tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18393149861022879012024-03-05T05:54:51.594+00:00Journeys Through the PastA blog about the recorded output of Neil Young.Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11201695135976342725noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839314986102287901.post-32361636654266551052013-12-28T00:30:00.003+00:002013-12-28T00:36:39.419+00:00Harvest (1972)<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Cambria;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;}
@page WordSection1
{size:595.0pt 842.0pt;
margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt;
mso-header-margin:35.4pt;
mso-footer-margin:35.4pt;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
-->
</style>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZjas37VrYGHn77ZAxUgqP8N5nL4VPxNl2k8MY9Jid5z4aVFHt_rpw9dtWkI4FV4e4WJpstqQD360ZRQe7cr7rYAru56CUWFUOppFvTgoeDQC6-qgw4GRL2JCLo-ryrRpvHP8HLxcmUMtB/s1600/harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZjas37VrYGHn77ZAxUgqP8N5nL4VPxNl2k8MY9Jid5z4aVFHt_rpw9dtWkI4FV4e4WJpstqQD360ZRQe7cr7rYAru56CUWFUOppFvTgoeDQC6-qgw4GRL2JCLo-ryrRpvHP8HLxcmUMtB/s320/harvest.jpg" width="301" /></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For better and for
worse, one album looms large in Neil Young’s back catalogue. <i>Harvest</i> is not only Young’s best-known
album (and contains his only true hit single) but also one that Young has a
seeming love/hate relationship with. There is always an expectation from
audiences for Young to play songs from it but there is no guarantee he will
acquiesce. Recorded in short bursts of activity in Nashville, London and at
Broken Arrow Ranch, the stop/start approach to recording leading to a mixed bag
in terms of style and quality. Despite its flaws, it seems to be cemented into
the canon of rock’n’roll classics because, let’s face it, when it’s good, it’s
unbelievably good.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Doesn’t mean that
much to me<br />
To mean that much to you”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If ever a couple of
lines summed up an artist’s view of one of their works, this example from “Old
Man” is probably one of the most apt. <i>Harvest</i>
reached number one in the charts, has gone platinum multiple times and has even
had a book written about it but the chances are not always good that Young will
included its songs in a set list (and even if he does, it might not be the one
the audience wants). The fact that the album was such a success is something of
a miracle given the upheaval in Young’s life at the time. A lot happened in
between his previous album, <a href="http://journeysthroughthepast.blogspot.ie/2013/04/after-gold-rush-1970.html" target="_blank"><i>After theGold Rush</i></a>, and the release of <i>Harvest</i>
with Young gaining a new love in the form of Carrie Snodgress and yet another
new band (and probably a few new cars too). There was fallout too from Crazy
Horse as Danny Whitten got more and more dependent on heroin. This emotional
pain was accompanied by a physical pain as Young’s back was injured during a
bit of DIY at his new ranch. Each of these events would contribute in different
ways to <i>Harvest</i>’s varying moods and
sounds, some more significantly than others.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first thing that
strikes me as I listen to <i>Harvest</i>
(for about the billionth time) is how stripped and bare it sounds for the most
part. This was largely due to Young’s back pain which prevented him from using
his treasured (but heavy) electric guitars. The move to acoustic guitar was
hardly new or difficult for him but it did force his hand. While on tour, he
left the band behind and instead played his sets on piano and acoustic guitar
(as documented on the masterful <i>Live at
Massey Hall 1971</i> album), working new songs into the set each night. All the
while, his exposure via Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and the increasing
success of <i>After the Gold Rush</i> meant
that the public was waiting for the next big album. In Nashville, following an
appearance on <i>The Johnny Cash Show </i>(see
video embedded below), Young ended up at Elliot Mazer’s dinner table. Mazer was
a hard-working engineer and producer in the city who had previously worked with
Linda Ronstadt, Janis Joplin and Lightnin’ Hopkins and was interested in
Young’s music. Ever the spontaneous artist, Young wondered about getting a band
together and recording immediately. Mazer was up to the challenge, especially
given Nashville’s reputation for extremely quick turnarounds on recording
sessions.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/UpCwD7_sVz4/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/UpCwD7_sVz4&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/UpCwD7_sVz4&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The band utilised by
Young on <i>Harvest</i> would be dubbed The
Stray Gators and would be formed in a way that is typical to a working
community of musicians (i.e. who’s free to play and can they be here within the
hour?) but probably the antithesis of your usual band recruitment drive. All
the main players were session guys who were used to coming into a studio,
playing what was needed and going home which suited Young fine. Young had asked
Mazer to find the session group Area Code 615 (Nashville’s actual area code)
who, along with making a couple of LPs themselves, had previously recorded on
Bob Dylan’s <i>Blonde on Blonde</i> and <i>Nashville Skyline</i> albums. Across the
water, their “Stone Fox Chase” was used as the theme tune for the influential
BBC music programme <i>The Old Grey Whistle
Test</i> (on which Young would perform solo around this time). However, it
being a Saturday night in Nashville, most of Area Code 615 were busy gigging.
Only their drummer, Kenny Buttrey was free. Buttrey was old school Nashville
and had been a professional musician since he was only 11 years old. As well as
Dylan, he had worked with Chet Atkins, Elvis Presley, George Harrison, Gordon
Lightfoot, Ian & Sylvia, Joan Baez and Jerry Lee Lewis amongst many, many
others. Buttrey had once been a member of James Brown’s live band and was
responsible for The Stray Gators’ name (allegedly a term used to describe the behaviour
of Brown’s band following the imbibing of certain illegal compounds on tour).</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/hYph_LGY6YE/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/hYph_LGY6YE&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/hYph_LGY6YE&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the other members
of Area Code 615 were unavailable, Mazer started looking around for
replacements. Ben Keith was quickly found to play pedal steel in lieu of 615’s
Weldon Myrick. Keith had worked with country royalty, having recorded with
Patsy Cline (on her single “I Fall to Pieces”) and Faron Young in the 60s and
remained legendary in Nashville for his playing. At first, Troy Seals was
recruited via Keith for bass but only lasted one song (which was not included
on <i>Harvest</i> in the end). Mazer did not
need to look far for another bassist as Tim Drummond was walking down the
street outside the studio at the time. Drummond had previously worked with
James Brown, J.J. Cale, Ella Washington and Lonnie Mack. His mix of R’n’B and
blues makes him stick out amidst the country gentlemen but like the others,
Young would harness Drummond’s style for his own needs.</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/iuZTk1hdpMs?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps the easiest
musicians to find were the ones having dinner that night with Young at Mazer’s
place. Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor were also guests and were roped into
recording with the group on two of the tracks. By far and away their most
famous moment is on “Heart of Gold” which is easily ranked as Young’s most
popular song. It is indeed a perfectly crafted piece of pop music, the right
balance of melody and emotion. Recorded during a weekend, “Heart of Gold” and
“Old Man” were the rewards for the group’s enthusiasm and inspiration. For “Old
Man”, Taylor was handed a six-string banjo, an instrument largely alien to him,
and just allowed to get on with it. This act is reminiscent of Nils Lofgren’s piano
playing on <i>After the Gold Rush</i>. Both
Ronstadt and Taylor provide the soaring backing vocals on each of these tracks,
shadowing Young’s own voice with an eerie, supernatural vibe about them.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Speaking of
supernatural, it is on these two songs where The Stray Gators first stretch
their muscles. Buttrey and Drummond both play (under Young’s strict directions)
with a restraint that is unlike the usual approaches that they would be used
to: no fills and no frills. Having to keep their playing so minimal, it would
have been easy for the music to sound flat and boring. However, the rhythm
instead has a gentle grace that allows the guitars and vocals to soar. Young’s
bright strumming on “Heart of Gold” is simple but incredibly effective but it
is Keith’s pedal steel guitar that really makes the song sing.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Throughout the rest of
<i>Harvest</i> (and indeed on later Neil Young
projects), Keith’s pedal steel is what lingers in my mind’s ear after the
needle has been lifted (or the laser or the hard drive have been turned off).
