After The Gold Rush
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Only Love Can Break Your Heart
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Don’t Let It Bring You Down
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Album: After The Gold Rush (1970)

After The Gold Rush was mostly recorded in my beloved Topanga. After a couple of years of living here, I can appreciate how this creative, idyllic Los Angeles enclave shaped Neil’s music.

Neil was going through a patch of writer’s block in early 1970 when he read a screenplay from his neighbor, the actor Dean Stockwell. Dean is most famous for the TV show Quantum Leap but earlier in his career, he was one of Hollywood’s ambassadors to 60s-era counterculture.

The still-unproduced, whereabouts-unknown screenplay for After The Gold Rush concerned a tidal wave that floods Topanga Canyon. As Dean described it, After The Gold Rush was “a Jungian self-discovery of the gnosis. It involved the Kabbalah, it involved a lot of arcane stuff.” (Hard to believe Hollywood didn’t pounce on this pitch.)

Dean Stockwell’s After The Gold Rush may have been lost to time, but his script was the creative spark Neil needed to create the After The Gold Rush LP. Those were some hazy days, and it’s unclear which specific tracks were written specifically for the film. Some of the tracks were recorded with Crazy Horse, Neil’s loud rock-n-roll collaborators, at a studio in Hollywood; the mellower songs (including those selected for this post) were recorded with local musicians who gathered in Neil’s makeshift studio.

After a couple of mildly successful solo albums, Neil reunited with his Buffalo Springfield bandmate Stephen Stills and joined his new vocal group, Crosby, Stills and Nash. Now known as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, they went on tour (including an appearance at the Woodstock Festival) and released the hugely successful LP, Déjà Vu. It was in the aftermath of CSNY’s explosion that Neil retreated to his Topanga basement to record After The Gold Rush.

The title track seems to be related to the screenplay. Drug-induced imagery from past, present, and future reveal a devastating natural disaster that results in the evacuation of Earth. Neil’s ethereal falsetto, plaintive piano, and the odd flugelhorn solo create an otherworldly soundtrack that parallels the song’s evocative lyrics.

The waltz-like “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” is beautiful and sad. It wouldn’t have been out of place on Déjà Vu; in fact, Stephen Stills provides vocal harmonies, so perhaps the song was originally intended for CSNY.

“Don’t Let It Bring You Down” encourages folks to get involved as a way to combat the depressing nature of social turmoil. Though he wrote the song over 40 years ago, its message couldn’t be more timely.

After The Gold Rush offers a compelling contrast between Neil’s off-kilter lyrics and the simplicity of its production. Neil’s mission was to strip away anything slick or extraneous from the music: “There was a shitload of room on those recordings, because there wasn’t anything else goin’ on. Just rhythm guitar, bass and drums – that’s all there was. The song was it – and everything else was supporting it.”

Al Green
Love And Happiness
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I’m Still In Love With You (1972)

Monty Alexander
Love And Happiness
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Rass (1974)

Jurassic 5
Baby Please
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Feedback (2006)

Al Green’s “Love And Happiness” is one of those tunes that’s loved by all. Enjoy the original, and consider adding a couple of clever reinterpretations to your MP3 collection.

Al owned the R&B charts in 1972, releasing two terrific LPs: I’m Still In Love With You and Let’s Stay Together. Al had so many hits in the early 70s that “Love And Happiness” wasn’t even released as a single. Bonkers.

Jamaican jazz organist Monty Alexander covered “Love And Happiness” a couple of years after its release. Ernest Ranglin’s rhythm guitar provides a subtle reggae backdrop for epic solos from Monty and guitarist “Trini” Clarence Wears.

“Love And Happiness” must have been massive in Jamaica; check out Al Brown’s full-on reggae version, also from 1974:

Jurassic 5 chopped up Al Green’s original “Love And Happiness” and reassembled it into an entirely different thing. The double-time rapping from MCs Akil, Zaakir, Mark 7even, and Chali 2na complement Exile’s bouncy production and DJ Nu-Mark’s razor-sharp scratching.

“Love And Happiness” has been covered by everyone from pop-jazz sax player David Sanborn to disco queens First Choice to this pretty awful house version. There seems to be a version of “Love And Happiness” to satisfy any musical taste.

Wrektime
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Sound Bwoy Bureill
(w/Starang Wonduh, Top Dog)
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Home Sweet Home
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Album: Dah Shinin’ (1995)

I couldn’t decide if Smif-N-Wessun’s Dah Shinin’ should be categorized within LP Classics or Crate Diggin’.

One the one hand, Dah Shinin’ is a mid-90s banger, and was part of a wave of releases that brought some shine back to New York hip hop after years of West Coast dominance. So LP Classics seems like the right place for this post.

On the other hand, unless you were a serious connoisseur of rap, you’ve probably never heard of Smif-N-Wessun, its talented MCs Tek and Steele, or their underrated producers, Da Beatmizerz. The duo appears to identify itself with an underground aesthetic; so from that perspective, maybe Crate Diggin’ would be the more appropriate categorization.

