The Video of the Moment is "Cortez, The Killer" from the concert Neil Young & Crazy Horse on 2014-07-25, Warsteiner Hockeypark, Mönchengladbach, Germany.Scotsman comments:I just came across this youtube video of Cortez The Killer from 2014, and I think you would all enjoy watching it. It's with the Billy-less version of Crazy Horse (so, not really Crazy Horse, but still a powerful band with another great bass player). And I'm sure some of you here were in the audience that night and will enjoy hearing this again. It's great to see Rick Rosas in action, though unfortunately in one of his last live performances with Neil.In particular, check out the guitar solos between 9:00 and the end of the song (the last 4 minutes or so). This is when the song really takes off. And it features some of the very best guitar playing I have heard from Neil in the last 5 years.And in 2014, Neil had already started to cover up his own musicianship with "extra stuff" (in this case, not orchestras or choirs or extra guitarists or record booths, but backing vocals wailing away over his lead guitar). Now, I generally liked the backing singers on this tour, but in this case the song really takes off when they let Neil play the lead part unaccompanied.It's often that way. For me, Neil has never been a stereotypical jamming guitarist, trading licks or contributing to an intricate collage of sound; he sounds best when he's playing a old-school solo, the centre of attention. With the band being the rock-solid foundation for his instrumentals, a furnace for him to rise out of.This is what Neil Young does. With nothing there to cover up his playing, he's given a choice for the song to either pathetically collapse or to head for the stars. Be great or be gone, as David Briggs said. And nine times out of ten, this "do or die" tension is the catalyst for the song to ignite into something truly awe-inspiring. Just listen to the blend of serene beauty and ugly viciousness in his guitar playing, the instinctive and dynamic interplay between Ralph's drumming and Neil's guitar, with the raw chest-pumping power of Poncho's guitar driving the song along.For a few years now, Neil has struggled with Cortez. The versions with the Electric Band in 2007/2008 tended to fall a bit flat. On the Alchemy tour with the Horse, the arrangement never really came together. It was almost as if the band had somehow forgotten how to play the song, everyone on a different page to each other. And the rare POTR versions in 2015 seemed to go on forever without Neil's playing ever really igniting; treading water. Without either Poncho on guitar or Ralph on drums, the chemical reaction doesn't happen, the test tube doesn't explode (which is what we all wanted to witness in chemistry class, wasn't it?). The magic doesn't happen.But here in 2014, it all came together. Neil's guitar playing takes us to the moon and back, and the story of Cortez chills us to the bone. And on an emotional rollercoaster like Cortez, what more could you possibly ask for?Scotsman. Thanks Scotsman! Great suggestion and thanks for sharing.As others have suggested, only Neil could capture the majesty of ancient empire, the greed and barbarity of the conquerers, and make it rock with soul. And it should be noted how well "Cortez" fits into the time traveling Neil Young's New Album "Hitchhiker".More on Neil Young Lyrics Analysis: "Cortez The Killer".More concert reviews of Neil Young & Crazy Horse on 2014-07-25, Warsteiner Hockeypark, Mönchengladbach, Germany. Also, see Europe Summer 2014 Concert Tour .More on the late, great Rick "The Bass Player" Rosas.Rick Rosas: 1949 - 2014Liverpool, England - July 13, 2014Photo by Paolo BrilloLabels: concert, cortez the killer, crazy horse, neil young, video
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