His subtle touches on “Out on the Weekend” push what could be a dreary and empty
song into something else altogether, something magical and barely contained
within its plodding silences. On the album’s title track, Keith’s playing goes
from being a common or garden Nashville pedal steel accompaniment to sounding
like a mournful animal in the night. The sense of loss and loneliness present
in Young’s lyrics are consistently underpinned and reinforced by Keith to the
point where it is easy to understand why Young vowed never to play these songs
with another pedal steel player following Keith’s death in 2010.<i> </i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Harvest</i>’s strange eclecticism first rears its head during “A Man Needs a Maid”,
a song about falling in love with an actress that features a suitably
melodramatic and over the top backing. Beginning with a dead sounding piano and
voice, Young is suddenly joined by the might of the London Symphony Orchestra
to create what sounds like a lost show tune. Depending on my mood, the effect
is either fantastic or cloying, bringing to mind the over-orchestrated
recordings of his <a href="http://journeysthroughthepast.blogspot.ie/2013/01/neil-young-1968.html" target="_blank">debut album</a> (the arrangements for both those recordings and
these LSO sessions being the work of Jack Nitzsche). The LSO also appear on
“There’s a World”, a dirge-like song that perhaps should not be on an album so
acclaimed by the general public. That is not to say it is bad but considering
audiences seem to have a problem with some of Young’s more easy compositions,
this is surprisingly not brought up often as one of his tougher moments (maybe
contemporary listeners were less alienated by these two songs given that
artists like Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks both had success with similarly
ornate works not long before <i>Harvest</i>).
Both these pieces were played at the piano during Young’s 1971 tour, the former
as a medley with “Heart of Gold” during early performances. The stripped back
performances would have fit better than the orchestral versions that, for me at
least, are an oddity on <i>Harvest</i>. I can only assume that Young had similar feelings,
as such self-indulgent recording sessions were rare for him subsequently.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/qYMnACifw_g/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/qYMnACifw_g&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/qYMnACifw_g&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A few songs recorded
at the same time as these were left on the shelf despite the fact that, to me
anyway, they would have been a better for fit for <i>Harvest</i> than the LSO pieces. These have eventually surfaced on the <i>Archives Vol. 1</i> box set (along with a
few alternative mixes and performances), allowing us faithful listeners to put
together an alternative <i>Harvest</i>. “Bad
Fog of Loneliness” and “Journey Through the Past” (where this blog got its
name) were recorded with The Stray Gators in Nashville and definitely have a
better feel than “A Man Needs a Maid” or “There’s a World”. Versions of “Dance
Dance Dance” were recorded with The Stray Gators and again with Graham Nash in
London around the time of the LSO sessions but the song would only see an
official release without Young on Crazy Horse’s debut album. Unfortunately, The
Stray Gators version of “Dance Dance Dance” is
listed in the <i>Archives</i> book
but not included in the box set (as is a solo studio version of “The Bridge”).</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/Y6pxgB_n4H0/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/Y6pxgB_n4H0&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/Y6pxgB_n4H0&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/wOjKOvQKuj4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the later months of
the <i>Harvest</i> recording sessions, Young
would undergo surgery on his back and it would heal enough for him to strap
back on his electric guitars to let rip. With The Stray Gators, there was less
of his soloing and heavy riffs compared to earlier sessions with Crazy Horse or
even CSNY. Here the electric guitar is used for texture as much as volume. “Alabama”,
a spiritual sequel to “Southern Man”, features some of Young’s most powerful
lyrics from this time and feels much more grown up compared to the juvenile
treatment of the subject on “Southern Man”. This is helped hugely by Young’s
chunky and evocative playing. Here The Stray Gators show the muscle one would
expect of the large reptilian predator that gave them their name. There is also
a wonderful thrill in the co-opting of country music (albeit one mutated
through Young’s creative process) to address the ingrained racism associated
with the American south.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">However, it is the
final track on the album, “Words”, that strikes a particular chord as it
reflects Young’s increasing disaffection at home with Snodgress. The electric
guitar booms like thunder and The Stray Gators fill in the gaps in the storm in
their own way; Nitzsche’s piano is the rain, Keith’s pedal steel is the wind
and Buttrey and Drummond’s rhythm section punches through the dark like
lightning. Young’s lyrics allude to alienation in his own home as Snodgress’s family
and entourage began to populate Broken Arrow ranch, displacing Young and his
own people: “There were so many people around all the time… It had never been
like that before. I am a very quiet and private person. The peace was going
away... Words – too many of them, it seemed to me.” While the period around the
<i>Harvest</i> sessions were the high point
of their relationship, “Words” points to the inevitable split that would come.
Doubtlessly, Snodgress herself must have been finding it difficult to live at
Broken Arrow away from her previous life. She had given up her career as an
actress after winning an Academy Award and a couple of Golden Globes for her
role in <i>Diary of a Mad Housewife</i> to
stay at home and live with Young. It was her role in this particular film that
seems to have inspired Young to write “A Man Needs a Maid”.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To discuss <i>Harvest</i> without discussing Snodgress
would be a mistake. “I was in love when I first made <i>Harvest</i>. With Carrie. So that was it. I was an in-love and
on-top-of-the-world-type guy,” Young related to Jimmy McDonough in <i>Shakey</i>. It is interesting to read the
words “when I first made <i>Harvest</i>”; it
seems there is a distinction in Young’s mind and this is supported by the fact
that “Words” and its pessimism occurred at the very end of <i>Harvest</i>’s recording cycle: “This was how we did <i>Harvest</i>, in love in the beginning and
with some doubts at the end.” Indeed, Snodgress’s presence is dotted through
the album both as a muse and as a shadow. As well as “Words” and “A Man Needs a
Maid”, Snodgress’s family history has been implicated in inspiring the song
“Harvest”. The seemingly allegorical lyrics are, according to <i>Shakey</i>, in reference to the many suicide
attempts of Carrie’s mother, Carolyn Snodgress. While the real break up would
happen after the release of <i>Harvest</i>,
it is hard to deny that Young knew (whether consciously or not) what way the
wind was blowing.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The same can be said
for the other great upheaval in his life. One of the reasons that Crazy Horse
were not called on much since <a href="http://journeysthroughthepast.blogspot.ie/2013/01/everybody-knows-this-is-nowhere-1969.html" target="_blank"><i>EverybodyKnows This Is Nowhere</i></a> was Danny Whitten’s heroin addiction. Blanking out on
and off stage, he was undependable and, worst of all, wasting his talents and
his life. This had a demonstrable effect on Young and inspired one of <i>Harvest</i>’s most haunting and enduring
songs: “The Needle and the Damage Done”. The song was not recorded at any of
the album’s sessions but instead Young decided to include a live take from a
1971 performance in Royce Hall at UCLA. The slight bit of distortion that
occurs at one point (around 1:40 into the song for the nerds) and the abrupt
edit at the end are as jarring as any of the other sudden changes that occur
during <i>Harvest</i> but the cool,
calculated intensity of Young’s performance is what stands out most. The song
is mistakenly thought of as being written after Whitten’s death but it is only
in retrospect that the full tragedy of Whitten’s life can be put in the context
of “The Needle and the Damage Done”.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The real aftermath of
Whitten’s death and the mixed fruits of of Young’s relationship with Snodgress,
the birth of their child Zeke and the dissolution of their partnership, would
form the basis for the next period of Young’s career: the “ditch” trilogy.
