Old Princeton Landing (1996)

When I looked at Broken Arrow there was a story surrounding its recording and release that I found fascinating. When Neil convened the Horse for recording sessions at his Broken Arrow Ranch in March 1996, they didn’t just hang out there the whole time. Instead, they alternated recording in the studio with a unique mini tour at two local spots. A pair of shows at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz came in the middle of an extended residency at the 150 capacity Old Princeton Landing in Half Moon Bay. It’s these Old Princeton Landing shows I’m primarily going to write about here, because they are just incredibly good and, in my mind, important in the history of Neil Young and Crazy Horse.

Tickets for these shows were extremely limited with many reserved for friends and family and the rest going on sale every morning ($20!). Different colored wristbands served as the ticket for that night. I’ve read a few accounts about the struggles of fans to get these tickets, and it sounds like they were near impossible to get without camping out at the bar night and day. 150 people is not much for someone of Neil’s caliber, just coming off a big collaboration with Pearl Jam. I visited some friends in Pacifica last year and happened to ask if they had ever been to Old Princeton Landing. To my surprise, they knew it well and we went there for lunch one day. Standing there, it was hard to imagine seeing Neil in this small of an environment. But The Echos (the misspelt nom de plume Neil and the Horse adopted) did indeed rock this place out between March and June 1996. The photos on the wall prove it.

The death of David Briggs just four months prior had a large impact. Not only did Poncho secret some of his ashes in an amp, but the set lists were loaded with songs from Briggs’ favorite Horse tracks, especially from Zuma. When the band started to introduce the tracks they had been working on up at the Ranch, it was clear Briggs was the focus of Broken Arrow. The run can be roughly divided into two phases, the non-Broken Arrow songs and road testing the Broken Arrow songs. This first half traditionally began with blistering renditions of “Country Home” and “Barstool Blues,” slower, darker takes on “Stupid Girl,” and hilarious performances of “Bite the Bullet,” with Poncho doing his best Saddlebags mimicry. They would play two or three sets a night, taking small breaks to reenergize or possibly partake.

“Danger Bird” is such a moody, cinematic song, it’s pretty strange to hear it in this bar band environment, and frequently the crowd will not shut up during it for some reason. Particularly the very first show, March 18th, has one guy close to the taper who doesn’t get how special this moment is for everyone. That said, in the same show, this same bar band environment gives a surprisingly effective sing-a-long during “Down by the River” that feels fitting. One of the most intimate sounding recordings in these early shows is March 20th, with one fan making the apt pronouncement: “This is like seeing Al Green in his church in Memphis. Closest thing to it. A truly spiritual experience.” However, the next night has a couple attendees in full blown conversation during “When Your Lonely Heart Breaks” so you can’t win em all. The “Drive Back” breakdown vamp is pretty wild and fun to hear. Of note, this is the night Neil used for the recording of Jimmy Reed’s “Baby What You Want Me To Do?” at the end of Broken Arrow. They would play this song nearly every night of the run.

Some interesting inclusions are a full band “The Old Country Waltz,” acoustic “Lookout for My Love” and “Only Love Can Break Your Heart,” as well as the new electric “Pocahontas,” which fares better on the April 13th show than it does on the abysmal Year of the Horse version. That same night has Neil ad-libbing to the crowd during “Barstool Blues” and Poncho singing an entire verse for some reason. One of my favorite recordings in this mini-tour is April 14th, a truly crisp tape with a fiery performance of “Cowgirl in the Sand,” a super fun, extended “Homegrown,” and a 22 minute “Cortez the Killer” that is incredible. Probably one of the longest “Cortez” performances there is, it features insane guitar work, pushing this song to the limit.

I find these shows to be so powerful because of how immediate they sound. When you listen to live shows, you get a little sense of how big the space is. At Old Princeton Landing, the band was 5-10 feet away from some of the tapers. The quality ranges wildly but there’s always this sense of closeness. You hear the bartenders, you hear the fans. One report even related that some people were so close to the band, they could hear them talk about what to play next, and they even took a couple requests from the closest fans. Neil drove himself to the shows from his Ranch! One time, his car broke down and a passing fan gave him a lift the rest of the way. The mind boggles. Briggs on his deathbed told Neil he had to get closer to the source, and these small shows are about as close as the fans have gotten to the source. The tapes give you a small hint of that closeness.

Contrasting the Old Princeton Landing shows with the two night stint at The Catalyst (site of Way Down in the Rust Bucket) in the middle of the run, the difference in sound and feel is extremely noticeable. More distant and blunt, the intimate bar band quality of the Old Princeton Landing shows is gone. These were more traditional rock shows, and don’t offer as unique of a listen to my ears. But they serve as a stark intermission as we slide into the second, more unpredictable half of this strange little tour.

