Crazy Horse sans Young

i dunno about the rockets alb tho, i didnt even know there was one.

just picked up a nice copy of the first album...so good..danny whitten was really a huge loss : (

have you heard this?
http://therisingstorm.net/audio/therockets.jpg
(i haven't but i guess it was just reissued ...)

info from other music: Originally released on the White Whale label in 1968, this sole album from the Rockets has existed as a Neil Young footnote for years, as guitarist Danny Whitten, bassist Billy Talbot and drummer Ralph Molina were scooped up to be members of Crazy Horse, leaving the other half of the Rockets in the lurch (or without their lurch, depending on your opinion of the legendary rhythm section). The liner notes here are imbued with melancholy and regret, not only aimed at the tragic death of Whitten but also with what-could-have-been-isms that at times reach almost Pete Best-ian proportions. It's not too hard to see why, though, as they had an embarrassment of riches when it came to songwriting, as every member but one contributes great tracks, and the playing is excellent throughout. Instrumentally, it's Bobby Notkoff's violin that takes a lot of the record to another level, giving everything a sinister, drone that sets it apart from their contemporaries. In the end, the record is very much of the time, but the songs are still solid and a few of them are outright classics -- how have we not been hearing "Mr. Chips" on the radio for the last forty years? And "Pills Blues" and "Stretch Your Skin," not to mention the comedown of "The Eraser," man what a way to finish off the record in untouchable fashion. The album really is stellar and its brightest moments can pretty much stand toe to toe with the best music of the time.

yeah i was gonna order that....do you have the first crazy horse tyler? i def think you need it as much as you are into neil.

yeah, i have that first Whitten Crazy Horse record -- "I Don't Wanna Talk About It"! Yowza. it is pretty sad that he didn't get to make more records -- when I listen to that Fillmore NY & CH live record, it seems like as much Whitten's band/vision as Neil's.

yeah it's weird too, like i'm listening to this and talbot and molina play like WAY better than they do later on, much tighter and funkier rhythm section...like not near as plodding as they can sometimes be w/Neil

it's all the pricey santa cruz weed neil plies them with

http://therisingstorm.net/crazy-horse-crazy-horse/

i'm borderline obsessed w/this song you should be too.

the rhino handmade set is over yonder: http://velhorockeiro.blogspot.com/2008/09/652-crazy-horse-scratchy-complete.html never heard the live record (sans Whitten) ...

I checked out that Rockets album from the public library in town. It's pretty good. Some good songs, some not as good songs, but nothing really blew me away. I like the s/t Crazy Horse better, for sure.

so there's a lot of violin on that Rockets record?

I seem to recall that, yeah. Fiddle-y.

I will step up and say that the Rockets record sort of blew my mind.. I love love love Danny Whitten, and the first track on it ("Hole in my pocket") hit me so hard, just realizing what a great talent he was. It has this natural sloppiness and stream-of-junkie-consciousness thing, with hooks at every turn. His vocals! So much charisma, such a wonderful performer. The fiddle drones pleasantly along the verses, and when the chorus hits, it's the closest you'll ever get to hearing the alternate universe VU where Henry Flynt became a full time member.. The other Whitten songs (mostly the first side) are great to hear, just because he didn't record enough! "Let Me Go" is a remarkable "Foggy Notion" type jam with extended noisy violin solos (i can't get enough of this, personally). (And btw, he's the same violinist from Karen Dalton's In My Own Time, a couple Electric Flag albums, and Michele O'Malley's "lost psychedelic folk masterpiece" Saturn Rings, which i've always really wanted to hear but haven't). The other songwriter in the group had to grow on me, but he steps up for sure -- he's doing a blue-eyed soul thing, but with this lazy cali rocker vibe that makes it unique. So in short, they sound like the Velvets and the Impressions at different turns, and pull it off like no one else ever did.

Besides the first Crazy Horse album, i also really like parts of At Crooked Lake (1972). It's not great all the way through, but the cover is cool and you can find cheap. Greg Leroy's songs on it are just what i want from Crazy Horse -- hardrocking music, coming close to straight country, but hitting a lot heavier and nastier. I especially like "Outside Looking In".. elsewhere there's some nice psychy moments and some heavy Classic Rock type jams that fill it out nicely if you're too blazed to skip to the highlights.

Also: very interesting to compare the Rockets album to what the Buffalo Springfield was doing at the same time.. 1968, the year Last Time Around came out. both sort of 'split personality' records, one with significantly more edge than the other. You can see what Neil was so attracted to...

"Look At All The Things" off the s/t Crazy Horse album w/Whitten is the most gorgeous song, that chorus could go on to infinity if it were up to me

rounds (i think that's the choir term for it) rule! as a vocal thing.

"i don't want to talk about it" is one of my #1 favorite songs of all time

yeah i like that first crazy horse album more and more every time i hear it.

My wife hates Neil's voice so the s/t crazy horse is our compromise pick when I'm in a Neil mood.

Great song from Loose:

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

Also love the Rockets' "Won't You Say You'll Stay."

yeah, Loose is pretty good too! Not as good as first one obviously.
still haven't heard that rockets record, three years later. what the hell is *wrong* with me.

Pretty easy to find.

Not to be confused with the Rockets from Michigan, incl Johnny Bee, they could be damn good too. Considering that Crazy Horse's s/t had Whitten and Nitzche and Lofgren in his very early prime and Ry Cooder and uh Gib Gilbeau, no wonder it was so hard to follow. Re people explosion's mention of Saturn Rings, by Michelle (no O'Malley there, she was going for the big time, a la Donovan, Cher, Oliver), it's no
lost psychedelic masterpiece, but a very listenable blend of spaciness and professionalism, from an assembly of daylighting studio aces/after hours alchemists. Deep in the garden of sunshine and smog,w jingle jangle and mystical convictions eventually shading into paranoid implications, always veering tunefully.(it does veer, mind you). Several, maybe all, tracks on YouTube; this is a nice place to start, and even includes worthy review/bio material:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCfvzYhEq4w

Anyone know why Nils Lofgren's photo never made it onto the sleeve? Hard to believe they couldn't find one laying around somewhere.

Any love for the Talbot solo record from a while back?

I just bought Loose on a RSD binge and it's pretty good! My favorite song was the one Clemenza posted -- All Alone Now. But really most of the album sounds like a lost gem from the era. There are a couple of songs that veer a bit too close to Dead Lite territory, but there are worse things to be. I dunno, I like it even without all the star power.

that rhino handmade come Scratchy is on Spotify

the stuff from the first album is still so great - "Look at All the Things" is stunning

this short instrumental from loose is pretty happening: http://therisingstorm.net/audio/13-And-She-Wont-Even-Blow-Smoke-In-My-Direction.mp3
great title too.

new billy talbot song!
https://youtu.be/Toi7VR5dcI8
kinda good actually. could easily be a neil tune.

I just bought the 1978 album Crazy Moon, which is interesting since unlike Loose and At Crooked Lake, they didn't bring in other members to write and sing. Turns out Pancho, Billy, and Ralph can all do it themselves.

And it's quite enjoyable, some stuff sounding like Neil Young leftovers/knock-offs, partly because Neil plays lead guitar on a few of them. But some tracks go in different directions too, like the nearly Fleetwood Mac-ish pop rock of Ralph's Love Don't Come Easy.

i've never heard that one! i should check it out.
wonder if the Early Daze comp Neil talked about in one of his memoirs will ever see the light of day.