Six Degrees: Headed For The Ditch

We begin this edition of Six Degrees in Miami Beach. Not the actual Miami Beach, mind you, but the Miami Beach of Neil Young's fevered imagination. In 1973, Neil was one year removed from the career-defining behemoth that was Harvest and its feel-good granola anthem, "Heart Of Gold." Problem was, Neil wasn't in a particularly "feel good" frame of mind and sure as hell didn't want his career defined by granola anthems. Reeling with guilt from the November 1972 heroin overdose of his guitarist and friend, Danny Whitten, Neil embarked on what would become the "Time Fades Away" tour. Enter heroic amounts of tequila, self-loathing, and moody, mercurial rock 'n' roll. On stage, he drunkenly passed himself off as the MC of a sleazy Miami Beach nightclub and led his band, The Stray Gators, through a wobbly series of setlists. Audiences expecting the lilting melodies of "Heart Of Gold" and "Old Man" were rudely met with grinding volume and utter chaos, as if the roadies left the "fuck you" knob stuck on 11. In short, the tour was a disaster and Neil spent the better part of the next 3 years in a dark place, battling his demons with music.

"This song ('Heart Of Gold') put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore, so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride, but I saw more interesting people there."
--Neil Young, in the Decade liner notes

It was in this dark place that Neil Young would, perhaps inadvertently, produce one of the rock era's most important templates for future bands. In a move that paralleled (and in my mind was a more courageous version of) Dylan's leap from folkie troubadour to rock Judas, Young "headed for the ditch." He turned his crippling self-doubt and mainstream apathy into its own muse, producing a trilogy of albums that stand with any in the history of rock: Time Fades Away (1973), On The Beach (1974), and Tonight's The Night (1975). Admittedly, these are fairly sloppy affairs, all but devoid of hit single material, and in the case of Time Fades Away and Tonight's The Night, boozy snapshots of the drug culture that helped inspire this artistic phase. However, past the slop, the bum notes, and the struggles with pitch are documents of searing beauty. These albums reward the listener like few others with brutal fucking honesty and music both visceral and full of meaning. Some would say that despite their flaws these albums have stood the test of time. I disagree. I think it's precisely because of their flaws that the Ditch Trilogy has not only survived, but prospered.

Today, Six Degrees is paying tribute to the ditch, where Neil has returned periodically throughout his career. By the late '80s, the combustible temperament at the heart of Neil's best work finally bore fruit in the best rock music of a new era. In retrospect, this shouldn't be surprising. Bands like Thelonious Monster and Soul Asylum embraced Neil's ditch digging because like his work in the mid '70s, they too were producing brilliant work away from the middle of the road. Nevertheless, their example ... as well as Neil's continuing example ... has wielded a minor, but necessary influence on the direction of rock ever since.

Neil Young - Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown [mp3]
[purchase CD] [purchase LP]

The first song in today's lineup actually predates the Ditch Trilogy by a few years. Tonight's The Night, the album on which "Come On Baby" appears, was released in 1975, mostly recorded in 1973, and this particular track recorded live at the Fillmore East in March 1970. But, this is also the point. Tonight's The Night is Neil coming to terms with the death of Danny Whitten (pictured above) and the drug culture which helped kill him. This song is a reminder of when "old times were good times," when Crazy Horse had come into its own, Whitten (who sings lead on this one) sounded strong, and the future was seemingly rife with optimism. Nevertheless, an eerie kind of prescience hangs over one verse:

"Sure enough, they'll be sellin' stuff,
When the moon begins to rise,
Pretty bad when you're dealin' with the man,
And the light shines in your eyes."

In two years, it would all be over.

Thelonious Monster - Swan Song [mp3]

"It don't care just where you come from,
And it don't care if you're rich or you're poor,
No, it don't care about your religion,
No, it don't care about you at all."

