Neil Young continues to share some of his great live recordings from the ’70s through his Neil Young Archives. This time, it is a concert with Crazy Horse that took place on February 25th, 1970, in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the Music Hall, and saw him deliver renditions of classic tracks including “Sugar Mountain”, “Down By The River”, and “Cinnamon Girl.” As Young announced along with the recording, it is a gift to his fanbase to celebrate the Winter Solstice.
The concert, as Rolling Stone notes, was also noteworthy because it marked the live debut of “Don’t Let It Bring You Down”, “Come On Baby Let’s Go Downtown”, and his first cover of Joe London’s “It Might Have Been.”
While Young and Crazy Horse played over 40 shows together in 1969, the concert in Cincinnati is the earliest-known recording that has been made available to the general public.
At the time of the show, Crazy Horse consisted of Danny Whitten, who was Young’s right-hand man until his tragic death in 1972, as well as Billy Talbot, Ralph Molina, and Jack Nitzche.
In 1970, Young was still a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young with his exploits with Crazy Horse filling up any time that he had free in his schedule.
Young has not performed live with Crazy Horse since 2024, and his since toured with his new band, The Chrome Hearts, including a headline performance at Glastonbury Festival last summer.