When The Echos returned to Old Princeton Landing on May 22, they brought a classic Neil feature: a new song to debut. And what a song it is. “Big Time” is one of the long tracks from Broken Arrow and one of the Briggs odes as well. “For me it’s not over / I’m still livin’ the dream we had” is a message to his dear departed friend and producer if there ever was one. The recording is a bit flat, but hearing Neil introduce it as “something from the ranch” brings back that closeness and intimacy right away. “Homegrown” here is great, but the real wild moment is “Rockin’ in the Free World” and the way Neil bends the notes in crazy ways. You usually know what to expect from that song, so this was a fun diversion. May 23 is not a great recording either but it has another debut with “Scattered (Let’s Think About Livin’)” and its barely heard refrain “David…”

One of the shows people talk about the most is the June 4th show, where the band not only played 23 songs, but played the entirety of Broken Arrow in order to kick the night off. It’s a great recording and must have been quite an experience for those in attendance. One of the best things about this recording is the balance is better than usual (usually the vocals are a bit low on these). “Music Arcade” is a particularly touching moment. It’s a tender song and gets a little lost on Broken Arrow, but shines here. “Changing Highways” dates back to the Zuma era (this was the first song Poncho recorded with Neil back in 1974) so it’s fitting he resurrected it for this ode to Briggs. The following songs are a no surprises affair, many of which they had been playing throughout the run.

Something the June 4th show doesn’t have is “The Losing End (When You’re On),” so it’s great to see it back the next night. If there was a song made for playing in a bar, it’s that one. I’m not a fan of audiences singing along, but I’m not sure I’d be able to stop myself on that one in this environment. Not as keen about the woman yelling “the hell was that?” as the song ended, though. This tape (June 5th) is also a good quality recording like the night before, although I think the taper was near Billy Talbot’s amp as the bass is unusually clear. It’s also less chatty. Maybe this taper just had quiet friends around him forming a bit of a buffer. Speaking of the crowd, Neil’s admonition for the crowd to take a step back rams home how intimate these shows were. He mentions how it’s a dangerous situation up in the front and I could imagine how nervous he may been with people that close to the players and equipment. “Slip Away” is really gorgeous on this one. A super raw and rockin’ “Tonight’s the Night” is also particularly notable. They rip into this one in contrast to the customarily spooky versions in concerts. I don’t even know what they are doing in the last third of the song, as it doesn’t sound like “Tonight’s the Night” at all in parts. Honestly one of the best renditions I’ve heard. It’s 14 minutes, too!

The last two shows feel a bit anti-climatic after that monster June 4th one, but do hold fun moments. Particularly, the wild guitar sounds Neil experiments with during the closing breakdown of “Bite the Bullet” on June 6th are very cool. It sounds like he was a bit inspired by some sounds he found during “Slip Away” just before and decided to try to recreate and explore them. They’ve been playing “Bite the Bullet” for the entire run, but this performance was unique. Then they enter the “Loose Change” breakdown four minutes into a 17 minute jam. Even “Roll Another Number (For The Road)” has some otherwise unheard moments. Neil was clearly experimenting with his guitar sounds during this show. After listening to this whole run, those moments stand out. Stretching “Drive Back” out for 13 minutes may not be strictly desired or warranted, but when he does such strange stuff to it, it’s fun to hear. It’s too bad this recording is a bit distant because June 6th seems to be a special one.

The final show of the run is June 9th, although apparently wristbands were sold for the following Monday night. The crew packed up at the end of the night and rumors ran that Neil had become aggravated with the sound and/or he was annoyed that tapes of the shows were circulating already. Or it’s just that they had figured out how they wanted to do the Year of the Horse tour and didn’t feel the need to play these warm-up shows anymore. The tape of this show is about middle quality, but the show itself is laden with portent. Starting with a foreboding “Cowgirl in the Sand,” they run through a lot of the staples of the previous shows, as well as the entirely of Broken Arrow again. The rendition of “Music Arcade” is particularly dark and melancholy. In fact, there’s something “down” about the whole night, which lends a little weight to the idea that Neil was not happy. “The Losing End” is much more strained and sad than every performance of that song before. Only the third “F*!#in’ Up” of the run brings us to the closing “Down by the River” with Neil practically whispering the final verse. Then: “Thanks. Thanks for taping.” At least, I think that’s what he said.

Perhaps it’s just my fascination with these shows, but I take the view that they were important to Neil and the Horse. The events surrounding Mirror Ball put Neil at odds with not only the Horse, but with Briggs as well. They weren’t speaking until Briggs got sick and summoned Neil to his deathbed. His relationship with the Horse was frayed given how Neil dropped them to work with Pearl Jam after the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame induction fiasco. Bringing the Horse back together in small shows allowed them to be themselves, to rekindle their unique synergy, and generally to work out their grief together, not unlike how Tonight’s the Night served the same purpose. In the parking lot, they erected Echo Village, where Neil and the band hung out before shows and between sets. It made them a family. According to Poncho, these shows were the best thing to ever happen to the Horse. Since Broken Arrow was the first Horse album without Briggs, it’s possible Neil needed some extra support from his community to make it feel right.

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