Remembering Danny Whitten: 1943 - 1972

Danny Ray Whitten: 1943 - 1972
(via Danny Whitten - His Life - His Music)

"You only get one musician in your life who you really connect with, and for me, that musician was Danny Whitten."
~~Neil Young (From Danny's Friends)

38 years ago this week -- on the 18th November, 1972 -- Danny Whitten tragically passed away.

Danny Whitten is best known as co-lead guitarist in Neil Young's band Crazy Horse. The unquestionably classic album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere album, Whitten's distinctive guitar interplay with Young is what makes epic tracks such as “Cinnamon Girl,” “Cowgirl in the Sand” and “Down By the River” remain staples in Young's setlists 40 years on.


Crazy Horse

Neil Young said:

"Danny Whitten was the focal point of Crazy Horse, but he was also the fault line that ran through it.

Like many a troubled genius, the greatness of his art was partly a product of his own tragic life. He left us with a slice of magic in this album but also with the thought that he could have given us so much more had he given himself a chance to."

It is without a doubt that Whitten was key to Neil Young's early career success. Producer Jack Nitzche said:

"In my humble opinion, Crazy Horse is to Neil Young what The Band was to Bob Dylan. As perfect a complement as tequila and salt."

Producer David Briggs said:

"Danny Whitten was the Brian Jones of Crazy Horse."

"Come on baby let's go downtown" - Fillmore East in March 1970

"I am not a preacher, but drugs killed a lot of great men."
~~ Neil Young, from the liner notes of Decade, 1977



From interview with Neil Young reflecting on Danny in Rolling Stone ( August 14, 1975) by Cameron Crowe:

Neil Young: Somehow I feel like I've surfaced out of some kind of murk. And the proof will be in my next album. Tonight's The Night, I would say, is the final chapter of a period I went through.

Rolling Stone: Why the murky period?

Neil Young: Oh, I don't know.

Danny's death probably tripped it off. Danny Whitten [leader of Crazy Horse and Young's rhythm guitarist/second vocalist]. It happened right before the Time Fades Away tour. He was supposed to be in the group. We [Ben Keith, steel guitar; JackN itzche, piano; Time Drummond, bass; Denny Buttrey, drums; and Young] were rehearsing with him and he just couldn't cut it. He couldn't remember anything. He was too out of it. Too far gone.

I had to tell him to go back to L.A. "It's not happening, man. You're not together enough." He just said, "I've got nowhere else to go, man. How am I gonna tell my friends?" And he split.

That night the coroner called me from L.A. and told me he'd ODed.

That blew my mind. Fucking blew my mind. I loved Danny. I felt responsible. And from there, I had to go right out on this huge tour of huge arenas.

I was very nervous and ...insecure.

Tonight's The Night is like an OD letter. The whole thing is about life, dope and death. When we [Nils Lofgren, guitars and piano, Talbot, Molina and Young] played that music we were all thinking of Danny Whitten and Bruce Berry, two close members of our unit lost to junk overdoses. The Tonight's The Night sessions were the first time what was left of Crazy Horse had gotten together since Danny died. It was up to us to get the strength together among us to fill the hole he left.

Crazy Horse bassist Billy Talbot recalls Danny Whitten in an interview in THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR (October 24, 1996) BY NICK KREWEN:

"We knew it was coming, but it was a shock," says Talbot of Whitten, who left Crazy Horse in 1971 due to his problems. "But that album wasn't solely about Danny. It included some of the other good friends we lost -- Bruse Berry, who was one of our roadies. Jimi Hendrix. Janis Joplin.

"Danny was the topper. That was the one that hit too close to home."

Talbot says he remembers flying to Ontario and playing three gigs on the university circuit before the band embarked on a week-long European tour.

"It was like an Irish wake," he recalls. "There was a lot of celebrating, a lot of drinking, and being rowdy instead of playing out the darkness."

Whiten's replacement in Crazy Horse, Frank 'Poncho' Sampedro, recalls Danny Whitten in an interview in interview with Undercover (November 2003) by Paul Cashmere:

"I never felt I could replace Danny and to this day I can't play like Danny.

Every once in a while Neil will say 'you should listen to the record' or Billy will say 'just listen to what Danny did'. I try not to.

