SONG OF THE DAY

“Cinnamon Girl” by Neil Young & Crazy Horse (Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Reprise Records, 1970). Written by Neil Young.

RECOMMENDED BY….

This song was brought to you by my dear friend Meg, the woman who inspired me to start this blog! She and I were also talking about what we loved (I, music; she, books) and we decided it was only right that we both become bloggers! She is now the matriarch of the bookworm blog Night Light Revue, and I, as you well know, built this little humble abode known affectionately as S.O.T.D. (Song Of The Day, duh……). Meg lives in metro-Detroit, so, unlike me, she gets the gift of being able to listen to Canada’s CBC Radio 2 whenever she’d like, and I’m guessing probably thought of this song because they played it—-they love Neil Young (as they should) and give him lots of airtime on that station (again, as they should). And as you may know if you read this blog, I too have a thing not only for promoting Canadian music in general, but also a devout thing for Neil Young. So, here it is, my Cinnamon Girl.

INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)

– Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere was Young’s first album with backing band Crazy Horse.

– The single reached #55 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1970.

– This song, more than any other, displays the very prominent role played by Danny Whitten in the sound of Neil Young’s early recordings. It is Crazy Horse’s rhythm guitarist who sings the high harmony, while Young sings the low harmony.

– Young performed the song on his then recently acquired Gibson Les Paul, “Old Black”.

– The song was written in Double Drop D tuning (DADGBD). This tuning is used in several of his most famous songs, such as “Cortez the Killer”, “Fuckin’ Up”, “The Loner”, “Ohio”, “Inca Queen”, “The Old Laughing Lady”, “Ride My Llama”, “When You Dance I Can Really Love.”

– According to Brian Ray (guitarist for Paul McCartney), this song was written about Brian’s older sister, with whom Neil had a romantic relationship. There are also rumors it was written about Pamela Courson (love interest of Doors’ singer Jim Morrison).

– “Cinnamon Girl” has been covered by many artists:

• John Entwistle, on his solo debut, Smash Your Head Against the Wall
• The Sisters Euclid, on the Neil Young tribute Run Neil Run
• Boyd Tinsley, on True Reflections
• Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs, on their 2006 Under the Covers, Vol. 1
• Hawksley Workman on the DVD Live in Lille
• Radiohead during the 2001 Amnesiac tour
• Phish played the song twice 1997, most notably opening with it on March 18, 1997, the launch event for Phish Food ice cream
• Motörhead released a cover of this song on their compilation All The Aces
• Hole used the main riff on the track “Starbelly”, featured on their album Pretty On The Inside
• The Smashing Pumpkins early on in their career, recorded during their Reel Time Sessions.

– The Prince song “Cinnamon Girl,” from his album Musicology, is not a cover but an original song unrelated to Neil Young’s.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

and here he is live at Madison Square Garden in 2008: