Colorado (2019)

It doesn’t have to be good. It’s going to be great. (Neil Young, Mountaintop)

Like 2010’s Le Noise, Colorado is bookended by two important deaths in Neil’s life. His ex-wife Pegi passed away in January 2019 and his longtime manager and perhaps oldest friend Elliot Roberts passed away in June. Colorado was recorded in April. Despite that, Colorado continues the climate theme (with a dash of Daryl swooning). Many times, Neil melds climate and Daryl into the same topic and it’s no coincidence that his entire focus shifted after meeting her. While he had always been an environmental advocate (see Fork in the Road for a pre-Daryl climate album), his songwriting certainly zeroed in on one main topic post-2014.

The recording of Colorado is colorfully documented in the fantastic Mountaintop documentary, but poor poison oak afflicted producer John Hanlon wrote two notebook entries that give a lot of good context to how the album came to be. In part one, it’s revealed that Neil initially just wanted to record some overdubs on songs he performed during his early 2019 solo tour (that ends up being just two of the songs on the album plus a bonus track). That quickly turned into Billy Talbot coming to add bass and eventually the rest of The Horse is formed to come in as well. As noted in part two of Hanlon’s notebook, this now includes longtime E Street Band member Nils Lofgren, who went way back with Neil, first appearing on After the Gold Rush (he infamously plays piano there when he showed up to play guitar).

Unfortunately, Poncho Sampedro retired after the 2012-2014 Alchemy tour due to hand fatigue. Definitely the end of a long era. Nils and Poncho are pretty different people and musicians. Where Poncho sa firmly in the rhythm section with his low end guitar sound, Nils brings a more varied and melodic approach to his complementary guitar. This difference befits their personalities, too. Poncho is not flashy, but is a colorful character you would not want to mess with. Nils is known for his acrobatic moves on stage and his virtuosity. With Nils in the band, I get the sense of a more detailed sound, full of flourishes Poncho wouldn’t necessarily do.

Colorado’s opening song “Think of Me” hints a bit at this different Crazy Horse sound. Nils plays piano on the loping melody and that right away gives you a different sound (because usually Neil plays piano on any song that is piano-led). It sounds unlike what you would expect from Crazy Horse (although would fit quite well with the latest album, World Record). However, to really get a good sense of the new Crazy Horse sound, the second track, “She Showed Me Love” is a 13 minute epic filled with Old Black, solos, and soaring melodies. The repeated title in the back half goes on a bit too long, but I like that its a bit of a countdown to the end of the song. Neil employs a spoken word style on this song for many of the verses, which leads to a lot of “talking to himself” couplets that make me chuckle. Both of these opening songs are on the same wavelength, mixing a love song with climate commentary. Mother Earth and Daryl are essentially the same in Neil’s mind, it seems. To protect and love one is to protect and love the other.

“Olden Days” is the first peek into how Neil is dealing with the Pegi’s death, I think. While it seems to be directed at a man, I get the sense it’s an imaginary conversation between Neil and Pegi, lamenting loss and how people drift apart. It also comments on how as we get older, the fewer of our loved ones are still around. I really like the guitar sound and melody but there’s something a little off with Neil’s voice on this one. The high notes sound like a parody since he’s voice is so deep and gravelly now. My favorite song on the album might be “Help Me Lose My Mind,” especially after watching Mountaintop. The song is about growing old and the frustrations of things changing so fast. However, something to keep in mind is that Billy Talbot had a stroke in 2014 and this was his first album back with Neil. During Mountaintop, Neil was extremely serious about making sure everything was perfect for Billy to sing the harmony. It really felt like Neil wanted this to be a moment for Billy to sing about his stroke. The scene of Billy singing the chorus is crushing. Which fits this low slung, heavy song. I love the main riff, it’s truly menacing and foreboding (like aging can be). I would have rather this be the long epic on the album vs “She Showed Me Love,” but its still a great track.

The first of the songs that Neil originally recorded solo is “Green is Blue,” and it’s the quietest song on the album. It’s another climate song and is mournful, recounting seeing different tragedies related to climate change. “Shut It Down” has an interesting wrinkle. Recorded in 2019 as a hard charging song about how our current systems work against the climate, Neil re-released it in 2020 during the first quarantine with a video highlighting efforts to combat Covid juxtaposed against people flagrantly gathering in large groups in defiance of science. It pretty neatly transplants the lyrics from one crisis to another one, highlighting that both situations are exacerbated by science denial.

Another love song, “Milky Way,” is a smokey blues number with soaring harmonies and is a feature for some of Neil’s most soulful guitar playing. This is a song that I really like on the album, but it doesn’t stick around in my mind after way. I’m always trying to remember what it sounds like. Which is a shame, because it’s really good. “Eternity” also presages World Record with its gentle sing along rhythm, but the real stand out is Nils tap dancing percussion overdubs (this is another song originally recorded solo in a live performance). I love it, but the “klick klack” chorus bits seem a bit unneeded. Neil and his trains, huh? That said, it’s a very sweet love song.

On top of the personal changes and struggles in Neil’s life, America was still in the grip of a tyrannical grifter. This is absolutely on Neil’s mind, most strongly on “Rainbow of Colors,” (and its bonus 7” single companion “Truth Kills” [see below]). The administration at this time had already withdrawn from the Paris Climate Accord, loosened regulations, and threatened public lands, so it would always be an enemy to Neil. However, it’s the pervasive racism of the Trump Administration and supporters that he focuses on here. I really like the anthemic sound of this song and the message is very strong (if a little trite). I’m glad that Neil always tries make sure his songs mean something, even when they are opaque or hiding behind sap.

The last song is “I Do” and it’s very lovely. There’s a hushed atmosphere to it that I really respond to. It feels like the flip side of “Think of Me,” especially with the mentions of birds. Just a gorgeous song.

Top 3:

1. Help Me Lose My Mind
2. She Showed Me Love
3. I Do

Cut song: Olden Days

“Truth Kills” was performed as a solo song January 31, 2019 in Minneapolis for the first and last time. It was never played on other dates during the same tour nor on the 2019 Crazy Horse and POTR shows. During the Colorado sessions, Neil and the Horse added overdubs (making it the third song made this way during that time). It’s probably the best song of the sessions and I have no idea why Neil didn’t include it on the album. What a shame. It would have been #1 on my Top 3 if it was on the album. Instead it was released as a bonus 7” to the vinyl album. It has some of Neil’s best turns of phrase and casually skewers Trump and the far right’s assault on truth. Backing it with a solo live performance of “Rainbow of Colors” is a nice touch, too. They are two sides of the same topic.

Mountaintop was directed by Daryl Hannah and filmed by her and Adam Vollick. It’s an incredibly transparent view into a fraught recording experience. On NYA, Neil admits he was a jerk during it, but it does seem like the studio had a lot of problems. Poor John Hanlon takes the lion’s share of the flak despite trying to stay on top of everything amidst a bad case of poison oak making him crazy. The Colorado sessions were recorded at Studio in the Clouds, which is so high up, the band and crew had personal oxygen tanks they sporadically huff from (despite that, drummer Ralph Molina comically begs for some pot throughout). While Neil does have some irritable moments, it’s clear he had a vision for these songs and this reunion with Crazy Horse. That’s what comes through for me. The studio issues were creating too much process and “thinking is deadly to the Horse.” Hanlon throws Vollick out of the control room at one point and its interesting to see Vollick and Daryl discuss it. Obviously they were let back in and completed the film. I also find Hanlon’s notebooks interesting when considering Mountaintop, too. His recounting of the recording process is a lot more charitable.

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