Danny had what he did and I think it is very special. He was a great singer and a great songwriter and he played guitar a certain way. That's just not what I do. I play the way I play.

I remember when I first met Neil. 'On The Beach' had just come out. It had 'Turnstile Blues', 'Vampire Blues' and I remember telling Neil (and I don't know how I had the balls to say it) but I said 'you know, you've got a lot of blues on your record. You should be rockin' and having fun and seeing chick's asses swaying in the audience' (laughs).

So that is the kind of approach I brought."

Neil Young and Danny Whitten
Fillmore East in March 1970
Photo by Joe Sia/Bill Graham Archives

From RollingStone.com review of Crazy Horse album by PARKE PUTERBAUGH (RS 890 - February 28, 2002):

"Danny Whitten was a man out of time; his artful, uncluttered songs seem steeped more in the verities of early rock & roll than in the convolutions of the late Sixties. Listen to the unabashed balladic sentimentality of 'I Don't Want to Talk About It' and the grinding R&R basics of 'Dirty, Dirty' and 'Downtown.' The last of these, if you pay close attention, is a shocker -- an upbeat ode to cruising for drugs that sounds like a West Coast complement to the Velvet Underground's 'I'm Waiting for the Man.'

The Eagles get all the credit for exposing the dark side of the California dream, but you can peek at the lobby of the Hotel California on Crazy Horse, too.

The opening track, Nitzsche's chugging, bluesy 'Gone Dead Train,' reveals itself as an elaborate metaphor for impotence; the troubled Whitten lays his cards on the tempestuous, self-revelatory 'Look at All the Things'; and Lofgren's stormy 'Beggars Day' can been interpreted as his fatalistic view of Whitten's drug problems ('All your mercy can't save me'). Danny Whitten died at twenty-nine of a heroin overdose on November 18th, 1972. It's all documented on Tonight's the Night, Neil Young's elegy for Whitten and fellow drug casualty, roadie Bruce Berry, but it was foreshadowed on Crazy Horse."

Tonight's The Night liner notes

One of the most revealing parts of the Tonight's The Night album is the liner notes themselves which are in Dutch. A translation of the Dutch to English notes reveals some insights into Neil Young's despair during the period after Whitten's death. It certainly reveals the importance of tequila and understanding the meaning of Tonight's The Night. From the liner notes:

"The death of Neil's discovery and friend, Danny Whitten seems to have affected him deeply. Since 'The Needle & the Damage Done' most of Neil's songs about Danny's death reflect his guilt complex. Neil seemed to fall back into an even deeper depression. Then he began drinking, became sentimental and generally intolerable for anyone who had anything to do with him. It's said that those around him treated him with great caution for fear of provoking him, causing him to retreat and become a recluse. During this evening at the Rainbow, Neil makes particular reference to Miami Beach where he was safe from external influences and where a highly emotional and introverted process went its course."

Another fascinating aspect to the original vinyl album was the writing in the run out groove. On Side A the phrase "Hello Waterface" was written. And on Side B the phrase "Goodbye Waterface". There's been a great deal of speculation and rumor about what these cryptic phrases might mean. One theory is that it refers to either Danny Whitten or Bruce Berry. If this is the case, "Waterface" most likely refers to Whitten. Whitten has been described as an emotional person who was prone to bursts of sobbing. Hence, Danny's crying might be the "Waterface".

The TTN liner notes refer to "BB", which is clearly Bruce Berry. The note includes the line "Tell Waterface to put it in his lung and not in his vein." This line is an anti-heroin reference and speaks to Neil's loss of Crazy Horse bandmate Danny Whitten and long time roadie Bruce Berry's heroin overdose deaths.


Danny & The Memories

From Neil Young's Tonight's the Night Liner Notes:

DANNY WHITTEN

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'Ladies and Gentlemen. There is one member of the band for whom I feel a special affection. One day he came and knocked at my cellar door in Washington DC where the president of the U.S. lives... Impeach the president, and... eh... What a situation. WHAT A SITUATION, ladies and gentlemen... where's my cigar? I won't be seeing you again for a few years so I can do what I like! Ha ha ha'.

The audience laughs.

