Marrakesh is a city in Morocco famous for leather goods. The "Marrakesh Express" is the train Graham Nash took on a trip there from Casablanca in 1966. The lyrics are filled with the sights, sounds and vibes that he encountered.
Before he left The Hollies in 1968, Graham Nash offered this song to the band, but his bandmates rejected it as being not commercial enough. Their refusal to record this and other tunes he wrote was one of the main reasons Nash left the band and moved to Los Angeles to join up with Crosby and Stills. "After a couple months of that, a man is liable to go insane," Nash said of having his songs rejected, adding, "especially being the only one who was smoking grass at the time." Fortunately, his new bandmates liked the tune and it ended up on their debut album.
"Marrakesh Express" was Crosby, Stills & Nash's first single. The individual group members were accomplished and had name recognition (Crosby from The Byrds, Stills from Buffalo Springfield), but when they came together, their harmonies and presentation were unlike anything else in popular music. Their first album sold 4 million copies and made them a major touring attraction. For their next album (Déjà Vu in 1970), they added Neil Young and got even bigger. Over the next few years, they released various live albums and compilations that sold extremely well, but couldn't get their heads together for another studio album. When their third album finally appeared in 1977, it was without Young.
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