Neil Young and Crazy Horse Are Unearthing Their ‘Early Daze’ on New Archival LP

Andy Greene
·2 min read
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Photo of NEIL YOUNG; NEIL YOUNG - Credit: Dick Barnatt/Redferns
Photo of NEIL YOUNG; NEIL YOUNG - Credit: Dick Barnatt/Redferns

Shortly after the dissolution of Buffalo Springfield in 1968, Neil Young teamed up with the core members of struggling L.A. rock band the Rockets, renamed them Crazy Horse, and spent the next five decades working alongside them. Their first record was 1969’s Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, featuring classics like “Down By The River” and “Cowgirl In The Sand.”

But their early recording sessions produced a lot more music than the seven songs on Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, and Young is finally sharing this music on June 28 with the release of Early Daze. The ten-track archival collection features alternate versions of “Cinnamon Girl,” “Birds,” “Down By The River” and “Wonderin’.” Check out an alternate version of the After the Gold Rush outtake “Everybody’s Alone.”

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There’s also an unreleased version of “Helpless” that has never been heard by the public. Young initially cut the song with Crazy Horse before redoing it with CSNY for Déjà Vu. The lost Crazy Horse version has taken on near-mythical status in Young fan circles over the decades, and it’s finally coming out.

The original Crazy Horse lineup featured drummer Ralph Molina, bassist Billy Talbot, guitarist Danny Whitten, and keyboardist Jack Nitzsche. They parted ways with Nitzsche in early 1970, right after their legendary stand at the Fillmore in New York. And Whitten died of a drug overdose in November 1972, inspiring “The Needle and the Damage Done.”

Whitten was replaced by guitarist Frank “Poncho” Sampedro in 1975, and he stayed with the group until his retirement in 2018. He was replaced by Nils Lofgren, who briefly worked with Crazy Horse in 1971 when they cut an LP without Young.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse are in the middle of a U.S. tour right now, but Lofgren was unable to participate due to his commitments to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Micah Nelson is subbing in for him. Molina and Talbot remain in the group even though they are both now octogenarians. They’ve been in the group since the Early Daze in 1968, and they’ll likely be there until the very end.

Here is the track listing for Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s Early Daze.

Side One:
1.      Dance Dance Dance (Included on Neil Young – Archives Vol. I.)
2.      Come On Baby Let’s Go Downtown (Unreleased version)
3.      Winterlong (Unreleased version)
4.      Everybody’s Alone (Different mix included on Archives Vol. I)
5.      Wonderin’ (Unreleased version)

Side Two:
1.      Cinnamon Girl (Original 7” Mono mix. Released April 20, 1970. Includes guitar outro not on LP version.)
2.      Look At All The Things (Unreleased version)
3.      Helpless (Unreleased version)
4.      Birds (Unreleased stereo mix). Mono mix was released as B-side to “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”)
5.       Down By The River (Unreleased version with alternate vocals)

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