'I'm going to try and play something now. I've got a song about a 'straight dog' who took no drugs, no hard drugs, nothing at all. Believe me...according to some rumours I'm dead already, but I'm standing here...believe in nature. I'm not Catholic but I believe in a sort of confession....here tonight, ladies and gentlemen. I want to sing a song for Danny...Whitten who can't be with us tonight. I can feel the Jose Cuervo but I think that what I want to say is getting across. I'm talking slowly about a good friend of mine and I don't want to discredit his name. This is a song for him. Perhaps I'll sing fifty songs for him this evening. You never know...'

The death of Neil's discovery and friend, Danny Whitten seems to have affected him deeply. Since 'The Needle & the Damage Done' most of Neil's songs about Danny's death reflect his guilt complex. Neil seemed to fall back into an even deeper depression. Then he began drinking, became sentimental and generally intolerable for anyone who had anything to do with him. It's said that those around him treated him with great caution for fear of provoking him, causing him to retreat and become a recluse. During this evening at the Rainbow, Neil makes particular reference to Miami Beach where he was safe from external influences and where a highly emotional and introverted process went its course.

'Don't Be Denied', the song for Danny develops into a terrible, deep-reaching event. The playing is awful but the emotion is great Neil is incapable of putting any structure into his guitar-playing instead, he comes across as a man possessed, hair flying, pounding his guitar, jumping and screaming: 'Oh friend of mine, don't be denied, don't be denied, don't be denied.' Confused, he comes up to the microphone and begins to talk gently: 'You buy a newspaper on the street in the morning, and you open it at page two straightaway because you can't read page one....photos of all the people....now I'm in the desert....The Americans are there. Let's think about the desert this evening. In the desert there's a lion, some people are standing on one side on the lion and some on the other. Everybody knows what I'm talking about, so everybody can draw their own conclusions. We're going to play a song, ladies and gentlemen, to try to cheer ourselves up. It wasn't very good in the desert was it? I didn't like it much there anyway'.

This interview with Nils Lofgren was originally published in the Neil Young magazine `Broken Arrow', issue 62, January 1996:

Q: `Tonight's The Night' was recorded shortly after the deaths of Danny Whitten and Bruce Berry. Was that a traumatic time?

LOFGREN: There were a lot of tough emotional feelings... Danny was the one who asked me to join Crazy Horse to make their first album which I think is just a great record. Jack Nitzsche and I both joined to make the first Crazy Horse record and Danny came back east - he was gonna try to join my band Grin.

But by that point he was so sick that he just couldn't hold up.

So, the `Tonight's The Night' record - at the same time there was a dark cloud over all of this we made a point of enjoying ourselves too. We had a good time. We'd do it like a show - we'd get up and really go after something and perform it and then stop, go take a break, go shoot some pool, come back, do it again, on and off until the early morning and then we'd, you know, head off and meet up again later. So, at the same time it was really sad to lose Danny and Bruce...

I also remember feeling very grateful that I had these friends, that I was alive and that I was being included in such a special project. And there was a real sense of family in that sense despite the obvious sadness due to the loss of Danny and Bruce.

"Danny just wasn't happy. It just all came down on him. He was engulfed by this drug. That was too bad. Because Danny had a lot to give, boy. He was really good." - Neil Young, to his biographer, Jimmy McDonough in Shakey.


Crazy Horse Danny Whitten "I Don't Want to Talk About It"

Thanks to the tribute website Danny Whitten - His Life - His Music.

C'mon baby, let's go downtown. "What we lose in the fire, we gain in the flood"

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Video for Willie Nelson for Nobel Peace Prize

Here's the semi un-official YouTube video for the campaign for a Nobel Peace Prize for Willie Nelson. The campaign is based on Willie's work on sustainable agriculture, alternative fuels, and world peace initiatives.

The video was made by Matthew Moore and features previous Nobel winners and poses the question "Not To Know".


Willie Nelson

Aleady, over 5,000 have joined the campaign on the Facebook page Willie Nelson for Nobel Peace Prize in just a few weeks.

Willie Nelson has been helping family farmers for over 25 years with the annual Farm Aid concerts and is the founder of the Willie Nelson Peace Research Institute.

Some folks have asked how serious this campaign of Willie4Nobel is? Well, we've got over 5,000+ on board so far. So there are at least a few thousand out there who are behind this seriously. And, btw, this wasn't OUR idea. It's John Mellencamp's.


