Sunday, May 4, 2025

Neil Young On Rockets Album? Dept.


Cover shouldn't work, but does, like the band. Everybody misses Neil, cropped out of shot at bottom edge!

Today's wantable deliverable is this here barely-an-album by troubled Left Coast combo The Rockets! It's an album shrouded in mystery, the main one being why Neil thought "gee whillickers! This is th' band for me!" on hearing it. He was right; the shining beacon of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere would not have burned so bright without this happy band of bickering substance abusers.

They managed to stretch it out to an over-generous twenty-nine minutes with the help of interminable nails-on-chalkboard violin initiatives from Bobby Notkoff, of Notkoff's™ Cough Syrup fame, to which the band was addicted [left - Ed.]. Neil makes a guest appearance on the cover, usually cropped out due to wrapping the slick around the card cover - he's visible on this rare copy.

I had an original vinyl on White Whale®, which is amazing because it only sold two copies. It's no masterpiece, but it has a bizarre knotty charm, coupla swell songs, and nags at you to play it again.


Flash forward, and simultaneantly back, to '71, when the band had morphed/would morph into Crazy Horse, and recorded this smashing elpee [left - Ed.]. Nothing wrong with this one, Gib Gilbeau ("Gilbo") supplying the required fiddle, except the wretched, stinking, nogood cover design. Or, you like it!

Both albums contained in one hermetically sealed deliverable.


This post homologated by Artie's Auto Autoclaving™, Mons Veneris, AK.

 

 


10 comments:

  1. Due to the sensitive nature of the material, a StealthLink© has been deployed for your security and convenience. StealthLink© is a service of the Artificial Ignorance® Corporation, an independent non-profit organisation. "AIC and you - working for a better yesterday!"™

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  2. That StealthLink© is one crafty MF. I used to have better luck in getting them to de-cloak.
    D in California

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    1. Sorry for my insufficient efforts. Normally, moving the cursor around eventually revealed something (and Firefox is handy in showing the ostensible address of links, so there's both a cursor change AND a funky URL showing at the bottom of the screen). But on both your comments, for me, it is all simple text.
      D still in CA

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    2. The StealthLink© may be deployed in the blog post itself, depending upon tactical requirements. There's a clue in my last comment ...

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    3. Dr. Tichenor, I assume?!?

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    4. Flu season here take the medicine ;)

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    5. found it but won't tell ...

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  3. Neil's hat appears on the back cover, too. Someone threw it up in a tree, apparently. Bullies. Picking on that Canadian kid. Steppin' on him. Yep, only the top of the hat and brim is visible on the LP cover. But are you sure that isn't Alfred E. Neuman peeking out at us?

    Ooh, "nags" you to play it again, very nice. Side one is Danny Whitten's tunes, plus one from Ralph and Billy. Side two is all Whitsell brothers songs. That kind of band solidarity may have helped Neil break off the part he was interested in. But George Whitsell and Notkoff turned up on subsequent mediocre "Crazy Horse" albums before Pancho showed up, so no hard feelings, maybe.

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  4. Ugh, I wanted to get a closer look and was redirected! Now I'll never know the secret ingredients. Curses!

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