This was a home assignment for the local writers’ group, and is dedicated to one of my long-time heroes. It is said that he has made a career of perfecting imperfection and in line with this approach I have not had these recollections of mine proofread. In actual fact, my proofreader is very busy, and I have no desire to take her away from her paid work, with deadline, to go through my ramblings. Therefore, many apologies for any errors which I have overlooked while doing my own proofreading. Hope they will be more amusing than horrifying!
The featured image is of a mug, the 1973 photo showing the man who is the subject of this piece, and was a gift from a like-eared friend. So now we can step back 56 years as I introduce my teenage self.
Part 1
It was August 1967 – possibly 18th; that is certainly the date marked for any milestone celebrations of this event. In many ways it was a significant summer both personally and for most of my generation. I was 16, had finished my O-levels at the end of June and, for the first time in years, had no holiday homework, just weeks leisure time stretching out before the arrival of my results and the start of my college course in September. The year 1967 also went down in modern history as The First Summer of Love and while I embraced some of the hippie ideals, such as peace not war, along with the music, there were other aspects I steered clear of, particularly the drugs. At the time I had a strong American influence from my best friend, Camilla whose father’s job had brought the family back to London from California for another three years. I also exchanged letters with a pen pal in Missouri who had very similar musical tastes to ours and she had recommended a new West Coast band called Buffalo Springfield.
With little in the way, of money I wasn’t given to impulse buying till one day in the middle of that August (quite possibly 18th), I was walking past a record store and there in the window was an eponymous album bearing the two words Buffalo Springfield. It was like a magnet, I suppose, as within a minute I was inside buying the record – handing over my hard saved thirty shillings and feeling almost unable to wait to play it. Initial spins were very favourable with all the tracks written by various members of the band, and one in particular, standing out – the almost haunting Neil Young song Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing. Camilla and I were hooked immediately and as we got into the album were struck more and more by the writing talents of this young Canadian and, to this day, I wish I had bought shares in him! There was one thing puzzling me about the album, the titles of the songs on the first side didn’t seem to match the lyrical content but as a Dylan fan I was quite familiar with this slant. However, one day on the radio I heard For What It’s Worth and realised that while this title didn’t appear in any of the verses, nor did the song itself appear on my copy of Buffalo Springfield, despite being listed as the first track. Something not right there. I subsequently bought the single of For What It’s Worth, and listening to it confirmed its omission from my album, so wrote to Atlantic Records in London to complain! To this day, I am still awaiting a reply! However, in a way the laugh was on me as it transpired that my album was a limited pressing and while I had had to buy the single for the familiar price of six shillings and eight pence, I also had a rare Buffalo Springfield recording gracing Side 1 of the album! This was the track Baby, Don’t Scold Me, written by Stephen Stills. I have seen this rare release for sale online for the princely sum of $599 – a bit more expensive than the 30 shillings (one pound ten shillings) I paid for it in those pre-decimal days! I understand that the original release was replaced by the record company about three months later. This second pressing included For What It’s Worth, another Stephen Stills track which is still played by some radio stations today and at no time in this song is the title mentioned!
My interest in Buffalo Springfield and the band members increased over the following months, with all the songs becoming familiar friends in my head. I sent a letter to their record company in California and was rewarded with a nice reply, telling me that I was only the third Buffalo Springfield fan to have written to them from England, and enclosed were a number of photos of the band (most featuring Neil in fringed suede) and a biography. For a short while I thought I shared my 11th December birthday with Neil Young, but Camilla put me right – his 11/12/45 birth date was in fact, the American way of writing 12th November! I continued to listen avidly to my treasured album and particularly to Neil’s contributions which already showed he had a great writing talent and Camilla and I felt he would go far. Clancy was released in the States as a single and was subsequently banned from radio play because of one unacceptable word in the lines “Who should be sleeping but is writing this song, wishing and a-hoping he weren’t so damned wrong?” Goodness knows what the censors of the mid-60s would make of today’s releases but, unlike them, I was neither offended nor affected in any way by the blatant swearing Neil had engaged in(!) but was very impressed by the fact that he had effortlessly and correctly used the subjunctive in bemoaning the error of his judgement.
The next year I bought their follow-up album, Buffalo Springfield Again, which featured the sensitive and memorable Neil Young songs Expecting to Fly and Broken Arrow. These were a foretaste of future songs and highlighted his emotive singing and playing which was impossible for the listener to ignore. However, soon after this Neil left the band, only to rejoin for their third and final album Last Time Around before the five of them went their separate ways. In 1968 Neil made a beautiful, soft solo album, then joined forces with a group called The Rockets, and with their name changed to Crazy Horse, they hit our generation in 1969 with their electric album Everybody Knows This is Nowhere. Since then, he and Crazy Horse have witnessed many line-up changes, with collaborations on record and in concert, and Neil is at his electric best with original members Billy Talbot, Ralph Molina and “newcomer” Frank Sampedero who joined the band in 1975. The four of them complement each other so well musically and all of Neil’s famous electric tracks, including Cowgirl in the Sand, Cortez, Hurricane Powderfinger and Over and Over have been made with Crazy Horse.
By the time Woodstock came along in August 1969, Crosby, Stills and Nash had made a name for themselves as a supergroup, to become even more super when the two words “and Young” were added. For all Buffalo Springfield fans, seeing Neil Young and Stephen Stills back together in a band was like a dream come true and over the ensuing decades there have been continuing, albeit intermittent, collaborations between these four musicians.
In January 1970 I got my first chance to see CSN&Y Live at the Royal Albert Hall and about a year later, soon after the release of his hugely successful After the Gold Rush album, I was in the second row for the recording of Neil’s solo, acoustic BBC In Concert and had the unforgettable pleasure of meeting him afterwards. Knowing I would be at his Royal Festival Hall Concert a few days later, I asked him if he’d sing Clancy. He said he wouldn’t promise in case he forgot but his memory didn’t fail him and without any announcement (for which I shall be eternally grateful) he launched into this song which has been a favourite of mine since I first heard it back in 1967. Those of you who recall February 1971 may wonder how I got tickets for both concerts in the midst of the seven-week postal strike. Well, it wasn’t easy, and it was a matter of persistence in phoning to book and then going along to pick them up. Added to that was the confusing changeover to decimalisation but for me I shall always remember that month, and 23rd and 27th in particular, for seeing Neil in two of the best concerts I have ever experienced – and more than 50 years on, I have a lot to compare them with, including about a dozen other Neil Young gigs, though not one of those has disappointed me.
Part 2 to follow – if not next month, then soon after.
© Chasqui Penguin, 2023
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