MINT SHRINK 1971 Orig CRAZY HORSE 1st Neil Young

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1971 ORIGINAL ~ MINT in SHRINK WRAP!                                 

            CRAZY  HORSE

\                                                            USA - Reprise - RS 6438 

1971 Original first pressing VINYL in shrink wrap and clean M-

For the recording of this album in the fall of 1970, they recruited fretboard virtuoso Ry Cooder, who had worked previously with Nitzsche on sessions for the Stones, adding his talents to three tracks. The album contains strong compositions from four principal writers, the fourth being Young, the band covering his "Dance Dance Dance," which had yet to see an official version by Young himself.

This hard-rocking little gem features a supergroup of sidemen working at a high level of skill and passion. Crazy Horse was Neil Young's backup group--the original group, which was comprised of Danny Whitten on guitar, Billy Talbot on bass, and Ralph Molina on drums. For this album, however, they added three significant ringers: Nils Lofgren, who had played on Neil's "After the Goldrush" album, and would eventually have a solo career before joining Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band; Ry Cooder, the famed slide guitarist who played with the Captain Beefheart & The Rolling Stones; and Jack Nitzche, who (among other things) was an arranger for Phil Spector, had his own hit in the early 60s with the lushly orchestrated "Lonely Surfer," and helped Neil Young assemble two of his greatest Buffalo Springfield tunes, "Broken Arrow" and "Expecting to Fly."

Shortly after this album came out, Danny Whitten died of a drug/alcohol reaction--one of the two premature deaths documented on Young's "Tonight's the Night." The degrees of separation, ranging from the early 60s girl groups to "The Rising," span much of U.S. rock and roll history--which all seems to come together in one place, on this unassuming little album full of deceptively simple, great tunes.

It opens with a churning version of an obscure Randy Newman song, "Gone Dead Train," that sturdily rocks you toward the one Neil Young cover, "Dance Dance Dance," a rural song with fine melody.  The first of several Whitten originals, "Look at All the Things," establishes his primary mode--simple tales of heartache. It's simple stuff, but it holds up, and works well in a rock band context. "Look at All the Things," for example, has a very cool vocal arrangement that has a Mozart-like echoing effect. After a Nils Lofgen tune, the psychedelic "Beggars Day," another Whitten song appears, the classic "I Don't Want to Talk About it." This tune, played here with Cooder's slide guitar accompanying the lovely little acoustic rhythm figure, is vivid and emotionally delicate. As you may recognize, this is the original version of a tune that Rod Stewart covered some years later with much success. Crazy Horse's version, however, is much better.

It's followed by "Downtown," a song that appears to be about scoring drugs. In what was meant to be an ominous gesture, Young put a version of the same song on "Tonight's the Night." But on this album, it sounds like an anthem of joy: "Come on baby let's go downtown, let's go let's go let's go downtown/ Come on baby, let me turn you around now, turn you turn you turn you around!"

Of the remaining songs, "Carolay" is a highlight--the connection with Phil Spector made explicitly with the urgent piano opening that sounds like a flipped-over version of "Doo Doo Ron Ron." Also very good is the bluesy "Crow Jane Lady," the one song written and performed by Nitzche--a weird but enjoyable finale.

At the time he died, Whitten was mourned more as a tragic life cut short by substance abuse, and not so much as an artist of consequence whose work would be missed. And, with the passage of time, you realize that the world is indeed a poorer place for the loss of Danny Whitten, the songwriter who gave us "I Don't Want to Talk About it," "Downtown" and "Carolay." As the years since then have shown, there is nothing easy about writing a great rock song.

2. Danny Whitten, guitars, lead and backing vocals
3. Billy Talbot, bass, backing vocals
4. Ralph Molina, drums, backing vocals, lead vocal on "Dance Dance Dance"
5. Nils Lofgren, guitars, backing vocals, lead vocal on "Beggar's Day"
6. Jack Nitzsche, piano, backing vocals, lead vocal on "
9. Crow Jane Lady"
10. "Gone Dead Train" (Nitzsche, Titelman) – 4:06
11. "Dance Dance Dance" (Neil Young) – 2:10
12. "Look at All the Things" (Whitten) – 3:13
13. "Beggar's Day" (Lofgren) – 4:28
14. "I Don't Want to Talk About It" (Whitten) – 5:18
15. "Downtown" (Whitten, Young) – 3:14
16. "Carolay" (Nitzsche, Titelman) – 2:52
17. "Dirty, Dirty" (Whitten) – 3:31
18. "Nobody" (Lofgren) – 2:35
19. "I'll Get By" (Whitten) – 3:08
20. "Crow Jane Lady" (Nitzsche) – 4:24

CONDITION: The textured thick cover is solid being in shrink wrap, M- ...no problems other than a small delete at top left, otherwise tops for a cover that usually is found with wear. 

The vinyl is all glossy clean, M-                            

      A cool addition to anyone's music library!

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EFFICIENT/CAREFUL GRADING

All imperfections are noted both cover & record