The Ghost of David Briggs and Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse's “Love Earth Tour”

Neil Young w/ Crazy HorseBristow, Virginia - May 11, 2024 
photo by thrashette
(Click photo to enlarge)

 

The "Ghost of David Briggs" has hovered about the 1st Leg of Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse's “Love Earth Tour”.

Neil Young and Producer David Briggs, 1995
Photo by Pegi Young
(Click photo to enlarge)

 

Nearly every song played on the tour was produced by  David Briggs as we discussed in our post WRAPUP: Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse's Love Earth Concert Tour Leg #1 - Statistics, Links + More.  Thus far, the “Love Earth Tour” has drawn relatively deeply from the Briggs produced albums Ragged Glory (6 songs), Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (4), Zuma (4) and Rust Never Sleeps (3).

As noted in the recent Rolling Stone article by Andy Greene, the Love Earth Concert Tour "may seem like a greatest hits set, but is actually a homage to the mastermind behind the band's best work, producer David Briggs." A careful analysis of the Crazy Horse set songs (excluding the solo set) shows all songs produced by David Briggs except "I'm The Ocean".

"How Survivals, Grief and Legacies Unfold in American Music"
by Caryn Rose @ 2019 Pop Conference at MoPop - Seattle

(see David Briggs and Neil Young: "How Survivals, Grief and Legacies Unfold in American Music" by Caryn Rose) 

 

The late David Briggs was Neil Young's producer on several key albums including Tonight's The Night, Zuma and Ragged Glory. Briggs' influence on the recording process has been lauded as a major contributing factor to Neil Young's recording success bringing a unique "discipline" to the process.

Year of the Horse
Neil Young & Crazy Horse 

 

The "concept" for the 1996 tour and film soundtrack "The Year of the Horse"  came from longtime Neil Young and Crazy Horse producer David Briggs:

"Probably more the fifth member of Crazy Horse than anybody could ever be," says Frank "Poncho" Sampedro. Shortly before his death in November of 1995, Briggs was looking ahead to the coming year and told Young, "This is the Year of the Horse ." According to Young, Briggs also told him: "All you have to do now is get closer to the source. Keep getting purer and purer."

(source: official Crazy Horse Reprise Records Biography, May, 1997. PR for Year of The Horse, directed by Jim Jarmusch.)

“Be great or be gone.” 

~~ Neil Young quoting Briggs, Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream 

Neil Young Albums Produced by David Briggs (Thanks Tom!)

1968 - Neil Young
1969 - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
1970 - After the Gold Rush
1974 - On the Beach
1975 - Tonight's the Night
1975 - Zuma
1977 - American Stars 'N Bars
1978 - Comes a Time
1979 - Rust Never Sleeps
1979 - Live Rust
1981 - Re-ac-tor
1982 - Trans
1985 - Old Ways
1987 - Life
1990 - Ragged Glory
1991 - Weld
1993 - Unplugged
1994 - Sleeps with Angels 

Artist James Mazzeo, longtime Neil Young collaborator said of David Briggs:

David Briggs had the capacity to make you feel like an integral part of the whole picture no more or no less than any other part of that picture (or song or Album) than even Neil himself.....Neil (and myself) respected David on the highest of levels when we all were working alongside his illuminations.....David was a brilliant light for all of us to work in.....he could take from us our self doubts and shadows and devour them gone....he was like a black light and the best of us came forth and glowed in his presence ....i miss David and i send 'Thank you's' to his spirit with every new piece i create.

 Also, see:

• Friends of Neil: David Briggs
• Comment of the Moment: Producer David Briggs and Neil Young
• David Briggs in Memorium
• David Briggs Obituary - NY Times, 12/3/95
• Interview with Elliot Roberts on working with David Briggs
• The Weld “Briggs mixes” — yay or nay?  | The Flying Scotzman

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RARE: Rust Never Sleeps Chalk Talk

Rust Never Sleeps Chalk Talk McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, Colorado1978-10-19 Photo by Joel Bernstein via NYA (Click photo to enlarge) 

Here is a rare photo from Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse's Rust Never Sleeps tour at McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, Colorado on 1978-10-19. (Thanks QueenCityJamz !)

