neil young

Thanks to that host intros Twitter account, I went looking for info about the actual shows themselves, and I happened on this blog: https://www.onesnladay.com/reviews/, which goes over each episode in pretty good detail (excepting, sadly, most of the music) with many blanks being filled in by that rarest of internet beasts, the Quality Comments Section.

One of my big takeaways from it that I hadn't really realized before was how much chicanery goes into even first-run SNL reruns, anything from 'correcting' musical performances like Neil's and minor edits to sketches to replacing live takes with ones from dress rehearsal (or editing hybrid 'Frankenstein' takes from both) and rearranging the running order of bits.

Does he break almost every string on his guitar in the retake version?

This was the part that stuck with me for 30+ years, the way he yanked all the strings off the guitar at the end of the song. Non-guitarist me immediately thought, "I bet that hurt like a motherfucker."

There's a bunch of different SNL rehearsal bits up on YT, including the dress rehearsal versions of Neil in '89 (including an exclusive "Needle &..." prefacing a nice "No More"):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHs_f063EzQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiey2l4mLBc

Non-guitarist me immediately thought, "I bet that hurt like a motherfucker."

He used the Bigsby tremolo arm to yank the strings off. That said, as a guitarist, I would be far too afraid of a string hitting me in the eye to try something like that.

i hadn't seen the rehearsal performances before! they're just as good if not better than the broadcast ones, so excellent to get some more! how long were Jordan and Drayton in the band? not that long, right?

They were brought in from Keith Richards' X-Pensive Winos for the taping, as Chad Cromwell & Rick Rojas were out on the road with other acts. Supposedly there's a studio take of "Fuckin' Up" by this band in vault somewhere, but any further recordings were derailed by people blowing off sessions.

Basically that day & night on SNL was it for that band.

retire while you're on top imo

Another thing was that by the time of the taping, David Briggs had returned to the fold, edging out Niko Bolas (who put that SNL band together) and setting the wheels in motion for a reunion with Crazy Horse and the whole Ragged Glory/Weld album-tour cycle.

retire while you're on top imo

Unfortunately, they never addressed "Doghouse".

While I trust Bob Dylan’s (and/or Tony Garnier’s) impeccable taste in assembling a band, it’s rare that I’m excited about whoever’s in his touring band that year. But I am very much looking forward to seeing Bob next week knowing that Charley Drayton is his current drummer.

Oh yeah. In the latest Flaggin' Down The Double E's (Dylan show download newsletter) that I've received, guest commentator and field correspondent Jon Wurster reports:

Knoxville was my first show of this tour and I didn’t want any spoilers, so I chose not to listen to any recordings of earlier concerts. I was aware that there had been a couple lineup changes since those November 2019 shows. Charlie Sexton, now out with Elvis Costello, had been replaced by Patty Griffin/John Hiatt guitarist Doug Lancio. Matt Chamberlain is one of the greatest drummers of the modern era, and I was sorry to hear that he would not be participating on this run. Any concerns I had about the change behind the drums disappeared when I learned Charley Drayton was the new kid in town.

My favorite drummer (Steve Jordan) is playing with the Stones, and my second favorite drummer is now with Dylan? If Topper Headon joins the Replacements I’ll know this has all just been a beautiful fever dream. Charley is one of those rare drummers (like Jordan, Alex Van Halen and Charlie Watts) whose feel and snare drum sound are instantly recognizable and one-of-a-kind. The Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself”? That’s Charley. The Replacements’ “Merry Go Round”? Charley. “Love Shack”? Charley, too. AND he’s the bassist for what might be the greatest televised rock ‘n’ roll performance in the history of Earth. (links to xpost SNL vids)
...Dylan seems to thrive on chaos, and Knoxville had several great chaotic moments, particularly during a somewhat extended “Most Likely You Go Your Way.”

I couldn’t take my eyes off Tony Garnier as he studied Bob’s hands to see where they might next land on the piano keyboard. Charley, who really impressed me later in the show with subtle brush work and understated-yet-driving, Kenny Buttrey-style drumming, broke into surprised smiles several times during “Most Likely” as he reacted to where Bob was taking the song...

To check this newsletter out:
https://dylanlive.substack.com

One of the best things about those SNL clips is Neil & Poncho's brilliant onstage chemistry with Drayton.

to replacing live takes with ones from dress rehearsal (or editing hybrid 'Frankenstein' takes from both)

Friend made of dead people?

Wake up, smell coffee!

This was the part that stuck with me for 30+ years, the way he yanked all the strings off the guitar at the end of the song. Non-guitarist me immediately thought, "I bet that hurt like a motherfucker."

Would have seen some blood and severed fingers had Poncho tried to rip out his own guitar's practically piano wire strings.

I couldn’t seem to see the string ripping incident in the posted video. Was it edited out?

I don’t remember the string ripping but I do remember the last 10 minutes of him playing without strings and thinking every other rock musician currently alive is a total poser

It's at the very end of the performance, right before they would have cut to the bumper.

Just now at the library, I saw a nearly full-page review pf Barn, in print ed. of Wall Street Journal---otherwise prob behind paywall, but gist is that Mark Richardson really likes it, while remaining disappointed by brevity of the most rockin' tracks: album good, not great, because doesn't cut loose. (Reminds me of xgau on Reactor: Ain't got no takeoff. B+)

oh, now I also see that he gave Rust Bucket an A minus, but that review is subscription-only, so I'll live without it.

