RARE: "Cowboy Movie" (instrumental) w/ Neil Young and PERRO (1971)

Here is a rare version of what has come to be known as "Cowboy Movie", an instrumental song from David Crosby's 1971 project called PERRO.

PERRO or more formally known as the Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra, featured Neil Young among many other major artists, such as:

David Crosby
Jerry Garcia
Neil Young
Phil Lesh
Paul Kantner
Jorma Kaukonen
Gregg Rolie
Jack Casady
Mike Shrieve
Mickey Hart
David Frieburg
Grace Slick
Joni Mitchell
Graham Nash
Laura Allen
Bill Krueztman
Steve Stills

The Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra (PERRO) recorded at Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco during 1971. There is some degree of controversy on whether this is Neil Young or Jerry Garcia on the guitar solos. We hear hints of "Down by the River" and Ol Black that seem unmistakably Neil and not Jerry.

The instrumental song known colloquially as "Cowboy Movie" and posted here on YouTube is actually the opening credits scenes from the classic "Once Upon A Time In The West" by Italian / "Spaghetti Western" Director Sergio Leone. The film stars Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson, Gabriele Ferzetti, among others.

enjoy! (Thanks HoundsThatHowell!)

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Neil Young On Cover of Acoustic Guitar Magazine (October 2017)

Acoustic Guitar Magazine (October 2017)

Neil Young is on the cover of the current Acoustic Guitar Magazine (October 2017).

From Acoustic Guitar Magazine by editor Blair Jackson:

The wonderful photo of Neil Young (by Richard McCaffrey) that adorns the current (October) cover of Acoustic Guitar is from a series of historic solo acoustic shows he performed at the long-defunct Boarding House club in San Francisco in May of 1978.

I was lucky enough to go to two of those concerts and was completely blown away: It was where I first heard many of the songs that would appear on Comes a Time (released in November ’78) and Rust Never Sleeps (released in July 1979, it includes three songs recorded at that Boarding House run)—both in my pantheon of great Neil albums. Then, when Neil and Crazy Horse went on an arena tour in the fall of ’78, dubbed “Rust Never Sleeps,” he included a few solo acoustic numbers there, too.

That tour was captured on film in a fantastic documentary (also called Rust Never Sleeps), shot at the Cow Palace outside of San Francisco (still the best Crazy Horse show I ever saw), and on a live double-LP (Live Rust). My “Throwback” choice is the wonderful 12-string number called “Thrasher,” which was hands-down my favorite of the new songs introduced at the Boarding House (and on the Rust Never Sleeps album). I find it very hypnotic musically and the lyrics so evocative; I’ve always loved it. This is the Cow Palace version from the film, so it doesn’t have quite the intimacy of the club rendition a few months earlier (and it even contains a vocal flub), but it still has that core mystery and majesty that make it one of Neil Young’s best tunes.

— Blair Jackson

Thanks Blair!

BTW, we are quite fond of the song “Thrasher”, as well, as you may have noticed.

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Comment of the Moment: Neil Young's Next Studio Album?

Neil Young + Promise of the Real
Capitol Studios, ~June 2017

As the dog days of summer fly past -- and many continue to lose grasp -- we see Neil Young fans a bit restless out there in the fields of wheat. So much chaff...

So, on to the TW Comment of the Moment on Neil Young's latest studio recording (which we covered earlier this summer) by Scotsman:

I don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to hearing what Neil Young has come up with on his new album. I'm not talking about Hitchhiker (we all know that will be good), but his TBC [ed. - TBD?] 2017 studio album.

I heard Children Of Destiny when it came out, and to tell the truth, I wasn't really blown away by it. The lyrics were generally a bit flat, and I wasn't impressed by the way Neil as a musician was reduced in stature. Live on stage, we'd seen his once-dominant guitar playing become little more than a side show in the saturated noodle-fest of "Lukas Nelson and the All-Insect Orchestra" (quite literally so, on Earth). On Children Of Destiny, Neil Young as Musical Director was as present as ever. But his musical presence as a performer was becoming even more reduced. My opinion? Use it or lose it.

But despite this, the spark of inspiration was clearly there. I liked the musical arrangement, and the juxtaposition between the "shoot first/ask questions later" orchestra and the far-off war-torn streets was sublime.

Overall the song struck me as being a sort of re-imagining of Rockin' In The Free World (combined with the environmentalism of Whose Gonna Stand Up?). There's that familiar combination of anthemic, flag-waving chorus with more solemn and grimly down-to-earth verses. A pairing that offers more questions than answers, in the timeless tradition.

So as usual with his recent projects, there's the sense of him being onto something; you can see what he's up to, but he doesn't take it far enough, dig deep enough to break through to the really rich stuff, the magical verse that was waiting to be written 5 minutes after he stopped writing.