If you look really closely, the "Chalk Talk" image has the immortal phrases "Better to RUST than to be David Briggs"! and "Better to burn out than be Larry Johnson!!"

So might that be L.A. on right in old man costume with David Briggs on left???

More on  David Briggs and Larry "L.A." Johnson.

Also, answers to the quintessential question: "Why does Rust Never Sleep?"

Rust Never Sleep! (sic)

Unreleased Rust-oleum Commercial w/ Neil Young

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The Essentials: "Sleeps With Angels" by Neil Young & Crazy Horse | Old Grey Cat

 Sleeps With AngelsNeil Young & Crazy Horse

Here's a look back at a very essential album by Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Sleeps With Angels (1994).

In particular, this review looks at the album as recorded chronologically -- as opposed to the actual album sequencing -- and makes some very interesting observations.

Over on Old Grey Cat, a re-review from  "The Essentials":

An album’s sequencing is an important factor – it’s somewhat akin to putting together a puzzle without a picture to work from. 

If the songs had been laid out in the order they were recorded, well, it would have been a great album. But by sequencing it the way that they did, Neil and Briggs upped it to a greater realm. I should add, I suppose, that Neil did little to promote the album after its release – no interviews or tours. Instead, he let the music speak for itself. One result, I think, is that it’s become somewhat overlooked in the pantheon that is his oeuvre. To those who’ve never heard it, I say play it today; and for the initiated, give it another listen. It’s a powerful piece. 

As I said way back when, it ranks with his best ever.

Full review of "The Essentials: Sleeps With Angels by Neil Young & Crazy Horse" | Old Grey Cat.  

Here is the 14+ minute track "Change Your Mind" (see Lyric Analysis).

 

'Sleeps With Angels" Film - Directed by LA Johnson| Neil Young Archives

 (see details @ NEW SCREEN ADDED: 'Sleeps With Angels" Film Now Playing on #3 | Neil Young Archives)

 

Also, see Sleeps With Angels: Neil Young, Crazy Horse -  Neil Young Album Reviews: Sleeps With Angels + Preview Tracks)

all of which is "too late, too soon" ...

He Sleeps With Angels

Kurt Cobain and Neil Young

 

Neil Young and Producer David Briggs, 1995
Photo by Pegi Young

(See David Briggs and Neil Young: "How Survivals, Grief and Legacies Unfold in American Music")

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Comment of the Moment: 'Sleeps With Angels" Film Now Playing on #3 | Neil Young Archives

"Sleeps With Angels" Documentary Film by Larry "L.A." Johnson
via Subscriber News | NYA

Much, much excitement in the Rust community over the latest NYA Subscriber News and the premiere of a work in progress documentary of the making of the album Sleeps With Angels by Neil Young & Crazy Horse.

Primarily, the enthusiasm centers around watching the late David Briggs -- Neil Young's long time associate and Producer -- collaborate in the studio. Our Comment of the Moment in on the post 'Sleeps With Angels" Film Now Playing on #3 | Neil Young Archives by David R.:

Nice to see.

Pity all the music seems to be the same as the final studio versions. Great to see Neil with short hair and at one point even no sideburns. Cool to see him on the flute and playing distorted harmonica. Made me wonder if the characters in Trans Am are the start of the sort of thinking that led to Greendale.

I loved this record at the time and listening back I am still astonished by how good it is. Personally I think it might be Neil's best. I never thought about how different the sound is to Ragged Glory though it is true it is on a different planet. There is something of David Lynch to it, it would work as a soundtrack to one of his films, and I recall alongside grunge that was a major cinematic line art followed in the early 90s. Listening again I can feel Neil really tapping into that here and it is notable and logical that he then followed it with Dead Man.

I know a lot has been said about how Neil might have lost part of his muse when he lost Briggs, though sadly that is also clear listening again. Ever since Neil I feel has relied too much and too often on the just plug in and play approach that was first tested ironically here with Piece of Crap. Sleeps with Angels is very much so a studio record and feels and sounds like the product of one of those long experimental spells in the studio that started with The Beatles in the 60s and maybe ended with Radiohead at the millennium. The timing for Neil was perfect too, it was late enough after the 80s to not go over the top with studio sounds, drum machines, synths etc, and still early enough to have the enormous music industry support that allowed bands to really indulge themselves making a record.

