Our House Graham Nash, arr. Ed Lojeski

Graham Nash was the only English member of the iconic supergroup known as Crosby, Stills and Nash. The group rose in 1968 like a phoenix from the ashes of other groups: Crosby had been asked to leave The Byrds a year earlier; Stills’ former band Buffalo Springfield had broken up; and Nash had left the Hollies. CS&N recorded and released their first album in 1969, and it did well. When Neil Young joined the band for a tour, which made their name “Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young,” the band recorded the 1970 Déjà Vu album, by far their most successful. “Our House” was one of three hit singles from that album.

In what was a superbly creative time for both of them, Nash was living with Joni Mitchell in L.A.’s Laurel Canyon between 1968 and 1970. Nash was in awe of Mitchell’s work, which hit a brilliant stride while they were together. This fertile period birthed not only two top albums for Nash’s group, but also the groundbreaking Ladies of the Canyon album for Mitchell.

In a Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross, Graham Nash recalls the specific evening when “Our House” came to be. He mentioned Art’s Deli, a famous spot on Ventura Boulevard.

“And we’d been to breakfast there. We’re going to get into Joan’s car, and we pass an antique store. And we’re looking in the window, and she saw a very beautiful vase that she wanted to buy … I persuaded her to buy this vase. It wasn’t very expensive, and we took it home. It was a very grey, kind of sleety, drizzly L.A. morning. And we got to the house in Laurel Canyon, and I said – got through the front door and I said, you know what? I’ll light a fire. Why don’t you put some flowers in that vase that you just bought? Well, she was in the garden getting flowers. That meant she was not at her piano, but I was … And an hour later “Our House” was born, out of an incredibly ordinary moment that many, many people have experienced.”

Nash’s being British—something I didn’t know until doing this research—explains the pronunciation of the word “vase” in the opening line, rhyming not with “case” but with “fa-la-la’s.” The version for choir that we’ll be singing this spring is by the late Ed Lojeski, a terrific arranger who was not only a first-rate performer and show producer in his own right but also served as pianist-conductor/vocal coach for Elvis Presley, Johnny Mathis, and the Lettermen.

Here’s the publisher’s recording of the version for choir that we’ll be performing this spring. Happy listening and singing!

Thanks to the Songfacts and Hal Leonard websites for wonderful details and of course to Wikipedia for being a superb go-to resource.