John Mellencamp is campaigning to get Willie Nelson a Nobel Peace Prize. The interview took place on SIRIUS XM Willie's Place at Farm Aid 25 in Milwaukee, Wisc.

Thanks John for the inspiration!



Thanks everybody for liking Willie Nelson for Nobel Peace Prize page on Facebook!

So if you haven't already, "LIKE" Willie today!

"The resilience and perseverance of America's farm families are helping to build a new system of agriculture.”
~~ Willie Nelson

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UPDATE:

Willie Nelson Fans Launch Nobel Peace Prize Campaign » News » Willie Nelson

- Willie's Place - XM/Sirius Radio | Facebook

- Willie Nelson | Facebook

- I Was Just Thinking...: Willie Nelson...The Nobel Peace Prize...The Red-Headed Stranger...

- Willie Nelson Fans Launch Nobel Peace Prize Campaign - The Boot

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"This Wheel's on Fire": Neil Young w/ The Sadies on All-Canadian Tribute Album to The Band

Canadian Celebration of the Band
(Click to Zoom Cover)


Unfortunately, this is not a cruel joke.

This week comes the release of an all-Canadian tribute album which honors the Band. The album features Neil Young with The Sadies on "This Wheel's on Fire". Now does anyone see any seriously tragic irony here with this cover title in light of last week's events?!

Produced by former keyboardist for The Band Garth Hudson, the album features 18-tracks by a wide variety of Canadian artists from Neil Young, Blue Rodeo and the Sadies to Mary Margaret O'Hara, Bruce Cockburn and Chantal Kreviazuk, covering some of the Band's well known and lesser known tracks. Garth performs on each track, as well.

From an interview with Garth Hudson in Spinner by Jason MacNeil:

"We knew a few people in Canada, and kept contact with the folks up here, made a few calls and began to look at the internet [for] clips from various artists," Hudson says. "There were suggestions for us to definitely include this one or that one, and we did, so we had many names.

"There were more songs that we had put aside that I liked because of the musicality, because of the words, the sensibility or the humor," he says. "There are a couple [of songs] on this piece of work that mean a lot, so it was a unified spirit. It was as if we were all together at once in the same hall; a lot of the folks were in some way connected and knew each other... spiritually intertwined."

The record features many highlights, from the alluring performance O'Hara gives on 'Out of the Blue' to the spoken-word, barroom feel Cowboy Junkies give 'Clothes Line Saga.' Neil Young also teams up with the Sadies for 'This Wheel's on Fire,' one of three songs the Sadies appears on.

"It all came together very easily," Hudson says of the Young/Sadies collaboration. "I was privileged to watch Neil with Mr. Bob Young backstage in Toronto and London; the concerts in London and Toronto were amazing. And Neil's equipment is not the type you expect, it's not the usual. His amplifiers are very special, a combination of old and new technology. It's an amazing sound, a sound you can't get with digital electronics and digital gear."

For complete track listing, sample tracks, and more, see Amazon.com: Canadian Celebration of the Band.

(fyi - orders will Help Support Thrasher's Wheat. Thanks!)

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Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young (sort of): "Whip My Hair" on YouTube

You just don't see this everyday ... Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young perform their hit "Whip My Hair" on Jimmy Fallon Late Night via YouTube.

And -- for those of you who are pop-culturally clueless (like us) -- this is a cover of a 9 year old "pop" star named Willow Smith.

As amrit on Stereogum sums it up: "Bruce Springsteen & Jimmy Fallon As Neil Young Cover “Whip My Hair” In A Manner Suitable For Old Men With Bad Alignment".

You’d be surprised. In 2010, the #1 hazard about being a man of a certain age spending too much time working from bed consuming the internet is NOT poor vision, or bedsores, or even the anxiety that comes with acute social isolation. Rather it is the having of a very jacked up neck that can barely withstand a facewash without aching and most certainly does NOT allow you to whip your hair when people at parties put on “Whip Your Hair,” as people should be doing all the times at all the parties.

It’s a total modern day travesty, I’m sure.

But having this self-imposed ailment of spinal alignment this year is good for at least one thing, and that is to provide a much enhanced appreciation of Willow Smith’s 9 year old swag, and deep envy for how freely those that were born during George W. Bush’s presidency can crank around their craniums with such reckless abandon during Obama’s. Oh to be young. And gifted. And have movie star parents. And be on Jay-Z’s label. And be a lightning rod for debates on proper parenting vis a vis celebrity, talent, and exploitation. And 9.

