Nils Lofgren: The fixed lineup with the Boss, the new record with Young and Crosby

By editorial board on July 25, 2023

This is probably the last disc of unreleased songs to feature both Neil Young and David Crosby.

"The  new album opens with  'Ain’t the Truth Enough'  and I needed a woman to sing with me, and the great Cindy Mizelle just killed it. Some songs take a lot of elbow grease, but this was done in two or three days. And of course, I knew I had to ask Ringo to play on it. I sent him the demo. He called me back and he started singing the chorus over the phone. He said, “Love this. When you’re ready, send it to me. I’ll play on it.”

Times ago, we’re playing Wembley with Bruce on the Born in the USA tour.  We go to Ringo’s birthday party. He had a studio set up to jam. And I said, “Unless they throw me out, I am not leaving until I get to play with Ringo.”

I stayed at the jam, late at night, sitting up drinking with Ringo. He was very friendly. He gave me his phone number and said, “Stay in touch.” I called him every few weeks, and started a friendship. I was in England every year touring acoustically and he’d come to the shows.

I was living in L.A. Ringo calls me and says, “Look, I got to find a way to be a drummer and get out, play, and sing. I’ve got money. I’ve got fame. But I’m miserable. I’ve got this All-Star Band concept. Everyone’s going to play two or three songs. I get to go up front, sing some of my hits, but mostly I’m going to play drums. I’m putting this together with my favorite musicians. I want you to join the band.” I was out of my mind happy.

 

About getting Neil Young to sing on “Nothin’s Easy.” I’ve been waiting for years to have a song where I really think Neil Young needs to sing the harmony, because it can’t just be any song. I sent it to him. I wasn’t presumptuous, but he called back and said, “This feels good, man. Send it. I’ll sing.” I was very blessed to assemble quite an accidental cast of guests that really made the record better.

Now, with the new E Street Band Tour, the show is pretty different than last tours since the setlist is largely locked in. That’s allowed you guys to really perfect it and nail every little nuance of the songs.
We change a few songs here and there, which is great. But there’s a depth that you’re allowed to get into and access when there’s some repetition. That’s mainly because you start hearing a lot of detail of what every other person is doing. And inevitably that familiarity allows for a lot deeper interaction and kind of a musical understanding.

If you’re ad-libbing 15 songs a night and even your singer doesn’t know what’s next, you just can’t get that depth. So it’s all good stuff, man. We got, God knows, probably the biggest catalog of any band out there. And when he’s ready, he’ll call other songs, which we’ve done. I’m game for whatever Bruce wants to project. The band and the audiences are arguably as good as I’ve ever seen. I’m very grateful for that.

Excerpt from Rolling Stone, to read the full article click here.

 

 

 

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