Darker roads and heavier themes, the global success and acclaim of <i>Harvest</i> would soon become a memory.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Neil Young “I was in
love…” quote from <i>Shakey</i> by Jimmy
McDonough (2003). “There were so many people…” and “This was how we did <i>Harvest</i>…” quotes from <i>Waging Heavy Peace</i> by Neil Young (2012).
Information about The Stray Gators name from <i>Neil Young FAQ </i> by Glen Boyd
(2012). Big respect to Sam Inglis and his book <i>Harvest</i> (2003) from the <i>33
1/3</i> series.</span></span>Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11201695135976342725noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839314986102287901.post-65704191129830269222013-06-16T17:56:00.000+01:002013-06-16T18:03:08.852+01:00Neil Young and Crazy Horse live at the RDS, Dublin, Ireland<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">As an interruption to the usual posts about Neil Young's albums (though a post about <i>Harvest</i> has not been forgotten, it is on its way I promise), I bring you this <strike>short</strike> medium report on last night's concert with Crazy Horse at the RDS in Dublin (15th June 2013 for those of you reading this in the future). It was a strange mix of a terrific performance, changeable weather, poor sound and what seemed to be a largely indifferent audience. It was certainly in my top five Neil Young gigs (though it was only the fifth time I have seen him) but I cannot help but think how much better this would have been at another venue and with a more forgiving crowd.</span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Kicking off with "Love and Only Love", the band nailed their colours to the mast; quite literally in Ralph Molina's case as he had a pair of Jolly Roger flags flying from his drum riser. However, for all their energy, the volume of the music coming out of the stadium's speaker system left a lot to be desired. As usual for an Irish concert outdoors, the weather was not in our favour. Strong winds were cutting the sound from the stage as the speakers shifted in the breeze, the music getting louder and softer in time to the elements. Luckily, it seemed like most of the crowd were into it as they launched into "Powderfinger". I could hear a number of people singing (or yelling) along which was a good sign.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Young then left the older Crazy Horse tracks behind for some newer material. A stomping rendition of "Psychedelic Pill" led into the epic glory of "Walk Like a Giant". I am a big fan of the new album but hearing these songs live cemented my opinions of <i>Psychedelic Pill</i> being up there with the classics. The lyrics for "Walk Like a Giant" really resonated with me last night as I was on crutches thanks to a recent footballing injury, I too used to walk like a giant! Each riff and every solo, though diminished by the poor sound quality, felt like it was being delivered by musicians less than half the age of these performers. Best of all, the song's discordant outro was extended to the point where it became a piece in itself. The often overlooked <i>Arc</i> from 1991 is an obvious touchstone from Young's own back catalogue but definitely this was something like a hippie version of My Bloody Valentine's infamous <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvjPWF62lxE" target="_blank">holocaust section of their live shows</a> or even <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a0Z2yndlOs" target="_blank">Sunn O)))'s amped out drones</a>. Needless to say, anyone whose only exposure to rock and roll is through mainstream artists like Bruce Springsteen or Eric Clapton have probably already registered their disgust online for this kind of carry on but to me this underlines why Young and Crazy Horse are not part of the normal, commercial rock tradition (for sure they intersect with it but they are not subservient to it). This immersion in sound is what draws me to their music as much as the fine melodies and harmonies of albums like <i>Harvest</i> and <i>After the Gold Rush</i> and the vast majority of music I enjoy would have more in common with those final ten minutes of feedback than with the rest of their set.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">A new song, "Hole in the Sky" made its appearance next. I cannot say I was blown away by it but it was a nice contrast to the power of "Walk Like a Giant" though it did seem a bit weak both lyrically and musically compared to everything else played during this gig. I hope it ends up on an album so I can hear it again as at this point in the concert, the audience was getting restless, chatty and disengaged. Young strapped on his acoustic guitar and harmonica to give the masses what they wanted; "Comes a Time" and Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" were both played with that deft grace that seems at odds to the ferocious roar of Crazy Horse. "Comes a Time" brought the audience back with the strongest sing along of the night so far, even if it was only for the first few lines! Yet, I could not help feel that the couple of acoustic songs in the middle of the set took some of the momentum out of the performance. This sort of pacing worked far better during Young's last visits to Ireland with his Electric Band, the varied setlists of those tours lending themselves more to the acoustic numbers than the <i>Alchemy</i> tour.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">With Crazy Horse back on stage, the volume problems seems to have been addressed to some degree as they certainly seemed louder (though this may only have been in comparison to the solo songs). "Ramada Inn" burned with a slow steady flame that again showed just how great these newer Crazy Horse songs are. However, I got the feeling that the audience were again itching for a "hit" instead of enjoying the tremendous playing that was being gifted to us from the stage. A blazing version of "Cinnamon Girl" exploded through the night after the last bars of "Ramada Inn", pulling the bulk of the crowd back into the fray. This was followed by a (very) long and loost "Fuckin' Up" where each and every fuck up in the capital from the audience members who wouldn't curse along with the band to the residents of the five star hotel right next to the stadium were called out on their fucked upness. The guitars snarled and growled at each other and the group's humour shone through with Poncho's sexed up vocals (he's going to take you home and turn you around and you can guess the rest) over the raggedy blues improvisation. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Mr. Soul" was next, a wild beast compared to the original recording or even the Electric Band's soldierly rendition in 2008. The riff's resemblance to The Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" was more acute last night but much like "Blowin' in the Wind" from earlier in the evening, this was very much Young's own. There were only a few ways anyone could follow up such a thumping track and "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" is certainly one of them. Young seemed angrier and more empassioned than ever as the familiar but endlessly rewarding riff unfurled around the RDS. Mixing the lyrics around and emphasising the fact that rock and roll would never die, this was one of the best versions of it I had yet witnessed (though the thunderously loud version from Young's gig with the Electric Band in Dublin's O2 in 2009 probably takes the prize as being the best).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">This marked the end of the set and the rain was beginning to set in again. What would be the encore? Judging from <a href="http://www.sugarmtn.org/getshowsgrid.php?year=2013&flag=2" target="_blank">the setlists on Sugar Mountain</a>, we were probably due another 2-3 songs. Unfortunately we only got one more but out of all the songs, they definitely saved the best for last. As the opening notes of "Cortez the Killer" rang out, all the crappy issues surrounding the concert, from a broken foot to bad sound, melted away. From its inception to today, "Cortez" seems to be constantly shifting in its form and delivery and last night was no exception. It was less sprawling than on <i>Weld</i> but still looser than the one on <i>Live Rust</i>, it was like a electrically charged folk song passed down through the generations to Young and Crazy Horse. It was a piece of magic to leave us with before we shuffled out of the stadium and into the rainy streets beyond.</span></span>Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11201695135976342725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839314986102287901.post-2462570187243950022013-04-25T13:40:00.000+01:002013-07-04T11:24:10.266+01:00After the Gold Rush (1970)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8g6DqJ4OJB-KYcenYYIoszbMnDscY2MDonkjruhUSNzDVRGIsk64GZZ5xbGmSwBvpy-upxsC_5R-ejmpx0RgekeAwmDB9HSxg_0IVC_C_8wv4n4D1pxpbWxOwRUsOGXTa9X5AKF4bA9j/s1600/after_the_gold_rush.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8g6DqJ4OJB-KYcenYYIoszbMnDscY2MDonkjruhUSNzDVRGIsk64GZZ5xbGmSwBvpy-upxsC_5R-ejmpx0RgekeAwmDB9HSxg_0IVC_C_8wv4n4D1pxpbWxOwRUsOGXTa9X5AKF4bA9j/s320/after_the_gold_rush.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Cambria;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
mso-themecolor:hyperlink;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;}
@page WordSection1
{size:595.0pt 842.0pt;
margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt;
mso-header-margin:35.4pt;
mso-footer-margin:35.4pt;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
</style>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">After the scorching heat of <a href="http://journeysthroughthepast.blogspot.ie/2013/01/everybody-knows-this-is-nowhere-1969.html" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere</i></a>, it is perhaps surprising that Neil
Young did not stick with the winning formula of jamming with Crazy Horse on his
next album. However, with the benefit of hindsight, this was just another of
Young’s shifts in gear as he forever chases his creative fancies as they come
to him (Google “muse site:thrasherswheat.org” if you are in any doubt about
this!). Bearing in mind his recent stint in Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young had
borne fruit in the form of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Déja Vu</i>,
it becomes even less of a shock that Young would tone down his songs and become
more introspective and delicate. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What is surprising is that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">After the Gold Rush</i> was not recognised as the classic it was at the
time:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">“Neil Young devotees will probably
spend the next few weeks trying desperately to convince themselves that <i>After
The Gold Rush</i> is good music. But they'll be kidding themselves. For despite
the fact that the album contains some potentially first rate material, none of
the songs here rise above the uniformly dull surface.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Langdon Winner, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rolling Stone</i> 15<sup>th</sup> October
1970.</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It boggles the mind as to how anyone could listen through
the album and come away with the phrase “uniformly dull surface”. If anything, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">After the Gold Rush</i> presented a varied selection
of masterclasses in songwriting. From the ethereal surrealism of the title
track to the heartfelt message of “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” through to
the ferocity of “Southern Man”, it is hard to see the uniformity or dullness.
