Hello to all of you live music lovers out there! Most of you know me from my monthly article on baseball called Rounding the Bases. Appreciate all of you who have read my musings and given me encouragement to continue learning this craft! My speed limit birthday of 55 celebrated this year is rapidly fading in the rear view. Father time is taking its toll on most of my musical heroes as well. Just in the past year, we have lost many greats. Some of my favorites that have passed are Robbie Robertson, Jeff Beck, David Crosby, and Dickey Betts. This summer, some of the greatest musicians ever and a big part of the soundtrack of my life are hitting the road for perhaps one final tour. This will not be a hero worshiping series. If a group or artist is not up to snuff, I will call them out. A grade for each show will be given on a 1 to 5 cane scale.
The first show to be reviewed almost didn’t happen. I decided about 4 hours prior to make the trip to Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Va to see Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Don’t let the name fool you, Neil is far from young. He is currently the 2nd oldest geezer of the summer so far at 78. Bassist Billy Talbot and drummer Ralph Molina are both 80. Joining them on second guitar is Micah Nelson, son of the greatest geezer of all, Willie Nelson. Willie just released a new album to celebrate his 91st birthday. Neil Young is a titan of popular music whose career spans all the way back to 1966 with Buffalo Springfield and most famously collaborating with Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Many acoustic, folky hits from this quartet and as a solo artist cemented him as one of the best singer songwriters ever. I prefer the other Neil Young that plays electric guitar based hard rock as good as anyone on the planet, even at this advanced age. Crazy Horse, one of his many musical identities, is the outlet for this incarnation and my personal favorite. The tone that he gets out of his 1953 Gibson Les Paul nicknamed “Old Black” is distinctive. You know who it is right away from the first note.
Crazy Horse took the stage on an unusually cool May evening and immediately launched into “Cortez the Killer” The feedback drenched, fuzzed out guitar riff echoed LOUDLY throughout the venue and settled into a dusty groove lasting almost 6 minutes before the vocal joined in. Listening to Cortez made me feel like I was driving through the desert in Utah at sunset completely at peace. Neil’s vocals have always been an acquired taste for some people, ragged and struggling to keep from going completely off the rails. A lot of the geezer bands singer’s voices change as they get older, unable to sing the song in the original key. Nothing wrong with that. Neil’s vocals were in fine form and took me by surprise. The band truly locked in on “I’m the Ocean” and especially “Powderfinger”. The latter showed Young’s influence on nearly the entire grunge movement of the 1990’s and modern hard rock. I wanted to bang my head like the days of old. That would have probably put me in a neck brace.
Standing, clapping, and yelling my appreciation would have to do. If that wasn’t enough, the band went right into one of my favorites “Cinnamon Girl” One of the best rock guitar riffs ever. The people in the audience that were expecting acoustic, introspective folk music from Young were reeling from a sonic onslaught on their ears. Right on cue Neil motioned for the band to exit stage left and strapped on his acoustic guitar and harmonica and played “Comes a Time”, “Heart of Gold”, and “Helpless” The show finished up with “Hey Hey, My My” and “Sedan Delivery” There was no encore, perhaps because of the hard 10:30 curfew. I was hoping for “Rockin’ in the Free World” one of the heaviest, biting, and ferocious songs ever recorded in my humble opinion. Check out his version from 1992 with Pearl Jam on You Tube if you are so inclined. Neil Young and Crazy Horse surprised me with how good they were at such an advanced age. If this is indeed the last ride of Crazy Horse, they are galloping into the sunset, wreaking havoc as they go. A solid rating of 4 canes.
