The Story of Neil Young’s Short-lived Santa Cruz Band The Ducks | Good Times

Neil Young - August 1977
Catalyst Club, Santa Cruz, CA
PHOTO: RICHARD MCCAFFREY/BAM
(Click photo to enlarge)

The stories are legendary surrounding the brief existence of The Ducks.

Here is a very detailed recollection of that remarkable summer of '77 -- 40 years ago -- in a small coastal Northern California town -- The Story of Neil Young’s Short-lived Santa Cruz Band the Ducks | Good Times by Geoffrey Dunn (Thanks Mark!):

Like a lot of rock ’n’ roll lore, the history of Neil Young and the Ducks—the band with which he played here during the summer of 1977—is wrapped in myth and nostalgia. Some of it’s true, some is no doubt bullshit, and much of it is in between. There were plenty of good drugs in town that summer, and no shortage of whiskey and tequila, and they definitely took a serious toll on the collective memory.

Last year, before he died unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 68, Johnny C. and I scheduled an interview about his summer-long tenure with the band.

“To be honest,” he said with a chuckle, “I don’t remember all that many details. It’s all pretty vague.” Indeed, there was one gig where Johnny C., who never met a party he didn’t like, passed out in the middle of a set from drinking just a tad too much.

All pretty vague, indeed.

I’ve heard a zillion versions of the legend—accounts vary wildly and considerably. And I was there for some of it. I’ve gone back to the original sources, and here’s the best I can come up with: The fledgling band played their first semi-gig on Saturday, July 9, at the Back Room bar in the New Riverside Hotel, at what was billed as a birthday party for legendary guitarist Jerry Miller of Moby Grape fame.

Performing on stage that night were several well-known musicians, including bassist Jack Register, keyboardist Dale Ockerman (from one of my favorite local bands of the era, Snail), singer Juanita Franklin, trumpet player John Maritano, Blackburn, Craviotto and Mosley. Young came out to play the final three songs.

From that point on, the Ducks played more than two dozen more shows (sometimes they played two shows a night) including at the Back Room, the Crossroads (a sweet little club at the Old Sash Mill), the Catalyst, the Veterans Hall, and the Pacific Coast Steamship Company (in Harvey West Park), until their final shows on Labor Day weekend at the Civic.

Full article The Story of Neil Young’s Short-lived Santa Cruz Band the Ducks | Good Times by Geoffrey Dunn.

Also, see Duck Tales by Patrick Mead posted to rust@fish.com on 06 Jan 1996.

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