[Tim Bowen]

As it turned out, the only Neil tune I played over the weekend was "Down by the River". I've played the tune a gazillion times on electric or acoustic guitar, never the same way twice, as Neil would have it. At this particular job, the frontman for my pop band, who is currently "coming out of the closet", after about a fifteen year sabbatical from the electric guitar for live use, asked me, "Would you mind playing bass on this one just this once, while I strap on a Tele?" Well, d'uh. Answer: "Of course not, enjoy!" He milked it dry, it was large fun. And I've always enjoyed playing bass on tunes that I've never played bass on before, especially live, with a butt-simple vehicle that offers such boundless parameters for expression as this one.

"Hurricane", "Cowgirl", "Powderfinger" - haven't played these in quite some time, but I'll jump when the opportunity again arises. As mentioned earlier, a Neil Young tune feels very much like a Miles Davis tune, to me, in terms of musical possibilities. I love a great tune.