Neil Young & Crazy Horse:
"3rd Best Garage Band in the World"
~~Bill Graham
(See @ ~~1:26:30)
During the intermission of the final stop of Neil Young & Crazy Horse's 1986 Rusted Out Garage tour, Bill Graham said that Crazy Horse is "the 3rd Best Garage Band in the World". (See @ ~~1:26:30)
This weekend, the concert video of "In A Rusted Out Garage" by Neil Young & Crazy Horse will be streaming on Hearse Theater | NYA.
The "In A Rusted Out Garage" concert was originally simulcast on HBO's Pay-Per-View and radio from the final night of the tour at The Cow Palace in Daly City, California, on Nov. 21, 1986. The concert features a cameo from the late comedian Sam Kinison as Young’s annoyed neighbor by the band's volume. The concert captures tracks from Crazy Horse’s then-forthcoming 1987 LP Life such as “Mideast Vacation” and “Prisoners of Rock ‘n’ Roll”.
Tour Program: Rusted Out Garage by Neil Young & Crazy Horse - 1986
From "In A Rusted Out Garage Tour Program" by Bud Scoppa, September 1986, Everybody Knows This is a Rusted Out Garage:
For this 1986 concert foray, which he calls (with tongue only partly in cheek) the "Neil Young & Crazy Horse in a Rusted Out Garage" tour, the artist has called upon his longtime rock & roll cohorts Ralph Molina, Billy Talbot, and Frank Sampedro, known collectively as...you guessed it.
Young's storied association with Crazy Horse dates back to 1969, but NY&CH haven't been out on the road together since the "Live Rust" tour seven years back (resulting in a film directed by Young's alter ego, Bernard Shakey, the pizza baron). There's no question that the reunion bodes well for the true rock & rollers in the audience. But exactly what sort of rock & roll will the entity known as Neil Young & Crazy Horse purvey in late 1986? Will it be akin to the loping, elongated sagas of their classic initial collaboration, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, wherein Neil guitar-rumbled with the late, great Danny Whitten, the Horses's original leader? Will it be the shimmering meditations of the epic Zuma ('75), which introduced Sampedro, Whitten's long-sought replacement? Will it be the chopped and channeled R&R of the punk inspired Rust Never Sleeps? The wall-shaking sonics of the truly boffo Live Rust (as glorious a concert LP as you're likely to hear anytime, anywhere)? The rapid-transit psychodrama of Re-act-or? Or something entirely different and unexpected?
Whatever shape(s) this performance takes, one thing's for sure: It'll be anchored with yeomanlike crunch and precision by drummer Molina and bassist Talbot, who are as unified and spot-on as a rock rhythm section can be. For Young, Crazy Horse has always been synonymous with rhythm, which is musical reason he was so devastated by the loss of Whitten (he hardly picked up an electric guitar between Whitten's death and Sampedro's arrival several years later), and subsequently so reinspired when Frank came around. Make no mistakes about it - Neil Young & Crazy Horse is one of THE great rock & roll bands, a fact that shall be made abundantly clear when the house lights go down this evening. Fasten your seat belts, ladies and gentlemen.
Setlist via Sugar Mountain:
1986-11-21 Cow Palace, Daly City, California, USA
1. Mr. Soul
2. Cinnamon Girl
3. When You Dance, I Can Really Love
4. Down By The River
5. Too Lonely
6. Heart Of Gold
7. After The Gold Rush
8. Inca Queen
9. Drive Back
10. Opera Star
11. Cortez The Killer
---
12. Sample And Hold
13. Computer Age
14. Violent Side
15. Mideast Vacation
16. Long Walk Home
17. The Needle And The Damage Done
18. When Your Lonely Heart Breaks
19. Around The World
20. Powderfinger
21. Like A Hurricane
22. Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)
---
23. Prisoners Of Rock 'n' Roll
From interview "YOUNG AND HIS ‘GARAGE ROCK'--KEEPING THE FLAME BURNING" | Los Angeles Times by ROBERT HILBURN (Nov. 16, 1986):
“This tour is like a rebirth of something that’s real,” Neil Young said.
“I haven’t played straight rock ‘n’ roll since 1978, except for a little bit on ‘Reactor.’ I held back everything for so long. Now I have the energy. It’s like you’ve (stored it) and suddenly have this massive impulse to release it.
I always knew it would come back. I just didn’t know when.”
From interview "YOUNG AND HIS ‘GARAGE ROCK'--KEEPING THE FLAME BURNING" | Los Angeles Times by ROBERT HILBURN (Nov. 16, 1986):
What’s behind the garage band concept?
Neil Young: I just feel that Crazy Horse is like a garage band and I was talking to some deejay and I said, “Listen, I don’t want to brag but I think Crazy Horse is the third-best garage band in the world.” That’s really where I like to be. Let someone else be No. 1 and No. 2. We make too many mistakes to be No. 1 and nobody wants to be No. 2, so we’re No. 3.
We rehearsed for 2 1/2 months for this tour . . . longer than I have ever rehearsed for anything with any band. I usually rehearse for three days, but I wanted the band to be in shape so they could keep up with me. We’ve been recording every show of the tour for the album. This is how we recorded “Rust Never Sleeps.”
