Neil Young and Crazy Horse have saddled up for another ride on the dusty trail of rock and roll. 1969 saw the beginning for Crazy Horse. Initially starting as the doo wop group Danny & the Memories, the band morphed through several incarnations before settling on the moniker of Crazy Horse. While performing as The Rockets at The Whiskey A Go Go they were joined by Young for a live jam. Young used the The Rockets as his backing band on 1969’s Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere which produced the hit Cinnamon Girl and provided background for the song Running Dry (Requiem for the Rockets).Thus began a musical journey that would last more than fifty years. Flash forward to August 30th 2019 Young and company release the single Milky Way from the new album Colorado. Slated for release October 25th Colorado will be the newest addition since 2012’s Psychedelic Pill.
On first listen Milky Way has a tight over driven dreamy sound to the track. It begins with a sparse intro that leads into the main melody. Young’s vocal sounds rusty and creaky like one of his old hot rods. Recounting a chance meeting with a woman, Young dances through the past and delivers us to the present and freedom. The years pour out and cover the listener in a layer of experience only time and a life lived can deliver. All the guitars and rhythm sections are stripped down to the bare minimum. Trademark harmonies and jamming round out the track adding to this familiar flavor. Recorded at “Studio in the Clouds”, located in Telluride Colorado creates a back drop for the organic sounds present in this track. “Billy Talbot, Ralph Molina, return joined by multi-instrumentalist Nils Lofgren to fill in for long time guitar player Frank “Poncho” Sampedro. Lofgren first played for Young at the age of 19 on After The Gold Rush. Known for playing with Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, Lofgren was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. This will will be the first time Lofgren returns as a backing band member since the Trans tour in 1982.
Dave Dembitsky
Contributing Writer at Custom Made Music
