The Rockets (Los Angeles band)
| Crazy Horse | |
|---|---|
The band in 1972.
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Danny & the Memories, The Rockets, The Psyrcle, Neil Young & Crazy Horse |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California |
| Genres | Garage rock, folk rock, country rock, hard rock |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Labels | Reprise, Epic, Rhino |
| Associated acts | Neil Young |
| Members |
Billy Talbot Ralph Molina Frank "Poncho" Sampedro |
| Past members |
Danny Whitten Jack Nitzsche Nils Lofgren George Whitsell Greg LeRoy John Blanton Rick Curtis Michael Curtis Sonny Mone Matt Piucci |
Crazy Horse is an American rock band best known for their association with Neil Young. Beginning in 1969 and continuing to the present day, they have been co-credited on a number of Young's albums, with 11 studio albums and numerous live albums being billed as by "Neil Young and Crazy Horse." They have also released six studio albums of their own, issued between 1971 and 2009.
Billy Talbot (bass) and Ralph Molina (drums) have been the only consistent members of the band. On four of Crazy Horse's studio albums, Talbot and Molina serve as the rhythm section to an entirely different group of musicians.
The band's origins date to 1963 and the Los Angeles-based a cappella doo-wop group Danny & The Memories, which consisted of main singer Danny Whitten and supporting vocalists Lou Bisbal (soon to be replaced by Bengiamino Rocco, the husband of actress Lorna Maitland), Billy Talbot, and Ralph Molina. The latter two would become the only members of Crazy Horse present in every incarnation of the band.
Sly Stone produced a single for the group (by now rechristened The Psyrcle) in San Francisco on Lorna Records (a subsidiary of Autumn Records); however, it did not sell very well either regionally or nationally.
Back in Los Angeles, the group evolved over the course of several years into The Rockets, a psychedelic pop/folk rock ensemble that juxtaposed the rudimentary instrumental abilities of Talbot (bass), Molina (drums) and Whitten (rhythm guitar) against the more accomplished Bobby Notkoff (violin) and Leon Whitsell (lead guitar). After leaving the group as sessions for their first album commenced, the mercurial and reclusive Whitsell left the group and was promptly replaced by his younger brother George, a R&B-influenced guitarist also respected in the band's social circle. After Leon petitioned to return, it was decided that both Whitsells would remain in the group.
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