A World of Constant Strangers: The Neil Young Results Thread

Cowgirl was at 34 for me, while DBTR was at 32. Guess I'm a little burnt on both of them, but I will absolutely take a live version of either over the studio cuts.

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil6.jpg

the intro to studio "Cowgirl" works v v well for kicking off late-night college radio, though--live versions can't match it!

TOO LOW!!!

Had this at, um, #6. :-)

The "ma, send me money now" verse coming out of nowhere one of the greatest imaginative/intuitive leaps ever, I think.

ha, i cut CG, because i figured it'd be high anyway. but what a great song/riff.
Byrds' version of "Cowgirl" is really nice!

"Cinnamon Girl" was my #1. I love the song, but it was also a nickname I gave to my wife two years before we started dating. That was 20 years ago. Damn.

Much more poetic than if you'd gone with "Motorcycle Mama."

Ah, some of mine are placing now. The intro to Cowgirl is all-time - so ominous yet inevitable.

On The Beach was my no.1. My first exposure was in a documentary when bbc4 ran a Neil Young night. It had this soundtrack full of incredible tunes I didn't know, which turned out to mostly be OTB cuts, so its non-availability was a huge factor for me.

Everyone familiar with the alternate "single" mix of CG? Anyone prefer it?

I don't know about the mix, but I assume the single eliminates the coda? Or do AM deejays just end it earlier?

yeah, with whitten's vocals more prominent? it's aight.
here's another interesting alternate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyK00lIRxUo

I have the single. It's...innarresting. Loses the guitar erruption at the end. Overall, not as good as the album cut.

"Cinnamon Girl" crossed with "Sea of Madness"...I like!

yeah it's kinda groovy.

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil5.jpg

On another borad I used to be on, someone had the handle "Cinnamon Girl". Everyone assumed she was a Neil fan, but she said she chose that moniker because she likes cinnamon and had never even heard of the Neil Young song until everyone asked her about it

Now this one I don't really get.

Love the dancing "Road Eyes" in this clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XWHF27R0AA

Disregard all my skepticism about On the Beach when it comes to this one.

man you guys REALLY overrate side 2 of OTB

Oh, man...the Road Eyes danced to "Cinnamon Girl" at that '78 show I saw. Neil wore exactly the same outfit, too.

man you guys REALLY overrate side 2 of OTB

Who are you, Al Schmitt?

"Ambulance Blues" was my number two!

I have no idea who that is, so probably not

xp

impossible to overrate side 2 of on the beach imo

"Ambulance Blues" is my pick of the Beach blues cuts.

My #2. Astounding song. His voice is unusually beautiful here and the whole thing makes me think of Elliott Gould in The Long Goodbye for some reason.

And there ain't nothin' like a friend
Who can tell you you're just pissin' in the wind

I knew the riff long before the song itself, then when I finally found out the title I mistakenly thought it was "Cinema Girl" for awhile xxxpost

Had Ambulance Blues at #3. Saw him do it solo acoustic in 99 from the fourth row. Just about blew my mind. SO SO SO amazing.

Oh, man...the Road Eyes danced to "Cinnamon Girl" at that '78 show I saw. Neil wore exactly the same outfit, too.

Did Pancho wear that Canadians jersey too?

Al produced the Airplane, too. Yeah, Marlowe thinking about Terry Lennox--nice connection.

I have no idea who that is, so probably not

He was the producer of side 2, who quit when Neil insisted on using his rough mixes of the songs (prepared for party) on the album.

"Ambulance" is perfect for first six minutes or so. The interplay between Rusty's fiddle and what Neil's doing is beautiful. Then it kind of stumbles a bit? Or wears out its welcome anyway. Last two verses are relatively weak IMHO, esp. the couplet that DL quotes! Love the 'clonk' near the end though.

hmm has Cortez not appeared yet...? Would be okay with that beating pretty much everything in the top 10 so far tbh

"Expecting to Fly" is the only surprise I'm surprised to see this high, besides all the "TTN" stuff. Beginning to think lots of my stuff won't make it, particularly late period stuff. I blame the ditch.

Okay I was wrong, Ambulance Blues is lovely

At this point, I am feeling rather certain that my #2 did not chart. No one else loves "Love Art Blues"?!

Last two verses are relatively weak IMHO
i dunno, the "never knew a man who told so many lies" line is pretty powerful to me.

The final verse is probably my single favourite topical reportage ever--that, or "Trouble Comin' Every Day." It required great restraint not to go for a third Nixon image.

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil4.jpg

She was originally my waitress for "Country Girl"'s inevitable Top 10 finish. I moved her over to "Hurricane" instead.

I love the fake strings on this. String generator. Same device used on P-Funk's "Flashlight," among others, I believe.

My #23. Used to like this more before I heard Adam Sandler do it. And the Mission.

haha wow okay I didn't know that! strings have always sounded weird to me on this

xp

I used to like this song more before Neil did it nine million times on tour. It's still pretty amazing tho, it's a very durable song

So it looks like Guitar Neil takes the top 4.

xpost--Top 3. Best version of Like A Hurricane is on Live Rust

I'm looking over my ballot and those that haven't yet placed either are unlikely to or seem unlikely to be top 3... not sure what i'm missing

Seeing Roxy Music doing Hurricane was something else.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rScBRKlTdoE/TH3DKyhbPcI/AAAAAAABdsA/QVCQqvk26Cs/s1600/IMG_0129.jpg
i think this is the synth they used -- the stringman!