Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s Rust Never Sleeps on its 40th Anniversary, the Rickenbacker 12-String Guitar
Forty years later, Neil Young and Crazy Horse's masterpiece Rust Never Sleeps still captivates listeners and critics with its simple melodies, complex lyrics and punk-inspired sound. This week, Jim and Greg discuss the album's impact and how Young's blend of acoustic and electric made for an iconic musical experience. They'll also discuss the electric Rickenbacker 12-String guitar, an instrument that was featured prominently in songs by bands ranging from the Beatles to the Byrds.
Rust Never Sleeps
40 years ago this summer, Neil Young, along with the band Crazy Horse, released the iconic album Rust Never Sleeps. The 1979 release was mostly recorded live during Young's 1978 tour, save some overdubs. As Jim and Greg discuss, it was in large part a response to the emerging punk music. How does a classic rocker from the '60s grow and evolve? This is how. As Young sings in "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)," "It's better to burn out, than to fade away."
That song bookends the album, with the middle tracks broken into an acoustic section and an electric one. Jim remarks how brave it was for Young to come out with nothing but an acoustic guitar. He particularly loves the song "Pocahontas," which makes reference to the Native American icon in addition to the Hollywood icon Marlon Brando. Greg chooses to highlight the hard-stomping electric "Powderfinger," which attempts to reconcile America's complicated identity.
Rickebacker 12-String Guitar
An instrument that is featured prominently in a number of '60s hits by bands like The Beatles and The Byrds, is the Rickenbacker electric 12-string guitar. After the acoustic 12-string guitar was popularized by blues artists like Lead Belly and by the '60s folk revival, Rickenbacker began making an electrified version. After George Harrison used it on The Beatles' "A Hard Day’s Night," a 12-string craze began. The most notable adopter of the instrument was Jim (later Roger) McGuinn, who used it to define the sound of The Byrds on tracks like "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!" The Beatles and The Byrds set the template for countless bands in the ensuing decades who used 12-strings, from power pop acts like Raspberries and Big Star, to jangle pop bands like R.E.M. and The Bangles, to contemporary artists like Temples.
To help discuss and demonstrate the Rickenbacker electric 12-string, we're joined by Daniel Escauriza and Shelby Pollard of Chicago Music Exchange. Jim and Greg also offer their favorite examples of Rick-heavy songs: "Awaken" by Yes and XTC's "All of a Sudden (It’s Too Late)."
Featured Songs
- Neil Young & Crazy Horse, "My My, Hey Hey (Into The Black)," Rust Never Sleeps, Reprise, 1979
- Neil Young & Crazy Horse, "My My, Hey Hey (Out of The Blue)," Rust Never Sleeps, Reprise, 1979
- Devo, "Jocko Homo," Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, Corner, 1978
- Neil Young & Crazy Horse, "Sedan Delivery," Rust Never Sleeps, Reprise, 1979
- Neil Young & Crazy Horse, "Pocahontas," Rust Never Sleeps, Reprise, 1979
- Neil Young & Crazy Horse, "Welfare Mothers," Rust Never Sleeps, Reprise, 1979
- Neil Young & Crazy Horse, "Ride My Llama," Rust Never Sleeps, Reprise, 1979
- Neil Young & Crazy Horse, "Sail Away," Rust Never Sleeps, Reprise, 1979
- Neil Young & Crazy Horse, "Thrasher," Rust Never Sleeps, Reprise, 1979
- Neil Young & Crazy Horse, "Powderfinger," Rust Never Sleeps, Reprise, 1979
- The Byrds, "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)," Turn! Turn! Turn!, Columbia, 1965
- The Beatles, "If I Needed Someone," Rubber Soul, Parlophone, 1965
- Udi Hrant Kenkulian, "Hicas Taksim," Udi Hrant, Traditional Crossroads, 1950
- Lead Belly, "The Midnight Special," Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection, Smithsonian Folkways, 1997
- Jimmy Bryant with Speedy West, "Stratosphere Boogie," Deep Water (Single), Capitol, 1954
- The Rooftop Singers, "Walk Right In," Walk Right In!, Vanguard, 1962
- The Beatles, "All My Loving (Live on "The Ed Sullivan Show")," Anthology 1, Apple, 1964
- The Beatles, "A Hard Day's Night," A Hard Day's Night, Parlophone, 1964
- The Who, "I Can't Explain," I Can't Explain (Single), Brunswick, 1965
- The Byrds, "Mr. Tambourine Man," Mr. Tambourine Man, Columbia, 1965
- The Searchers, "Needles and Pins," It's The Searchers, Pye, 1964
- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "The Waiting," Hard Promises, Backstreet, 1981
- Raspberries, "I Wanna Be With You," Fresh, Capitol, 1972
- The Plimsouls, "A Million Miles Away," Everywhere at Once, Geffen, 1983
- The Byrds, "Chimes of Freedom," Mr. Tambourine Man, Columbia, 1965
- DIno, Desi & Billy, "I'm a Fool," I'm a Fool, Reprise, 1965
- Yes, "Awaken," Going for the One, Atlantic, 1977
- XTC, "All of a Sudden (It's Too Late)," English Settlement, Virgin, 1982
- Marvin Gaye, "What's Going On," What's Going On, Motown, 1971
- The Lawrence Arms, "On With The Show," The Greatest Story Ever Told, Fat Wreck Chords, 2003
- Apex Manor, "Asked Answered," Heartbreak City, Merge, 2019
- The Replacements, "Valentine," Pleased To Meet Me, Sire, 1987
- The Doors, "Break On Through (To The Other Side)," The Doors, Elektra, 1967
- Alice In Chains, "Rooster," MTV Unplugged, Columbia, 1996
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