I love it when I listen to an old live album and the crowd doesn’t immediately erupt into applause as soon as they hear the opening riff of a popular song.  It’s not that they’re being polite, reserved and respectful either.  The reason they don’t applaud and “Wooooo!” through the opening bars is because the song is not a hit yet at the time the live album was recorded.  I love this.  It never gets old.  It happened again this afternoon while I was out for a walk.  The live version of Neil Young’s Needle and the Damage Done (Live at Massey Hall 1971) popped up on my iPod and the crowd remained absolutely silent through that beautiful opening guitar riff, a riff that would go on to become one of Neil’s most famous.

I just turned it up, nodded knowingly to no one in particular and continued trudging through the snow like an all-knowing music snob from the future.

Garn