A NEW WAY TO CARRY ON; THIS FATHER-SON ACT HITS SPECIAL NOTE FOR CROSBY, RAYMOND.

Byline: Fred Shuster Daily News Music Writer

Some bands come together when the musicians hook up in high school. Others audition. For James Raymond, it took a long voyage of discovery to find his current band mate - his dad, folk-rocker David Crosby.

Today, father and son are playing together with Jeff Pevar in a trio called C.P.R. (Crosby, Pevar and Raymond).

Three years ago, when Raymond first met his birth father, he was 30 years old, married and expecting his first child. He had known he was adopted as an infant and, with his parents' blessing, sought out his birth records under state family adoption laws.

Disbelief was his first reaction, but he eventually made contact with his birth mother, who had married and emigrated to Australia years earlier. She confirmed that Raymond's biological father was indeed David Crosby, founding member of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash (and sometimes Young).

``He'd already been a musician for 20 years when we met,'' Crosby said. ``He's brilliant, much better than me. He sought me out and we've become great friends.''

C.P.R. appears Saturday night at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles in support of the band's recently issued self-titled debut album. Pevar, who has no known genetic link to Raymond or Crosby, has played with Rickie Lee Jones, Ray Charles and others.

``I was a little choked up about it when we met because I'd always worried about him and stuff, but he's a very kind young guy,'' said Crosby, 57, from his home near Santa Barbara. ``He understood I couldn't have been a parent at that time in my life, and he's now my close dear family and friend.''

At the time keyboardist Raymond was tracking his dad down, Crosby was hospitalized with a fatally failing liver, his life hanging on the availability of a donor organ. Hearing the news, Raymond's adopted father wrote to Crosby, revealing his son was interested in meeting his birth father.

They met in the hospital room.

``He's a wonderful songwriter,'' Crosby said. ``And a great guitarist, too. He listened to a lot of jazz and classical music, which I did, too. And he listened to the great keyboard composers as well as Elton John and groups like Toto and Steely Dan, which you can hear in his music.''

Raymond had been musical director for Nickelodeon's ``Roundhouse'' series, and has played with such diverse acts as Oleta Adams, Ronnie Laws, Chaka Khan, Tom Scott and others.

Crosby, for his part, still is working on other projects. Crosby, Stills & Nash, he says, are halfway done cutting an album, with a tour planned for next summer.

THE FACTS

Who: C.P.R. (Crosby, Pevar and Raymond).

Where: Wiltern Theatre, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles.

When: 8 p.m. Saturday.

Tickets: $27.50 and $32.50.

Information: [phone].

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: C.P.R. - David Crosby, left, Jeff Pevar and James Raymond - will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Wiltern Theatre.