Looking back at Buffalo Springfield debut:
....Strangely, it remains one of the worst produced but greatest albums you’ll ever hear in what is undeniably a product of its time.

The album touches on every human emotion possible and is electrified, downbeat, hazy and abrupt, and for this reason, it is one of the definitive albums of the era.
What other albums are the worst produced but greatest? (Also sounds like a bootleg)
Good on Mick McStarkey:
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/stephen-stills-neil-young-buffalo-springfields-debut-albu

Husker Du albums maybe

Tim

I know Neil regards the mono version of Buffalo Springfield as the authentic version, but even the stereo version isn't that badly produced compared to what else was around in 1966.

stooges albums

The original Cale mixes of the first Stooges album show how bad it could have sounded, with handclaps louder than the guitars and the treble turned right up.

Springsteen's "Nebraska"?

Countless indie label albums from the punk era through the '80s. Sly & the Family Stone's "There's a Riot Goin' On" which even had its physical multitrack worn down because Sly dubbed and erased shit on it over and over again while he was making it.

IIRC Prince's "Dirty Mind" was put together from recordings that were originally intended as demos or that WB mistook for demos. It doesn't sound like a poor recording to me but it's not really hi-fi either, especially for a major label album.

80s SST records are the worst, which is even more frustrating due to Ginn's stranglehold on 'em that apparently makes it impossible for them to revert back to the artists so they can elect to reissue and / or remaster them. Can you imagine a remastered Zen Arcade, Flip Your Wig, or New Day Rising? I'd line up at midnight for that. Anyway, sorry to derail.

I'm gonna buy Barn, probably. I like the most recent preview song a lot more than the previous two.

80s SST records are the worst, which is even more frustrating due to Ginn's stranglehold on 'em that apparently makes it impossible for them to revert back to the artists so they can elect to reissue and / or remaster them. Can you imagine a remastered Zen Arcade, Flip Your Wig, or New Day Rising? I'd line up at midnight for that. Anyway, sorry to derail.

I remember talking to Carducci for my Black Flag book and arguing that the catalogue really needed remastering, etc, and he was adamant that those records sound perfect and didn't need any work whatsoever. And when I spoke to Bob last year, his take was that it would be too much effort and legal wrangling to get the Huskers tapes from Greg, that he hasn't the heart or stomach for it, that the music is out there available on streaming, tc, and that the box set a couple of years back will be the last word on historical Husker material coming out. Breaks my heart tbh.

Man that sucks. I wonder what happens when Greg's gone and whether it would make it easier for Bob et al to get back their catalog if they're still around?

Re: the Hüsker Dü SST studio LP's, I usually take some off the top and maybe add a bit around the bass. Seems to help a lot - warmer with more body and more oomph.

those records sound perfect and didn't need any work whatsoever

I agree with this 100%

that being said I wish Ginn would hurry up and die so something can be done about legit reissues

I mean I think if you change the sound of those records they become different records. But the CDs are very quiet and sound considerably underwhelming next to the OG vinyl.

I've only ever heard Zen Arcade on vinyl, but it does sound markedly better than the CD. Feel like the Warner Bros CDs don't sound that much better than the SST albums, tbh.

man id love to remix 3 Way Tie For Last myself!! new song is crackin! nils is lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AuZ1Gqtsac

I've only ever heard Zen Arcade on vinyl, but it does sound markedly better than the CD.

Wait, what?

Old Horse

xp yes we've been through this in exhausting detail on the Husker thread and that is the general consensus, which I agree with

( I have an OG 1984 2LP and a CD rip to compare)

I mean, I wouldn't say it's like some audiophiles wet dream and I'm not listening to it on a $15,000 system or anything, but the LP does sound a lot better to my ears than the CD.

Neil clickbait

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/neil-young-full-moon_n_61afd6d1e4b02df7c6addf3c

Barn is unexpectedly enjoyable. "They Might Be Lost" is maybe one of a few 00s and onwards songs of his that I think has some longevity. Almost feels like it should've been a Nick Cave track.

there must have been some sort of anti-minneapolis crusade in the cd mastering biz, because the vast majority of Prince cds also sounded like shit compared to the vinyl

Yeah I really like Barn! This is way better than I expected, it's not a slam dunk and there are a couple of clunkers, but I didn't expect it to be as subtle and pretty as it was for the Horse. Yeah I wish they cut loose a few more times, but this is probably about as good as I might expect given his last few years of new output.

bunch of good stuff on the archives site lately — amazing film of the acoustic "shots" from the boarding house in 1978, a beautiful 1987 solo session called Summer Songs, and a killer 1993 show in London with Booker T and the MGs.

Any rumblings of Summer Songs getting a physical release?

Ha, nevermind, just saw that it's slated to be in Archives III. God would I love the mid-2022 date for that thing to be real.

lol yeah. but who knows, it's not vinyl, so maybe it'll happen. seems like it'll be a beast, covering more than 10 years. Almost would prefer that he split it up, but Neil likes big things.

When I told my brother about Summer Songs, he did an imitation of Neil rummaging through his archives, clearing away piles of junk..."What's this...oh, it's an album!"