#ben keith

[meadow-dusk]

Images from Neil Young's first autobiography Waging Heavy Peace [2012], as requested by anonymous

[bayareabadboy]

#OnThisDay in 1972, Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” hit no. 1 in the U.S.

Recorded during the first Nashville session for Harvest, the track features backing vocals from James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt and pedal steel from Ben Keith.

After cutting “Old Man,” they recorded two takes of “Heart of Gold.” That was all they needed.

It became Young’s only U.S. no. 1 single — making him a somewhat reluctant hitmaker.

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Neil Young & Ten Men Workin' - Kiva Auditorium, Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 25, 1988

While putting together this week's Brigid Mae Power episode of All One Song, I thought to myself: "Has Neil ever played 'Albuquerque' in Albuquerque?" (Hey, these are the things that occupy my mind while the world hangs in balance, what can I say.) Well, it turns out he has played it in ABQ ... but only once! And it was during an extremely random time in his career — the fall 1988 tour with Ten Men Workin'!

Who the hell were Ten Men Workin'?! They were the Bluenotes, for some reason renamed as that era of Neil's 1980s wound down. Maybe Harold Melvin was threatening legal action? I don't know. Whatever! What matters is I've got a toasty audience recording of this gig to share with you. No, "Albuquerque" — its first performance since 1973 — doesn't get a blues-rock makeover; Neil plays it in the opening acoustic set, which is a nice mix of the usual stuff and deep cuts.

As on Tonight's the Night, "Albuquerque" this evening is bolstered by the presence of the mighty Ben Keith. He's on dobro rather than pedal steel here, but I get the feeling that Ben could be playing a tin can and he'd make it sound like the most soulful thing you've ever heard. And Neil responds in kind, with an almost whispered vocal and a high, lonesome harmonica break. He also takes the opportunity to correct his geography: "Well, they say that Santa Fe is less than seventy miles away." That's what they say, anyway!

The big band set that follows is a good time, too, with some particularly piercing guitar work from Neil. The Bluenotes may now just be a footnote in Shakey's journey, but they're always entertaining — especially when they break out the epic "Ordinary People" towards the end. It's likely no one in the crowd knew this one (it wouldn't even be released until 2007), but as it goes on (and on), you can hear the whole auditorium start to dance away the Michelob night.

[krispyweiss]

Album Review: Neil Young - Tonight’s the Night (50th Anniversary)

Retrofitted for 2025, Neil Young’s lo-fi, 1975 garage classic Tonight’s the Night is a bit cleaner and brighter in its 50th Anniversary presentation. And while purists might hear this as sacrilege, they can take comfort knowing Tonight remains as stoned and bleary-eyed as ever in remastered form and the gems Young excavted from his vault make this a golden anniversary-worthy celebration.

Young’s voice was roached - in a good way - giving the vocals a rough hew to go with the rough-hewn music, created by Young; guitarists Nils Lofgren and Danny Whitten; pedal steel man Ben Keith; keyboardist Jack Nitzsche; and the Crazy Horse rhythm section of Billy Talbot (bass) and Ralph Molina (drums) among other compatriots.

The extra tracks have the rare advantage of fitting seamlessly with the hazy county-blues, folk-rock of this second entry in Young’s so-called Ditch Trilogy. And in the case of “Lookout Joe,” Young simply replaced the album track with the long-shelved original recording - a splendid move.

Joni Mitchell makes an appearance on her own “Raised on Robbery,” and the band seems to tighten up ever so slightly in her presence. Talk about respect.

“Walk On,” which would appear on On the Beach, also gets the original-recording treatment. And “Wonderin’,” which was destined for the Shocking Pinks in 1983, appears in full cosmic-country glory.

Where unnecessary padding so often plagues expanded reissues, Tonight’s the Night (50th Anniversary) leaves the listener wanting more. Which is exactly as it should be.

Grade card: Neil Young - Tonight’s the Night (50th Anniversary) - A

12/17/25

[dollarbin]

Nickel Bin #9:

Emmylou Harris' Till I Gain Control Again

It's been a rough week.

Our former president is smirking, snorting and sneering at potential jurors for a trial he's likely to win in New York and someone stole my worthless-to-everyone-except-me bicycle out of my front yard in the middle of the day. My Dodgers are playing like they're in a Stephen Stills cover band, and Karl Wallinger, Tom Petty and Prince are still dead.

So I say that we deserve a moment of simple grace, a moment of musical perfection. Till I Gain Control Again comes compliments of Emmylou Harris and her third solo record, Elite Hotel.

The intro guitar, and the vibes that creep in around it, bounce without flash and welcome in Harris's already rich vocals with respect. Drums, bass, piano, eventual strings: "note perfect" is not a phrase I can use with any authority, but I'll use it here all the same.

Aside from Harris herself, the song's two key ingredients are so humble you may miss them the first time.

The first, steel guitar player Ben Keith, is well known to Shakey Sunday readers as one of the most vital cogs in Neil Young's career: Keith was on hand and vital for much of the timeless stuff - and some of the weirdest bits too - between Harvest and Chrome Dreams 2.

Here, he glows around Harris within the verses, providing solace and depth before backing off to let the more obvious lead electric do its melodic work.

And second there's Linda Ronstadt. Imagine Taylor Swift or Beyoncé taking time away from their mammoth new records this month to sing unassuming alto back-up for a lesser known artist. That's the deal with Linda on this song in 1975, and I can't say enough about the yearning yet controlled tone she adds under Harris on each chorus and on the shimmering, why-does-it-ever-have-to-end, fade.

Enjoy this song friends! And for god's sake, someone put the dumb jerk in jail already, and hey, Stephen Stills, give me back my bike!

[thatsagreatpainting]

Neil Young & The Stray Gators, Woodside, CA 1971

Recording in barn at Broken Arrow Ranch, near Woodside, CA, September 1971. ("Harvest" album back cover) l-r Kenny Buttrey, Tim Drummond, Ben Keith, Jack Nitzsche and Neil Young

Neil Young chose a cropped version for the back cover of the "Harvest" LP

© Joel Bernstein, 1971

[longliverockback]

Neil Young and Bluenote Café Bluenote Café 2015 Reprise ———————————————————————  Tracks Disc One: 01. Welcome to the Big Room 02. Don’t Take Your Love away from Me 03. This Note’s for You 04. Ten Men Workin’ 05. Life in the City 06. Hello Lonely Woman 07. Soul of a Woman 08. Married Man 09. Bad News Come to Town 10. Ain’t It the Truth 11. One Thing 12. Twilight

Tracks Disc Two: 01. I’m Goin’ 02. Ordinary People 03. Crime in the City 04. Crime of the Heart 05. Welcome Rap 06. Doghouse 07. Fool for Your Love 08. Encore Rap 09. On the Way Home 10. Sunny Inside 11. Tonight’s the Night ——————————————————————— 

Larry Cragg

Chad Cromwell

Ben Keith

Steve Lawrence

Ralph Molina

Rick Rosas

Frank Sampedro

Billy Talbot

Neil Young

* Long Live Rock Archive

[bobdylan-n-jonimitchell]

Neil & Pegi Young with choir, “Les Trois Cloches,” Christmas at the Ranch, 2008.