They’re remembering what worked in the past, looking to the future, and by the end of the show, “Like a Hurricane” and “Cortez the Killer” soar as high as they ever have.
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“That was our Vegas ending,” Young laughingly explains after an extended rendition of “Don’t Cry No Tears.” The Ragged Glory tracks all seem to reach as high as “Country Home,” between the concise self-judgements of “F!#in' Up” and “Mansion on the Hill” and the lengthy, radiant jams on “Over and Over” and “Love and Only Love.”īack to the question: does this entry in the Neil Young Archives Performance Series (it’s “Volume 11.5”) serve a purpose? What does Way Down in the Rust Bucket have going for it that Weld doesn’t? The answer is: the sound of a great band waking up. But in almost all cases, Crazy Horse’s looseness translates into charm. “Sedan Delivery” is a rough ride as well the band falls flat when trying to keep up with all the song’s rhythmic jumps. “Danger Bird” drags, held back by some seriously clunky backing vocals. Not quite all the older songs fare as well. Even “T-Bone,” hard to sit through in its original incarnation on 1981’s Reactor, somehow hits its mark here. Gritty oddities “Bite the Bullet” and “Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze,” both dating back to earlier, stranger Crazy Horse eras, are delivered with fire fully intact. The lyrics almost seem to catch the narrator of “Country Home'' at an earlier point in life, stoned, dozing off in his car, dreaming of the life he’d eventually find. “Roll Another Number (For the Road),” a laid-back country number and live staple of various Young bands since 1973, fits like a glove. Album opener “Country Home,” an only-slightly-melancholy ode to the benefits of having “Somewhere I can walk alone / to leave myself behind,” showcases a band that couldn’t wait to play, hitting the nail on the head with heavenly vocal harmonies and a series of gleeful guitar solos.
They lean into the new material, and with good reason: they sound like they’re having an incredible amount of fun. The set was recorded on Novemduring a short run at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz, CA.
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For all its connections to Weld, the loose charm of Ragged Glory is still in full force. Way Down in the Rust Bucket is what came in between. The band was reinvigorated, and subsequent tour document Weld shows that they quickly tightened up and settled into a huge, monolithic sound. They banged out the album Ragged Glory, a loud and loose collection featuring garage rock nugget “Farmer John” and a strong, introspective set of Young originals. This time around, they played to their strengths: Young and Frank “Poncho” Sampedro on guitars, Billy Talbot on bass, Ralph Molina on drums, and all on vocals. When they’d last joined forces, Young had saddled them with unfamiliar keyboards and MIDI instruments. Neil Young was riding a popular resurgence that began with 1989’s anthemic Freedom, and he looked to his on-again, off-again backing band to carry him further. But, as is often the case on a journey through Young’s past, a little context doesn’t hurt.ġ990 was a comeback year for Crazy Horse. In some ways, these versions aren’t quite as commanding than the ones that were released at the time. No fewer than nine of its songs reappear here. The detail-oriented listener will note that Way Down in the Rust Bucket has a lot in common with Weld. The tour itself, which saw the band reach new heights of volume and precision, was chronicled twice before: on the Sonic Youth-inspired, “you-gotta-hear-it” sound collage album Arc, and on the roaring, all-time classic live album Weld.
By Will Henriksen ( release of Way Down in the Rust Bucket, the latest in Neil Young’s absolute barrage of archival albums and box sets, raises a recurring question: who really needs to hear all these recordings? This 2 ½ hour set covers a November 1990 warm-up gig for Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s 1991 North America tour.
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