Throughout the album, it feels like Young is doing his best to show that he is
not only capable of creating distinctive and powerful songs but that he can do
it better than any of his contemporaries. It almost acts as a peacock’s tail,
showing his buddies that he is more comfortable and more capable than any of
them at any aspect of rock and roll. I doubt Young actually expressed these
sort of boastful desires at the time but listening back, it really does feel
like a lesson in writing a perfect album.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As perfect as the music is, it reflected a less than perfect
time for Young in his personal life. Danny Whitten’s drug use was making Crazy
Horse less reliable (hence his move away from the band as the sole vehicle for
his music) and, at home, his marriage to Susan Acevedo was coming undone (the
final straw being the unexpected success that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">After the Gold Rush</i> would bring). This would be the first and last
album he would record in the lead-lined basement of his home in Topanga Canyon,
an area that had become less groovy since the end of the summer of love. Drug
busts and the Manson Family killings had killed the good vibes and along with
Young’s need to pay for his largely amicable divorce, selling the property and
relocating was the logical step. Buying an area of land and christening it as Broken
Arrow Ranch, Young had created his own space where he could work when he needed
to for as long as he needed to.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">“<cite>After the Goldrush</cite><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
was the spirit of Topanga Canyon. It seemed like I realized that I'd gotten
somewhere… </span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Right
after that album, I left the house. It was a good coda.”</span></span></span></blockquote>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Listening to the lyrics, it is easy to imagine Young writing
them in response to the events happening to and around him. A song like “Birds”
begs to be shoehorned onto the end of his relationship with Acevedo:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">“When you see me<br />
Fly away without you<br />
Shadow on the things you know<br />
Feathers fall around you<br />
And show you the way to go<br />
It's over, it's over.”</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/qqsOFvQslms?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yet, as good a fit as it is, this was not the case. “Birds”
had been floating around for a couple of years, including the good times of
Young’s marriage. An early version of the song is included in the first volume
of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Archives</i> featuring Buffalo
Springfield’s Jim Messina on bass and George Grantham on drums. This version is
most likely from the sessions for <a href="http://journeysthroughthepast.blogspot.ie/2013/01/neil-young-1968.html" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">NeilYoung</i></a> and was shelved for whatever reasons. Another version, this time with
Crazy Horse from their 1969 sessions at Sunset Sound Studios was released as a
B-side to the “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” single (and also included in the
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Archives</i>). It is unfortunately a
brief version of the song but it packs a punch.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/trYI0sYdPCg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">On the subject of Crazy Horse, it was around this time that
Young decided to make a break from the group and fired all of them barring
Ralph Molina who he retained to play drums on what would become <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">After the Gold Rush</i>. Young and Crazy
Horse had played their last tour together in the summer of 1970 as Whitten’s
heroin addiction took its toll on the group. Plans for another album with Crazy
Horse based on the aforementioned Sunset Sound sessions went on the back burner
as Young went off to record <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Déja Vu</i>
with Crosby, Stills and Nash. The seeds of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">After
the Gold Rush</i> were also planted around this time as Dean Stockwell (who
would find fame in TV’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Quantum Leap</i>
and would work with Young on his film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Human Highway</i>) handed him a script for his unmade film about a cataclysmic
flood of California going by the title <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">After
the Gold Rush</i>. Young was impressed with the screenplay and wanted to score
the film (the album’s title track and its closer, “Cripple Creek Ferry”): </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">“I read the screenplay and kept
it around for a while. I was writing a lot of songs at the time, and some of
them seemed like they would fit right in with this story. The song “After the
Gold Rush” was written to go along with the story’s main character as he
carried the tree of life through Topanga Canyon to the ocean.”</span></span></blockquote>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The film would never be made (and from the snippets of
information available about it, it sounds like it could have rivaled Alejandro <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Jodorowsky’s classic <i>The Holy Mountain</i>
in terms of hippie weirdo symbolism) but, along with other new songs, the
putative soundtrack would be recorded with a new group of musicians instead of Crazy
Horse or even CSNY. </span>To go with Molina on drums, Young also took CSNY’s
bassist Greg Reeves who had proved himself more than capable of backing Young
on CSNY’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Déja Vu</i> and on their 1970 tour
where Young worked through then-unreleased songs like “Southern Man” and “Don’t
Let it Bring You Down” (examples of these early versions are documented on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">4 Way Street</i> live album). Jack Nitzsche
also returns to play a bit of piano though he would take a back seat when it
came to production as David Briggs again manned the console.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The final addition to the group was an unknown teenager by
the name of Nils Lofgren who, despite being a hugely talented guitarist, was
dragged out of his comfort zone to play the piano (an instrument that was
largely alien to him). Lofgren would later forge his own solo career and played
in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band as well as being an on again, off again
member of Young’s various bands. Lofgren’s adventures on the keyboard bore
fruit in the form of the distinctive piano pulse of “Southern Man” which
Lofgren put down to his earlier experience in playing the accordion. While
“Southern Man” would not be one of my favourite Neil Young tracks (the younger
me used to love it though), it is an impressive first attempt at being a pianist!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It was not entirely doom and gloom on the Crazy Horse front.
Two of the Sunset Studio tracks made the cut including their cover of “Oh
Lonesome Me”, a country song by Don Gibson which he had originally released in
1958 with Chet Atkins (Nashville legend and the man who helped define the
Gretsch guitar company’s sound). The song had been covered by many greats
before Young including Johnny Cash, The Everly Brothers and Ray Charles but
most covers kept to the blueprint set out by Gibson in his original recordings.