I guess that is it, Neil has always blown with the wind of his own muse, though back then there was also an entire industry and experienced team that in this prime of his life blew behind him too.

Much thanks for sharing your thoughts here David!

The late David Briggs was Neil Young's producer on several key albums including Tonight's The Night, Zuma and Ragged Glory. Briggs' influence on the recording process has been lauded as a major contributing factor to Neil Young's recording success bringing a unique "discipline" to the process.

Neil Young and Producer David Briggs, 1995
Photo by Pegi Young

"How Survivals, Grief and Legacies Unfold in American Music"
by Caryn Rose @ 2019 Pop Conference at MoPop - Seattle

See David Briggs and Neil Young: "How Survivals, Grief and Legacies Unfold in American Music".

Also, see:

• Friends of Neil: David Briggs
• Comment of the Moment: Producer David Briggs and Neil Young
• David Briggs in Memorium
• David Briggs Obituary - NY Times, 12/3/95
• Interview with Elliot Roberts on working with David Briggs

"Sleeps With Angels" Film Now Playing on #3 | Neil Young Archives
See https://t.co/YQSQlIC61M
☮️♥️@NeilYoungNYA @CrazyHorse4HOF @Nirvana pic.twitter.com/TtHLaVmQz3

— ThrashersWheat (@ThrashersWheat) July 11, 2020

not!

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NEW SCREEN ADDED: 'Sleeps With Angels" Film Now Playing on #3 | Neil Young Archives

Sleeps With Angels - Directed by LA Johnson
via Subscriber News | NYA

That Neil. He just keeps giving and giving.

Yet another theater has been added to Neil Young Archives -- bringing the total to 3 screens -- a virtual multi-plex, if you will. The latest development on Subscriber News | NYA is the film Sleeps With Angels, directed by LA Johnson and running about 31 minutes.

Neil writes:

This is a document of that album I want to share with NYA Subscribers to show my thanks for all your support. More Subscriber Features will be coming soon.

Enjoy!

The documentary film is a work progress left uncompleted by the sudden death of LA Johnson in 2010.

Sleeps With Angels

Directed by LA Johnson

On The New Subscriber Features Screen in the Hearse Theater

This is a document of that album I want to share with NYA Subscribers to show my thanks for all your support. More Subscriber Features will be coming soon.

Enjoy! pic.twitter.com/O0uNWZcvUY

— Neil Young Archives (@NeilYoungNYA) July 10, 2020

Larry "L.A." Johnson: 1947 - 2010

Neil Young and Producer David Briggs, 1995
Photo by Pegi Young
(Click photo to enlarge)(See David Briggs and Neil Young: "How Survivals, Grief and Legacies Unfold in American Music")

Sleeps With Angels: Neil Young, Crazy Horse
(See Neil Young Album Reviews:
Sleeps With Angels + Preview Tracks)
all of which is "too late, too soon" ...

He Sleeps With Angels

Kurt Cobain and Neil Young

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David Briggs and Neil Young: "How Survivals, Grief and Legacies Unfold in American Music" by Caryn Rose

"How Survivals, Grief and Legacies Unfold in American Music"
by Caryn Rose @ 2019 Pop Conference at MoPop - Seattle

The late David Briggs was Neil Young's producer on several key albums including Tonight's The Night, Zuma and Ragged Glory. Briggs' influence on the recording process has been lauded as a major contributing factor to Neil Young's recording success bringing a unique "discipline" to the process.

David Briggs and Neil Young make for an interesting intersection at this year's 2019 Pop Conference at MoPop for the conference theme "How Survivals, Grief and Legacies Unfold in American Music" by Caryn Rose.

Only You and Your Ghost Will Know: Music, Death and Afterlife
2019 Pop Conference at MoPop

Caryn Rose is a music writer, crabby old punk rock lady writing for P4K, Pollstar, Vulture, NPR and Salon. Caryn's session on David Briggs and Neil Young addresses “Growing Up In Public: Musicians Processing Loss in Modern Times.”

