Ragged Glory

by Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Overview

Having re-established his reputation with the musically varied, lyrically enraged Freedom, Neil Young returned to being the lead guitarist of Crazy Horse for the musically homogenous, lyrically hopeful Ragged Glory. The album's dominant sound was made by Young's noisy guitar, which bordered on and sometimes slipped over into distortion, while Crazy Horse kept up the songs' bright tempos. Despite the volume, the tunes were catchy, with strong melodies and good choruses, and they were given over to love, humor, and warm reminiscence. They were also platforms for often extended guitar excursions: "Love to Burn" and "Love and Only Love" ran over ten minutes each, and the album as a whole lasted nearly 63 minutes with only ten songs. Much about the record had a retrospective feel -- the first two tracks, "Country Home" and "White Line," were newly recorded versions of songs Young had played with Crazy Horse but never released in the '70s; "Mansion on the Hill," the album's most accessible track, celebrated a place where "psychedelic music fills the air" and "peace and love live there still"; there was a cover of the Premiers' garage rock oldie "Farmer John"; and "Days That Used to Be," in addition to its backward-looking theme, borrowed the melody from Bob Dylan's "My Back Pages" (by way of the Byrds' arrangement), while "Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)" was the folk standard "The Water Is Wide" with new, environmentally aware lyrics. Young was not generally known as an artist who evoked the past this much, but if he could extend his creative rebirth with music this exhilarating, no one was likely to complain. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	10/04/2024
Label:	Reprise / Wea
UPC:	0093624882954

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Neil Young   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Neil Young & Crazy Horse   Primary Artist
Crazy Horse   Primary Artist
Frank "Poncho" Sampedro   Guitar,Vocals
Ralph Molina   Drums,Vocals
Elliot Roberts   Director
Frank Sampedro   Guitar,Vocals
Billy Talbot   Guitar (Bass),Bass,Vocals

Technical Credits

Billy Talbot   Assistant Producer,Production Assistant
Chris Bellman   Mastering
Chuck Johnson   Second Engineer
Frank "Poncho" Sampedro   Production Assistant
Dewey Terry   Composer
John Nowland   Second Engineer
Niko Bolas   Engineer,Recording
Neil Young   Mixing,Composer,Producer
Ralph Molina   Assistant Producer,Production Assistant
Tim Mulligan   Mastering,Digital Engineer,Mastering Engineer
Larry Cragg   Photography
David Briggs   Mixing,Producer,Producer
Harry Sitam   Technical Engineer
Don "Sugarcane" Harris   Composer
John Hanlon   Mixing,Engineer,Producer,Recording,Vocal Engineer
Neil Young & Crazy Horse   Performer
Andrew Vastola   Engineer
Chris Kupper   Second Engineer
Dave Collins   Digital Transfers
Janet Levinson   Design
Andrew James Vastola   Engineer
Gary Long   Engineer
Buzz Burrowes   Engineer
Frank Sampedro   Composer,Assistant Producer
Pat Stoltz   Engineer