Young and the Horse slowed it down and pulled out every single bit of
melancholy that haunts the lyrics. It sounded so perfectly suited to Young that
it was years before I found out it was a cover; he completely claims it for
himself. From his plaintive vocals to the mournful harmonica and finally that
restrained power of Crazy Horse’s backing that transplants the song from a
tongue-in-cheek country classic to something that cuts right to the bone. The
song must have had an impact on Young as it became the title track of an
unreleased album that featured a lot of material in common with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">After the Gold Rush</i>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/8IU2h3lS6-I?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/sNilHAcL8ZM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/xN3Jt8C-F0A?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The other Sunset Studio recording to make the album was “I
Believe in You”, another down tempo and contemplative song. Again, here is a
song about falling out of love recorded months before his divorce but there is
hope lurking in the wings:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">“Coming to you at night I see my
questions</span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />I feel my doubts</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />Wishing that maybe in a year or
two</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We could laugh and let it all
out”</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It is easy to think of Young as being rather down in the
dumps during the recording sessions for this album but glimmer of light in the
lyrics to this song and another more upbeat song recorded at the same time but
not included on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">After the Gold Rush</i>
called “Everybody’s Alone” show a different perspective to Young’s moods at the
time. It is easy to see why “Everybody’s Alone” did not really fit with the
other songs finally chosen for the album:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/rL9lcBQh95I?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Towards the end of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">After
the Gold Rush</i> sessions, a newly clean Whitten returned to the fold and
Crazy Horse were allowed one last ride. “When You Dance You Can Really Love”
also featured Nitzsche on piano and became the group’s swansong as Whitten
would pass away before Young could ever record with them again. Unfortunately,
it was not a straight recording of Crazy Horse in full flight but instead
Whitten overdubbed his parts onto the recording that the others had previously
done. Still, it was a case of better late than never. Whitten appears on other
tracks on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">After the Gold Rush</i> but
“When You Dance…” is particularly poignant due to its relevance to the Crazy
Horse story.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Upon its release, the album sold remarkably well thanks to
the combined power of Young’s strong songwriting and his newfound role in CSNY;
in particular the steamroller momentum they had built up initially with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Déja Vu</i> and then with their protest
single, “Ohio”, which had been released a couple of months previously to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">After the Gold Rush</i> in response to the Kent
State shootings in May. While it would not chart quite as highly as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Déja Vu</i>, it would still be Young’s
biggest hit of his solo career at that point. Young had become a renowned
artist in his own right; Buffalo Springfield and CSNY would begin to be
sidelined by fans and critics to the point where Young would eventually eclipse
them all. Certainly by the time I got into Neil Young as a teenager in the late
90s, Buffalo Springfield and CSNY were some sort of distant unknown history
which would only become known to me with a bit of research. I still find it
hard to believe that Buffalo Springfield were as big as the press clippings from
the time suggests they were!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This success would open doors for Young, allowing him not
only to buy his own ranch but also gave him the kind of exposure that would see
him working with artists from outside the cosy Laurel Canyon scene. After
exploring the psychedelic sounds of California, Young would next set his sights
on a more country-inflected style on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harvest</i>.
As big as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">After the Gold Rush</i> had
been, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harvest</i> would blow it out of
the water…</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Neil Young<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“….spirit
of Topanga…” quote from an interview with Cameron Crowe in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rolling Stone</i>, 14<sup>th</sup> August 1975. Neil Young <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I read the screenplay…” quote from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Waging Heavy Peace </i>(2012). </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Postscript, 4th July 2013:</b><br />I am in the process of reading <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Periodic-Tales-Curious-Lives-Elements/dp/0141041455/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372933317&sr=8-1&keywords=periodic+tales" target="_blank"><i>Periodic Tales: The Curious Lives of the Elements</i></a> by Hugh Aldersey-Williams (2011) and came across this passage (pp. 23-4):</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">"The gold may now be gone, but evidence of the rush remains in the towns that sprang up when a major deposit was found. Years ago, I visited Cripple Creek, in the high valleys of Colorado, once the site of the world's biggest gold mine. The story of the town began when a rancher, Robert Womack, found ore there in 1890. The ore was a rare mineral that contained silver and gold in the form of salts rather than as native metals. One version has it that the discovery was made when the heat from a furnace hearth caused the ground to sweat with molten gold. The prospectors came, and a year later, on the Fourth of July, a carpenter, Winfield Stratton, laid claim to Independence lode, one fo the largest gold deposits ever found. In 1900, stratton sold his mine for $10 million, while Womack drank away what little money he made. Cripple Creek eventually yielded some $300 million in gold.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I walked the length of the broad main street, a gently curving dip like the track of a pendulum. At each end, vistas opened towards snow-covered mountains with the geology naked above the tree line. The buildings that lined the street - an ice cream parlour, a general store, a few craft shops, the boarded-up Phenix Block yet to rise again - sported a rich variety of Victorian ornamentation in brick and plaster and were overhung by elaborate wooden cornices. Many of them bore the date, the same in every case: 1896. A town that had grown from nothing in a year and where nothing had happened since. It was easy to picture the mad excitement of the rush that made these places overnight and then almost as quickly left them to rot. I noticed the offer of 'free gold ore samples' at Frego's Emporium. It seemed to confirm that the great days were over."</span></span></blockquote>
</div>
Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11201695135976342725noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839314986102287901.post-59039387183050859092013-01-15T18:23:00.001+00:002013-01-15T18:34:00.641+00:00Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggnKcyxYLEAJWR0yG6oKMXDtQeB99JOI7XeA58Vb6YXKT-gCiMxvRoVznb7YoGp0Vz8CpTtkquSLQYESy-RnVlK5R836il3BDAjc70QeaFbu8VB9uENSu6hrBl47F72ixT2faqYf9zadlA/s1600/everybodyknows.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggnKcyxYLEAJWR0yG6oKMXDtQeB99JOI7XeA58Vb6YXKT-gCiMxvRoVznb7YoGp0Vz8CpTtkquSLQYESy-RnVlK5R836il3BDAjc70QeaFbu8VB9uENSu6hrBl47F72ixT2faqYf9zadlA/s1600/everybodyknows.jpeg" width="314" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">“That whole album is so pure. I love that music. I love that
old feeling of just the music. Nothing else mattered to us then… There was no
success, nothing to live up to, just love and music and life and youth. That
was a happy time. That is Crazy Horse.” – Neil Young in 2012</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">While his first solo album was a bit of a muddle with Young
working with two producers and musicians such as Ry Cooder who were not wholly
sympathetic to the music being recorded, <i>Everybody
Knows This Is Nowhere</i> succeeds in all places where <a href="http://journeysthroughthepast.blogspot.ie/2013/01/neil-young-1968.html" target="_blank"><i>Neil Young</i></a> stumbled or failed. For the first time, Young’s music
erupts from the speakers with all the power that they required. The album was a
perfect alignment of inspired songwriting, simple but effective production care
of David Briggs and the introduction of one of the best bands ever committed to
tape: Crazy Horse.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ3ssEblFc4z_IfF1WBpkVGub7u8EEGCmOxJDfjhCIo09FwTiRxGBtxWKgdUferoH_T5uwZ6bBVIUOKuPrnhqwPamVM6lbP3dOE7FZbaEpCbH1KIo1ameB9Dy1bez0b51lqQbwGkKbq7Fr/s1600/D+&+T+M.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ3ssEblFc4z_IfF1WBpkVGub7u8EEGCmOxJDfjhCIo09FwTiRxGBtxWKgdUferoH_T5uwZ6bBVIUOKuPrnhqwPamVM6lbP3dOE7FZbaEpCbH1KIo1ameB9Dy1bez0b51lqQbwGkKbq7Fr/s1600/D+&+T+M.JPG" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">At this time, Crazy Horse consisted of Danny Whitten, Billy
Talbot and Ralph Molina on guitar, bass and drums respectively. Young had come
across their main band, The Rockets, in Los Angeles and fell in love with their
sound. The Rockets had evolved from Whitten’s group Danny and the Memories,
pictured above, who performed doo-wop a cappella. Danny and the Memories
released one single (and recorded one that was never released) in the
early-to-mid 60s before morphing into a group called The Psyrcle in 1965. The
Psyrcle recorded a single for Autumn Records produced by Sly Stone but
unfortunately, after it was pressed, the band decided to shelve it. A recording
of The Psyrcle performing a cover of “Land of 1000 Dances” for the Scopitone
film jukebox system (though Young attributes this to Danny and the Memories
which seems more likely given the style of music and dress) along with links to
videos of the Danny and the Memories’ single “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Girl of
Mine” and its B-side “Don’t Go” are available on <a href="http://www.dannyraywhitten.com/discography.html" target="_blank">this website devoted to Whitten</a>.</span></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">After witnessing a live performance by The Byrds (who of
course featured David Crosby at this point), they decided to change direction
and become more focussed on rock. They expanded their line-up to include the
Whitsell brothers (George and Leon) on guitars and Bobby Notkoff on violin,
then they took on the (far better) name of The Rockets. Although they were not
entirely happy with the recording, The Rockets still showed plenty of potential
on their self-titled debut. Their fusion of the West Coast melodic sensibility
and psychedelia with a nod to R&B along with buckets of attitude shines
through even today, especially on explosive tracks like “Pills Blues” and Whitten’s
“Let Me Go” (just listen to Notkoff’s amplified violin solo, a Californian twist
on John Cale’s austere viola with The Velvet Underground if ever I heard it):</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/LzV33LdCdMU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Still in Buffalo Springfield and seeing The Rockets tear it
up on stage, Young had a similar experience as those from The Psyrcle did when
they saw The Byrds. He realised that these guys were the sort of musicians he
wanted to work with. Young eventually befriended the group and ended up playing
with them on stage at The Whiskey A Go-Go and back at their house in Laurel
Canyon. He got on particularly well with Whitten, Talbot and Molina, so Young invited
them to jam on his own music at his home Topanga. Around the time Neil Young
was released, Young and Crazy Horse (as they were now christened) were already
sowing the seeds of <i>Everybody Knows This
Is Nowhere</i>: “…that’s when we first played “Down by the River” and “Cinnamon
Girl”. It felt really good,” said Talbot while reminiscing about the early days
of Crazy Horse in an interview with Barry Alfonso.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Those two songs had a magic about them from the beginning.
