Comment of the Moment: "Don't Cry No Tears" - "WAY DOWN IN THE RUST BUCKET" by Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse - 2nd Single On NYA

CRAZY HORSE: DON’T CRY NO TEARS: WAY DOWN IN THE RUST BUCKET | NYA  

The RUST BUCKET tapes have been called "the missing link between Ragged Glory and Weld".  (Thanks Scotsman!)

Here is our Comment of the Moment on "Don't Cry No Tears": "WAY DOWN IN THE RUST BUCKET" by Neil Young w/  Crazy Horse - 2nd Single On NYA  by tomatron:

Zuma was such a triumphant return for Briggs, who was imaginably frustrated with Young after getting ditched from what would become the On The Beach sessions in late ‘73 when he fell seriously ill early into the recording. 

A few days before, he’d had a version of Crazy Horse at the Ranch that included Ben Keith on slide in lieu of a second guitarist for at least three tunes: Winterlong, Walk On, and Bad Fog. These sessions gave way to a solo effort with Tim Mulligan at the desk; Borrowed Tune and Traces would remain unreleased until 1975 and 2020, respectively, and the NYA Cabinet provides the unique experience of hearing December 5th continue even further with first takes of Human Highway and Ambulance Blues. Presumably the demos’ file cards are still incomplete and Mulligan was recording these same-day brilliant moments too, but so far Neil Young is listed as the sole producer.

Listening to this period via the Cabinet is a fuller experience than the Vol II Disc 5 playlist, which felt a little light on unheard material. Now we have some added tracks from what Neil calls an “unsettled but quickly passing time,” starting with a new banjo/dobro version of Mellow My Mind (its original incarnation on the shelf with the rest of Tonight’s The Night). A week later, the superlative duo of Keith and Young cut For The Turnstiles with Briggs at the helm and as far as released tracks tell, that was it. Briggs, embittered after having been left behind while laid up, was not to return as producer until after the debut of Crazy Horse 3.0 when he hosted the Dume sessions. 

As for what Neil did in the studio the rest of that winter with Briggs gone, the Cabinet is not saying. Maybe those in possession of the Vol II box set book can shed some light on what was tracked in the months before Neil tried his new approach to the song Tonight’s The Night with a rhythm section of Greg Reeves and Ralph Molina on March 4, 1974. I find this brief era of Neil’s career fascinating: his second-guessing of Briggs’s doused Tonight’s The Night SIR nights with his own attempts at redoing some of those songs. Meanwhile toddler Zeke played with the original Briggs-produced master tapes Neil had been holding onto.

Only once Young and Briggs were reunited in Dume was Tonight’s The Night finally released. In the context of today’s Cabinet, On The Beach takes on an even more pronounced antipathy toward the blurry Tonight’s The Night times with its Walk On opening that signified a goodbye to that tour, the cynical ramble of For The Turnstiles, and the lushly produced and populated disenchantment of On The Beach proper recorded Spring of ‘74. 

Thanks tomatron for our Comment of the Moment!  There's so much to look forward to with this release.  In particular, the gorgeously stunning "Dangerbird" in its first live concert performance.  The way in "Dangerbird" emerges fully formed, shimmering and shining in all of its ragged glory is simply joyous.

"WAY DOWN IN THE RUST BUCKET" -- both a film and double album -- by Neil Young w/  Crazy Horse is now scheduled for release on February 26, 2021, per earlier NYA posting.

Deluxe Box Set Edition (DVD, 4 LPs, 2 CDs)

Pre-Order Now: WAY DOWN IN THE RUST BUCKET" by Neil Young w/  Crazy Horse 

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