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Length: 8:05
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We were feeling very fine air was clear and slightly damp
We were riding back to have ourselves a party
To celebrate the robbing of the train
We were talking kind of low and lazy
About not having to go out soon again, oh yeah
You know we hadn't been back home two hours
We heard a hawk cry out in the night
And you know that's a signal from young Billy, who's our sentry
He's saying something here ain't exactly right, oh
So we quick grabbed some of our hardware
Stumbled out of our home
Two minutes flat we had found her an Indian girl all alone
And Eli said, "Let's take her back to the cabin"
I said, "You don't know she might be the law, yeah"
He said, smiling kind of nasty
"It ain't too damn likely she'll beat me to the draw", Oh yeah
We were walking back through the darkness
I heard the Duke, he's our dynamiter, say
He said, "What's your name, sweet little Indian girl?"
She said, "Raven" and she looked away
Right then I didn't trust her, no and I said so, oh no
Now, Eli, he's our fastest gunner
He's kind of mean and young from the South
He said, "Fat Albert, you're getting kind of old and weird now"
You'd better get your twelve gauge or shut your mouth and ass now
And I [Incomprehensible]
Now Eli and the Duke they got down to it
They each wanted the Indian girl for their own
But when they finally got around to asking her
You know she said, She'd come to take young Billy home
Eli said, He'd kill young Billy he'd kill the Duke
And probably me too, yeah, the Indian girl said, "Go ahead now do it"
I said, "Stop it", and she bit my thumb nearly clean through
And when they finally started to break down the door
I smeared my face up with blood from my thumb, yeah
I laid down on the floor and played real good possum
You know I'm crazy but I ain't real dumb, oh no
Now I'm dying here in Albuquerque
I must be the sorriest sight you ever saw
You know the reason I'm the only man here to tell it
You know that Indian girl, she wasn't an Indian she was the law, oh
(btw, i have just about every CSN/CSNY album recorded. Just feel this one never tried.)
"Mediocre" is a more generous description than I would use to describe this song. To me it's an example of someone accustomed to a lifetime of privilege being able to record and release any old crap, just because he can. Anyhow, other people seem to like it, to each his own. They sound like they were having fun when they recorded it, so there's that.
To me it sounds 'derivative'. Am fond of lots of music where David Crosby is involved. Not this one.
"One of the most autobiographical songs to stem from the diaspora of CSN&Y, David Crosby's "Cowboy Movie" is the actual story of the (temporary) 1970 breakup of that very group. The individual members are all given aliases: Stephen Stills is Eli ("our fastest gunner/kinda mean & young, from the South"). Graham Nash is The Duke ("our dynamiter"), Neil Young is Young Billy, who has an almost psychic ability to predict trouble, and Crosby himself is Fat Albert, who becomes an interested and interesting bystander. The other main character is Raven, who represents Rita Coolidge, who in real life had affairs with Stills first, then Nash. This in itself caused the ill-feelings between Nash and Stills at the time, and caused the temporary fraction in the band. Raven is also referred to as "The Law" -- but not in the legal sense, as Crosby explained in Dave Zimmer's Crosby, Stills & Nash, but the "law of averages of nature." All of this combines, as Zimmer relates, to create a "colorful look at human nature," and succeeds admirably. Musically, this lengthy cut is similar in structure to CSN&Y songs such as "Down by the River" and "Deja Vú." The fabulous electric guitar exchange between Young and Jerry Garcia is riveting, as is the rhythm section, which is provided by members of the Grateful Dead. All in all, one of the standouts on Crosby's If I Could Only Remember My Name, and it is historical as much it still remains as a stone groove."
Anyone else hear a pretty strong echo of Steppenwolf's The Pusherman?
damn right
So you know (roughly) how high to set his mic stand?
In the future, folks who weren't born when the song was released have no basis for commenting. So sayeth the King.
Mackmoney3000 wrote:
This is an excellent strategy for music to placed on a pedestal in a museum, and never interacted with again. So sayeth the plebeian.
