The jazz musician who inspired Neil Young’s Crazy Horse guitar licks
Not many artists can claim to have influenced popular music over the last six decades quite like Neil Young. A widely consequential singer-songwriter, guitarist and activist, the Canadian has continued to lead the way, even as life as an octogenarian draws ever nearer. Reflecting his cultural status, Young is universally hailed as ‘The Godfather of Grunge’, denoting his direct and indirect impact on the world of alternative music.
It might seem remarkable, but without Young’s proto-alternative rock on albums such as Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Zuma and Rust Never Sleeps, the modern iteration of rock would be completely different. His de-tuned guitars, piercing riffs, and locomoting rhythms would signal the way for the likes of Nirvana, Sonic Youth and Radiohead, three heavyweights in this field.
It says everything about the gravity of Neil Young’s work that one of the greatest songwriters of all time, former Pink Floyd leader Roger Waters, selected ‘Helpless’ as one of his choices when appearing on BBC’s Desert Island Discs. The song first appeared on Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s timeless 1970 debut, Déjà Vu.
Regarding the unfettered emotion coursing through the song, Waters said: “There is an honesty and a truth in everything that he’s done. You feel the man’s integrity and passion. I can feel the hairs standing up on the back of my neck now, remembering the purity with which he hits the first notes of this song. It’s extraordinarily moving and eloquent.”
Unsurprisingly, as Neil Young’s music has such a broad pull, it has been influenced by many greats. From the rock ‘n’ roll pioneers of old to modern movers and shakers, the Canadian icon has effused about a colourful menagerie of different artists in his time. One of the most intriguing and lauded names he credits with informing an essential aspect of his work is the legendary jazz saxophonist and band leader John Coltrane. According to Young, Coltrane’s brass work had a defining impact on his distinctive guitar playing.
This revelation emerged in 1995 when Young was speaking to Mojo. It was put to him by the interviewer that on the 1990 album Ragged Glory – one of his finest releases in the decade with Crazy Horse – there was a “real jazz feel”, with the way he operates bringing to mind Miles Davis and John Coltrane.
Young explained: “Miles and Coltrane, yeah, they’re two of my favourites. My guitar improvisations with Crazy Horse are very, very Coltrane-influenced. I’m particularly taken by work like Equinox and My Favourite Things. Miles, I love, just because of his overall attitude towards the concept of ‘creation’, which is one of constant change. There’s no reason to stay there once you’ve done it. You could stay for the rest of your life, and it would become like a regular job.”
Listen to ‘Born to Run’ from Ragged Glory below.
