Comment of the Moment: "Box Car" Outtake by Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse - 1990

Neil Young Archives SEARCH  #outtake (See RUSTie Grains Pro Tip #44: Neil Young Archives SEARCH #outtake)  (Click photo to enlarge)

Without any further ado, we bring you a Comment of the Moment on "Box Car", a newly released outtake by w/ Crazy Horse from 1990 on Neil Young Archives, by the inimitably intrepid -- yet inextinguishable --Scotsman:

But wait, 1st the track in subject below. Listen...

Box Car—the previously-unreleased version from the 1990 sessions with Crazy Horse—is released today.

It’s an absolutely fascinating outtake.

And it’s particularly fascinating for me because I wasn’t sure what to expect. If you’ve heard *other* versions of this “at-home-in-the-shadows” song, then you know exactly what I mean.

Box Car was first performed on the summer tour with the Bluenotes in 1988, before its inclusion on the shelved album ‘Times Square’ a few months later.

(That album exists as a bootleg. But other than Box Car, the whole thing is now officially released anyway — the tracks rationed out to Freedom and Eldorado).

During the same period, Box Car was a staple song of the blisteringly loud “heavy rock” tour with the Restless in January 1989.

On that tour, Box Car was the relative calm in between storms. It had a real cutting edge, but it was also the ”quiet” track of the setlist — making the louder songs appear even more extreme. It was performed on solo electric guitar with bursts of lonesome, perhaps despairing harmonica that mimicked the whistle of the freight train within the song’s lyrics.

It had a a haunting “round the campfire” vibe that was the very definition of spooky. Then Neil would lead into Like a Hurricane and blow the roof off the venue (say, the Bronco Bowl in Dallas, or the Fox Theatre in St Louis).

And then, after 1989, the song disappeared from the limelight (well, as much as this shadowy song was ever really in the limelight). It disappeared for a full 18 years. Its next public appearance would be on Chrome Dreams II, in more of a “showy” band arrangement — with Neil on six string banjo.

But for those who’d already heard the spooky 80s versions, the ‘07 version seemed to have lost the song’s cutting edge.

If the version at the Bronco Bowl back in ‘89 was the soundtrack to a modern day spaghetti western, then the Chrome Dreams II version was more the soundtrack to a Harry Potter spin-off.

Nothing wrong with it, exactly, and it’s a likeable enough banjo-fuelled jaunt. But what’s missing is the song‘s deadly-serious verisimilitude.

When Neil sings “I’m like a snake” on Chrome Dreams II, you get the feeling he‘s just singing a song.

Whereas on the solo ‘89 version, you *believe* him.

Compounding the problem is the then-new verse that Neil tacks onto the end of the ‘07 version. It doesn’t really fit, or paint much of a picture. It feels like what it is: a lyric that’s been added long after the original inspiration has left the room. (A similar story to what happened to Hitchhiker on Le Noise).

Both versions of Box Car (‘89 and ‘07) sound good. But it’s only the ‘89 version that brings to life a vivid spaghetti-noir movie in our imaginations.

And it’s only the ‘89 version that sends a chill down the spine. It’s the real deal.

So! One piece of the puzzle remains. How about the newly released version from 1990, with Crazy Horse?

It feels like exactly what it is — a thrilling 50/50 hybrid of the ’89 solo version with the Ragged Glory “house sound“. It’s also hauntingly embellished with what *sounds like* harmonica overdubs mimicking an accordion (?), or something like that.

Wow! What a combination.

Poncho Sampedro’s guitar is as sparse and organic-sounding as this mystical and elusive song demands. Billy’s bass lends the song an urgent gallop, and Ralph’s drumming keeps the song from falling from the cliff’s edge.

(In music, the cliff edge is the most exciting place to be — but as in real life, we don’t particularly want to fall. Falling isn’t the point.)

Neil sings the song beautifully, and with real guts, too. The full-on “spaghetti western“ guitar sound works well with Crazy Horse, and it’s perhaps surprising we haven’t heard more like this over the years.

Is the Crazy Horse version superior to the solo ‘89 arrangement?

I like it… I like it a lot. But overall, I think not.

Bob Dylan once said: “Sometimes the beat takes the mystery out of the rhythm”. And that’s what happens here, I think.

This is a song that‘s only truly in its element when swathed in mystery. No TV interviews, no bright lights or press releases or letters from the editor or any of that stuff.

It‘s a song that’s at home on the smoky Bronco Bowl stage in the cold and bleak winter (we’ll imagine it was cold and bleak) of 1989 — with grass growing up through the parking lot… or whatever we read about that historic show in the Shakey bio.

The addition of Ralph’s drums is a fascinating experiment, and yes — it adds something to the song. But it also takes something away.

That’s the lesson of this track. The spookiest music has to be handled with kid gloves. Because it’s very easy to shine a light on it and say “oh, that looks better”… not realising that “looking better” isn’t the point. Having the spook is what’s important.

I’m very glad that Neil and Crazy Horse played Box Car, and I’m even more pleased that Neil’s shared it with the rest of us. Because it’s *this* sort of fascinating stuff that I think the Archives is really all about. More, please.

Now, for maximum spook, we need to go back to the theatres and converted bowling alleys from a year previous — where Neil performed this edgy song (from the shadows, of course) alone at the microphone.

PS: the ‘89 version isn’t strictly “solo”, because there’s some wickedly ominous percussion (from Chad Cromwell?).

On top of that, audience-shot videos of the concerts reveal that although we can *hear* harmonica, Neil isn’t the one playing it.

Who is, then? I don’t know. Another mystery — very fitting for this most mysterious song!

Thanks so much Scots!  Haven't checked out latest "Box Car" outtake but vaguely recall this circulating way back in the days that used to be. Eager for a fresh listen on our next opportunity on  Neil Young Archives.

BTW, if folks have not already, check out The Flying Scotzman Soars with Neil Young Writings.

"A close look at two of Neil Young’s most thrilling guitar effects"by  The Flying Scotzman on Patreon

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