They hook into the ear and will not get out no matter what. This is not that
surprising considering Young wrote them while running a fever of 103 °F
(that’s 39.4 °C for us Europeans). “I had been sick with the flu, holed up
in bed in the house… I was delirious half the time and had an odd metallic
taste in my mouth. It was peculiar. At the height of this sickness, I felt
pretty high in a strange way. I had a guitar near the bed… I took it out and
started playing.” This flu-fuelled guitar playing resulted in “Cinnamon Girl”
before Young ended up jamming along to the radio. According to his memoirs, it
might have been “Sunny” by Bobby Hebb<span style="font-size: small;">:</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/IbUl_E-R91Q/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/IbUl_E-R91Q&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/v/IbUl_E-R91Q&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The stabbing rhythm of the guitar mixing with Young’s
sickness-induced high morphed into one of the great guitar songs. “Down by the
River” bears only the barest resemblance to “Sunny”; aside from being mildly R&B
orientated it has an entirely different feel to Hebb’s song. Feeling in the
zone, Young also wrote “Cowgirl in the Sand” on this day which must hold the
record for one of the most productive bouts of influenza in musical history!
All three songs use repetition and slight variations in a way that is
reminiscent of a fever dream. The guitars reiterate the same chords over and
over again, never fully breaking free of the riff. Luckily, unlike a fevered
condition, these songs are not distressing or unsettling. They are like old friends,
familiar and welcoming. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The repeating riffs provided a backbone for some of Young’s
most incendiary guitar playing at the time (though I would argue he has
surpassed himself on many occasions since). Part of this was due to him finding
a band that would give him the space to explore the fretboard and, by
extension, his musical whims and part of it was due to him coming across an old
electric guitar with tons of character. Old Black was a 1953 Gibson Les Paul
Custom that was originally gold but repainted by a previous owner. It roared
like a mythological beast in Young’s hands (“It sounded like hell. Neil loved
it,” remembered Jim Messina, who was the owner previous to Young). Combined
with a similarly boisterous Fender Deluxe amp, Young had previously used it on
a wonderful little song called “Houses” by Elyse Weinberg (recorded by Briggs and <span style="font-size: small;">included below</span>)
but it really came to life when the Horse got involved, Young and Whitten
bouncing off each other and driving each other onwards and upwards. To not get
lost in the endless guitar heaven of “Down by the River” or “Cowgirl in the
Sand” is to be dead.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/QQu6IpZ7PLc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The music is not all heavy rocking out, the electric guitars
are balanced by the ethereal “Running Dry (Requiem for the Rockets)” which also
featured another member of that old group: violinist Bobby Notkoff. His
mournful playing takes centre stage here as even Young’s vocals seem to be
lower in the mix. Subdued but atmospheric electric guitars complete the mood to
create a very different song to the rest of the album. The haunting music on
“Running Dry” sounds like a precursor to albums <i>On the Beach</i> or even the desolate soundtrack album <i>Dead Man</i>. It always amazes me that this
song never makes it onto lists of Young’s best songs as it easily holds its own
against the other bona fida classics on <i>Everybody
Knows This Is Nowhere</i> and considering Young keeps returning to old songs
rarely or never performed over the last few years (like “The Sultan” and
“Burned”), it would be great to see him resurrect this one on stage, especially
if he can convince Notkoff to come on the road with him (not likely based on quotes from Notkoff in the CD reissue of <i>The Rockets</i>).</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The album was recorded in January and February 1969, a month
after the release of Young’s solo album. Recording did not take long, it looks
longer on paper due to the fact that Young took his leave in the middle of the
sessions to do a solo tour in support of <i>Neil
Young</i>. This time, everything was recorded live with the band playing
together in the same room. The change in feeling on these recordings is
palpable, even over 40 years on (and if you ever had the mind-numbing
experience of recording track by track and then going back to jamming out
naturally, this makes total sense). There is a grittiness that runs through the
songs that makes them sound more honest and real than those on <i>Neil Young</i>; Reprise Records, recognising
that this was a rougher album than its predecessor, even created a promotional
item in the form of a bag of Topanga Canyon dirt! Regrettably, this is the only
full studio album featuring the original line up of Crazy Horse (though they
would contribute to individual songs on <i>After
the Gold Rush</i> and record a self-titled album of their own) and while the
charge running through the music was still there in Crazy Horse Mk. II, the loss
of Whitten to an overdose of Valium and alcohol in 1972 makes these sessions
particularly poignant.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Although not to the same extent as his debut album, Young
has some regrets about <i>Everybody Knows
This Is Nowehere</i>. According to <i>Waging
Heavy Peace</i>, there is another version of “Cinnamon Girl” to be released on
a future Crazy Horse compilation (<i>Early
Daze</i>) where Whitten (and not Young sings) the high part. Young feels that
he made the wrong decision by including the version that is on the album as it
stands (“Danny, so fucking great… He was so special, he was like a real force…
There’s nothing about him singing with me that’s like a backup singer”). Unfortunately,
there is no official live release with Whitten singing “Cinnamon Girl” to
compare but based on the <i>Live at the
Fillmore East</i> disc from <i>Archives
Volume One</i>, Whitten could hold his own against Young. This is of course not
news to anyone who has heard Crazy Horse’s self-titled album from 1971 where
any accusations of Crazy Horse being a loose or sloppy band fall short.Whitten’s early death is another of those “might have been”
situations: maybe he might have gotten clean, maybe he might have recorded
another great Crazy Horse album (and another and another), maybe Young would
have taken a different artistic path than the one he did (as Whitten’s death
echoed for years in Young’s music). We will never know. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We will also never know
what would have happened if The Rockets had been allowed to develop at their
own pace without Young cherry picking half the band. Although history suggests