Here's the thing: some of the impact of a given musician or piece of music is it's context; the music and, for the sixties, the social milieu that proceeded and accompanied it. That's part of what gave The Byrds, The Supremes, Dire Straits, Hendrix, the grunge scene, punk and many others their impact. For those of us who were sentient at the time, part of that impact goes away only when we do.
So when we think, quietly or out loud, that those who weren't there at the time just don't get it, I think we're just reveling in the richness those experiences had and still have.
Pretty sure that
"And I [Incomprehensible]" Is "And I hid"
Self indulgent psychedelic Laurel Canyon/San Francisco dreck from the 60's and 70's - glad those times are gone.
bah
Self indulgent psychedelic Laurel Canyon/San Francisco dreck from the 60's and 70's - glad those times are gone.
Guess you had to be there to enjoy it. You weren't, so...
This was his first album.
I don't see any similarity between Croz and Donovan.
One thing you have to say about David Crosby. He sounds like David Crosby and no one else really even tries.
I wonder why?
Oh yes. This one. Thanks. I was tripping one day and listening to this very loud about a week after it was released and our neighbour upstairs (in London) actually kicked the fucking front door in to get us to turn it down. We didn't. We were tripped out, how could we? Major music. And what a cast!
NY and JG. A rare and special occasion.
thank RP for playing songs off it
You know I'm crazy but I ain't real dumb, oh no.
"And I [Incomprehensible]" Is "And I hid"
This is an excellent strategy for music to placed on a pedestal in a museum, and never interacted with again. So sayeth the plebeian.
Well, a veritable who's who of the scene: Garcia, Phil Lesh and Bill Kreutzmann are his back up band for several songs (along with Neil on this song). On others you find: Jack Casady, Gracie and other members of Airplane etc etc etc.
I believe this was Crosby's first album, and the lineup he put together had incredible harmonies that wove through each of the songs. Technically, this is not a CSNY effort. It's a solo artist that had lots of great artists help create something.
Well, a veritable who's who of the scene: Garcia, Phil Lesh and Bill Kreutzmann are his back up band for several songs (along with Neil on this song). On others you find: Jack Casady, Gracie and other members of Airplane etc etc etc.
nutrod42 wrote:
Just a tad.
That doesn't make it a "rip-off".
Relax and enjoy, people; life is short.
thanks
I think it sounds much more like "Down by the River", actually.
I think he may have been having whatever it was Janis had ~
.
Long time gone is a far better song. Regardless of how favourable a bias I might have towards Crosby, this is tedious. 2
"Mediocre" is a more generous description than I would use to describe this song. To me it's an example of someone accustomed to a lifetime of privilege being able to record and release any old crap, just because he can. Anyhow, other people seem to like it, to each his own. They sound like they were having fun when they recorded it, so there's that.
Jerry Garcia - guitar
Phil Lesh - Phil Lesh (ha ha - I mean bass)
Mickey Hart - Drums
..given that..I am sure there were probably copious amounts of illicit substances involved...
Alternate take: https://youtu.be/93P_t17D2hw
He still plays it: https://youtu.be/ThMK5aRjYxs
This is the first time I've heard this; Mom refused to let me own an album titled "If I Could Only Remember my Name".
You rate virtually every song sucko barfo and you're calling Crosby the whiner?
I commend you on your efforts.
From the lyrics page:
"Now, Eli, he's our fastest gunner
He's kind of mean and young from the South
He said, "Fat Albert, you're getting kind of old and weird now"
You'd better get your twelve gauge or shut your mouth and ass now
And I (Incomprehensible)"
Looks like that lyric service just gave up on puzzling out David's babbling.
Hey, it was the 70s (stuck in the 60s). It didn't have to make sense or be comprehensible back then. But on a warm summer's evening, this song puts you into a dazed groove that feels...right on.
Thank God David Crosby survived all his drug use, but it sure took him to some odd and disjointed places.
I am not sure about the cowboy thing - sounds more like a secret hankering for Good Ole Boys that in subsequent decades that have turned bounty hunters, dope dealers, NRA apologists and Southern States separatists. I hope he was being critical rather than approving.