The David Briggs and Neil Young section begins at ~4:00.


‏
Caryn Rose's thesis centers on the 1996 "The Year of the Horse" concept which came from longtime Neil Young and Crazy Horse producer David Briggs:

"Probably more the fifth member of Crazy Horse than anybody could ever be," says Frank "Poncho" Sampedro. Shortly before his death in November of 1995, Briggs was looking ahead to the coming year and told Young, "This is the Year of the Horse ." According to Young, Briggs also told him: "All you have to do now is get closer to the source. Keep getting purer and purer."

(source: official Crazy Horse Reprise Records Biography, May, 1997. PR for Year of The Horse, directed by Jim Jarmusch.)

Year of the Horse
Neil Young & Crazy Horse

On the meaning of tribute, the collective experience of death, and how musicians mourn their own. Brilliance at #popcon2019 with @carynrose and @anniezaleski pic.twitter.com/GoDUs9QltU

— Michelle Villegas Threadgould (@Mthreadgould) April 13, 2019

From symposium agenda Only You and Your Ghost Will Know: Music, Death and Afterlife
2019 Pop Conference at MoPop:

Popular music has long been centrally concerned with death and the afterlife.

Songs, recordings, and musical traditions have expressed both mourning and celebration and have—in some cases—helped envision the possibilities of a continued existence where “death is not the end.” From gospel to metal and beyond, music pays tribute to the departed, offers opportunities for ceremony and commemoration, and helps to process tragedies both personal and public. It even blurs the boundaries between states of life and death, offering sonic and symbolic evidence for hauntings, purgatories, and the continued presence of ancestors in the lives of the earthbound. Genres, formats, and media exist in a continual process of transformation, decay, and re-emergence—and boost both active artists and defunct (or deceased) ones. Songs and performances are reborn through new versions, different contexts, and changing relationships with audiences.

Beyond this, pop music cycles through its own series of “deaths” and “afterlives.” The work of the deceased is remixed, reclaimed, and reconstituted by new generations of musicians, scholars, compilers, and fan communities, while record companies, museums, tourist sites, and others preserve, profit from, and sometimes fetishize their memory. (These commemorations have taken on a distinctively digital character in the era of social media, YouTube, holograms, and the continued use of sampling.) And pop music—in its many forms—offers a cultural afterlife for sounds and populations that have been dispersed and displaced, helping to form new communities and maintain connections to those that have been lost.

While a constant concern, recent years have only amplified these dynamics. A wave of prominent musician deaths, from David Bowie to Aretha Franklin, has amplified conversations over music’s relationship to mortality and the nature of fan mourning in the digital age. (Some of these attempts, like the proposed use of a Prince hologram at the 2017 Super Bowl, have been greeted with controversy.) Public tragedies from killings marked by #BlackLivesMatter memorials to ongoing refugee crises have been suffused with music as both sustenance and response, while the rise of mass shootings at music venues from Paris to the Pulse nightclub provoked specific responses from affected artists and audiences as well as a broader championing of music as a means of memorial and healing. And, across genre and language, music continues to contend with the questions of life, death, and potential resurrection as a central subject matter and metaphor for conversations ranging from the economics of streaming to the health of genres like country and hip-hop.

Neil Young and Producer David Briggs, 1995
Photo by Pegi Young
(Click photo to enlarge)
Also, see:

• Friends of Neil: David Briggs
• Comment of the Moment: Producer David Briggs and Neil Young
• David Briggs in Memorium
• David Briggs Obituary - NY Times, 12/3/95
• Interview with Elliot Roberts on working with David Briggs

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Comment of the Moment: Producer David Briggs and Neil Young

Neil Young and Producer David Briggs, 1995
Photo by Pegi Young
(Click photo to enlarge)
Over the years since Producer David Briggs passed away, there has been much discussion of Neil Young's subsequent albums which have been "Briggs-less".

Much of this discussion is on the theme of "If David Briggs had produced the album [insert title, say "Peace Trail"], then it would have turned out more like [insert title of Briggs produced album]."

As folks have observed here on Thrasher's Wheat before, even the strongest sword blade needs sharpening at times.