The positive side of this is huge, of course. He's still got it. All the key elements are in place. He's still got that instinctive blend of artistry, stage direction, ambiguity, craftiness, storytelling, passion. In spades; we saw it on Earth, as well. He just needs a few more great songs to go with it. And if he does dig that little big deeper, does go that extra mile, then we are going to experience another classic. Will it be this next one? I don't know. But I'm really excited about finding out. I wouldn't bet against it.

Lastly, I want to make clear that I think it is great that he's drawing attention to some of the major problems facing our world today, when much of America (and indeed, much of the world) is looking the other way. At the age of nearly 72, Neil Young is still creating and (perhaps more remarkably) still learning.

Long may it continue.

Scotsman.

Thanks -- as always - Scotsman!

For more on Neil Young + Promise of the Real's new song "Children of Destiny", see:

• NEW Official Music Video: Neil Young + Promise of the Real - "Children of Destiny" (55+ comments)
• Statement by Neil Young + Orchestra Video Version of "Children of Destiny" (35+ comments)
• A Happy 4th of July To All of Our "Children of Destiny": Some Commentary on Neil Young's New Song w/ Forbes Magazine's review by author David Alm (20+ comments)
• Forbes Magazine Responds To Thrasher's Wheat: Review of "Children of Destiny" by Neil Young (10+ comments)
• Comments of the Moment:"Children of Destiny" by Neil Young + Promise of the Real (15+ comments)
• Neil Young's Muse: The Passion, The Pathos & The 4% (10+ comments)
• Comments of the Moment: Statement by Neil Young on "Children of Destiny" (10+ comments)

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Youngtown Museum Closing Sept. 10: Select Items To Be Sold

Trevor Hosier at the Youngtown Rock 'n' Roll Museum
Photo by Lance Anderson

After some good news in 2014 for the Youngtown Rock ’n’ Roll Museum, now some not so good, sad news.

As you may recall, the Youngtown Rock ’n’ Roll Museum was formerly located in Neil Young's boyhood hometown of Omemee, Ontario, Canada, but closed in 2014.

While no longer in a town in north Ontario, the Neil Young focused museum moved to the Olde Gaol Museum at 50 Victoria Street North in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. The Youngtown Rock N Roll Museum is a showcase of Rock N Roll artifacts and memorabilia from the first three decades of rock history, including extensive Young artifacts and exhibits. Museum founder and curator Trevor Hosier has acquired many amazing items for exhibit including “Natural Beauty”, a vintage 1970’s Texan acoustic guitar donated by Neil Young.

Now comes word that The Youngtown Museum Exhibit at the Olde Gaol Museum will close in September.


Exhibit @ Youngtown Museum
Youngtown founder Trevor “T.R.” Hosier, will attend the closing and offer items for sale on the last day of the exhibit, Sept. 10, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Several guitars signed by Young, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and members of Buffalo Springfield, framed posters and record awards will be among the items for sale.

Several items will definitely not be available for purchase, such as Young’s guitar and the family piano. Instead of an auction, “reasonable” prices have been set on many items so that purchase opportunities are not limited to an elite group, says Museum founder Hosier.

Also, see www.oldegaolmuseum.ca, email info@oldgaolmuseum.ca or call 705-324-3404 for more information.

Historian and Victoria County Historical Society past-president Tom Mohr
Youngtown Exhibit, Olde Gaol Museum
Photo by Catherine Whitnall

From 2014 posting Youngtown Rock ’n’ Roll Museum has a new home in Lindsay | Kawartha Lakes This Week by Paul Rellinger:

“The last year-and-and-a-half, it just became too much for me to look after,” explains Mr. Hosier.

“Even though I had five great volunteers who looked after things, the bulk of the work fell on me…shovelling snow, cutting the grass, upkeep of the building. I made the decision this summer that I had taken this as far as I can go.”

With a new manager on board at the Olde Gaol Museum, talk centred on that historic site as a possible new home for a portion of Mr. Hosier’s extensive, and valuable, collection. That led to the securing of “a beautiful room on the main floor” which, come February, will be home to Youngtown Museum at the Olde Gaol.

“It’s been real hard,” admits Mr. Hosier of closing down the Omemee location.

“Just yesterday (Monday) I was there. I had some Neil Young music playing. It was pretty moving. It’s certainly been a big part of my life. A labour of love, really.”

...

“What I’ll really miss is talking with the people who visited…hearing their stories and memories as they view the exhibits,” he says.

“I’m just so happy the Old Gaol Museum stepped up to give us a new home. People can enjoy the exhibits for years to come.”

This was great news for Neil fans that this invaluable collection will be preserved and continue to be open to the public. Thanks for all you do Trevor and your "labour of love".

Full article at Youngtown Rock ’n’ Roll Museum has a new home in Lindsay.

