Album: Year of the Horse
Year: 1997
Recorded at the The Forum, Inglewood on September 11, 1996
Along with “Big Time” and “Music Arcade,” “Slip Away” was a definite highlight of Broken Arrow, but where it truly shone was on Year of The Horse, where it had time to slowly unfold.
I mean, sure, it slowly unfolded on Broken Arrow, too, but it kinda got lost a bit, being the third long slow song in a row to start off on that record, whereas on Year of the Horse, it was the first song on the second disc, following a pair of shorter songs that ended the first disc.
So it stood out a bit more on the live album, where Ralph Molina’s rumbling rolling beat stood out more, as did Neil’s near-dip into a falsetto on the chorus.
And when the music started
She just slipped away
Just like a river rolling down
And when the music started
She just slipped away
It’s an incredibly lovely chorus, with Neil vocally augmented by Molina, while Poncho Sampedro jingle-jangle-jingles underneath, and of course after a couple of verses and a couple of choruses, it’s long guitar solo time, as the rhythm section settles in for the long haul, an Neil starts sending out jagged guitar lines into the ether.
And honestly, that’s pretty much it: whether or not you like “Slip Away” will totally depend on whether or not you have room for yet another long slow Neil Young & Crazy Horse guitar jam. Me, I never get enough of them, especially as new ones were going to become incredibly sparse — it would be 15 long years where we would get another one — which of course I didn’t know in 1997.
“Slip Away (Los Angeles 09-11-1996)”
“Slip Away” live in SF, 1997
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