While Willow’s version is irreplaceable, the rendition on Late Night last night was one that even this neck can enjoy: Jimmy Fallon indulging his recurring meme-recreation as Neil Young, joined this time by a man named Bruce Springsteen. The Boss and the spirit of Neil Young (who just turned 65 last week, btw), two guys who know from not being 9 years old, turning Willow’s internet banger into a neck-friendly Americana classic.

I gently sway my head side-to-side.

Jimmy Fallon seems to be making a career out of his Neil Young impressions. Last year, it all started with Jimmy Fallon impersonating Neil Young covering "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" which went totally viral. Then followed by "Pants On The Ground"

Which led to a viral video of a viral video of Neil Young's Emotional 'Double Rainbow' Ballad (VIDEO).

But enough about Jimmy Fallon. Here's more on Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young: The Difference in Greatness.



UPDATE: Parody video has gone massively viral.

From Fallon on His Neil Young Parody With Springsteen | Rolling Stone Music:

"'We were just gonna do that as Neil, but in the meantime, we'd been talking to [Springsteen manager] Jon Landau. I know he'd loved the [Glee/'Born to Run'] Emmy opening. They called us up and said, 'Bruce wants to come on and do a couple songs off the box set and the new record.' I was like, 'Oh my God — would he be up for a bit?' We didn't hear back for a couple days, but they said, 'Yeah, he'd be open to it — he's not really into that stuff, but if you wanna pitch him something.'

'So we did a scratch track in my office, sent it to Bruce — and he loved it. He was like, 'I'm in!' And then Jon Landau — this is the craziest call — says, 'I have an idea: If Jimmy's being Neil from the '70s, maybe Bruce should be Bruce from the '70s? We'll get a beard ...' And I was like, 'What?' So he says, 'Here's his number, give him a call and talk about it.' '

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Eddie & Uncle Neil in Rolling Stone by Jay Blakesberg

Eddie Vedder and Neil Young
Pearl Jam and Neil Young @ 2010 Bridge School Benefit Concerts
Rolling Stone Magazine via
Jay Blakesberg's Photos | Facebook | Wall Photos

Great photo by Jay Blakesberg of Eddie Vedder and Neil Young at 2010 Bridge School Benefit Concerts in latest Rolling Stone Magazine.

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Stunning Animation Treatment of "The needle and the damage done"

Laura Marling - the needle and the damage done from sasufi on Vimeo.

Simply stunning. This is must see TV.

A stop animation for Laura Marling's cover of Neil Young song "The needle and the damage done".

You may never think of the song the same again....

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LincVolt Lives!!! UPDATED

LincVolt after the Fire
Photo by Eric Johnson

Some good news... it looks like LincVolt may live to see another drive down that open road.

Following last week's fire at Neil Young's warehouse, comes news that LincVolt is being restored.

UPDATE:
From Lincvolt - Repowering the American Dream - Blog:

November 16, 2010 -- (Burbank, CA) - Reprise recording artist Neil Young releases this statement to the media today: We are thankful that no one was hurt in the fire at our warehouse last week. My wife Pegi and I would like to thank the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Dept for doing such an exemplary job. A lot of archival items were threatened and the fire department did a first class job protecting them. We are lucky to have these professionals in our area. Rest assured that we have the very best fire rescue and protection with the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Dept.

However LincVolt suffered a disastrous accidental fire stemming from human error. The car was plugged in to charge and left unattended. The wall charging system was not completely tested and had never been left unattended. A mistake was made. It was not the fault of the car.

So now we pick up the pieces.

We are rebuilding. The reason we started this project has not changed. As a nation we are still excessively burning fossil fuels, doing damage to our planet that will hurt our children's lives and future generations as well. Our project is to demonstrate alternative energies for transportation that are clean. We're still in a race against time. On a project like this, setbacks happen for a reason and we can see that very well from here.

"Barn's burnt down. Now I can see the moon".

LincVolt was presented well at SEMA less than a week before the fire. We are glad we have a film of that to share.

Additional films and footage here. She was just about to emerge into the world to show what she could do. LV is smart for a car, as she likes to say in her blog.

