Rust never Sleeps shows examples of Neil builing on previous ideas and
concepts.
From Time Fades Away he got the idea of presenting a live album of all new
songs. Only he didn't have enough, so he drafted in some old studio
recordings too. Rather than the warts and all presentation of TFA though,
Neil overdubbed and sprinkled fairy dust on the live recordings - he even
mixed out the crowd noise. Here he built on previous expreiments like the
unreleased Stringman from Chrome Dreams and CSNY's Pushed It Over The End
which proved you could overdub onto live recordings in an artistic rather
than a duplicitous manner.
From American Stars 'n Bars he took the idea of 2 contrasting vinyl sides.
Here it's acoustic/electric. It also works much better than the
schitzophrenic AS'nB did. Neil liked the idea so much, he was to try it
yet again.
From the Tonight's The Night tour and album he developed the idea of
repeating a key song in a single show and album.
From both TTN and AS'nB he continued the tradition of mixing new and old
recordings to produce a set of songs he was happy with as an album.
Neil also took the unusual step of releasing a companion double live album
to reflect the entire shows of this period. He didn't include all of the
new material, but he did include almost all of the rest of the songs from
the 1978 Crazy Horse tour.
RUST NEVER SLEEPS
My My Hey Hey - I prefer this acoustic version of Neil's anthem, but must
admit to not being especially keen on the lyrics.
Thrasher - the highlight of the acoustic side. The tune was pinched from
the half-baked Evening Coconut song he'd played with Stills in '76, but
this multi-level journey through the mind of Neil is much better.
Featuring unmistakable sideswipes at CSN which must have stung!
Ride My Llama - great song and great example of how to artfully overdub
onto a live track. The lyrics tread the tightrope between deep and
incredibly silly but Neil somehow manages to pull this off. The song was
originally tried out at the Zuma/Chrome Dreams sessions of 1975.
Pocahontas - in which Neil overdubs onto the old studio recordings too.
And improves it - his added guitar and vocal help give some sonic variety
to this Chrome Dreams recording which it had been somewhat lacking. A
classic song and performance. A fine example of Neil's 'time travel'
style in which whole centuries disappear mid verse.
Sail Away - a fine song but I totally agree with Charlie K - it belongs on
Comes A Time (it was recorded at those sessions) and Captain Kennedy would
have fitted way better here. Don't ignore Sail Away though - add it to a
tape of Neil's country songs and kick back 'n' grin!
Powderfinger - the main reason I'm glad Chrome Dreams never happened is
that we may not have ever have gotten this scorching live electric
Powderfinger! The earlier acoustic version sounds like nothing more than
a demo after you've heard this. Undoubtedly the highlight of the electric
side. Anyone understand those lyrics? Joke! Joke! 8<}
Welfare Mothers - as dumbass songs go, this isn't so bad! The Weld
version is much funnier though.
Sedan Delivery - the arrangement fucks the song up IMO. I much prefer the
Chrome Dreams version. Lyrically it's a monster though!
Hey Hey My My - I'm sorry but I don't enjoy this sonically or as a song.
It sounded great at Euro '01, but I'm just not a Hey Hey My My fan.
In fact I find the electric side quite disappointing (especially after all
the hype my friends gave it). If I want electric Horse from '78, I tend
to turn to.....
LIVE RUST
What a great album! What a show! What a concept! What great music!
Highlights for me include Comes A Time, When You Dance (rocks like a
mofo!), The Loner, Powderfinger, Cortez and Hurricane. This is ALWAYS in
the car!
I keep meaning to make myself the ultimate Rust compilation by editing in
Thrasher, Ride My Llama and Welfare Mothers to the Live Rust album and
maybe replacing the the LR versions of Powderfinger, Sedan Delivery and
Hey Hey My My with the RNS ones if I prefer them.....
(Want more of the same? Check out the Rust tour version of Let's Go
Downtown from R&R Cowboy.)
Jules Upon the Sea
<---I'm with Stupid