And that's what Briggs was for Neil, the sharpening stone, the honest critic, the unbiased judge. He let the music speak, and had the talent to detect the subtle changes needed to bring it out fully. It is difficult for someone to have a completely objective take on their own art. They see it only thru the eyes and heart that created it. (Thanks SONY!)

Neil Young's erstwhile Producer David Briggs -- who passed away in 1995 -- was integral to the recording of most of Young's most acclaimed albums beginning with "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere," in 1970. David Briggs also worked on albums with: Spirit, Tom Rush, Nils Lofgren, Steve Young, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and Royal Trux.

Neil Young Albums Produced by David Briggs (Thanks Tom!)

1968 - Neil Young
1969 - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
1970 - After the Gold Rush
1974 - On the Beach
1975 - Tonight's the Night
1975 - Zuma
1977 - American Stars 'N Bars
1978 - Comes a Time
1979 - Rust Never Sleeps
1979 - Live Rust
1981 - Re-ac-tor
1982 - Trans
1985 - Old Ways
1987 - Life
1990 - Ragged Glory
1991 - Weld
1993 - Unplugged
1994 - Sleeps with Angels

From a Neil Young Interview in MOJO Magazine on David Briggs influence:

Neil: "He told me what was wrong with my performance at Bob-Aid (1992 Tribute Concert to Bob Dylan). Everyone else was telling me how great it was. He didn't belabour the fact that it was great. His opinion was: 'Yeah, it was great, OK. It was great BUT forget about that because what was wrong was... this, this and this. You sang it in the wrong key, your voice was too low, the drums weren't tight enough 'til half-way through... No-one'll probably notice but... It's not usable.' (Laughs) And I always listen to what he has to say and take note of it. "

"There certainly weren't any recordings of Neil Young and Crazy Horse that David Briggs wasn't involved in," Joel Bernstein recalled.

Artist James Mazzeo, longtime Neil collaborator said of Briggs:

David Briggs had the capacity to make you feel like an integral part of the whole picture no more or no less than any other part of that picture (or song or Album) than even Neil himself.....Neil (and myself) respected David on the highest of levels when we all were working alongside his illuminations.....David was a brilliant light for all of us to work in.....he could take from us our self doubts and shadows and devour them gone....he was like a black light and the best of us came forth and glowed in his presence ....i miss David and i send 'Thank you's' to his spirit with every new piece i create.

From a comment on the post "NEW VIDEO: "My Pledge" by Neil Young" by Scotsman:

David Briggs considered every other project he didn't produce to be inferior.

Briggs was known for being quite a gentle and caring man (as well as passionate and opinionated), but alcohol and drugs could (and did) interfere with that from time to time. The thing is not to agree with all his out-spoken opinions, but to recognise the huge influence he had over Neil's work.

In Briggs' words: "If I'm in control, I motivate Neil like nobody else in the world".

Some fans are uncomfortable with Briggs, because they can't relate at all to someone who could be so direct and critical to their hero. They forget that Neil LiKES people like that. People in postitions of power are used to their circle sucking up to them. So when the opposite happens, it's a breath of fresh air.

His real talent was knowing how to produce Neil in away that pushed him into recordng his best music. Briggs didn't produce all of Neil's best records; but he did produce most of them, and his influence is there on all the best ones (even those made since his death). Even Ordinary People is very Briggs-esque in the intense and hard-hitting way it is performed. And the drop off in quality control between Briggs' last Crazy Horse record and the first one without him is notable.

That sense of quality control is something that has been lacking sometimes in recent years. I think it was Jimmy McDononugh who put it memorably as "like cheap chinese parts on a Lionel train". I think in some ways that Neil has become so obsessed with the red herring of audio resolution that he has forgotten there are other types of "Quality" that deserve greater attention. The Monsanto Years doesn't suffer at all from audio resolution; it suffers from (occasionally) half-baked songwriting and band arrangements that are the audio equivalent of wet cardboard. Easy problems to fix; but only if the desire is there to do so.

David Briggs would have fixed these issues. That was his ability, to cut through the nonsense and focus on what mattered. Unfortunately no one else has come along who can take his place. Although Poncho Sampedro seems to inspire Neil in much the same way, as a band member rather than a producer.

