David Crosby Makes Documentary

The role of popular music in political movements will be brought to the big screen by someone who was a part of that scene in the 1960s.

Singer-songwriter David Crosby is jumping into the movie business with Stand and Be Counted, a documentary tracing the involvement of musicians in important social and political changes from the post-Civil War era through the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

It also will look at major musical events such as the concert for Bangladesh and Live Aid.

"It occurred to me that no one had ever chronicled what music had done socially and politically," Crosby told Daily Variety. "I realized that most of the musicians who do this kind of work are friends of mine.

"I thought it would be very rewarding to ask them not just what they have done, but also why they were moved to put their time, energy and, sometimes, their lives on the line for these causes."

The film will feature interviews with Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Elton John, Sting, Carole King, Don Henley, Shawn Colvin, Bonnie Raitt, Melissa Etheridge, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young.

Documentary filmmaker Todd Robinson (The Legend of Billy the Kid) will direct.

"Right now, we're looking to finish the film by the end of the year to try to get it into the next Sundance Festival," said Sidney Sherman, who is producing the film.

Crosby, who gained fame with the Byrds and with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, conceived Stand and Be Counted as a book, during his convalescence after a 1994 liver transplant. Crosby is co-writing the book with author David Bender for the Harper San Francisco publishing imprint.