Thelonious is here for two reasons: 1) Like many of the songs on Tonight's The Night, "Swan Song" is about drug addiction, specifically heroin, and 2) It was Bob Forrest (pictured right), lead singer of the Monster, who turned me onto Tonight's The Night many years ago. In the spring of 1992, while opening for the über-twee Darling Buds in Palo Alto ... talk about an all-time double-bill mismatch ... Thelonious careened through an amazing version of "Mellow My Mind." When I asked him about the tune after the show, Bob told me it was from Tonight's The Night and that if I didn't own the album within 24 hours I was an idiot. Not one to shirk my duties, I bought the album the next day, and discovered that I was an idiot anyway for not previously owning it. I like to think that I've since made up for it.

"Swan Song" was actually written for Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the titular "Swan." If I'm not mistaken, at the time this song was written, Kiedis and Forrest were roommates in Hollywood and Bob saw what heroin was doing to his friend. Sadly, about a year after this song was released, original Chili Peppers guitarist, Hillel Slovak, would die of a speedball overdose. Drugs are bad, mmmmkay?

Soul Asylum - Easy Street [mp3]
[purchase CD]

The first time I saw Soul Asylum was in November 1990 at the Country Club in Reseda, CA, with Thelonious Monster opening. Despite the fact that I drove 9 hours to see the show, mostly for Thelonious, and was dog-tired by the time Soul Asylum came on, they completely blew me away. There was no stage show to speak of, the band didn't have any sort of "look" (other than jeans and T-shirts), and while they didn't sound like Neil Young verbatim, you could certainly hear that he was one of the elements in the Soul Asylum brew. And like Neil, their shows made up for the lack of stagecraft with two hours of stripped down, balls-to-the-wall rock, passion, and solid songwriting.

At the time, the band was touring behind And The Horse They Rode In On, a great album that went nowhere and brought the band to the edge of extinction. In fact, in 1991-92 Soul Asylum was effectively defunct and Dave Pirner and Dan Murphy were peddling songs as a duo. In '92, Columbia signed Soul Asylum for pennies on the dollar and released their next album, Grave Dancer's Union, with few expectations for success. And then a funny thing happened on the way to the cut-out bin. That damn milk carton video became a generational touchstone. Just like that, Soul Asylum's collective bacon was saved in the music industry equivalent of a hail mary pass.

It's been almost 20 years since that Country Club show and I, like many old-time fans, haven't really cared too much about Soul Asylum since they blew up. It's nothing personal and it's not some hipster aversion to money. I just don't think the songwriting has been as strong. But at their best, you have to believe me when I say that NO ONE could've followed them on stage. And it may be hard to believe now, but for awhile there Dave Pirner was one of the best frontmen in rock. A great singer, with an awesome scream, an underrated musician and songwriter, and just ridiculous amounts of stage presence.

Easy Street is one of my favorite cuts from And The Horse They Rode In On and was actually made into a video, albeit one decidedly less popular than "Runaway Train."

Uncle Joe's Big Ol' Driver - Possible Driving Song [mp3]
[purchase CD]

Uncle Joe's is one of the great what-might-have-beens. Formed in San Diego in the early '90s, the band relocated to Seattle in 1994, where I was living at the time. UJBOD was probably the first band I heard that sounded like they were directly influenced by Soul Asylum. For what it's worth, critics generally mentioned The Replacements when discussing the band, and not totally without cause, but also because name-dropping The Mats has always been a critical badge of honor. Soul Asylum? Eh, not so much. Nevertheless, the two guitars on fire and heads wired on '70s rock was straight outta the Pirner/Murphy playbook and I think "Possible Driving Song" is the best showcase of UJBOD's power this side of a live show. As a matter of fact, I think it would've fit in perfectly on Hang Time, preferably in lieu of that lame "Marionette" song.

Sadly, the UJBOD story ended before it really had a chance to begin. The group disbanded in 1995, shortly after the release of its second album, Chick Rock, because singer/guitarist, Dave Jass, couldn't shake his drug habit. Just a fucking waste. All these years later, it still bums me out because the potential was huge. Like Soul Asylum, this was a band that no one could follow on stage, and I say that as someone who saw about 20 different bands try and fail. While their songwriting hadn't yet reached the Pirner/Murphy maturation point, I do believe it could've come close. Too bad we never had a chance to find out.