Funny, I have been thinking about writing something along the lines of your "folks who weren't born when the song was released" comment for a while now. There are clearly many people who were not at least in their early teens between 1965-1975, what I still consider to be the peek of rock and pop music, who don't seem to "get" or enjoy much of the really good music from that era. But at the same time, a very high percentage of the songs that receive 8.5 or higher ratings seem to be from that era, so those clearly great songs are universally recognized. My daughter is 27 and still lives in the San Francisco area, and she loves so much of the music from my younger days, as well as the music that I love like that played on RP from all decades, genres, and eras. The one place where we diverge is with some rap and hip hop, which she and her friends play and like to sing and dance to. Please don't get any ideas Bill! I love the wide variety of international, eclectic music you have always played on Radio Paradise, and I have been a listener pretty much since you began in 2000, and listened to you on KPIG and KFAT back in the day. But let's leave the rap and hip hop music to other stations, where I am sure it will be more appreciated.
I love this stoner song and I don't see in this message any proscription against the younger generation commenting on it
They can tell anyone different if they choose.
Meanwhile, you rate everything sucko barfo, so this is just more of your tedious whining.
Funny, I have been thinking about writing something along the lines of your "folks who weren't born when the song was released" comment for a while now. There are clearly many people who were not at least in their early teens between 1965-1975, what I still consider to be the peek of rock and pop music, who don't seem to "get" or enjoy much of the really good music from that era. But at the same time, a very high percentage of the songs that receive 8.5 or higher ratings seem to be from that era, so those clearly great songs are universally recognized. My daughter is 27 and still lives in the San Francisco area, and she loves so much of the music from my younger days, as well as the music that I love like that played on RP from all decades, genres, and eras. The one place where we diverge is with some rap and hip hop, which she and her friends play and like to sing and dance to. Please don't get any ideas Bill! I love the wide variety of international, eclectic music you have always played on Radio Paradise, and I have been a listener pretty much since you began in 2000, and listened to you on KPIG and KFAT back in the day. But let's leave the rap and hip hop music to other stations, where I am sure it will be more appreciated.
Here! Here! Thank you ;-)
crap is crap no matter what decade it was made. And you don't get to tell anyone different. This is crap
Funny, I have been thinking about writing something along the lines of your "folks who weren't born when the song was released" comment for a while now. There are clearly many people who were not at least in their early teens between 1965-1975, what I still consider to be the peek of rock and pop music, who don't seem to "get" or enjoy much of the really good music from that era. But at the same time, a very high percentage of the songs that receive 8.5 or higher ratings seem to be from that era, so those clearly great songs are universally recognized. My daughter is 27 and still lives in the San Francisco area, and she loves so much of the music from my younger days, as well as the music that I love like that played on RP from all decades, genres, and eras. The one place where we diverge is with some rap and hip hop, which she and her friends play and like to sing and dance to. Please don't get any ideas Bill! I love the wide variety of international, eclectic music you have always played on Radio Paradise, and I have been a listener pretty much since you began in 2000, and listened to you on KPIG and KFAT back in the day. But let's leave the rap and hip hop music to other stations, where I am sure it will be more appreciated.
From the lyrics page:
"Now, Eli, he's our fastest gunner
He's kind of mean and young from the South
He said, "Fat Albert, you're getting kind of old and weird now"
You'd better get your twelve gauge or shut your mouth and ass now
And I (Incomprehensible)"
Looks like that lyric service just gave up on puzzling out David's babbling.
Hey, it was the 70s (stuck in the 60s). It didn't have to make sense or be comprehensible back then. But on a warm summer's evening, this song puts you into a dazed groove that feels...right on.
Thank God David Crosby survived all his drug use, but it sure took him to some odd and disjointed places.
is going to be looking in his mirror for a po-lice car soon?
Yah, clocking in at 8+ minutes. No thanks: PSD time.
It has been going and going...
.... and going
The Indian Girl WAS the law!
9 - for the lyrics....
just samplin'
Amen! This is very tiresome. There's a reason this gets played so little.
I'm with Scott and horstman ... "tiresome" is the perfect description.
You know I smoke a lot of ..........
Perhaps, but it's probably better than falling out of a 7th-floor window.
which is weird because i normally love his music. he is very much missed.