Crazy Horse's Frank 'Poncho' Sampedro on 37 Years With Neil Young | Rolling Stone
Musicares Honors Paul McCartney
Los Angeles, CA - 2/10/12
Major interview with Crazy Horse's Frank 'Poncho' Sampedro in Rolling Stone by Andy Greene.
'Neil doesn’t turn corners – he ricochets around them. So you just have to hold on to your hat'
Quite an eye opening must read.
Labels: crazy horse, frank sampedro, interview, neil young, poncho
by thrasher@PermaLink: 6/14/2012 12:37:00 PM
15 comments
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15 Comments:
I honestly consider Poncho to be as important as David Briggs to Neil's music - more so than anyone else. Of course there are exceptions, but on the whole when Neil plays with Poncho, the music is phenomenonal. When he doesn't, the music is.....good. Keep on rockin', Poncho!
The Flying Scotsman.
From Rolling Stone:
"Crazy Horse guitarist Frank "Poncho" Sampedro has learned one basic thing from woking with Neil Young for 37 years: never count on anything happening until it actually happens. "I remember one time I showed up for a warm-up show in San Francisco," Poncho says. "I got there and everybody was sitting on their road cases. They said, "Pack your shit, it's over." I said, "What do you mean? This is a joke, right?" They said, "No. Neil cut his finger making a ham sandwich." And we were done. Just done."
------
I'm pretty sure that was 5/20/97 .... he had played a surprise gig with CH at the Catalyst the night before, I had the dumb luck of being on a West Coast vacation and somehow being in downtown Santa Cruz that morning and after seeing a bunch of hippies lining up near the Catalyst I curiously asked what they were waiting for and they said there were radio rumors that Neil was playing a stealth show that night ... two minutes later the line starts moving and before I know it I got some kind of voucher redeemable that night for a $20 ticket to see Neil and CH ... its worth going to 'Sugar Mountain' to see the set list from that show because its out of this world ... the show was filled with some epic tunes and rare stuff and a bunch of songs he'd never played before. The Catalyst was basically a bar that I doubt held more than a few hundred people ... there was a rumor there was going to be another surprise show the next day ... I think either we got vouchers again but at show time on 5/20/97 or maybe that morning when we were on line they told us Neil had cut his finger making a ham sandwich and the show was cancelled ... that marked the end of that tour as Neil waited for the finger to heal .... that was the only time I ever visited Santa Cruz in my life and have never been back ... looking back I realize I had been given a gift from up above ... to this day it remains the best Neil show I ever saw although I always regretting the injury Neil had and missing out on the second night show that was obviously not meant to be ...
Innaresting how he says he watched "Year of the Horse" on the plane over, considering he spends most of the film being obnoxious to the camera and scoffing about it all being a waste of time.
So now Neil's taken to wearing a poncho lately. That could mean something. Stills wore one to Woodstock and Altamont around that time, only we called them serapes back then.
I'm fortunate enough to have boots of all the Old Princeton Landing shows.OPL is an hour north of Santa Cruz. From the May 22/23 1996 shows, Big Time clocks in at almost 26 minutes! "The Echoes" really jammed that one! Still my favorite from those shows.
I remember around that time, maybe before,(when they toured as Neil Young and the Restless,they had Rosas on bass), that Poncho got Neil into weight lifting. Neil even said he gained weight and it wasn't fat!
So here we are in 2012. A lot of Neil's inner sanctum friends are gone, but the band is still here!
Neil is still ricocheting around corners, not straight, but always forward. And here we are, running beside that "Train of Love", grabbing our tickets as we go and hoping there are a lot more stops along the way, to the inevitable.
As for me, I won't cry no tears.
Because it's no matter...no distance....it's the RIDE!
This press release captured on HyperRust shows the official angle:
http://hyperrust.org/News/?f-Finger
Probably the best interview on these new recordings ant the Crazy Horse experience with Neil.This time, Sampedro reveals some recording details about Americana and the other one. These recordings don't appear to be the hurried sessions as described in many reviews, but it seems that Neil & Crazy Horse have worked almost a year in studio.
Honestly and sincerely Sampedro expresses some concerns and doubts about the feasibility of the next tour,expecially for the age of the all 4 members.I hope that it's just an over concern.
So Tired.
Well, I'm astounded. Not surprised, because everything he says jibes 100% with what I figured must be going on. What is so touching, and real, and scary, is the acknowledgment of age, mortality, the ticking of the clock.
I have my tickets for Boston and for the pit at Bridgeport. I was there for the last time, 2004 in Amherst. Let's go!
"He believes that 100%, until the day it's over."
Neil felt the clock ticking a long time ago. All romantics see the embers in the flame....
from Billboard interview:
With a film, book, art show, new album and another in the works coming out, does it feel like you're busier than ever? Does everything get the proper amount of attention?
NY: It doesn't bother me because I didn't do them all at once. It's kind of a blitz I guess. It's better to get it out rather than hold onto it, because you hold onto it for too long. New things need to come out. Unless there's something wrong with them they should come out right away. I have plenty of old things that I am still holding onto.
JD: He's on a roll.
whole interview:
http://www.billboard.com/news/neil-young-s-on-a-roll-q-a-with-rock-icon-1007338152.story#/news/neil-young-s-on-a-roll-q-a-with-rock-icon-1007338152.story
I recently saw a cool video on youtube with Patti Smith wearing a T shirt with the words.....
FUCK THE CLOCK
on it.....
So fuck it.
Neil should be ashamed and embarassed charging close to $ 300 for some tickets....and theyre not even great seats. And its not a matter of whether or not I can afford it....it's just a disgrace to charge that kind of $.
If they were $50 seats the scalpers would scoop them up and sell them for $300+. The "ticket agencies" are the criminals in this business that the artists have to contend with. I'd rather that NY and his organization get it rather than the scalpers, simple as that.
Assume there is a somewhat natural market rate for the tickets, so the prices reflect an estimation of that level. I doubt that the "good seats" will be scalped for 2X face. If they've overestimated the market then there will be empty seats, or seats will be sold at a discount closer to the show. But somehow I doubt that will happen.
GA standing is a very reasonable cost alternative, and that is where the true front row places are. If those were seats the prices would be through the roof, and they sure as hell wouldn't have been made available to the fans, presale password or not.
Finally, this could very well be the last go 'round, at least if one considers the actuarial tables and the concerns voiced by Poncho. I hope they have a good payday.I don't begrudge it one bit.
Poncho as important as Briggs? Is that you Frank? Some people believe that if you keep telling a lie or make up shif about yourself eventually some gullible fool will come along and believe you. It's called public relations.
again the excuses for the high priced tickets....
alot of other people charge $ 40-100 and do quite well.
$200-300 tickets is called greed.Neil and management know theres people like you who will make every excuse for them,so they do it....and laugh their way to the bank.
I respectfully disagree---it WILL last forever--- the man and his music are in my heart and my children's and grandchildren's and
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