Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse - "Crazy Horse" (1971) - Reprise Records

Hello Friends,

Obviously most of us are familiar with Crazy Horse's work as Neil Young's backing band on so many of those epic records, but they had a few non-Neil records in their catalog and their self-titled, debut LP is nothing short of great! 

Released in 1971 and produced by Jack Nitzsche & Russ Titelman, Crazy Horse would become a footnote in annals of rock & roll history, which is a shame really, because its a great-sounding, influential album with a who's who of talent involved.

The record's opener, "Gone Dead Train" (written by Nitzche & Titelman) was originally recorded by Randy Newman for the film Performance and has since been covered by the likes of Nazareth, Izzy Stradlin & George Thorogood.  It pretty much sets the stage for what's to come: a bluesier, sloppier (in a good way) version of The Band if The Band replaced Robbie Robertson with Neil Young.

In fact, Old Neil would write the album's second song, the hoedown-sounding, "Dance, Dance, Dance" featuring drummer Ralph Molina on lead vocals.

The album's next song, "Look at All The Things" sounds like a song Neil Young wish he would have written.  It was written by Crazy Horse founding member & guitarist, the super-talented Danny Whitten.  The five songs he wrote on this record are all incredible and worthy of a lot more recognition than he or the band ever got.  Sadly, this would be the only Crazy Horse album he would appear on, just a year later, his demons would win out and he would die of a heroin overdose.

Mitch Hedberg?

(According to rock & roll legend, Neil Young-- who would fire Danny Whitten just prior to his overdose-- would carry the guilt of his friend's death around with him for decades to follow.  In fact, Neil wrote the heartbreaking, "The Needle & The Damage Done" for Danny.)

"Beggar's Day" was written and sung by the one and only, Nils Lofgren.  Yes, before The E. Street Band came calling, Nils was a full-fledged member of Crazy Horse which puts him in his own wing of the Backing Band Hall of Fame!

Side One ends with the second Whitten tune, the remarkable "I Don't Want To Talk About It" which is one of the greatest breakup songs of all time!  It, too, would be covered by a host of artists including Rita Coolidge, Everything But The Girl and Rod Stewart (who would have a hit with it on 1975's Atlantic Crossing.) 

Not the same "Crazy Horse"

Side Two kicks off with the rocking "Downtown" (co-written by Whitten & Young, who would also resurrect & cover the song on his seminal 1975 record, Tonight's The Night.)

Nitzche & Titelman wrote "Carolay".  Eh.

Also, not the same "Crazy Horse"

Next up is "Dirty, Dirty"-- another fantastic Whitten tune.  A sleazy, Stonesy blues rocker featuring some downright nasty slide guitar playing courtesy of Ry Cooder.  

Nils is back with "Nobody".  Eh.

"I'll Get By" would be the fifth and final Whitten-penned tune on the record.  Again, it sounds right up there with many of those vintage Neil Young tunes.

The album closes with Jack Nitzche writing & singing on "Crow Jane Lady".

A fantastic fucking record from start to finish!  Underrated and underappreciated with an undercurrent of sadness throughout.  The music world would lose a great talent in the untimely death of Danny Whitten.  Who knows what this cat was capable of?  Maybe in an alternate universe Ronnie Van Zant is buried in an Danny Whitten t-shirt!

RATING: 4.5 mississippi mud never touched her fingers out of 5