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Neil Young has written and performed with Crazy Horse countless times since this album’s release, but this was their first partnership. Young had left Buffalo Springfield and recorded his first solo album when he hooked up with bar band The Rockets, who named themselves Crazy Horse. Together these two entities would define what is called chemistry. "Cinnamon Girl" remains one of Young’s most popular and widely known songs over thirty years after this recording. It’s easy to take a lot of what we hear today for granted. Hard rock was in its infant stages at this time and with a few exceptions (Hendrix or Santana), there weren’t many signature styles on the scene. No one had yet mixed folk and rock in such a way as this. This album was one of the first ones to let the guitar announce its electricness. Young and Crazy Horse enlightened listeners to the fact that these were not just strings, they were wires. Neil Young wrote "Cinnamon Girl," Cowgirl in the Sand," and "Down by the River" while weak from a fever. "Cinnamon Girl" is probably the easiest to listen to on the album. It ends with one of the most simple, yet arresting riffs in rock and roll. I still get pissed when I hear this song on the radio and the DJ cuts it off before its striking finale. The title track is a simple ode for the home left behind. Hey, life’s bumpy sometimes, no matter where you are. Young was living in Southern California at the time and this simple, romantic song just about sums it all up. "Round & Round" is a hypnotic acoustic song with a beautiful trio of voices; unpretentious and uncomplicated. Its mellow melody has an old time country feel to it. "Down By The River" is another one made famous by this album. This is where the electric really comes in. The song has some of the best guitar playing for this time and beyond. The uncomplicated vocals blend perfectly with the guitar, it has the sound of a 60’s Gretsch with a Bigsby tailpiece, but what do I know. This song clocks in at over nine minutes and it is still not the longest on the album...ah, the good old days. "The Losing End" is pure country. Its twangs and vocals are another simple lost love ballad and Young sings it with abandon. "Running Dry" features Bobby Notkoff’s violin which accentuates the uncomplicated tune. This piece is often overlooked, but is a great tribute The Rockets, aka, Crazy Horse. The last song stretches ten and a half minutes, but is a perfect example of the Neil Young and Crazy Horse that were yet to come. Guitar gone wild, honest, naked vocals, and a unique instrumental sound. Oh yea, and a quick rust reference, too. I often wonder what labels would do if they were handed something like this today. Could they see the profound difference that it would make or would they try to shorten it and make it less honest. Then again, without Young and Crazy Horse, would they still have hopped on Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and the like? Who knows. Danny Whitten died in 1972 from a heroin overdose. Young would later write about it in another intensely open song, "The Needle and the Damage Done." Crazy Horse and Young have created substantial projects without each other since this album. But, none of them match the intimacy that their work together has. Long may they run... |
Regressive Music Review