More on Trevor's trip to Neil's California ranch and his amazing Archives tour and photos are on Youngtown museum site.

Also, see Broken Arrow editor Scott Sandie's report in latest issue of Broken Arrow Magazine - November 2009 (#116).


Youngtown Museum
Original Location in Omemee, Ontario, Canada
More on a Omemee, Ontario Visiting Neil Young's Hometown Omemee, Canada: A Fan's Journey

Visiting Omemee, Canada
Neil Young's Hometown

This post was submitted by long time Thrasher's Wheat reader sand support Linda S from Virginia. Linda shares her memories of her trip with husband Bob visiting Omemee, Canada to Neil Young's Hometown.

Thanks so much for sharing your adventures with us, Linda!

Also, see Interview: "You can't conceive of the pleasure in my smile" - Neil Young's early years explored by Canadian author Sharry Wilson.

Young Neil: The Sugar Mountain Years

(Click photo to enlarge)
A review by Broken Arrow Editor Scott Sandie of the upcoming book "Young Neil: The Sugar Mountain Years" by Sharry Wilson.

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Caught You Knockin' At My Cellar Door: I love you, baby, can I have some more Double Latte, please??

The Cellar Door - July, 2017
34th & M St., NW, Georgetown/Washington, DC
Photos by Hounds That Howell & thrasher
(Click photo to enlarge)
Back in 2013, we returned to the scene 43 years later posting Caught You Knockin' At My Cellar Door (or "Keep on knockin' in the free world").

Upon our return to the hallowed ground that once was The Cellar Door, on the corner of 34th & M St., NW, in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC, we were none to amused by the appearance of the latest blasphemy -- a permit to build yet another Starbucks coffee shop?! Clearly, the time has come to remove these Starbucks signs so that the coffee barista slaves of the world can be freed.

But, we digress...

Permit Notice for Starbucks
34th & M St., NW, Georgetown/Washington, DC
(Click photo to enlarge)
You may recall that on our last visit -- for the release in 2013 of Neil Young's Live At The Cellar Door -- that the location was "For Lease". So, it seemed like a fun little project to return to the scene once our 180 gram vinyl gatefold Live At The Cellar Door arrived.

The Cellar Door - 2013
34th & M St., NW, Georgetown/Washington, DC
Photos by Hounds That Howell & thrasher
(Click photo to enlarge)
If you are unfamiliar with the pedigree of the Georgetown club The Cellar Door, then review this letter by Peter Lagiovane, Chambersburg, PA in 2013:

I enjoyed The Washington Post’s article on Neil Young and Nils Lofgren’s memories of the Cellar Door [“Stories from the Cellar,” Style, Dec. 10], where I was a waiter, bartender, doorman and busboy from 1966 to 1971. But I was disappointed that it did not discuss the role the venue played in the District’s cultural and political transformation from a sleepy Southern town to a truly cosmopolitan national capital.

Besides folk, folk rock and hootenannies, the Cellar Door brought to Washington the best in jazz (Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock and many others), blues (B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Paul Butterfield), comedy (Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Robert Klein) and even big bands (somehow we managed to enlarge the stage for Buddy Rich and Count Basie). And as we celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela, it should be noted that the Cellar Door showcased great South African artists such as Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela. When Ms. Makeba sang the protest song “ A Piece of Ground,” you could feel the seething anger and passion behind the movement to end apartheid.

I would also take issue with any suggestion that the drug culture contributed to the Cellar Door’s demise. The club was doomed not by pot smokers reluctant to buy drinks but the rise of concert performances. Why would an artist do 10 to 12 shows over five days for $2,000 at the Cellar Door when he or she could make much more in one show at a concert hall?

But for those of us who got to see those live performances in that small room, they are as wonderful to remember today as they were to see live almost 50 years ago.

Peter Lagiovane, Chambersburg, Pa.

“Stories from the Cellar: Neil Young and Nils Lofgren’s memories of the Cellar Door” - The Washington Post ("Where Democracy Dies in Darkness") by Dave McKenna [Style Section C1, Dec. 10, 2013]

What made this all the more cool was realizing that the gatefold album cover revealed not one but 3 Cellar Doors. Upon arriving at 34th & M St., NW, in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC, we also quickly realized that the original Cellar Door entrance had been turned into a window and the building was up for lease. But the white painted brick and red brick sidewalks still exist. We had actually seen a concert at the Cellar Door around 1980 but our memories fail us on who we might have seen? Could it have been John Prine?

Nevertheless, our intrepid companion and Thrasher's Wheat Radio tour manager Hounds That Howell, quickly went to work dodging traffic to recreate the Live At The Cellar Door album cover on a wonderful winter day nearly 43 years later.

And so how does a pristine 180 gram vinyl of Neil Young's Live At The Cellar Door sound?