It’s the rare record that can be both amazing and unknown, but Dah Shinin’ pulls it off. It’s not for everyone, though. The lyrics are raw, the beats are moody and ambient. And kids should definitely not attempt to learn spelling from the duo; everything in the Smif-N-Wessun universe uses ridiculous, phonetic spelling. (“Wipe Ya Mouf”?)

But for those who can hang with the realness, Da Shinin’ is one of hip hop’s most steady LPs; having a single producer oversee the record makes a huge difference to its flow.

Sorry about the skip that kicks off “Wrektime.” (When keeping it real goes wrong.) “Wrektime” is one of the LPs more upbeat cuts, though it conforms to the Smif-n-Wessun lyrical template of weed, guns, and getting into shit. I have no idea what Tek is trying to say with, “Mista Rippa slicker than your sista/Turn down the lights she got hit by the Vicksta,” but it is delivered with entertaining conviction.

“Sound Bwoy Bureill” is my favorite track on the record, and Da Beatminerz’s production is a masterful showcase for the art and power of minimalism. In addition to its memorable vocals, the track consists of a straightforward drum pattern, a driving bassline, some sparse keyboard flourishes, and a wind sound that subtly supports its ominous mood. Tek and Steele often employ Jamaican-style phrasing in their verses, most prominently on this classic joint.

I’ve been trying to track down the reggae toaster sampled at the beginning and end of “Sound Bwoy Bureill”. The Internet claims the obscure Super Beagle record below is the source, but it doesn’t quite match up with the badass toasting that appear on Smif-n-Wessun’s track (where is “LEAVE!”?).

Also, my guess is that the accapella intro part is not Super Beagle, but some Flavor Flav-ian hype man. Or is Super Beagle the name of the group and not the singer? I wish I knew that dude’s name.

The final selection, “Home Sweet Home” (they spelled that one right… why not “Hohm Suite Hohm?”) features a menacing excerpt from Roy Ayers’ oft-sampled classic, “We Live In Brooklyn Baby”. (Incidentally, the cover design for Dah Shinin’ also “samples” the cover design for He’s Coming, the Roy Ayers LP that includes “We Live In Brooklyn Baby”.) Tek and Steele each pull off some intricate rhymes: respectively, “What parts of no, do not you understand bro?” and “They was sent to represent and cause a ruckus amongst us.”

Unsurprisingly, Smif-n-Wessun were sued by Smith & Wesson after the release of Dah Shinin’, forcing them to change their name to Cocoa Brovaz. They must have worked something out with the gunmakers, because they changed their name back to Smif-n-Wessun in the mid-00s. They’re still recording and recently released a decent record with Pete Rock entitled Monumental. (The cover art is awesome.)

Pony (Extended Version)
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Released in 1996

Timbaland is among the all-time great hip hop/R&B’s producers, and Ginuwine’s “Pony” was one of his first big hits. Like many Timbaland tracks, it’s held up flawlessly over the years.

Timbaland takes pride in fusing together unlikely elements in service of a slamming, unique beat. The most dominating sound on “Pony” is a deceptively simple three-note froglike bassline. But it’s the weirdness that takes the track to another level — the loopy slide whistle, the way he lets the beat breathe during the verses, the chugging percussive sound that lurks underneath.

The lyrics are ridiculous, but you have to admire the complete lack of shame:

If you’re horny, let’s do it
Ride it, my pony

Unbelievably, the lyrics go even further downhill from there, but I’ll refrain from calling attention to the specifics here; regardless, it’s impossible not to sing along.

Recently, Dancing Alone to Pony became a meme. Dozens of brave boogiers uploaded lo-fi video to show their genuine love for Ginuwine’s classic. This one is my current favorite:

The extended version doesn’t overextend itself. There’s an additional instrumental passage which introduces some vaguely ominous keyboard elements into the mix, but otherwise leaves the original intact.

Stevie Wonder
Creepin’
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Released in 1974

TLC
Creep
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Released in 1994

Scala & Kolacny Brothers
Creep
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Released in 2010

This time on Musical Cousins: three totally different songs with three totally different takes on the word “creep.”

First up, Stevie Wonder’s haunting “Creepin’,” featuring backup vocals from Minnie Riperton. In this song, creep refers to the stealth way a lover invades the dream world. The melody is typical Stevie perfection, but the moody, off-kilter synth floating underneath hints at something less rosy.

In TLC’s 1994 single, “Creep,” the Atlanta trio and producer Dallas Austin made a buoyant R&B/pop classic dedicated to cheating on the one you love.

The last take on the word “creep” comes from an early Radiohead composition where the creep in question is the song’s self-hating narrator. I prefer Scala & Kolacny Brothers’s cover, used to great effect in the trailer for The Social Network. Dozens of post-pubescent Belgian girls singing in unison truly is creepy.