Comment of the Moment: RUST BUCKET PREMIERE NOW PLAYING: "Country Home" - Neil Young & Crazy Horse, 1990 WELD Rehearsals | NYA

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Yesterday, a major Archives discovery titled "RUST BUCKET" had the premiere of "Country Home" by Neil Young & Crazy Horse of 1990 WELD Rehearsals on Screen #2 | NYA.

"RUST BUCKET" is a complete multi-camera video (w/ 6 cameras) was discovered in the NYA vaults in 2019 from The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, California on November 11, 1990. The Comment of the Moment is on RUST BUCKET PREMIERE NOW PLAYING: "Country Home" - Neil Young & Crazy Horse, 1990 WELD Rehearsals | NYA by indefatigable Scotsman:

I'll point out that the brilliant Ragged Glory period began on very unsure footing, with Billy and Ralph being somewhat alienated from Neil and Poncho.

This reunion happened only 3 years after the fireworks of the 1987 tour (as captured on Muddy Track), and in the months since then Neil had spoken of his frustration about Billy and Ralph, indicating it was unlikely he would ever play with them again.

(Fans sometimes are too quick to leap to the same conclusion. The moment Neil decides to play with another great band for 5 minutes, whether it be the 2008 Electric Band or POTR, we start to hear comments like "these guys are permanently putting Crazy Horse out to pasture!", or some similar nonsense).

Of course, Neil always comes back to Crazy Horse. It's a law of nature.

1990's Ragged Glory and Rust Bucket are closely related to 1991's Weld, but also somewhat separate from it. 1990 was a partial return to the dreamy, laid-back 1976 tour that Neil had been listening to prior to the reunion.

Neil had recently been given a second opportunity by Reprise Records/Warner: and a no-frills record with his favourite band was obviously a pretty great idea for taking his comeback up another gear in a fun way.

Did Neil himself see this period as a comeback? I think the answer is
certainly "yes". There was a lot at stake. He'd just spent nearly a decade imprisoned by a record company who eventually sued him. Elvis's "get down to business" comeback from 1968 was clearly on Neil's mind, from the closing lyrics of Eldorado to the 1989 SNL performance to the Elvis shirts he often wore onstage in the late eighties and early nineties.

As producer David Briggs knew all too well, when Neil gets serious like this, you can watch out: because there is no one in the business more intense, more focused or more expressive.

But due to Poncho being ill or sustaining an injury, the extended Ragged Glory tour was delayed a few weeks (after the Catalyst). And by then, the Gulf War was on the horizon.

Mother Earth was switched out of the setlist in favour of the similarly-arranged Blowin' In The Wind, and the explosiveness of the performances (of songs like Love And Only Love and Rockin' In The Free World) was ratcheted up to extreme levels. Unlike any previous tour, there were no acoustic songs.

The Weld tour was by all accounts an exhausting experience: that should be instantly apparent from watching any 5 minutes of the jaw-dropping Buffalo show (one of over 50 high-energy shows from that tour). It was Neil's rock 'n' roll side intensified to its most extreme, its most pure.

The Ragged Glory/Weld period started with the band a little weary of each other and, after 3 months of very intense touring, ended pretty much the same way; with Crazy Horse fed up, Neil exhausted and an exasperated Briggs storming out of the mixing sessions. But the months in between produced the most exciting rock 'n' roll they have ever created.

They'd be back 3 years later, refreshed and back to their best, for the brilliant (and very different) Sleeps With Angels: Mr Briggs's final masterpiece with Neil, until they meet again.

Scotsman.

Thanks so much Scotsman for all of the details here.

Like we said somewhere before regarding rehearsal setlist changes b/c of that darn Gulf War. No rehearsal songs like Dangerbird, Surfer Joe, or T-Bone on the WELD tour.Man, messing up setlists b/c of war of man. Thank you Mr Bush #1.

But seriously, the ongoing war made for some unbelievable concerts.

It was as many say one of the loudest concerts ever. It the 2nd loudest concert we ever attended and recall our ears ringing for days. And only later realized the damage done. Neil's hearing was damaged as well by WELD.

the #1 loudest concert was RNS back when our ears were so tender and unconditioned. By the time WELD rolled around we had built up considerable immunity and resistance to the CrazyHorse-91 strain.

We can only imagine NYCH-2020 strain's contagion...

so always remember -- wear protection and keep a safe distance.

some things never change, notice that?

Catalyst Club, 1990
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
via Neil Young Archives

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