NEW YORK — Dallas Taylor, a rock ’n’ roll drummer who played behind David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash, among other big names, and who overcame addictions to become a counselor for other addicts, died Jan. 18 in Los Angeles. He was 66.
His wife, Patti McGovern Taylor, said the causes were complications of viral pneumonia and kidney disease.
Mr. Taylor was a teenager when he immersed himself in the rock subculture. In the pre-Woodstock 1960s he played with John Sebastian.
Then he caught on with a trio of folk-rock singers known for their songwriting and vocal harmonies. Their 1969 album, “Crosby, Stills & Nash,” was a colossal hit that soon became acknowledged as a rock classic, and after adding Neil Young to the mix, they went on tour, playing one of their first concerts at the Woodstock festival.
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Mr. Taylor also played on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s first album, “Déjà Vu” (1970); he and the bass player Greg Reeves are shown in a group portrait on the album cover.
By then, Mr. Taylor’s drinking and drug use had become disruptive, and he was fired.
Dallas Woodrow Taylor Jr. was born in Denver and grew up in San Antonio and Phoenix.