Broken Arrow (album)

Last updated
Broken Arrow
Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Broken Arrow.jpg
Studio album by
Neil Young with Crazy Horse
ReleasedJuly 2, 1996
RecordedMarch 21 - April 17, 1996 (except "Interstate": April 1990)
StudioPlywood Digital, Woodside, California (except "Baby What You Want Me to Do": Old Princeton Landing, Princeton-by-the-Sea, California)
Genre Blues rock, folk rock
Length47:02
Label Reprise
Producer Neil Young
Neil Young chronology
Dead Man
(1996)		Broken Arrow
(1996)		 Year of the Horse
(1997)
Crazy Horse chronology
Sleeps with Angels
(1994)		Broken Arrow
(1996)		 Year of the Horse
(1997)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Robert Christgau Five Pointed Star Solid.svg Five Pointed Star Solid.svg [2]

Broken Arrow is the 22nd studio album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young, and his 8th with Crazy Horse, released in 1996.

Contents

Background and recording

The sessions for the album were held at Young's ranch in Northern California in Spring of 1996. The sessions were Young's first without producer David Briggs, who died of lung cancer the previous year. The group struggled to record a new album without the guidance and leadership of Briggs. For inspiration, they booked a series of gigs at local clubs prior to the sessions. The final track is a live version of a Jimmy Reed song that was recorded on an audience microphone at one such small "secret" gig in California, giving it a bootleg feel. [3] [4] The first three songs are in the form of long, structured jams. In Shakey, Young describes the album as "vulnerable and unfinished. I wanted to get one under my belt without David." [5]

Songs

"Changing Highways" dates from 1974, and was first recorded by the group that year at Chess Records in Chicago. The session had been their first as a reconstituted group with Poncho Sampedro. The idea of recording the song in 1996 came from the guitarist, who wanted to make another attempt at the song after feeling like he hadn't taken the first attempt seriously enough. In a 2021 interview, Sampedro remembers meeting Young and jamming with the other musicians while naively not realizing they were rehearsing for a session the following day, and then reintroducing the song to Young two decades later:

"I had never met Neil. Billy and Ralph told him all about me. We were jamming in Echo Park at Billy's house, and we flew to Chicago to meet up. We went to the hotel and Ben Keith was already there. We went to Neil's room and Neil started playing all these songs. I had my guitar, so I started trying to play along. I was just naive [laughs]. I gave Ben the guitar and I said, 'Hey man, why don't you play a couple?' He said, 'No man, I think you better play!' And I said, 'Well, who's going to roll a joint? It's me that's gotta roll the joint!' But anyway, the bottom line was, I had no clue. No clue at all that those were the songs we were going to be recording the next day and I was supposed to be learning. Taking shorthand and paying attention. I was just going, 'I don't know if I like that one. That's hard.' When it finally got recorded and put on a record, we were sitting in a studio one day after David passed. I just played "Changing Highways." Neil said, 'Wow, that was pretty cool, Ponch.' I said, 'Well, you know, ever since that session, I really wanted to record it with you again and I practiced it all these years. Just in case you ever pulled it out, I'd be ready.' He said, 'Well, it sounded so good. We should do it.'" [6]

Young's association with "Baby What You Want Me to Do" dates from his earliest days singing in a music group, The Squires, as a teenager. He remembers his early fondness for Jimmy Reed in his memoir, Super Deluxe:

"I loved the simplicity and honesty that oozed from every one of his songs. His voice was not amazing and his harmonica was simple and direct, while not being derivative. Jimmy played harp with a rack—a harmonica holder—around his neck so he could play guitar at the same time, and he would hold notes for a long time, focusing on high, expressively plaintive tones. To me, he was very haunting, one of the greats, a genius original, making the most of the least, with a definitive sound in the blues. Maybe he was just too successful for the hard core to appreciate him while he was alive. I sure did, though." [7]

Release

A bonus track, "Interstate", was included on the vinyl record release of the album and the CD single of "Big Time", and is an outtake from the 1990 Ragged Glory sessions. Although he would make Looking Forward with Crosby, Stills & Nash released in 1999, this record would be the last studio album by Neil Young for four years and the last in a string of rock albums broken only by Harvest Moon . [8]

Track listing

All tracks by Neil Young, except where noted.

Broken Arrow track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Big Time" 7:24
2."Loose Change" 9:49
3."Slip Away" 8:36
4."Changing Highways" 2:28
5."Scattered (Let's Think About Livin')" 4:13
6."This Town" 2:59
7."Music Arcade" 3:59
8."Baby What You Want Me to Do" Jimmy Reed 8:08
Vinyl bonus track
No.TitleLength
9."Interstate"6:24

Personnel

Crazy Horse

Charts

Chart performance for Broken Arrow
Chart (1996)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [9] 43
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [10] 25
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [11] 13
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [12] 21
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [13] 24
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [14] 12
French Albums (SNEP) [15] 42
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [16] 13
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [17] 27
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [18] 9
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [19] 14
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [20] 25
UK Albums (OCC) [21] 17
US Billboard 200 [22] 31

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References

  1. ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Broken Arrow - Neil Young,Neil Young & Crazy Horse , Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-06-03.
  2. ↑ "CG: Neil Young & Crazy Horse". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2015-06-03.
  3. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Broken Arrow by Neil Young & Crazy Horse". Itunes.apple.com. 1996-07-02. Retrieved 2013-05-27.
  4. ↑ "Broken Arrow: Neil Young with Crazy Horse: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-05-27.
  5. ↑ Mcdonough, Jimmy. 2003. Shakey: Neil Young's Biography. New York: Anchor Books.
  6. ↑ Frank 'Poncho' Sampedro: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview. 2021. Aquarium Drunkard. April 20, 2021. https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2021/04/20/frank-poncho-sampedro-the-aquarium-drunkard-interview/.
  7. ↑ Young, Neil. 2015. Special Deluxe. New York, New York: Plume, An Imprint Of Penguin Random House Llc.
  8. ↑ Thomas, Stephen (1996-07-02). "Broken Arrow - Neil Young, Neil Young & Crazy Horse : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-05-27.
  9. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Broken Arrow". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Broken Arrow" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Broken Arrow" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Broken Arrow" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Broken Arrow" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Neil Young with Crazy Horse: Broken Arrow" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Broken Arrow". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Broken Arrow" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Charts.nz – Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Broken Arrow". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Broken Arrow". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Broken Arrow". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  20. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Broken Arrow". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  21. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Neil Young Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
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