Articles, interviews and reviews from Dave Zimmer: Rock's Backpages.

A music journalist and rock historian since the late '70s, Dave Zimmer is the author of Crosby, Stills & Nash: The Authorized Biography (St. Martin’s Press, 1984; Da Capo Press, 2000; Da Capo Press, 2008) and editor of 4 Way Street: The Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Reader (Da Capo Press, 2004), a book which features interviews with CSN&Y, individually and collectively, by such writers as Ben Fong-Torres, Cameron Crowe, Ellen Sander, Joel Selvin, Roy Carr, Ritchie Yorke, Lenny Kaye, Jaan Uhelszki, Peter Knobler, Penny Valentine, Vicki Wickham and Dave himself, among others.

His first published rock writings were for BAM: The California Magazine, in 1977, when he met BAM publisher Dennis Erokan and managing editor Blair Jackson at a Santa Cruz, California bar called the Crossroads, where a local band called the Ducks (featuring Neil Young that summer) was performing. Dave would go on to pen more articles, reviews and columns for BAM than any other writer, working as a full-time editor for the magazine in Oakland and Los Angeles from 1981 to 1990.

Dave also wrote articles for Creem, Hit Parader, Music + Sound Output, Good Times ( Santa Cruz , CA ), and the Peninsula Times-Tribune, among other US publications. After interviewing Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and David Crosby extensively in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, he became Crosby, Stills & Nash’s biographer in 1982. The third edition of his CSN book was published in 2008, redesigned and fully updated, featuring more than 300 photographs by Henry Diltz.

Beyond his music writing and editing, since 1990 Dave has worked as a communications director for MCA Records, Universal Studios, Seagram, Vivendi and, most recently, Penguin Group. A native Californian, Dave currently lives in West Orange , New Jersey with his wife and son.

10,000 Maniacs: At Least Six Are Not Insane
Profile and Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, February 1986

Band, The : Robbie Robertson: Between Trains
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, May 1983

Cindy Lee Berryhill: Beat Wise
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, March 1988

Buffalo Springfield : Stephen Stills Carries On
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, April 1979

Peter Case: Travellin' Man
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, December 1986

Rosanne Cash Comes Into Her Own
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, April 1981

Ry Cooder: Fascinatin' Rhythms
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, February 1988

Crazy Horse: In Full Gallop
Profile and Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, January 1979

David Crosby: Scared Straight
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, January 1987

Crosby and Nash : Danny Kortchmar: The Standup Rocker
Interview by Dave Zimmer, The Record, March 1983

Crosby and Nash : Graham Nash: The Winds Of Change
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, February 1980

Crosby Stills and Nash : Crosby, Stills & Nash: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Report and Interview by Dave Zimmer, Hit Parader, October 1982

Crosby Stills and Nash : Crosby, Stills & Nash: Together Again
Report and Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, July 1982

Crosby Stills and Nash : Graham Nash: The Winds Of Change
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, February 1980

Crosby Stills and Nash : Stephen Stills Carries On
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, April 1979

Crosby Stills Nash and Young : Graham Nash: The Winds Of Change
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, February 1980

Crosby Stills Nash and Young : Stephen Stills Carries On
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, April 1979

Dire Straits : Mark Knopfler: Going His Own Sweet Way
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, April 1990

Doobie Brothers : Tom Johnston: The Former Doobie Still Listens To The Music
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, October 1979

Desert Rose Band, The : The Desert Rose Band: Chris Hillman's Hot Burrito #3
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, December 1988

Bob Dylan : Robbie Robertson: Between Trains
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, May 1983

Eagles, The : Randy Meisner: Ex-Eagle Flies High Solo
Profile and Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, November 1980

Fleetwood Mac: Dirty Dancing
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, October 1987

Don Henley : Danny Kortchmar: The Standup Rocker
Interview by Dave Zimmer, The Record, March 1983

Chris Hillman : The Desert Rose Band: Chris Hillman's Hot Burrito #3
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, December 1988

Hollies, The : Graham Nash: The Winds Of Change
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, February 1980

John Lee Hooker: King of the Boogie
Interview by Dave Zimmer, Buzz, November 1985

Jefferson Starship : Grace Slick: Making Her Own Dreams
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, August 1980

Jefferson Starship: Return of The Band That Will Not Die
Report and Interview by Dave Zimmer, Creem, November 1981

Jefferson Starship: The Starship Strikes Back
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, December 1985

David Johansen: Buster Poindexter Does L.A.
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, January 1988

Tom Johnston: The Former Doobie Still Listens To The Music
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, October 1979

KCB Band, The : Kantner-Balin-Casady Band: Old Flight Mates Carry On
Profile and Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, December 1985

Mark Knopfler: Going His Own Sweet Way
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, April 1990

Mark Knopfler : Randy Newman And Mark Knopfler: Newman's Navigator to A Land of Dreams
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, October 1988

Danny Kortchmar: The Standup Rocker
Interview by Dave Zimmer, The Record, March 1983

k.d. lang: Prairie Fire
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, June 1989

Cyndi Lauper Bops Through The Night
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, January 1985

Nils Lofgren: The E Street Flip
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, November 1985

Randy Meisner: Ex-Eagle Flies High Solo
Profile and Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, November 1980

Missing Persons: Found In L.A.
Profile and Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, November 1982

Joni Mitchell: Wild Things Run Fast
Review by Dave Zimmer, BAM, December 1982

Graham Nash: The Winds Of Change
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, February 1980

Randy Newman And Mark Knopfler: Newman's Navigator to A Land of Dreams
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, October 1988

Randy Newman: A Nightmare on Main Street
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, October 1988

Notting Hillbillies, The : Mark Knopfler: Going His Own Sweet Way
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, April 1990

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers : Tom Petty: Once In A Full Moon
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, May 1989

Buster Poindexter : David Johansen: Buster Poindexter Does L.A.
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, January 1988

Pretenders, The : Spending Time With The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, August 1984

Stan Ridgway: Drawing Mosquitos With An Eye For Detail
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, October 1989

Robbie Robertson: Between Trains
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, May 1983

Grace Slick: Making Her Own Dreams
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, August 1980

Bruce Springsteen : Nils Lofgren: The E Street Flip
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, November 1985

Al Stewart: A British Eccentric Finds A House In Bel Air – And A Home
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, March 1989

Stephen Stills Carries On
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, April 1979

George Thorogood & The Destroyers : George Thorogood Cuts Through The USA
Interview by Dave Zimmer, Creem, February 1982

Traveling Wilburys : Tom Petty: Once In A Full Moon
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, May 1989

Steve Vai: Vaiing For Attention
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, January 1990

Van Halen: Tales From The Crypt
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, July 1988

Tom Waits Undercover
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, February 1982

Tom Waits: Hollywood Confidential
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, February 1982

Was (Not Was): Spies In The House Of Funk
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, December 1988

Whitesnake : Steve Vai: Vaiing For Attention
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, January 1990

Neil Young : Crazy Horse: In Full Gallop
Profile and Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, January 1979

Neil Young: Blue Notes for a Restless Loner
Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, April 1988

Back to LIBRARY