Notes
[talking about the Hitchhiker recording session at Indigo Ranch on August 11, 1976]
I started with Pocahontas, a song I had recently written. I previously tried it, recording with Crazy Horse for an album called Zuma, but that version did not make the cut. Then came another capo change for Powderfinger, which I had also tried for Zuma with The Horse and not captured well enough to use. Then, came Captain Kennedy, a complete (???) I had never played before, followed by Hawaii and Give Me Strength, two songs written around my recent breakup with Carrie Snodgress, mother of my first son Zeke.
At this time, Briggs joined us in the playing room and we stopped the proceeding to do some more libations. That accomplished, Briggs returned to the control room; "Rolling!" he announced. We continued with Ride My Lama, another outtake from Zuma, followed by Hitchhicker. You may be able to hear the drugs kicking in hereā¦ Then came Campaigner, a song I had written about politics and Nixon. Human Highway was next.
At that point we moved my vocal microphone to the piano outside in the main studio for the last song, The Old Country Waltz. Briggs did not want to change the mic, so we had to carry it out there. It was the same mic I had sung into; he wanted the songs to all be consistent without any unnecessary distractions or changes. He was mixing live as the songs went down, and my vocal mic was part of the sound.
Neil Young
KOTO FM radio Telluride CO
September 1, 2017