Neil Young & THE DUCKS Santa Cruz 1977 Compilation Vol. 1 Various venues? Santa Cruz, California; Summer 1977. Very good soundboard (previously uncirculated). The Ducks were a short-lived band of Neil Young, Bob Mosley, Jeff Blackburn and Johnny C (Craviotto) in the '70s. 00:00 [cuts in] A Deeper Mystery 02:36 talk 03:38 Gypsy Wedding 06:18 talk 07:09 Bye Bye Johnny 10:23 talk 11:04 Long May You Run 15:15 talk (Neil broke a string) 16:40 Sailor Man 21:23 Younger Days 25:16 talk 26:41 Love You Forever 32:58 Gone Dead Train 36:40 [cuts in] Hold On Boys 41:24 Sail Away 46:44 talk before set break 47:09 Silver Wings 0:52:32 [cuts in] Two Riders 0:57:50 Poor Man 1:01:53 Mr Soul 1:06:44 talk 1:07:19 Tore Down 1:11:07 [cuts in] Wide Eyed And Willing 1:15:23 Truckin' Man 1:18:37 Don't Let Em Get To You 1:23:31 talk 1:24:18 [cuts in] Long May You Run [cut] Lineup: Neil Young - guitar, harmonica, vocals Bob Mosley - bass, vocals Jeff Blackburn - guitar, vocals Johnny C. (Craviotto) - drums, vocals This is what Pat Mead posted at human-highway.org: During the summer of 1977, Neil Young joined a local band in Santa Cruz, California and played with them in bars and clubs around Santa Cruz for several weeks. Jeff Blackburn, a San Francisco musician in the 1960s, first met Neil during Neil's Buffalo Springfield days. The pair had renewed their friendship in the spring of 1977 when they jammed together at a birthday celebration for Jerry Miller (of Moby Grape fame). At the time, Blackburn's group, The Jeff Blackburn Band, had been in need of a lead guitarist. Blackburn invited Neil to fill the spot and, wonder of wonders, Neil accepted! The band was renamed The Ducks, Neil rented a house overlooking the beach, and the adventure began. In addition to Blackburn and Young, The Ducks featured Bob Mosley (an original member of Moby Grape) on bass, and Johnny Craviotta (aka "Johnny C") on drums. (Johnny C's pedigree is a little murky - someone recently posted that he was a veteran of Blue Cheer, but I find that hard to believe. I remember reading at the time that he had done some recording sessions with Arlo Guthrie and with Ry Cooder, and those associations better fit his musical personality.) Every Duck could sing and all except Johnny could write, so The Ducks' setlists were very democratic. Each member took his turn on vocals in fairly strict order. At some point during this period, Neil and Jeff Blackburn co-wrote My My, Hey Hey but that song was never performed by The Ducks. Neil's contributions included compositions from the late '70s like Homegrown, Long May You Run, and a handful of songs that later turned up in much softer arrangements on the Comes A Time album. Highlights included a scorching electric Mr Soul (Neil told the local entertainment rag, Good Times, that "these guys do the song better than the Buffalo Springfield did it"), as well as the unique instrumental guitar showcase Windward Passage. The group also did a fine version of Are You Ready For The Country?

• published: 10 Jan 2014
• views: 41