Now she's back in her staging area and pieces are being assembled. We have done this before and know much more now. Our accumulated knowledge will help this process. We have a solid committed team. This is an opportunity.

Our rebuilding LincVolt at Brizio's is beginning now. We have already started the preparation process.

Cleaning LV continues in preparation for bead blasting her down to bare metal. Once that is done we will be ready to begin the build. LV will be built using parts from two other Lincoln Continentals.

My lovely wife gave me a parts car just like LincVolt for my 65th birthday a couple of days ago. This donor car, which we have nicknamed "Miss Pegi" in her honor, will roll in and park alongside LincVolt today, at the staging area. Parts will be contributed from Miss Pegi and placed on trays for assemblage. Miss Pegi is a 1958 model with the same metal as a 1959 in the areas that need replacing. The Uni-Body construction will enable replacement of panels warped from the heat of the fire. Miss Pegi is in perfect shape to contribute these large body parts. Quarter panels will be removed and readied for re-introduction into LV's timeless form. Even as injured as LV appears, beauty shines through.

Another car, a 1959 model, will be used to harvest detail parts that are unique to LV. In this way, old forgotten cars get a chance to live again in the timeless beauty of LV, re-powered and ready for the future with "GREEN CHARGING."

We are in talks with a Canadian battery supplier and have most of the control components for the rest of the car in house or on order.

The Capstone Micro-Turbine and its engine compartment under the hood appear to be totally intact and undamaged. The UQM prime mover under the former rear seat also looks to be uninjured. Testing will be done to confirm this is correct. The underbody of the car appears to be essentially unchanged. The engines are both made in the USA. These are encouraging signs.

LV is ready for the next chapter, and the next ride. The mission unchanged.

Stay tuned.

Neil Young
Nov 16, 2010

From NYTimes.com | Neil Young's Hybrid LincVolt Survives Fire By JONATHAN SCHULTZ:

“The car was plugged in to charge and left unattended,” Mr. Young, an avid car collector, said in the release. “The wall charging system was not completely tested and had never been left unattended.”

LincVolt is now at Roy Brizio Street Rods, the Bay Area fabrication shop in which it took shape. There, the sheet metal will be cleaned and bead-blasted “down to bare metal,” the statement continued.

Mr. Young will use a 1958 Continental, which his wife presented to him on his 65th birthday, as a donor for the body panels that warped due to the fire’s heat. Another Continental, this one a 1959, will provide undisclosed “detail parts” that are “unique to” LincVolt.

Nice gift Pegi!

Get behind the wheel!

Thanks Randy!

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6th Annual Kneel to Neil Benefit: Milwaukee, WI, Saturday, 11/20

This Saturday, the 6th annual Kneel To Neil benefit in Milwaukee, WI will be held in celebration of Neil Young’s birthday.

The event showcases some of our favorite Wisconsin musicians (Jeremiah Nelson, Chris DeMay, Trapper Schoepp) tackling Shakey’s catalog. This event of great music supports the radio station 91.7 WMSE and Young’s own Bridge School Foundation. $10 gets you through the door, music starts at 7:30pm at Linneman’s.

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A Buffalo Springfield Reunion Tour? Hooray For Our Side!

Fans React to Rumors of a "Possible" Buffalo Springfield Reunion Tour

No too long after the triumphant reunion of The Buffalo Springfield at the 2010 Bridge School Benefit Concerts, rumors began to swirl about a possible Buffalo Springfield Reunion Tour.

The Los Angeles Times got the rumor mill started with the provocative headline "More Buffalo Springfield reunion shows on the way in 2011?" in an article by Randy Lewis. Yet the article cites zero sources as basis for the headline. Lewis writes: "Pop & Hiss is hearing rumblings of some additional performances next year, possibly even a summer tour."

"Rumblings"? So we kind of dismissed the article as just more wishful speculation than actual reporting.

Then an in-depth interview with Richie Furay appeared in Crawdaddy! by Ben Corbett. The interview -- which is quite excellent and should be read in full for some interesting insights into the band's breakup -- gives Furay's perspective on the reunion and tour possibilities.

Crawdaddy!: Was there talk of doing anything else together?

Furay: Yeah, there was.

