Neil Young - The Needle and the Damage Done (Live) (1971)

After Buffalo Springfield broke up, Neil Young signed a record deal as a solo artist with Reprise Records on the recommendation of his friend Joni Mitchell. Although his first two albums, Neil Young (November 1968) and Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (May 1969) didn’t initially chart very well, his third album After the Gold Rush (August 1970) gained much more attention, primarily in thanks to his increased exposure from joining Crosby, Stills & Nash in August 1969.

By the end of the summer in 1970, CSN&Y completely imploded and disbanded. That very same autumn, Young decided to go on an acoustic tour of the United States, playing songs from his Buffalo Springfield, CSN&Y, and solo catalogs. As the tour went on, Young began to introduce more and more of his newer material to live audiences. The song heard below was played before a live audience on one such occasion on January 30, 1971. As the tour concluded, Young befriended a group of musicians (whom he dubbed The Stray Gators) which he would use as the session musicians on his fourth solo album, the critically-acclaimed Harvest (February 1972). The only song to appear on Harvest from Young’s acoustic tour was “The Needle and the Damage Done,” heard below.

The song heard below was written by Neil Young, spotlighting the detriments of heroin on the people around him. Specifically, the song was inspired by Danny Whitten, the guitarist of Crazy Horse, a band whom Young had hired to back him on his second and third albums that were eventually signed to their own record deal. When Young’s Harvest album became a huge success, reaching number one in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, Young quickly made plans to start a tour to support it. He called upon Whitten among others to rehearse with him for the impending tour. Upon their rehearsals, it was evident that Whitten was still using heroin, as his guitar playing was hardly a shadow of his former abilities. On November 18, 1972, Young fired Whitten from the band, giving him fifty dollars and a plane ticket back to Los Angeles. That very same night, Whitten died from a fatal combination of Valium and alcohol, the former being taken for knee arthritis and the latter taken to try and quell the heroin cravings. It took years for Neil Young to stop blaming himself for Whitten’s death.



Neil Young - The Needle and the Damage Done (Live) (1971)

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Lyrics:

I caught you knocking at my cellar door
I love you, baby, can I have some more?
Ooh, ooh, the damage done

I hit the city and I lost my band
I watched the needle take another man
Gone, gone, the damage done

I sing the song because I love the man
I know that some of you don't understand
Milk-blood to keep from running out

I've seen the needle and the damage done
A little part of it in everyone
But every junkie's like a setting sun

Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth (1967)

Named for a steamroller parked across the street from a friend’s house, this group debuted April 11, 1966 at a popular nightclub in West Hollywood, California, called The Troubadour. Within days, the group was on a California-based tour opening for The Dillards and The Byrds. When the tour ended, Byrds-member Chris Hillman persuaded another popular nightclub, Whiskey a Go Go, to make this group their house band. Naturally, their exposure and popularity increased, landing the group a record deal with Atlantic Records. It would be only a short few months before Stephen Stills would write the group’s signature song, heard below.

In November 1966, laws were rushed into effect by the older Sunset Strip-area residents in Los Angeles, California, in an attempt to discourage young nightclub-goers. Between newly created loitering laws and a 10:00pm curfew, the young people in the area handed out fliers on November 12th, 1966 urging people to protest their perceived infringement of civil rights. Among those to show up that night in support of the protest were young actors Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda. All in all, over one thousand protestors showed up and police reportedly became violent. Stephen Stills, witnessing the event, wrote this song about the event and the group recorded it December 5th, 1966.



Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth (1967)

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Lyrics:

There's somethin' happenin' here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Tellin' me I got to beware

I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's goin’ down

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speakin' their minds
Gettin' so much resistance from behind

It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's goin’ down

What a field day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, “Hooray! for our side”

It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's goin’ down

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away

We better stop, hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's goin’ down

We better stop, hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's goin’ down

We better stop, now, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's goin’ down

We better stop…

Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Cinnamon Girl (1969)

Born in 1945, this Canadian singer-songwriter is one of the most influential artists to emerge out of the ‘60s music scene. In 1966, he co-founded Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. In 1968, he began to release what would become a very long catalog of solo work. In 1969, he joined Crosby, Stills & Nash. He has done countless charitable works for those in need, has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice (as a member of Buffalo Springfield and as a solo artist), and has even been labeled the “Godfather of Grunge” for his influence on the grunge music scene. Clearly, this man has more on his résumé than what this small space could indicate.

