The Neil Young song that mentions Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page
Out of all the great songwriters of his generation, Neil Young is the finest at eliciting emotion from listeners. Whether this be in tales about his personal life, imploring us to look after mother nature, or even in his many fictional flourishes, the Canadian musician manages to pierce the hearts of fans by fusing an undoubted poetic grasp with a perception that is perhaps second only to Bob Dylan.
One thing Neil Young is an expert at doing is taking us on a trip down memory lane. We’ve seen this numerous times, with ‘Helpless’ as one of the standout examples. The song first appeared on the 1970 era-defining Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young album Déjà Vu and was later released by Young on the Decade compilation. The material touches on his early childhood and some of its most challenging moments, including Young catching Polio at age six.
Elsewhere, ‘Ambulance Blues’ from 1974’s On the Beach is another hard-hitting journey into Young’s past. The song clocks in at just under nine minutes, and in it, he reflects on his history, trying to make sense of it all. He starts by singing: “Back in the old folky days / The air was magic when we played.” Elsewhere, he harks back to his early days as a musician in Toronto, “The riverboat was rockin’ in the rain”.
Another compelling bout of nostalgia that Young has written is ‘Downtown’, the lead single of 1995’s Mirror Ball, an album noted for featuring grunge outfit Pearl Jam as his backing band. In an inversion of his tendency to be melancholic when addressing the past, this number is an upbeat piece of blues-infused rock. The musical style is appropriate, too, as Young evokes images of the 1960s, inviting the listener to “a place called Downtown”, full of hippies and the counterculture.
Notably, this was the era in which Neil Young became famous. He first broke out with one of the ultimate hippie bands, Buffalo Springfield, before going solo and cementing his place as an icon of the era in the supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. As the song is so effective at conjuring the essence of the 1960s, it was only appropriate that Young mentioned a couple of the period’s most prominent musicians.
In the final verse, he sings: “Jimi’s playin’ in the back room / Led Zeppelin on stage / There’s a mirror ball twirlin’ / And a note from Page”. ‘Jimi’ in the first line is none other than Jimi Hendrix, the ultimate guitar hero of the 1960s, who instilled psychedelic music with real power thanks to his visceral playing.
As for Led Zeppelin, they were birthed out of British psychedelic pioneers The Yardbirds when founded by guitarist Jimmy Page in 1968. They rose so quickly with their darker, more expansive form of rock that they outsold The Beatles as the most commercially important band of the day, a remarkable feat. Clearly, they made a significant impact on Neil Young, as in addition to the group being mentioned, Jimmy Page is also referenced in the line – “a note from Page”.
Listen to ‘Downtown’ by Neil Young below.