that Crazy Horse were only ever intended as a temporary thing, the fact that
the subtitle of “Running Dry” is “Requiem for The Rockets” could not have bode
well for the future of the group back in 1969. However, The Rockets’ album was not selling well and was
poorly promoted by their label White Whale. It did not help that they blew one of their only
radio appearances by swearing themselves off air and out of the studio. In the endless road metaphors that follow Young's music around, The Rockets unfortunately hit a dead end and had no reverse gear. (I never said it would be a good metaphor.)<i> </i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere</i> has stood the test of time far better than its predecessor though it only marked the beginning of a
fruitful if difficult decade for Young and Crazy Horse. Despite being
essentially his dream band, he would leave them in the stable more often than
not. While a part of me thinks this was a pity, it is clear from Young’s back
catalogue that for his own sake, he needs to shake things up constantly. And
with <i>After the Gold Rush</i>, he would
change direction yet again but that story is saved for next time.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Cover image taken from the Discogs entry for the original 1969 US
pressing of <i>Everybody Knows This Is
Nowhere</i> (accessed 8<sup>th</sup> January 2013). Danny and the Memories
photo taken from <a href="http://www.dannyraywhitten.com/">www.dannyraywhitten.com</a>
(accessed 9<sup>th</sup> January 2013). Billy Talbot quote from the liner notes
to Crazy Horse’s <i>The Complete Reprise
Recordings 1971-’73</i> (2005). Neil Young quotes from <i>Waging Heavy Peace</i> by Neil Young (2012), “Archives Review Session,
Broken Arrow Ranch, February 24, 1997” video file found on Archives Volume One
(Blu-ray; 2009); see disc 4 Topanga 2 (1969-1970). Jim Messina quote from <i>Shakey</i> by Jimmy McDonough (2003). <i>Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere</i> is
available on Reprise Records on CD, HDCD and LP.</span></span>
Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11201695135976342725noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839314986102287901.post-46830860635189677432013-01-03T15:58:00.001+00:002013-01-15T18:39:09.421+00:00Neil Young (1968)<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-font-charset:78;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-font-charset:78;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Cambria;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;}
@page WordSection1
{size:595.0pt 842.0pt;
margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt;
mso-header-margin:35.4pt;
mso-footer-margin:35.4pt;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
</style>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxHOz20070qMJHvAbV9xHg2aMjuUxCID6IrPcAd4iRZn5inbkptHeAiCZSNK4RxQ_FvOt6DIM2KbmROSGaP4OPoYwWakDEw98Vf20zUTOmMlnKE2tA7IYf4o1OHeM0cORNZzN6m8B5CAY/s1600/1968.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxHOz20070qMJHvAbV9xHg2aMjuUxCID6IrPcAd4iRZn5inbkptHeAiCZSNK4RxQ_FvOt6DIM2KbmROSGaP4OPoYwWakDEw98Vf20zUTOmMlnKE2tA7IYf4o1OHeM0cORNZzN6m8B5CAY/s400/1968.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Plagued by technical problems and performance issues, it is
a wonder that this self-titled debut sounds as good as it does. However, in the
grand scheme of things, this marks the end of Neil Young’s early, more
derivative work before his more distinctive and unique sound erupts on
<i>Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere</i> which would be released some months later. <i>Neil
Young</i> follows the same style of writing and performance that Young had been
employing both as a solo artist in local clubs and coffee houses and with the
band Buffalo Springfield (more on them in later posts). There is a debt to the
production standards set by The Beatles but, underneath it all, there is
something awkward about many of these particular songs which suggests that
despite Young’s love of the Fab Four, this was not a method of working that he
was overly comfortable with. Considering The Beatles released the epic and
exhilarating “white” album at the same time as Young released this album, it
was obvious that they were still upping the ante when it came to studio albums
and everyone was still playing catch up.</span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">At the end of the summer of 1968, Young was setting off on
his solo career following the break up of Buffalo Springfield earlier in the
year. Their final album, <i>Last Time Around</i>, had come out in July in order to
finish off the group’s contract with Atco Records. However, since those recording
sessions Young had already been writing more and more of his own original songs,
now all he needed was a sympathetic record label and studio. The first was not
much of a problem considering the success of Buffalo Springfield and Reprise
Records took him on willingly, helped by Young’s manager Elliot Roberts who
also represented Young’s friend Joni Mitchell on the same record label and
favourable words from the respected producer Jack Nitzsche (Roberts had managed Buffalo Springfield but was fired by Young a few weeks prior to Young leaving the group, he wanted Roberts to be free to take him on as a solo artist). This is a far cry
from Young’s audition for Elektra Records in 1965 following the dissolution of
his first band, The Squires (also more on them in later posts) where Young was
turned down. Elektra’s decision was apparently aided by Young’s ramshackle
performance resulting from him turning up with an electric guitar and an amp
but no working cable to connect the two together. Incidentally, both songs
Young demoed for Elektra became fan favourites in later years. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">With a record label behind him, Young just needed someone to
record him. Using his advance money from Reprise, he moved into Topanga Canyon where
he would meet his first wife Susan Acevedo who worked in a local restaurant. They
would marry in December of that year and she would introduce him to the other
residents in the neighbourhood. This particular area seemed to be a magnet for
creative individuals with previous, contemporary and subsequent residents
including Woody Guthrie, Jim Morrison, Dennis Hopper and even Charles Manson.
Another Topanga resident, David Briggs, crossed paths with Young out on the
roads of California. Briggs had picked up Young as a hitchhiker the year before
in Malibu and the pair quickly (i.e. before the end of the trip!) not only became
friends but realised they could work together.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">One producer was not enough though and as Jack Nitzsche also
wanted to help Young get his songs down on tape. Nitzsche had previously worked
with Buffalo Springfield, helping them craft some of their most psychedelic songs.
