone interview.

As much as Mr. Crosby loves his home life, retirement doesn鈥檛 interest him. He鈥檚 aware that, after a period of chronic drug abuse, he鈥檚 fortunate to be alive. The joy he still gets from singing is precious to him because he doesn鈥檛 take it for granted.

鈥淚 am definitely excited with life,鈥� says the musician. 鈥淚f you could look at what I鈥檓 looking at right now 鈥� the trees I鈥檓 looking out at in the sun here in the afternoon in California 鈥� that鈥檚 really a good picture of how I feel.鈥�

The film project gained momentum when rock journalist-turned-filmmaker Cameron Crowe (鈥淛erry Maguire,鈥� 鈥淎lmost Famous鈥�) offered to do the on-screen interviews. Mr. Crosby says Mr. Crowe has known him since he was 15. 鈥淗e knows where all the bones are buried,鈥� the songwriter says, chuckling.聽

The documentary unearths them all. Mr. Crosby serves as a tour guide through his past by revisiting landmarks such as the house where Crosby, Stills, and Nash聽formed (they knew they had a unique sound within 40 seconds of first playing together) and where they later recruited Neil Young.聽

The narrative spans the Woodstock festival, the making of Mr. Crosby鈥檚 1971 psychedelic folk classic 鈥淚f Only I Could Remember My Name,鈥� and his relationship with Joni Mitchell. (鈥淚n the long run, people are going to say Joni was probably the best singer-songwriter of her times,鈥� he says now.) Yet the documentary isn鈥檛 merely a chronological recap of Mr. Crosby鈥檚 life.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just, 鈥極h yeah, and then he had this hit, and then I did that, and then I invented electricity,鈥� says Mr. Crosby. 鈥淲e wanted to go a lot deeper and that鈥檚 what we did. It鈥檚 a very honest documentary.鈥�

Mental and physical journey

Inevitably, there are startling moments 鈥� beyond just early photos of Mr. Crosby before he grew arguably the most famous mustache in rock.聽The musician offers unstinting reflections of his descent into drug addiction and subsequent run-ins with the law. In December 1985, for instance, he failed to show for a court hearing. Wanted by the FBI, he fled across the country. Once he arrived at his derelict yacht in a marina near West Palm Beach, Florida, he spent several days taking stock of his life. Then he walked into an FBI office and turned himself in. But the real surrender was inside his own thought.

鈥淭here is a definite moment when you decide you can鈥檛 take it anymore and you give up. You鈥檙e going to do whatever it takes to get free鈥� of addiction, says Mr. Crosby. 鈥淲e know there is a moment, 鈥榯he moment of clarity,鈥� we call it in the 12-step programs. It鈥檚 so well known that everybody keeps trying to document it and figure out how it happens. ... You know, because we want to be able to duplicate it. We want to save people鈥檚 lives.鈥�

The documentary鈥檚 not only a cautionary tale but also an inspirational one. It chronicles Mr. Crosby鈥檚 change of outlook following a period in prison and his embrace of sobriety.

鈥淒on鈥檛 mess with hard drugs. That鈥檚 definitely a big lesson,鈥� says Mr. Crosby. 鈥淚鈥檝e realized that there are certain things that are really important to me 鈥� my family and the music 鈥� and that I really shouldn鈥檛 let anything else distract me from those things.鈥�

The artist readily admits he hasn鈥檛 been easy to work with. 鈥淩emember My Name鈥� reveals that Mr. Crosby鈥檚 most famous musical compatriots, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young, have fallen out with him. Do his former bandmates know that he loves them?

鈥淚 expect they don鈥檛,鈥� says Mr. Crosby. 鈥淎nd I do, but I don鈥檛 think they know that.鈥澛犅�

Songwriting and politics

When the band imploded, he took a small trove of unrecorded songs with him. Those tunes have surfaced on recent solo records. Mr. Crosby is also quick to credit his creative renaissance to younger collaborators including his son James, singer-songwriters Becca Stevens and Michelle Willis, and Michael League, the leader of the popular jazz band Snarky Puppy.聽鈥淭hey are really good writers. I鈥檓 really picky about who I do it with,鈥� he says.聽

He鈥檚 drawn to political topics: drone bombings, money in politics, and the plight of Syrian refugees. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to get involved in the cause of the week,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 reserve it for the things where my sense of moral outrage is involved and I can鈥檛 shut up.鈥�

Mostly, though, he writes about love, including songs about Jan, his wife of 32 years. 鈥淚鈥檓 as in love with her as I was the day I fell in love with her,鈥� he says.

Mr. Crosby views time as his most precious currency. He intends to spend it well.

鈥淚 gotta use the voice and I gotta write the songs and I got to do this the best I can. It鈥檚 here to be done. I鈥檓 gonna do it.鈥