Re: Ordinary People. To my ears, Studio version and Jones Beach > Bluenote Cafe. The guitar playing is more exciting on the studio version and Jones Beach versions; there's more a sense of a build up in intensity. But I love Bluenote Cafe in general, and am very glad it eventually got released.

I think the bottom line is that Briggs was a strong personality, and he had the rock 'n' roll attitude. When you are making rock n roll records, those attributes tend to provoke exactly the sort of chemical reaction required to create magic. And of course, Briggs's greatest fan is Neil himself, who dedicates much of Waging Heavy Peace to him in the most reverential of ways. As Neil notes in the book, although Briggs has gone, he feels it is important that his spirit lives on. He also notes that he hasn't always lived up the Brigg's standards since ("I have failed to do that in some instances").

"Briggs and I made my best records - the transcendent ones....we somehow knew the way".

Reading that, there should be no doubt that the "missing friend who's counsel I can never replace" in No Hidden Path refers to David Briggs.

Scotsman.

Thanks Scotsman as always for well considered comment and context.

David Briggs Interview: WHFS Radio - 1977



As we posted in 2016 when this interview surfaced: Originally broadcast in November of 1977 on WHFS 102.3 FM (Bethesda, MD) program "Aircheck", from the Thom Grooms show. This is an over-the-air broadcast that was recorded (static can be heard). The music from this original broadcast has been removed per the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, however, the interview in it's entirety, and the original WHFS 102.3 FM commercials remain intact.

Also, see:

• Friends of Neil: David Briggs
• David Briggs in Memorium
• David Briggs Obituary - NY Times, 12/3/95
• Interview with Elliot Roberts on working with David Briggs

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David Briggs Interview: WHFS Radio - 1977

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David Briggs was a record producer best known for his work with Neil Young. He also worked on albums with: Spirit, Tom Rush, Nils Lofgren, Steve Young, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and Royal Trux.

Originally broadcast in November of 1977 on WHFS 102.3 FM (Bethesda, MD) program "Aircheck", from the Thom Grooms show. This is an over-the-air broadcast that was recorded (static can be heard). The music from this original broadcast has been removed per the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, however, the interview in it's entirety, and the original WHFS 102.3 FM commercials remain intact.

Also, see Friends of Neil: David Briggs, David Briggs in Memorium , and David Briggs Obituary - NY Times, 12/3/1995.

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Producer David Briggs and Neil Young

Neil Young and Producer David Briggs, 1995
Photo by Pegi Young
(Click photo to enlarge)
Neil Young's erstwhile Producer David Briggs -- who passed away in 1995 -- was integral to the recording of most of Young's most acclaimed albums beginning with "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere," in 1970.

Here's a photo of Neil Young and Producer David Briggs, en route to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in 1995. The photo is by Pegi Young.

From a Neil Young Interview in MOJO Magazine on David Briggs influence:

Neil: "He told me what was wrong with my performance at Bob-Aid (1992 Tribute Concert to Bob Dylan). Everyone else was telling me how great it was. He didn't belabour the fact that it was great. His opinion was: 'Yeah, it was great, OK. It was great BUT forget about that because what was wrong was... this, this and this. You sang it in the wrong key, your voice was too low, the drums weren't tight enough 'til half-way through... No-one'll probably notice but... It's not usable.' (Laughs) And I always listen to what he has to say and take note of it. "

"There certainly weren't any recordings of Neil Young and Crazy Horse that David Briggs wasn't involved in," Joel Bernstein recalled.

Artist James Mazzeo, longtime Neil collaborator said of Briggs:

David Briggs had the capacity to make you feel like an integral part of the whole picture no more or no less than any other part of that picture (or song or Album) than even Neil himself.....Neil (and myself) respected David on the highest of levels when we all were working alongside his illuminations.....David was a brilliant light for all of us to work in.....he could take from us our self doubts and shadows and devour them gone....he was like a black light and the best of us came forth and glowed in his presence ....i miss David and i send 'Thank you's' to his spirit with every new piece i create.

Also, see:

• David Briggs in Memorium
• David Briggs Obituary - NY Times, 12/3/95
• Also, see interview with Elliot Roberts on working with David Briggs.

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