Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969)

There once was a band called The Rockets. They were a psychedelic band consisting of Danny Whitten, Billy Talbot, Ralph Molina, George Whitsell, Leon Whitsell, and Bobby Notkoff and they emerged from a doo wop vocal group called Danny and the Memories. It’s a long story to get from that vocal group to Crazy Horse, but the important part is that Neil first met The Rockets incarnation while he was still in Buffalo Springfield. He jammed at their main house in Laurel Canyon and sat in with the band one night at Whiskey A Go Go. Fortuitously, Neil had also just acquired Old Black, the Les Paul Goldtop ’53 lightning rod he would use to harness his signature sound. After that gig, Neil immediately booked some studio time, but only invited Whitten, Talbot, and Molina. He knew that this half of The Rockets were the band for him, and he had no problem with them being in two bands (it wouldn’t work out that way). Thus was born Crazy Horse. The combination of Neil, those three particular guys, and Old Black is special, and it’s a gift that they all came together at the same time in the first months of 1969. 

In stark contrast to how Neil Young was recorded, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere is as unlabored as possible. Recording began two months after the release of Neil Young, with little planning, and with really only the vocals being overdubbed (with one notable exception). More than half of this album was written in a single day while Neil had a fever. Maybe that accounts for how truly intense and evocative the songs are, particularly the most quintessentially Crazy Horse songs: “Down by the River” and “Cowgirl in the Sand.” To cap it off, the album was released six months after Neil Young. This kind of quick concept to release pace would become a hallmark of Neil’s career. An ever evolving desire to get the songs captured as close to fresh as possible.

I’ll say it right here: I am not a fan of “Cinnamon Girl.” Despite cherishing this album and the memory of my first listens of it with my dad, this particular song has never done it for me. There’s something a little too “pop” about it for me; it was a fairly popular single from the album at the time. Perhaps it’s just too straightforward and I’ve always liked when Neil veered off centre. That’s the draw of Neil, his uniqueness. Then again, I love “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere,” and for my money that’s a much catchier song than “Cinnamon Girl.” But “Everybody Knows…” has that funky guitar riff, the jaded lyrics, and classic Neil soloing. Billy’s bass holds it all together and the song just makes me tap my foot in a way that “Cinnamon Girl” never has. Maybe it’s not fair to compare these two songs, but they are the catchiest songs on the album and both had various versions released as singles. There’s a version with Neil and Danny reversing their harmony on “Cinnamon Girl” that doesn’t change much for me. More interestingly, Neil recorded with “Everybody Knows…” with the Neil Young rhythm section of Jim Messina and George Grantham that has none of the raw life the Crazy Horse version has. It demonstrates just how polite that album was compared to this one. In fact, “Everybody Knows…” is the one song where they used the rougher scratch vocal from the studio take. They just like that rawer sound better.

“Round and Round (It Won’t Be Long)” is surpassingly beautiful…but sadly a bit boring. It’s the song that always makes this album seem much longer than it is. And this album has two nine minute plus songs on it! Speaking of which, “Down by the River” might be the most Crazy Horse song of all time. You’ve got that loping, bone simple Ralph backbeat anchored by Billy’s fat bassline. Danny’s second guitar interplaying with it all and Neil’s infamous one note solo. It’s the strangest choice for a guitar solo but it certainly hits you right in the eyes. Out of all the Neil Young songs, even the more famous ones, this is the song you can find a million covers of. Every garage band since has tackled it, and Neil and the boys have played it countless times over the years. Of the two long songs on this album, I’m more partial to the second one, but hearing “Down by the River” for the first time is an unforgettable experience. It turns a casual listener into a fan and is a rhythm you can hum on command for years after.

Sandwiched right in the middle of the album and coming after nine minutes of relentless jamming, “The Losing End (When You’re On)” has forever been fated to be a second fiddle on this album. Which is a shame, because it’s a funky little number with sing-a-long ready lyrics. And the more you listen, the more you hear Danny’s co-lead vocal. Danny was a country boy with the charisma of a superstar and you can hear it when his sharp twang cuts through Neil’s voice on the chorus. This is definitely one of the best songs on the album to really hear what Danny contributed in my mind. Others may point to his guitar playing being his biggest contribution, but his accompanying vocals rise to the level of lead vocal at times and it’s a perfect fit for Neil.

I could write an entire post about the complexity of “Running Dry (Requiem for the Rockets).” Do we start with the fact that an erstwhile Rocket, Bobby Notkoff, is playing the mournful violin on this? Or maybe start with the title referencing the end of the Rockets before this album even came out? Neil has outright said that some lines in this are about his first wife, Susan Acevedo. So is he cloaking his guilt over lying to the Rockets or to Susan? Is this song a metaphor for breaking up the Rockets or lying in his past relationships? This is the time period in which Neil was perfecting a certain type of allegorical songwriting, where he would reveal personal things by making them about something else. Is he doing the opposite here? Writing a breakup song that’s not about a romantic relationship, but rather a musical one? It’s a fascinating way to think about this song. Another noteworthy fact was that this song was recorded in the second session in March, after the band had already laid down the four “fever” songs and Neil knew this band was working.

I just spent a paragraph giving context to the complexity of the song’s content, but I can’t move on until we talk about just how beautiful it is. I’ll admit to focusing for far too long as a fan on the long electric epics of this album, but recently this song has been on repeat for me, stopping me in my tracks more than once. When Neil’s guitar and Notkoff’s violin start to mix, it’s an incredible sound that I’ve only heard before in experimental drone songs. Then Neil adds that spooky vocal overdub? Shivers. Joined to this melody, these lyrics, and Neil’s plaintive voice, the song is a world class piece of art that doesn’t get the credit it really deserves. And it’s probably because of fans like me looking at this album mostly for the long jams. Sadly, Neil would not play “Running Dry (Requiem for the Rockets)” live until 2019 during his Polar Vortex residency in Minneapolis. Despite the somewhat annoying crowd, it’s a beautiful rendition. He would play it again two nights later, giving this song a whopping two performances in the Sugar Mountain database.

“Cowgirl in the Sand” was always a song I looked for on live bootlegs back in the day of tape trading. Of all the “fever” songs, this is maybe the most dream like in lyrical content, but the music is also intoxicatingly heavy. There is a vibe to this song that is hard to imitate. It’s a band in the thick of a heady sound, absorbed by the vibrations and textures, playing almost without thinking (“thinking is deadly to the Horse” is something that gets said about Crazy Horse at some point in the future). After a short intro, the first crash of the full band always elicits an automatic nod from me followed by restless tapping. That initial riff followed by a blistering solo is what I hear when someone says “Crazy Horse.” One cannot deny the role that Danny plays on this song. His guitar has been referred to as “co-lead” and that’s really accurate. He’s not just playing rhythm while Neil goes nuts on Old Black; his guitar lines are complex and just as prominent. They are funky as hell, too. This is a Georgia boy channelling Stax and Muscle Shoals and holding the rhythm section together at the same time. Which is not to say that Neil isn’t doing spectacular work here. He is in love with the sound of Old Black on this song, you can tell. The sounds he’s coaxing out of it are sounds he will continue to play with for decades after. Towards the end of the song, all of this comes together in a thick funk with Billy’s perfect bass and Ralph’s bone cracking drums. It’s a perfect song, to be honest.

Top 3:

1. Cowgirl in the Sand
2. Running Dry (Requiem for the Rockets)
3. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere

Cut song: Round and Round (It’s Won’t Be Long)

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