I was a college sophomore when RNS came out and remember buying it on release day (I also have an image in my mind of the exact record store with Cheap Trick at Budokan blasting "Surrender" as I perused the bins). This album marked the end of Neil's incredible '70s output, though. Songs like "Thrasher," "Ride my Llama," and the acoustic "My My Hey Hey" showed how he rivaled his friend and mentor Bob Dylan's genius. And then that electric side and it's embrace of punk, rock, and folk and how they all made perfect sense together.
I also remember reading about the 1978 One-Stop Word Tour at the S.F. Boarding House and being so disappointed I missed those shows. Years later, I found the recordings of almost every night online and listening to those song debuts now is a fascinating look into how intimate Neil's performance was at the time (the official Boarding House movie is available at NYA). He screwed up the lyrics to "Thrasher" the first time and abandoned it ("these songs have so many words"). He used the mics affixed to his harmonica holder for the first time during these shows, and once when they fed back he remarked, "I'm wired for sound....and that's not all," eliciting laughter from the audience (many people don't know how funny Neil can be). I remember a critic talking about "Sedan Delivery" as "operatic." And then the brutal crunch of the electric "Hey Hey My My" predating grunge by a decade. Such was/is Neil's genius.
Thanks for bringing this post back around and the happy memories.
Grunge before grunge? I don't think time machines work that way but man heck of an article! Kudos!
There's gold in them thar hills after the goldrush indeed. Check my shit out for someone who was there in those latter days where men were men and saints were saints and the women all were beautiful... Cortez the Killer. On the Beach needs a boost. I always loved Revolution Blues, playing it too but then found out it was about Manson but who cares? I still think that album was a sleeper too.
One more thought while a wrap up my Friday at work: I saw Hot Tuna at that time, and they did the same thing played for five hours at the NY Academy of Music on 14th (later the Palladium) til the wee wee hours of the next morning and it sucked. Bad punk played by great musicians who were desperately trying to re-invent themselves but couldn't. The went back to what made them but Neil was gonna take us higher. Glad music keeps people engaged. New stuff old stuff we need to delete the program and just get on with it. Spotify is a big problem. Cherish what you buy and no they don;t have everything, not by a long shot. Boycott and goto: Live! From the Vault soundcloud.com/stevegabe
Hey Steve, thanks for checking the article out and for the terrific comment! Will definitely be revisiting On the Beach for a potential post down the road. The response to this post dictates that Neil's music will likely get more coverage in the future. Cheers!
Excellent recap of an album that, as acclaimed as it is, always deserves revisiting. One of the most innovative 'live' albums, with the studio overdubs giving it added texture. I'm not the biggest fan of live albums, mainly because they rarely improve on the studio versions, but this shows that it is possible. It made me think about Joe Jackson's 'Big World' album where he and the band recorded brand new songs all in front of a live audience and they told the crowd not to cheer.
That might be a topic worth exploring for a future earworm post....
“It was a fate he seemed intent on avoiding personally, but also steering rock’s mothership, quickly losing market share to disco and dance records, away from the cliff’s edge.”
This album had nothing whatsoever to do with disco (not least because rock was not losing any market share at all to disco; in fact, this was the heyday of rock album sales, with acts like Boston, Fleetwood Mac, Styx routinely hitting double-platinum sales).
This album was all about punk.
That’s why he leaned into a vicious extension of his guitar sound. That’s why themes of burning out & losing one’s way were central. And that’s why the title tune _explicitly_ states that the album is “the story of Johnny Rotten.”
Punk unsettled most of the big rock stars from the 60s. Only Neil Young and Pete Townshend had the integrity to address it squarely. Ray Davies sneered at it from the sidelines, while the likes of Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart, and the guys in Led Zeppelin studiously avoided acknowledging that it even existed. That’s because they understood that they were the targets of punk, that which was to be swept away. The twin of Neil’s Rust is The Who’s album Who Are You, released at the same time and largely centered on the same theme.
Brilliant review of a brilliant album 👏
couldn't agree more
Thanks to you both for reading! :)
I was a college sophomore when RNS came out and remember buying it on release day (I also have an image in my mind of the exact record store with Cheap Trick at Budokan blasting "Surrender" as I perused the bins). This album marked the end of Neil's incredible '70s output, though. Songs like "Thrasher," "Ride my Llama," and the acoustic "My My Hey Hey" showed how he rivaled his friend and mentor Bob Dylan's genius. And then that electric side and it's embrace of punk, rock, and folk and how they all made perfect sense together.
