Marrakesh Express

Nash wrote it in his last years with the Hollies, who rejected it as not commercial enough. It came from a holiday in Morocco in 1966, when he took a train from Casablanca to Marrakesh. He began in first class, found the people there dull and wandered through the carriages, where he saw the ducks, pigs and chickens that turn up in the lyric. Nash said it was literally the song as it is, what happened to him.

On the record Jim Gordon's drumming carries the train rhythm. Stills added a riff on two overdubbed electric guitars, plus Hammond B3 organ, piano and bass, while Nash played acoustic guitar and the three sang the choruses in harmony. The single, backed with Helplessly Hoping, reached number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 23 August. It reached number 17 in both Britain and Canada, and it is still the only single by the trio or quartet to make the British top 40.

Live and covers

It was part of what Nash called a medley of the hit at Woodstock, between 3 and 4 a.m. on 18 August 1969, and the group played it more than 450 times in all. The Gypsy Queens recorded it in 2012 with Nash himself, produced by Larry Klein, and Stan Getz also recorded a version.