Early "Daze" Neil & Crazy Horse with Jack Nitzsche Is a Great Horse Compilation

yes, mostly for hardcore fans

It seems like the only notifications in my inbox that come more often than Democratic Party money begs are Warner Records announcements of new Neil Young Archive releases. It's hard to keep up and so many are so good. Very little filler. There are 198 tracks in the upcoming Archives Vol. III (1976-1987) and I'v been sorting through that, though there won't be vinyl. Understandable!

This recent one deserves your attention if you're a true Neil and Crazy Horse fan. It's the 1968-1969 Horse with Whitten, Molina, Talbot Young and Jack Nitzsche. So pure. The gatefold says most of it, what's in the grooves the rest!

The tube overdrive, crisply delivered in 4/4, guitar, bass, piano delivering a holy racket of fuzz fun. There's are unreleased studio versions of "Wonderin'", "Come on Baby Let's Go Downtown", "Helpless", "Look At All the Things"", "Down By the River" and a mono mix of "Cinnamon Girl" including a guitar outdo not on the LP version, all sounding great, "mastered from original analog tapes", which is not 100% clear but you won't care because the sound is pure whatever the mix down was. There's an unreleased stereo mix of "Birds", the mono mix of which was the "B" side of "Only Love Can Break Your Heart". That's seven of the ten but that's enough to get the picture!

Pure rock'n'roll, so crisply delivered. A dying art form that's deceptively simple yet requires serious discipline to get right. Maybe that's why it's not being done anymore. Regardless, this set distills Crazy Horse down to its essence and for some reason of all of the recent Young Archive releases, it's the one that's spent the most time on my turntable (Neil's is a Technics SL1000R by the way).

Even if you have a wall of Neil, or especially if you do, this is good one not to be missed. Visit the Neil Young Archives.

Music Specifications

Catalog No: 09362485082

Pressing Plant: GZ Affiliate

Speed/RPM: 33 1/3

Weight: 140 grams

Size: 12"

Channels: Stereo

Presentation: Single LP

Comments

2024-08-16 02:30:45 AM

Jeff 'Glotz' Glotzer wrote:

Yeah, this one is a lot of FUN! It's for those that wanted to know what came before 'Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere' and it grooves sort of like it but not exactly, which is very fresh. It certainly feels like a great lost album.

The absolute sneaker of a favorite is "Look At All The Things" sung by Danny Whitten... Oooh, you can tell again how he meshed with Neil so well. Infectious!

Flat, noiseless and concentric. (Oh man, it's so nice when that happens.) The sound is every inch a 9 and it's mind boggling how close to master tape or a live mic feed, cause this transparency should not happen in the 60's less crazy budgets or Sunset Sound Recorders. The clear vinyl is how I want vinyl from now on, but yeah it's question mark on visual dust cues for dry cleaning (which are obvious on black).

The packaging is very smooth in the way that soft brushed Neil Young jackets feel. I could do without the poster and a lower price, but if Darryl Hannah came up with the packaging I rescind any criticism. I do expect a more lavish amount of packaging from Neil- and cost. But my desire to for him to go back to 180gm or 200gm pressings like on the Archives LP boxes is more important to me. Recently, it's seemed to be 150gm on the last 7+ releases. Small issue.
- 2024-08-16 12:53:09 PM
  
  Lemon Curry wrote:
  
  Well said. I have it and the quality is superb, as is it on all the archive releases, and I have a few.
  
  They are starting to get to the back of the fridge with leftovers, but even so at least half of what's here is very good. And it's The Horse, so you gotta get it! One thing I got from this LP is how different so much Neil Young output from the 70s (and beyond) if Danny Whitten hadn't checked out. He's got a bold voice with a country twang, and when he harmonizes with Neil it is SO different than what we've grown used to. Can u imagine him on Ragged Glory? So terribly sad...
  
  ...but at this time, he was there and they sounded great. A must-buy for any NY fan.
2024-08-16 12:38:50 PM

Georges wrote:

Thanks for the review and the laugh in intro. There are a lot of tracks already released in volume 3 of the archives and to my taste also this period is starting to be a little less magical but still fascinating sometimes.
2024-08-16 01:01:40 PM

Tom wrote:

If you are a Neil Young fan, this is mandatory. Great sound and some incredible versions.