**35 Years Ago: ~Neil Young Distills Everything On ‘Live Rust’~ [Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Sugar Mountain] From Live Rust (1979) ------------------------------- SUGAR MOUNTAIN Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons, You cant be twenty on Sugar Mountain Though youre thinking that youre leaving there too soon, Youre leaving there too soon. Its so noisy at the fair But all your friends are there And the candy floss you had And your mother and your dad. Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons, You cant be twenty on Sugar Mountain Though youre thinking that youre leaving there too soon, Youre leaving there too soon. Theres a girl just down the aisle, Oh, to turn and see her smile. You can hear the words she wrote As you read the hidden note. Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons, You cant be twenty on Sugar Mountain Though youre thinking that youre leaving there too soon, Youre leaving there too soon. Now youre underneath the stairs And youre givin back some glares To the people who you met And its your first cigarette. Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons, You cant be twenty on Sugar Mountain Though youre thinking that youre leaving there too soon, Youre leaving there too soon. Now you say youre leavin home Cause you want to be alone. Aint it funny how you feel When youre findin out its real? Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons, You cant be twenty on Sugar Mountain Though youre thinking that youre leaving there too soon, Youre leaving there too soon. Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain with the barkers and the colored balloons, You cant be twenty on Sugar Mountain Though youre thinking that youre leaving there too soon, Youre leaving there too soon. By the late ’70s, most of the rockers who had established themselves in the ’60s were trying to assess their places in popular music. Faced with becoming an elder statesmen amid shiny disco and raw punk rock, Neil Young decided it was time for a new beginning. In 1977 and ’78, Young was collaborating with new wavers Devo and discussing his plans to do something different as a performer and musician. Devo member Mark Mothersbaugh suggested that Neil adopt Rust-Oleum paint’s slogan, “Rust Never Sleeps.” And so a corporate motto became Young’s mantra for his fall tour, which would pair him with frequent partners-in-crime Crazy Horse. The ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ trek would contain the most orchestrated performances in Young’s career. The concerts were a theatrical exercise, featuring oversized props, staged occurrences and roadies dressed as the Jawas from ‘Star Wars.’ The music was just as carefully considered, with setlists spotlighting a host of material audiences had never heard before, including ‘Powderfinger’ and ‘Sedan Delivery’ along with the duo of ‘My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)’ and ‘Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black).’ Young performed both the acoustic and electric versions of the song, as each concert was split into solo acoustic sets and raucous full-band portions with Crazy Horse. The shows’ slick production values seemed at odds with Young’s and Crazy Horse’s furious exercises in chunky distortion, which have been characterized as a reaction to punk. Certainly ‘Hey Hey, My My’ was a rumination on punk (and rock stardom in general), as Young brought Johnny Rotten and the recently deceased Elvis Presley under the same umbrella. Fans and critics raved about the shows while Young, who had recorded and filmed the performances, decided what to do next. In 1979, Neil would release material from the ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ tour in three different ways. First, he took the 1978 recordings of the new songs and added overdubs (as well as a couple of already existing tracks) for a July release that would share its title with the tour. As with the concerts, the LP was split between acoustic and electric songs, bookended by ‘My My, Hey Hey’ and its counterpart. The ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ album has since established itself as one of Young’s defining records. In addition, Young wanted to put out a film documenting the tour’s stop at San Francisco’s Cow Palace, directed by him (although credited to a “Bernard Shakey”). Capitalizing on the commercial and critical success of the album version of ‘Rust Never Sleeps,’ Young’s label Reprise requested a soundtrack album to accompany the release of the movie version of ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ in the fall of 1979. Neil liked the idea of a record that mixed the new songs with live versions of his older material. Although Young wanted to also name this two-LP set ‘Rust Never Sleeps,’ Reprise – fearing massive confusion among the public – got him to change the title to ‘Live Rust.’ The double-album came out on Nov. 14, 1979. Although justifiably overshadowed by ‘Rust Never Sleeps,’ ‘Live Rust’ also was received positively as a compelling distillation of Young’s talents as a performer. The album hit the charts in Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. (where it’s been certified platinum). With songs spanning from the end of Buffalo Springfield (‘I Am a Child’), through some of his best-known solo work (‘Cinnamon Girl,’ ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’) and into his new material, ‘Live Rust’ is as good a starting place for Neil Young neophytes as 1977’s hits collection ‘Decade.’ And for years to come, rock fans will be pondering if “it’s better to burn out than fade away.” [Watch Neil Young’s Bandmates Crosby Stills and Nash at Woodstock]
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 17:58:50 +0000
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