NEIL YOUNG ARCHIVES BOX: IT'S REALLY HAPPENING

i think the synth "razor love" was from later — I'm guessing it'll be on that disc entitled "Evolution"

ahh interesting, i figured i misremembered

Yow!

I listened to the Dume disc off of Archives II while driving up the coast and visiting Topanga Beach, Point Dume/Zuma Beach, and El Matador State Beach. Really great music and setting experience. It's put me on a big Neil kick.

I was listening to Somewhere Under the Rainbow, the "official" bootleg of a Tonight's the Night show from England. Neil gives all the regular Miami Beach raps, but he goes on an extended rap about how Bruce Berry lost a guitar and he fired him which leads to his death and overdose. Is Neil transposing what happened with Danny Whitten (sent him home from the tour) to Bruce Berry? Regardless, it's devastating.

According to Shakey, Bruce Berry stole a strat from David Crosby during the Byrds reunion in '73, and Crosby--who'd been led to believe that Berry had it together--fired him. Berry later overdosed on some bad heroin he'd acquired as part of coke deal he set up for another (unnamed) Rock star.

There's a similar story about Danny Whitten stealing a battered acoustic from Danny Hutton from Three Dog Night, who was extra-angry because that was the guitar he'd written his first hit with.

I forgot that from Shakey - it's been a long time since I read it. But given that it's Crosby that fired Berry, it doesn't make sense that Neil is feeling guilty. This is from the Whitten wiki:

Whitten lagged behind, figuring out the rhythm parts, though never in sync with the rest of the group. Young, who had more at stake after the success of After the Gold Rush and Harvest, fired him from the band on November 18, 1972. He gave Whitten $50 ($364 in 2023) and a plane ticket back to Los Angeles. Later that night Whitten died from ingesting a combination of diazepam, which he was taking for severe knee arthritis, and alcohol, which he was using to try to get over his heroin addiction.

Which is almost exactly the story that Neil gives in his rap about Berry, but replacing Whitten not being able to play guitar with Berry losing a guitar. Innaresting.

the 73 byrds reunion didn't tour at all so not sure where Berry was supposed to be stealing from, the studio or Crosby's house? maybe from a Crosby/Nash gig around the same time?

Iirc, it was in the studio during the album sessions, as Berry had been hired as Crosby's personal tech/roadie.

it's all in a short paragraph here btw