Here’s
one from the archives, from Melody Maker, November 1976. If I remember rightly this
was the show when Young appeared in front of what appeared to be gigantic
speaker cabinets, like the photo below which I found on the internet. This was
the first time I had ever heard ‘Like A Hurricane’, one of Young’s all-time
greatest songs, during which wind machines blew a gale across the stage. It was
one of the great concerts, which I still remember from my last full year on MM, though I seem to have been a bit
uncharitable about Crazy Horse.
Only an artist with the charisma and talent
of Nell Young could perform with a lacklustre band like the current Crazy Horse
and still come through with his head held high. Perhaps I’m being uncharitable
to Young’s most faithful musical allies, but the simple truth is that Young
himself is so damn good he totally obliterates anyone else on stage with him.
At
the first of four sold-out concerts at the Palladium Theatre on Thursday
evening, Young dominated to such an extent that Crazy Horse – Frank Sampedro
(guitar), Billy Talbot (bass), and Ralph Molina (drums) – seemed in awe of
their leader, and were straining to keep up with his energy.
The
show was divided into two halves, acoustic and electric, and the atmosphere was
extremely casual. I’m told that on the current tour Young changes his
repertoire almost every night, often including brand new songs that are
sometimes written hours before each concert, or simply throwing in anything he
likes from his vast recorded catalogue.
Either
way, Thursday night’s show offered eight songs in the first half and ten in the
second, and, because many of the acoustic numbers were drastically abbreviated,
it seemed short by most standards.
In
the opening half-hour he was greatly nonchalant. He strolled on from stage right
in a shabby leather jacket, check shirt and denims, loping around and squinting
through his hair. The first song was new – I think it was called ‘Laughing Lady’
– and it set a tone of simplicity that lasted until the electric set.
Playing
rudimentary guitar, always in the key of G, or vamping at the piano, Young
delivered throwaway versions of ‘Tell Me Why’, ‘After The Goldrush’, ‘Too Far
Gone’ (a new song about a bar in North Carolina), ‘The Needle And The Damage
Done’, ‘A Man Needs A Maid’ and ‘Sugar Mountain’. Each song either faded out or
came to a sticky, informal conclusion, Young grinning away and trading quips
with the noisy audience.
To
be perfectly honest, he reminded me vaguely of Loudon Wainwright as he strained
to hit high notes and jigged from one leg to the other in a rather comical
fashion. That it was spontaneous was obvious; of the five guitars surrounding
him only three were used, a twelve-string and a banjo remaining untouched.
He
encouraged the audience without success to sing along to ‘Sugar Mountain’, and,
obviously disappointed with the response, he quit the stage with a remark about
hoping his electric set would be better received.
It
was. From the opening notes of ‘Are You Ready For The Country’ there was magic
in the air and, although the band were hard-pressed to keep pace, Young was on
fire for the next 60 minutes. It was his guitar work rather than his vocals
that shone; he pumped out effortless solos, making the best possible use of
open string harmonics, maximum reverb and occasional feedback.
Most
of the electric material was either new or from Zuma. The highlight
was a new song called ‘Like A Hurricane’ which combined a strong melody line
with an ascending chord sequence that reached climax after climax. While it was
played, a wind machine at stage right blew across the musicians, creating an
eerie, outdoor effect that harmonised perfectly with the music.
Elsewhere
we had ‘Down By The River’ and ‘Cinnamon Girl’, both powerfully rendered
despite the sluggishness of the rhythm section, and ‘Helpless’, the only let-up
from the constant rock and roll barrage, which featured Young at the piano. On
the other songs he alternated between a black Les Paul for the piercing lead
work and a huge Gretsch White Falcon for the mellower tones.
The
encore was ‘Cortez The Killer’, which featured a lengthy solo introduction from
Young, strings ringing out like cathedral bells in the night. He left the stage
without a second glance at the end.
It
was a wonderful evening, though one can’t help wondering how much better it
could have been had Young been challenged by his accompanists. Still, even
though the rest of his sometime musical colleagues (Stills or Crosby &
Nash) surround themselves with the finest session talent available, Young’s
choice of a simpler, more direct approach constantly produces better music. A
live album is badly needed.
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