One time only: At Neil Young’s inaugural Bridge School Benefit in 1986, Bruce joined Crosby, Still, Nash and Young for a beautifully loose rendition of “Teach Your Children.”
Don Henley, Tom Petty, and Robin Williams(!) join in as well, and while Danny and Nils are only visible for a moment, you can hear them throughout.
The original, of course, can’t be topped. In his autobiography, Graham Nash recalled:
The origin of the song came from my recent infatuation with art. I had begun collecting photographs around that time, powerful images that had an emotional effect on me. One, in particular, was a Diane Arbus image of a boy in Central Park. It spoke volumes to me. The kid was only about nine or ten years old, but his expression bristled with intense anger. He had a plastic grenade clenched in a fist, but it seemed to me that if it were real the kid would have thrown it. The consequences it implied startled me. I thought, “If we don’t start teaching our kids a better way of dealing with each other, humanity will never succeed.”
Although first written it while Nash was a member of The Hollies, it was Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young who first recorded and charted with it in 1970. It only reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it’s remained a timeless classic thanks to its important message.
Update: 35 years later, Bruce reprised “Teach Your Children” with Steve Earle, Willie Nile, and Rosanne Cash at Earle’s benefit show in New Yor City.
Teach Your Children
First performed: October 13, 1986 (Mountain View, CA)
Last performed: December 13, 2021 (New York City, NY)
© April 14, 2018 / February 7, 2026