This song was written by Neil Young while suffering from a 103° fever. Before being released as a single in 1970, it appeared on his 1969 album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. It was his first album to feature his backing group Crazy Horse, and, besides this track, also featured the hit song “Down By the River.”

Are you familiar with Paul McCartney’s current guitar player, Brian Ray? This song was written for (and about) his older sister, Jean Ray, from the folk duo Jim and Jean.

@ablyam_60smusic Thanks for the story on "Cinnamon Girl" and my late sister, Jean.. All true. B bit.ly/KDCx3d

— Brian Ray (@brianrayguitar) May 1, 2013

Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Cinnamon Girl (1969)

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Lyrics:

I wanna live with a cinnamon girl
I could be happy the rest of my life
With a cinnamon girl

A dreamer of pictures, I run in the night
You see us together, chasing the moonlight
My cinnamon girl

Ten silver saxes, a bass with a bow
The drummer relaxes and waits between shows for
His cinnamon girl

A dreamer of pictures, I run in the night
You see us together, chasing the moonlight
My cinnamon girl

Pa sent me money, now
I'm gonna make it somehow
I need another chance
You see, your baby loves to dance
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah

Grin - Outlaw (1971)

When Nils Lofgren and his bandmates were invited to stay with Neil Young in California, they had yet to release an album. Neil Young was so impressed with the young Lofgren that he invited him to play on his solo album, After the Gold Rush. This commercial exposure led to Lofgren getting his own group a record deal that would lead to them releasing four albums.

Neil Young assisted in providing backing vocals for this track, as well as Danny Whitten and Ralph Molina.

Some of the lyrics are indecipherable to me, so please let me know if you can figure them out.



Grin - Outlaw (1971)

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Lyrics:

Now if it – if it’s good and I say “do it over,” you gotta be a judge because this is so much fun I – I would just say do it over and over just for fun, and like, I realize we have other things to do.

I woke up a-shiverin’ in my blanket
The cold wind whistlin’ through the open door
I heard a stranger cursin’ on my sister
I said, “Oh Lord, what is this bad man for?”

I jumped up a-stumblin’ for my sister
I feel the laugh as she fell to the floor
The wind was whistlin’ like a train in station
And that outlaw had just run out the door

Please, mister, don’t ya kill my sister
Would ya take the only life I have?
The outlaw said, “Son, stand in the corner”
“If I kill your sister, well, that’s too bad”

(Sing a song; make it easy)

Now I can hear a sick dog through a blizzard
And I can feel the springline on a tree
But when that outlaw struck down pretty sister
Don’cha know Heaven walked out, why, I could not see

I rest here every night with kin, family
We talk about the day and lows to be
Well I come terrified of these discussion
When I become the only soul who's seeked

Please, mister, don’t ya kill my sister
(Don’tcha do it)
Would ya take the only life I have?
The outlaw said, “Son, stand in the corner”
“If I kill your sister, well that’s too bad”

(Please Sheriff, hang the outlaw)

Please, mister, don’t ya kill my sister

Buffalo Springfield - Out of My Mind [Demo] (1966)

This group is primarily remembered for their song "For What It's Worth". Despite that song being a contender for my all time personal favorite, they had a slew of other great songs.

Being composed of two future twice-inducted members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they were destined for greatness. Unfortunately, internal conflicts led the group to split up after releasing only three albums. Stephen Stills went on to great success in Crosby, Stills, & Nash (and sometimes Young), whereas Neil Young went on to have a wonderful solo career and success in CSNY.

This song in particular is not the initial release. This version, the acoustic version recorded in 1966, comes from the Buffalo Springfield Box Set released in 2001. A big difference between the two versions is that this one consists of an entire extra verse where Neil Young just sings "da da da da da da da..."



Buffalo Springfield - Out of My Mind [Demo] (1966)

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Lyrics:

"Out of My Mind"

Out of my mind
And I just can't take it anymore
Left behind
By myself and what I'm living for
All I hear is screams
From outside the limousines
That are taking me

Out of my mind
Through the keyhole in an open door
Happy to find
That I don't know what I'm smiling for
Tired of hanging on
If you've missed me, I've just gone
Cause they're taking me

Out of my mind
Da da da da da da da da da
Da da da da
Da da da da da da da da da
Da da da da da
Da da da da da da da
Da da da da da da da

Out of my mind
And I just can't take it anymore
Left behind
By myself and what I'm living for
All I hear is screams
From outside the limousines
That are taking me
Out of my mind