I’ve got six new songs in the show. I’ll record these mothers until I get them right and then I’ll take the crowd (noise) off and do some overdubs and it will sound like a million bucks.
Tour Dates - USA - In A Rusted Out Garage Sep/Oct/Nov 1986
via Broken Arrow Magazine - NYAS (#25, p. 32)
T-Shirt from "In A Rusted Out Garage" Concert Tour by Neil Young & Crazy Horse - 1986
via Richfield Coliseum, Cleveland, OH | My Concert Memories
Jack Nitzsche , Neil Young's producer/arranger on the masterpiece "Broken Arrow", has stated that Crazy Horse was the American equivalent of The Rolling Stones. IOHO, Crazy Horse is to Neil Young what The Band was to Bob Dylan. As perfect a complement as tequila and salt.
In tribute to Crazy Horse, the "3rd Best Garage Band in the World", here's a look back at some highlights:
- EXCLUSIVE: Crazy Horse Drummer Ralph Molina Interview
- Year of the Horse Film Review and Interviews on the making with Crazy Horse, Neil and Director Jim Jarmusch
- Year of the Horse - Interview in France's Les Inrockuptibles, July 1997
- Year of the Horse - Film Review
- Crazy Horse Biography - Reprise Records, 1997
- Frank Sampedro Interview - Torhout Festival, 1996
- Poncho Interview - Halifax Daily News, 11/1/96
- Interview: Crazy Horse and Neil Young Maintain Special Relationship, by Barry Gutman, Music Wire, ~9/96
- Billy Talbot Interview - Rip it Up, ~8/96
- Crazy Horse Album Reviews- by Robert Christgau
- Years of the Horse
Induct Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
#CrazyHorse4HOF
Best version of Inca Queen ever.
ReplyDeletePeace.
Poll results are now available on NYA. Interesting top three and interesting break down of voting as well.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to hearing what others think here on Thrashers.
Peace.
.....surprisingly only 3,011 votes.
ReplyDeleteWell strange method to classify choices by top preferences... but I guess it's a kind of american caucus :-)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the results seem unexpected. Where is the Catalyst 90 with crazy horse for instance ? I'm surprised by the Mirror Ball concert first place. Certainly a great show but not prior for a lot of fans waiting for the Horse or 70s stuff...
I was at the show in Richfield,Ohio and it seems like yesterday. A show I'll never forget. My wife wore my t-shirt from this 1886 concert when we saw Neil in Detroit
ReplyDeletein 2018. The shirt is in mint condition.
1986 not 1886. We're not that old
ReplyDeleteI really wish to know what Uncle Eddie and Neil Young think about this outcome. I for one am quite disappointed. I thought that the poll would help to unearth unreleased or even unknown songs, fill some gaps, explore alien territory. "Crazy Horse Early Daze" is the only one that is promising some of that. Sure, "Boarding House" will show NY&CH in their prime but "RNS" and "Live Rust" cover that phase already. And what to expect from that PJ outing. How many rare songs are hidden behind that? Not many I am afraid. So no "Toast" or "Alchemy" or "Island in the Sun", but maybe Neil Young stays true to his maverick attitude and will run off in the opposite direction?
ReplyDeleteA sample of 3011 is good and valid for a 100000 votes cast. It's a poll and not an election.
Second thought: Is there a well-organized Pearl Jam fan base in Ireland or in Dublin?
ReplyDeletei was there and have the VHS, Crazy, goofy night. Mushrooms. I was down by the rail and very very high. I bent over to puke and a instant radius of 6' opened in front of me. I remember a voice saying "try to relax, youll be ok. Dont freak" To this day I dont know if that was just in my head or someone was trying to comfort me beside me. I recovered in short order tho.
ReplyDeleteThat there were less than 4,000 votes -- wonderin' if that means there are fewer subscribers than needed to keep the NYA going.
ReplyDeleteGetting the NYA stream available on platforms such as Roku might help (a lot). I know that I'd love to be able to log-in there and watch the Theatre videos-- through my A/V system easier, and in much better quality, than I can muster now.
Thanks everyone on NYA poll results.
ReplyDeleteTW post @ Neil Young Fans Have Spoken and They Want Pearl Jam?! Archives Survey Results Posted
@ Dionys - as we say above, obviously, conspiratorially minded ... j/k :)
Neil Young rocks!
ReplyDeleteI got to this 🎉 really late! As the story is old news. But wanted to say I was 16 years old in 1986 and I got to see Neil Young live in rusted garage! Tour inConnecticut. And I had taken window pane LSD! 😃 I was tripping balls! And having an amazing time & looked out into the crowd and someone had a big green bong with a bumper sticker that said “Never had such a good time!” And I remember 🤔 that’s exactly how I feel at this moment! Eureka 😃😂✌️ It was incredible! A goof with the giant telephone ! Huge I mean huge speakers ! And all the shenanigans!I got up to 3rd row for the encore and Neil was ripping it so hard he was busting the strings on his 🎸! And it was blowing my mind man!👍😃✌️
ReplyDelete