This is what I was up to, twenty years ago tonight. Shit! Another twenty-year old memory. And those are starting to seem like recent memories. At that time, I was employed at the Civic Auditorium in lovely Santa Cruz, working in the Parks and Recreation Office and selling tickets. Tickets to everything. My friends sure did like me when I had that job. One day in late November, I got a call from a pal who had some prime information. Neil Young would "test drive" his latest metamorphosis at the Cocoanut Grove Ballroom. A classic venue, from the glory days at the Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. Long before it was Beach Flats junkie-land. He was to play three nights in a row, and do an early show and late show every night. This sounded insanely good. It had to be a vicious rumor. Had to.I was informed that it was being billed as "The Blue Notes" - with no mention of Neil's name. See, he never advertised his shows in Santa Cruz. He'd just show up and play. And the Neil underground always knew, and the shows always sold out. He began a few of his tours there, and has always had a soft spot for the local fans. Lucky us. My friend's prediction proved true. Once tickets were secured, we just had to wait for the second of November.
I've seen the man many times through the years, and every time he gets through to the core a little bit more. For me, there was something about these Blue Note shows that defined them as some of Neil's best live work ever. That's why his "This Note's For You" release was disappointing. It didn't come close to capturing the power of that amazing sound-live. Neil with a full horn section! Unheard of! Even stranger than the Trans tour. Another of his strange excursions to unfamiliar and surprising musical places. His specialty. He played the same songs in the same order-both sets. He called it "The Blue Note Way." Nobody complained. They sucked it up, in wide-eyed amazement. In keeping with my tendency to post videos that mean something to nobody-but-me, here's Neil and his band performing a song from that same tour, about 6 months later. When we saw him, they opened with this song every night, every set. Sure, he was basically practicing his new tunes on us Santa Cruz fans. Ask me if we cared in the least.
The Band:
Neil Young (vocal, guitar, harmonica),Ben Keith(alto saxophone),
Larry Cragg (baritone saxophone), Steve Lawrence(tenor saxophone),
Claude Cailliet(trombone), Tom Bray (trumpet),John Fumo (trumpet),
Frank Sampedro (organ), Billy Talbot(bass),Ralph Molina (drums).
"Welcome To The Big Room" August 1988
14 comments:
Since I never saw him play these songs live, I really like the album.
When I delivered stock market quotations, I met him once at the airport when he was picking up some gear. That was in '71 and he was extremely nice. That's when I found out where he lived......seemed like he was always popping in to play in small venues, unannounced!
Van Morrison did so too while he was in the bay area.
Great musical memories, eh? ; )
Only seen him live once, back in the 90s...acoustic at the Greek in LA....freaking amazing show.
I only saw him perform live once, and that was back in 1971. I am not familiar with this album (a horn section? yikes!). I love his sound, always have. It's soulful.
I was born in 71, and the Neil Young records were always blaring in my house from as far back as I can remember.
I've never had the priviledge of see Neil Young live.
I've been a fan since I was a kid. Decade gets a lot of turns on my iTunes shuffle mode!
I was oblivious to Neil Young until a few years back and everyone seemed to be talking about when he made that anti-war album. For some reason i thought he was Neil Diamond. I know, i shall sit in the corner and stay quiet now.
my ticket stub is for Nov. 4th
it's alright.....it's alright....
coffee-neil's a gentleman alright.
& seeing van the man at the great american was a definite high point....
mr_g- it's nice to see you back. and that you got to see him at such a fantastic venue. i love his acoustic shows.
(robin-i know what you mean, when we saw neil hit the stage with horns, our heads nearly exploded. he takes chances a lot of people never would, musically.
bobby-"born in '71" wow, what a concept! nice to know your parents had good musical taste and the good sense to let you hear it too.
t&a-it's not to late~maybe you'll catch him in your town one day. he still totally kicks ass, especially for an old guy. decade is definitely good stuff.
lucyp-you get a pass because
a)he was probably a bit before your time, like several other commenter's
&
b) maybe he didn't get the exposure
in your corner of the world that he got in mine, in crazy california?
either way, no worries.
honey-cool! i have the 2nd and the 4th in my stub collection, but can't find the 3rd, damn it! it's bugging me...to a certain degree.
what fun shows those were, and i remember lots of laughs and good times with you. :)i remember sitting in that room with the tables that looked out on the santa cruz wharf, with the moon shining down.
I've only seen him live when he played w/ Crosby, Stills & Nash in Golden Gate Park in 1991, at the tribute to Bill Graham. Brian saw him acoustic at Shoreline for one of the Bridge School benefits though.
I remember buying that album when it came out. I thought it was his first one of the 80s that measured up to a lot of his great 70s stuff. I particularly like the 'Ain't singin' for Pepsi, Won't sing for Coke' stuff...
I had to leave the Blue Notes show two songs into it because my date had a freakout. Pissed me off, though I've seen him several times since. I'm lucky to have recently found a recording of the show.
you lucky woman, you. Neil and Taj....never got to see either one in person. Love 'em both. I know more about Neil, and am always impressed with how authentic he is - untouched, seemingly, by the craziness of 'fame.'
When I lived in Chicago in the 80's I went with some Hockey groupie girls to see the Blackhawks play the Red Wings in Detroit. I thought, what they hey, anything to get out of town.
When we got to the hotel, I saw a bus, it was the Buffalo Springfield bus.
The other girls went up to primp for the hockey game and I went down to the bar in the hotel.
Wouldn't you know it, Neil Young comes walking by. I grabbed a napkin and a pen and chased after him. He went out the front door of the hotel and I followed. He asked, "have you seen my bus"...I started shaking, and he grabbed my arm and told me, "get a hold of yourself"...( I had just smoked a doob, too) I showed him where his bus was, but I was feeling totally embarrassed for completely spazzin' out!
Good Times, Good Times...I saw him later in chicago, no ticket, just showed up and went in with three college guys who had an extra ticket...again, good times.
his harvest album always reminds me of when i had my stomach pumped out and almost died from alcholo at age 14
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