On <i>Neil Young</i>, he produced and did a number of other tasks including arranging and
even writing the instrumental “String Quartet from Whiskey Boot Hill” (a great
piece but personally I feel it does not fit in at all with the rest of the
album). Nitzsche also brought Ry Cooder into the mix on guitar; someone who though competent as a guitarist but apparently had little regard for Young's music. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Briggs and Nitzsche represent two very different styles of
recording with Briggs being a no nonsense, all-in-the-performance type of guy (“Stay
simple. No one gives a shit about anything else.”) whereas Nitzsche trained
under Phil Spector and was used to dealing with big arrangements where more is
more. As a result, their respective influences seem to pull Young in two
different directions at the same time, creating a split within the album where
open, honest performances are buried under too much instrumentation. Neither
producer was wrong (both being essential to Young’s later development) but the
chemistry seemed to be off on the finished product. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The idea of a finished product leads to another issue with
<i>Neil Young</i> as two finished products exist. The first, released in 1968, was the
first mix of this album processed with an experimental technology that would
allow a stereo mix to be played on a mono hi-fi system. The Haeco-CSG encoding
system did allow for such backwards compatibility but at the expense of sound
quality (“I don’t know how they were stupid enough to go for it” quipped Young
in an interview on KSAN radio at the time). This was one of Young’s first
battles with the industry over sound quality (and unfortunately not the last),
remixing some of the songs and removing the Haeco-CSG processing for the
album’s second edition. The second edition would modify the cover too, the
original being a full portrait of Young by Roland Diehl (an artist friend of
Acevedo’s who also lived in Topanga Canyon). The cover image was cropped and
“NEIL YOUNG” in giant letters was placed across the top. This simple change
made an electric, psychedelic image of Young becoming one with the landscape
into something vaguely apocalyptic and threatening (it looks like a fire
burning behind him as he looms over Los Angeles). Regrettably the CD edition
retained the cropped version of the artwork though the original was restored on
the HDCD reissues in 2009. (Interesting side note: the artwork used for
<i>Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere</i> was originally going to be used for <i>Neil
Young</i>.)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS6uRqg6XxUApPfk5HV18h-gnZOR5_Ze_ezoSBtQG42Zqfj_vjq1fTnY0ZHr9qLXa56YR-75aXuZnHYqzmK2iaM1zoUAFTMreEsuxqq3oyN4KDpDIK4HPtoxTZmwGxJHoVM78DeV8TuR8v/s1600/1969.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS6uRqg6XxUApPfk5HV18h-gnZOR5_Ze_ezoSBtQG42Zqfj_vjq1fTnY0ZHr9qLXa56YR-75aXuZnHYqzmK2iaM1zoUAFTMreEsuxqq3oyN4KDpDIK4HPtoxTZmwGxJHoVM78DeV8TuR8v/s320/1969.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Getting to the most important aspect of the album, the music
sticks out as strange in Young’s back catalogue (and this being a man who has
dabbled in so many styles over the years). The opening track, an instrumental
by the name of “The Emperor of Wyoming” (a nod to Briggs who was Wyoming born
though the piece was known at one stage as “The Emperor of Israel” according to
Nitzsche’s notes for the string arrangements) is the closest we ever get to the
sound that would be recognisable as Young’s country style and it would have fit
well on an album like Comes A Time. Instead, there are large echoes of Buffalo
Springfield’s classic songs like “Expecting to Fly” and “Broken Arrow” in terms
of style, arrangement and theme mixed in with the gentler, folky side that
Young had been cultivating at the same time. “The Loner” could easily pass for
a Buffalo Springfield rocker akin to “Mr. Soul” but there is a greater depth to
the lyrics compared to “Mr. Soul” (not to denigrate “Mr. Soul”!). Young’s relationship
with Susan Acevedo was complicated and his recently diagnosed epilepsy both
contributed to a sense of isolation (is that “perfect stranger” the altered state
of a seizure?). On “Last Trip to Tulsa”, Young evokes a strange, unsettling
world where he is at once a cab driver, a woman and a dead soul in a surreal
situation that would have made Franz Kafka proud.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">“Last Trip to Tulsa” is also one of the few tracks on the
album where Young’s voice sounds like it belongs on the record. Young was still
uncomfortable with singing in the studio (compare his vocal takes on this album
with his confident performance on the live album <i>Sugar Mountain</i> which was recorded around
the same time) and he had to be helped get into the right headspace with
alcohol or drugs. On other songs he sounds strained or unwilling, on “If I
Could Have Her Tonight” he sounds completely uninterested in this semi-mythical
woman despite the sentiments of the lyrics. It does not sound like Young is in
control of his own songs here. The cluttered arrangements do not help with this
feeling, for example the hysterical backing vocals on “The Old Laughing Lady”
make Neil Young sound dated in a way that many of Young’s later albums would
never feel (though doesn’t the organ about 2 minutes 15 seconds into the song
sound like a precursor to the melody of “Down by the River”?); as he
commandeered later recording sessions, he would forge a music that was timeless
yet sounded like it was older than the hills.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Listening to the alternative mixes of some of these songs
(mostly courtesy of other Neil Young nerds online), the idea that a more
stripped down version of <i>Neil Young</i> would work better is reinforced. The cake
is over-egged and it is too bad that Young did not go for a more restrained
arrangement on these recordings. Take the aforementioned “Here We Are in the
Years” for example, in the original 1968 mix the climax of the song sounds
fantastic and understated before dissolving into a gorgeous outro that resolves
the song perfectly. In comparison, the mix from the second (and all subsequent
editions) adds more punch to the drums during the climax that detract from the
rest of the elements. Worse again, it simply fades out without any warning.
Didn’t someone say something about fading away at some point? Hear the original
mix in the YouTube video below:</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://3.gvt0.com/vi/__g4lgcBrL8/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/__g4lgcBrL8&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/__g4lgcBrL8&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Other intriguing alternatives surfaced in <i>Archives Volume
One</i>, namely alternative mixes of “What Did You Do to My Life?” and “I’ve Been
Waiting for You” (one of my personal favourites from this album) from the <i>Neil Young</i> sessions and a roughly recorded live take
of “I’ve Loved Her So Long” by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. In all cases,
these alternatives outstrip the album versions, highlighting how even the
overdubbed songs could sound better with a different mix or, better yet, no
overdubbing at all in the case of CSNY. The live solo recordings from the first
volume of the <i>Archives</i> (<i>Sugar Mountain</i> and <i>Live at the Riverboat</i>) also shows
that the songs from this album have the power to burn bright when allowed to be
sung loudly from the heart with no overdubs allowed. Young seemed to feel this
at the time: “If I don’t do it while I’m laying it down with the guys, I don’t
want to hear about it. […]Too much overdubbing, I did enough for a lifetime.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I feel like I am being too harsh on what is after all a good
album. When the production style works, it is immense. As Young sings “I don’t care if all of the
mountains turn to dust in the air” on “What Did You Do to My Life?”, it sounds
incredible as all of the song’s elements coalesce. Yet, when weighing the album
up with later works, I do feel it falls short because it is a transitionary
phase for Young. From here he will leave behind much of the musical baggage of
Buffalo Springfield and retain far more control over his songs than previously
possible. Furthermore, his songwriting will become less spaced out and more
earthy, even when it feels like the music is leaving this planet. <i>Neil Young</i>
was a necessary stepping stone in his development as a solo artist but unlike
many artists where the first album features the best ideas at their most raw,
for Young his debut was a clearing of the system before really firing up. The
songs were there, it was all just a process of finding the right method of
capturing them. By furthering his working relationship with both Briggs and
Nitzsche, he would find far better outlets for his creativity in the years to
follow.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Images from the Discogs entry for <i>Neil Young</i> (accessed 29<sup>th</sup>
December 2012). David Briggs quote from <i>Waging Heavy Peace</i> by Neil Young
(2012). Neil Young quotes from audio files found on <i>Archives Volume One</i> (Blu-ray;
2009); see disc 2 <i>Topanga 1</i> (1968-1969). <i>Neil Young</i> is available on Reprise
Records on CD, HDCD and LP.</span></span></div>
Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11201695135976342725noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839314986102287901.post-76061092686432112572012-12-27T15:14:00.000+00:002013-01-15T18:37:07.589+00:00Journeys Through the Past<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A blog about the recorded output of Neil Young. This is not about collecting rare pressings or noting what type of equipment was used when, it is simply one man's look at the back catalogue of a singular and intriguing artist. It will not consist entirely of empty praise or gushing fanaticism (though gushing praise and empty fanaticism might occur).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The idea is to post articles every week or two on each album (both core albums and satellite releases including live albums, collaborations, soundtracks, etc.), covering them all eventually. I hope to write something somewhere between a critical analysis, a fan's eye view and historical overview. Where appropriate, I will draw on sources such as interviews, Jimmy McDonough's biography <i>Shakey</i> and Young's own memoirs <i>Waging Heavy Peace</i> (amongst other works) in order to give as complete a picture of these albums as possible. However, I will not allow this blog to become a dry, academic list of facts and dates. This is a project started by a fan for other fans (and hopefully, in the long run, it will convince my wife that Neil Young is actually well worth listening to!).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">With any luck, someone will read these articles and get something from it. In any case, I'm driftin' back.</span></span>Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11201695135976342725noreply@blogger.com2