I wouldn’t be surprised if maybe we didn’t do a couple of other things. We were pretty high when we got done and everybody said, “Hey, let’s just settle down and take a deep breath and see how everyone feels after a couple of weeks, and we’ll see if we want to pursue anything else.” So I sent Neil and Stephen a note last week, and both of them were really very positive about the whole experience.

So we’ll just have to wait and see.

Based on Furay's comments, it would seem that saying "tour rumblings" is highly premature.

But here's an interview with drummer Joe Vitale keeping options open:

Asked if more Buffalo Springfield shows are on the way, Vitale says, “I don’t know yet but I would guess. I know they want to. People went crazy for it.”

Buffalo Springfield - 10/23/10
Photo by Thrashette

Surprisingly -- or maybe not so much -- the reunion has already been ranked as among The 10 Greatest Rock and Roll Reunions by Gibson Guitars?!

But not too fear. Up comes Rolling Stone with a helpful primer "How Buffalo Springfield Could Pull Off a Tour With the Byrds" by Andy Greene. Greene suggests that a Buffalo Springfield and Byrds tour would be just the ticket for 2011. Greene proceeds to walk through all the permutations and complications of such a venture:

"The problem: Unlike Buffalo Springfield, the surviving Byrds aren't a good mix. Crosby has been bitching for years that McGuinn refuses to even consider a reunion. Chris Hillman is a born-again Christian and a Republican, meaning he's the polar opposite of Crosby. But this shouldn't matter. The Ramones toured the country in a van for twenty years while barely speaking. Certainly McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman can suck it up for a mega payday and to help secure their place in history.

So one really has to wonder what's that sound?

It would seem that the tail is wagging the dog. There really seems to be no basis whatsoever for the tour speculation nor a truly far fetched tour pairing.

Besides. What fans really want is a Crazy Horse tour.

After all, if there's one single thing we fans understand about Neil Young, it's that he never, ever listens to his fan base.

So. Crazy Horse in 2011!


The Buffalo Springfield, v. 2010
Joe Vitale, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Neil Young and Rick Rosas
Photo by Eleanor Stills (via Rick Rosas | Facebook)

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Here's the Essence of Bridge School Benefit Concerts

PHOTO BY Misha Vladimirskiy | SPIN.com

So here's the essence of the Bridge School Benefit Concerts summed up very nicely in the following in-depth review.

From All About Jazz by Lloyd Peterson:

The Bridge School has been instrumental in developing augmentative and alternative communication techniques. This provides children who cannot communicate verbally or in written form, the ability to meet critical communicative needs. But what does this all mean?

Imagine being the parent of a child with a disability so severe that being able to express even the slightest human need or emotion is only a remote possibility. A handicap so disabling that acquiring the most basic grade school education is a parent's far off distant dream. How does a family come to terms with the pain and challenges of this type of existence? Intentional or not, a child perceived and treated as an outcast from society.

Is it fair to ask how an all powerful God justifies a child living in such a reality? How is it not possible to question one's own faith, and how many times must a child ask the question, why? But perhaps we are the ill-fated ones, the ones without the kind of loneliness that can bring us closer to our own existence, our own individual place in the universe. Welcome to the Bridge School.

One of the greatest moments over the two days occurred on Saturday when Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder introduced one of the students who was sitting on stage along with the other students and parents, as the 'smartest girl he knew.' Proudly and with tremendous sensitivity, he explained that Maricor had just received her Bachelor degree from Berkeley this past June. A long rousing standing ovation followed and it was difficult not to shed a tear during this emotional and heartwarming moment. There may be no greater example of the rare compassion that resides in the human spirit, and for a two day period of time, all other trivial matters ceased to exist.

If anyone questions the power of music, one only needs to attend this event.

~~~

Neil Young simply has a presence that is larger than life. I spoke previously about the different levels of being in the moment and I don't know that there is anyone performing today that reaches the same place as Young. There are artists within the avant-garde that reach this level, but there are times when Young creates at a level and intensity not unlike that of Jimi Hendrix and John Coltrane, which has nothing to do with genre and culture, yet transcends it.

Trying to play at this level too often can be tragic yet Young seems to understand the limitations and can harness the creative intensity in a way that can only be identified as genius.

Thanks Lloyd!

Full review at All About Jazz.

Also, see 2010 Bridge School Benefit Concerts.


Buffalo Springfield - 10/23/10
Photo by San Jose Mercury News

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