Piano, Drums, and Guitar

What makes Neil Young's After The Goldrush so good? Well, Neil Young's songwriting, singing, guitar playing, and overall aesthetic certainly play a part. Another area is the tremendous piano by Nihls Lofgren.

Before we get to the nitty gritty, oh shit!



SOUTHERN MAN:

Obviously this song is a classic, and, perhaps even more notably, it helped spawn the Lynyrd Skynyrd country jam Sweet Home Alabama.

As Al Kooper mentions in an article he wrote for Rolling Stone a long time ago,

"We thought Neil was shooting all the ducks in order to kill one or two," says Van Zant, who wrote the lyrics to the song. None of the seven members of Lynyrd Skynyrd have gotten any personal reaction from Young on "Sweet Home Alabama," but Ed King, one of the group's three lead guitarists and, with Van Zant and Gary Rossington, a composer of the song, knows him personally from a tour years ago on the West Coast (he is the only Skynyrd member who is not from Florida). "I showed the verse to Ed and asked him what Neil might think," says Van Zant. "Ed said he'd dig it; he'd be laughing at it."

Later in the article, he quotes Van Zant in saying:

Van Zant has no interest in turning the dialogue into a volleyball match. He smiles and says, "Neil is amazing, wonderful . . . a superstar."

Now to the important stuff.

A question I would like to pose to Jackie Bousek, Ben Ryant, and all other interested parties; is this really a tribute to our Ghost Town Trio?