Slobberbone - Gimme Back My Dog [mp3]
[purchase CD]

Slobberbone - Hey Hey, My My [mp3]

OK, so Slobberbone wasn't the best name for a band. Noted. But from 1998-2002, few bands brought more quality rock 'n' roll to the table while putting as many miles on the company van. Led by singer/songwriter/guitarist, Brent Best (pictured left, in the Gourds T-shirt), Slobberbone combined the musical acumen of Soul Asylum and Neil Young to deliver tales of loss, drinking, regret, alcohol, relationships gone bad, and liquor. There may have also been a couple songs about getting drunk. It was like Best was writing first-rate country songs for your favorite bar band. But alas, after tens of thousands of miles and barely a dent in the public consciousness, the band hit the wall. They called it quits in 2005, but not before leaving us with one of the 4-5 best albums of this decade, Everything You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today.

"Gimme Back My Dog" is not only one of the best songs on EYTWRWWT, but has the double distinction of being the only song on this list personally endorsed by Stephen King. Actually, endorsed is understating it. In a July 2003 column for Entertainment Weekly, King actually called it one of the three greatest rock 'n' roll songs of all time. What's scary is that the master of horror may be right. For added pleasure, I've added Slobberbone's cover of "Hey Hey, My My," one of 37 Neil Young songs covered during the band's career. Maybe this recording doesn't quite convey it, but I was at this show and can say in all honesty that it was one of the greatest, most intense shows I've ever attended. See the picture above, how drummer Tony Harper is hurdling over his kit like Ninja Lee Roth? That's what the whole audience was doing. RIP Slobberbone.

Grand Champeen - Broken Records [mp3]
[purchase CD]

Grand Champeen - Easy Street [mp3]
Grand Champeen - Mellow My Mind [mp3]

"I know it's only rock 'n' roll,
Lyin' to your heart again,
100 million records sold,
How'd you get so sick of them?

I featured Grand Champeen in the previous edition of Six Degrees, so I was a little reluctant to repeat myself. However, if Neil Young, Soul Asylum, and Slobberbone are in the discussion, omitting Champeen isn't an option. Where Slobberbone drew inspiration from Neil Young and Soul Asylum, Champeen drew inspiration from Neil Young, Soul Asylum, and Slobberbone. In fact, the first time I saw (let alone heard) the Champeens, it was opening for Slobberbone here in Austin. Not only was I fan after the first song, it sounded like the band was frankensteined from my record collection. Seriously, not only were the 3 aforementioned bands audibly represented, but as I mentioned last time in Six Degrees, I also heard Superchunk, The Replacements, and Austin's own Prescott Curlywolf ... who you probably haven't heard of, but who will be featured here soon enough. When the band closed their set with Thin Lizzy's "Cowboy Song," I applied right then for my fan club membership.

If "Gimme Back My Dog" is one of the three greatest rock 'n' roll songs of all time, "Broken Records" is top 10 easy. Not only is the litany of albums practically a mission statement ... Let It Be, Let It Bleed, On The Beach, The Gilded Palace Of Sin, Heaven Tonight, and The Kids Are Alright (Kids homage pictured above) ... but I defy you to crack open a beer, turn the song up loud, and not break furniture. Seriously, the push-pull tension, the slow build, that sense of dynamics ... lesser bands would KILL to be able to do that. And some have. Yes, I'm looking at you, Coldplay. Anyway, given the möbius strip nature of Six Degrees, I've added a couple Champeen bonus cuts to bring us back home. Their cover of "Easy Street" was actually performed as part of a Soul Asylum tribute in 2006. I wish the sound was a little better, but that's what the volume knob is for. Finally, their cover of "Mellow My Mind" was not only done at my request, that version is actually from my wedding, which they were kind enough to play.

PARTING THOUGHTS

If Neil Young has taught us anything, it's that rock 'n' roll should always have room for bands who are rooted in the basics, look like average dudes and not fashion models, and aren't afraid to pursue an organic, throwback sound instead of conceding to the whims of the mainstream. Every band I've showcased here today has done their best to fly the flannel, as it were, but they can only do so much. I like to think that somewhere out there is a teenage kid about to hear Tonight's The Night for the first time and that kid is gonna start our new favorite band. Hey, it's not totally out of the realm of possibility, is it?