I also remember reading about the 1978 One-Stop Word Tour at the S.F. Boarding House and being so disappointed I missed those shows. Years later, I found the recordings of almost every night online and listening to those song debuts now is a fascinating look into how intimate Neil's performance was at the time (the official Boarding House movie is available at NYA). He screwed up the lyrics to "Thrasher" the first time and abandoned it ("these songs have so many words"). He used the mics affixed to his harmonica holder for the first time during these shows, and once when they fed back he remarked, "I'm wired for sound....and that's not all," eliciting laughter from the audience (many people don't know how funny Neil can be). I remember a critic talking about "Sedan Delivery" as "operatic." And then the brutal crunch of the electric "Hey Hey My My" predating grunge by a decade. Such was/is Neil's genius.
Thanks for bringing this post back around and the happy memories.
Thanks for the fantastic comment, Mark!
Grunge before grunge? I don't think time machines work that way but man heck of an article! Kudos!
There's gold in them thar hills after the goldrush indeed. Check my shit out for someone who was there in those latter days where men were men and saints were saints and the women all were beautiful... Cortez the Killer. On the Beach needs a boost. I always loved Revolution Blues, playing it too but then found out it was about Manson but who cares? I still think that album was a sleeper too.
One more thought while a wrap up my Friday at work: I saw Hot Tuna at that time, and they did the same thing played for five hours at the NY Academy of Music on 14th (later the Palladium) til the wee wee hours of the next morning and it sucked. Bad punk played by great musicians who were desperately trying to re-invent themselves but couldn't. The went back to what made them but Neil was gonna take us higher. Glad music keeps people engaged. New stuff old stuff we need to delete the program and just get on with it. Spotify is a big problem. Cherish what you buy and no they don;t have everything, not by a long shot. Boycott and goto: Live! From the Vault soundcloud.com/stevegabe
Hey Steve, thanks for checking the article out and for the terrific comment! Will definitely be revisiting On the Beach for a potential post down the road. The response to this post dictates that Neil's music will likely get more coverage in the future. Cheers!
That was a great read. Going to have to give Rust Never Sleeps a spin this morning.
Thanks Jeff! 🙏
Excellent recap of an album that, as acclaimed as it is, always deserves revisiting. One of the most innovative 'live' albums, with the studio overdubs giving it added texture. I'm not the biggest fan of live albums, mainly because they rarely improve on the studio versions, but this shows that it is possible. It made me think about Joe Jackson's 'Big World' album where he and the band recorded brand new songs all in front of a live audience and they told the crowd not to cheer.
That might be a topic worth exploring for a future earworm post....
That said, Live Rust is nearly as great as Rust Never Sleeps.
for sure
Big John's been drinkin’ since the river took Emmy Lou…
Powderfinger (excerpt) by AndoDoug
https://on.soundcloud.com/Hui2rvkhYbLJg5YZYy
You got this *completely* wrong:
“It was a fate he seemed intent on avoiding personally, but also steering rock’s mothership, quickly losing market share to disco and dance records, away from the cliff’s edge.”
This album had nothing whatsoever to do with disco (not least because rock was not losing any market share at all to disco; in fact, this was the heyday of rock album sales, with acts like Boston, Fleetwood Mac, Styx routinely hitting double-platinum sales).
This album was all about punk.
That’s why he leaned into a vicious extension of his guitar sound. That’s why themes of burning out & losing one’s way were central. And that’s why the title tune _explicitly_ states that the album is “the story of Johnny Rotten.”
Punk unsettled most of the big rock stars from the 60s. Only Neil Young and Pete Townshend had the integrity to address it squarely. Ray Davies sneered at it from the sidelines, while the likes of Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart, and the guys in Led Zeppelin studiously avoided acknowledging that it even existed. That’s because they understood that they were the targets of punk, that which was to be swept away. The twin of Neil’s Rust is The Who’s album Who Are You, released at the same time and largely centered on the same theme.
Appreciate the perspective Paul :)
It’s also why he was hanging out with Mark Mothersbaugh, BTW.