The Ducks Flew High in Santa Cruz '77
Neil Young's Bootleg Series Disc 2 is hard rocking' fun
Ducks aren't an endangered species but in 2023 feedback drenched, electric guitar driven 4/4 rock music so popular in the 1970s seems to be just about over, Jack White and a few others notwithstanding. While Crazy Horse is Neil Young's best known live collaborator, the Ducks prove they are equally worthy on this adrenaline producing 3 LP live set recorded summer, 1977, Santa Cruz, California—and the sound recorded by Tim Mulligan is remarkably hi-fi "live" yet intimate.
The Ducks were Young, Moby Grape alumnus bassist Bob Mosley, guitarist Jeff Blackburn and drummer Johnny Craviotto. Part of the magic here is that they all vocalized and the rest is that they all played maniacally hard, driven by Mosley's ferocious, insistent bass lines and Craviotto's no holding back, hard pounding drumming. Wailing feedback guitar screams and well-meshed but pleasingly ragged multipart harmonies, produced a manic sound that was sort of Crazy Horse meets CCR meets Moby Grape on speed (though it's possible that the Grape were always on speed). Whatever these guys were on or not on, "high flyin'" perfectly describes the music on this three record set, which veers from country-rock, to blues-rock, to just plain rock. No keyboards involved.
Sadly only Young (77) and Mosley (80) are still with us. Drummer Craviotto passed away in 2016, age 69. He went on to found a successful Nashville-based drum manufacturing company. Guitarist Blackburn was involved in the production of this record but died this past January 5th at age 77 just a few months before the album was released, though it was originally scheduled for 2020. He's also credited with writing the immortal lines "It's better to burn out than to fade away" that Young incorporated into "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)"
Fans of Young with Crazy Horse will definitely want to pick up this one. It's anything but "second rate Crazy Horse" or leftovers from an abandoned project. What it is, is young men playing rock and roll with youthful energy and abandon sure to get the adrenalin pumping in the veins of aging rockers and among young people sorry they missed out on this musically exciting time.
Young of late has pumped out a large volume of records, some great and some mediocre. This is one of the greats. It's got the ferocity of Buffalo Springfield (the "Mr. Soul" below should make that clear), plus the crunchy wall of guitar sound perfected by Crazy Horse plus a rare occasion where Neil Young blends in with a band instead of leading or dominating it. He's also in fine voice and the recording is "you are there" immediate analog multitrack to digital mix down you're sure to enjoy cranked up club level loud.