Here are a couple of recent reviews by our friendly blogging buddies. From Jambands.com - Need We Say More? > Reviews > CDs > Neil Young: Live At The Cellar Door by Brian Robbins:

If nothing else, Neil Young’s latest archival release, Live At The Cellar Door, serves to remind us that the Neil we know now is the Neil that existed then: capable of doling out tunes that easily settle into your DNA and become part of your being; a near mono-syllabic speaker at times – who can tell a good story when moved to; and an artist who doesn’t honor the art as much as he does/did honor the moment. (That last observation is best represented on Cellar Door by “Cinnamon Girl”, offered here as a solo piano-and-vocal piece – on one hand, a far cry from the Crazy Horsed version on Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, but on the other hand, chock full of its own kind of power and emotion.)

The Cellar Door - 2012
(Note actual door before replaced with window)
From Time Tripping Back to 1970 with Neil Young: “Live at the Cellar Door” | DAYS OF THE CRAZY-WILD By Michael Goldberg:

Neil’s music was part of my soundtrack during the ‘60s and the ‘70s. He sang the sad songs and as a teenager I didn’t want to know the pain I heard in his voice. But I did know it. Every time her and I were apart, I knew it. Still I loved to hear Neil’s voice.

And later, after it was over, when we just couldn’t make it together — that girl and I — I knew for real how true Neil’s words were, and today they’re still true.

Neil’s new album, Live at the Cellar Door, was recorded in 1970, 43 years ago, at the Cellar Door, a club in Washington, DC. Listening to it I see, hear, feel, smell those days, a rush of moving images, as if my life was captured on film and these old recordings are the key to starting up the projector. All the ways I blew it, and how crazy it got. And she wouldn’t take my calls, wouldn’t see me when I came to her door, and I thought I’d explode.

Yes, love can break your heart — a cliché and so what, ‘cause it’s the truth.

Hearing Neil sing those old songs in that tenor voice, the tenor voice of a young man, it breaks my heart all over again. Neil was 25 when he played those songs at the Cellar Door.

From Album Review: Neil Young - Live at the Cellar Door / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound by Matthew Slaughter:

Here we find Young alone with a guitar, occasionally a piano, a world away from the storm of fame, or perhaps more in the eye of it, calm, almost definitely stoned and at times with a much older head on his shoulders than you could think plausible.

Naturally it’s heavy on After the Gold Rush material with ‘Tell Me Why’s arpeggio guitar and coyote croon kicking the night off, followed by the simple, elemental ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’. As he announces the latter as being “…from my new album” it’s hard to comprehend that something so ingrained in the songwriting psyche, something that sounds channeled rather than written, was once just a track on a guy’s new record – a jarring reminder that classics, however heavenly, were at one point, y’know, just a song.

When Young flits first to the piano for the title track of Gold Rush, it’s another case of the sublime – a symbiotic meeting of music and lyrics, that deeply personal falsetto whisper, so melancholic; that obtusely emotive line “There was a band playing in my head and I felt like getting high / I was thinking about what a friend had said, I was hoping it was a lie”; the ‘of course’ match-up of title and song.

Caught You Knockin' At My Cellar Door
(or "Keep on knockin' in the free world")
From Everybody's Dummy: Neil Young 49: Live At The Cellar Door by wardo:

Given that this period has already been well mined—“See The Sky About To Rain” having already appeared on the box—and folks have been clamoring for any news on the status of Archives Vol. 2 and beyond, this disc may seem redundant to those of us without Blu-ray players. Were these solo acoustic performances really that different from any others, in the way that shows by the likes of, for example, the Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa or even Neil with Crazy Horse might have been?

Luckily, it is a little different. “Expecting To Fly” receives a nice treatment at the piano, for example. So does, amazingly, “Cinnamon Girl”, so often associated with electric fuzz, and here with an intro resembling that of “After The Gold Rush”, which is likely the reason for the spontaneous applause. He acknowledges that he never did it that way before, and it’s pretty clear why. In fact, half of the album is a showcase for his “almost a year” of piano playing.

Given the between-song “raps” that dotted similar releases, Live At The Cellar Door mostly sticks to the music, except for a three-minute detour before “Flying On The Ground Is Wrong”. The prelude is punctuated by his fingers messing with the piano strings to comic effect, while the song itself travels from sorrowful to jaunty and back. It’s one performance that makes the album worth owning.

"Live At The Cellar Door"
Neil Young Solo
(#5 #6 in Amazon Best Sellers > Music)

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ps - and if you're ever trekking over to Georgetown/Washington, DC to catch the Cellar Door, just around the corner and up the hill are The Exorcist Steps ...

The Exorcist Steps
36th & M St., NW, Georgetown/Washington, DC
(Click photo to enlarge)
tread carefully ... very care fully ...

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