The mystery of Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl”
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- Neil Young’s second solo album, 1969’s Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, marked the first time he made an album with Crazy Horse as his backing band. Created in a rush of musical output from Young, concurrent with his work with Crosby, Stills, and Nash, it set the stage for the type of sound Young wanted to make as a solo artist: stripped back, without any fancy studio-created bells and whistles. Three of the songs on that album were written while Young had a fever from the flu, and one of them, “Cinnamon Girl,” led to Young earning the nickname “The Godfather of Grunge” decades later when bands like Nirvana embraced the the innovative way he downtuned his guitar. But who is the subject of this gritty, hypnotic tune? Find out in this episode of Behind The Song.
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Behind The Song podcast host and creator Janda Lane is a radio DJ at WDRV-FM in Chicago, the city she calls home with her husband and podcast partner, Christian Lane, and their two cats, Ollie and Liam.
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![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
All the songs on that record have stood the test of time. That record set the standard by which all later Neil Young songs have been judged. And you know what? I bought that record in 1969 and I treasure it.
top 100 rock LP All time
me too!!
It's a great record, no doubt. What bugs me is that he's produced nothing to compare with it in over 25 years but keeps issuing gag-worthy albums out of self-indulgence.
@@surfwriter8461
Yes. Some great songs, but no great albums.
@@grahamgillard3722 I don't know of any great songs in that long period, either.
When I grew up with Neil, he took me to places that I never thought was possible with songs like Down by the River or Cinnamon girl and his voice still haunts me to this day. I am 77 years old and love his music but we never analyzed it to the nth degree, we jus t enjoyed how it made us feel and that our journey was going in the right direction, acidly speaking. He is special and followed his own interpretation of what is Neil Young, much like Eric Clapton followed his dream as a blues guitarist. It is so nice to see younger people enjoying and in awe of this kind of talent. The fact that he is Canadian is even more special because we grew up together in the same place.
Incredible that he wrote "Cowgirl in the sand" and "Down by the river" in the same afternoon. Not many people are as creative and productive while in bed with a fever.
Maybe he needs to induce that state now. He hasn't been that creative or productive in songwriting for more than 25 years, so that period of "Cinnamon Girl" represents the time when NY was at a peak creatively.
Makes me think of Dolly Parton writing "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You" on the same day. If she had a fever, she might have written another classic that day.
Mozart wrote his first symphony under similar circumstances, aged 8.
@@surfwriter8461nothing lasts in art. It’s ebb and flow ❤
@@surfwriter8461… You DO realize that Neil has other vastly different interests other than writing music, right? He’s an inventor, a farmer, a business mogul, a political activist, as well as a multi-platinum recording artist. The man has slowed down in his later years, as we all have - INCLUDING YOU. He’s 78, for crying out loud, and not immortal…give the guy a break. He’s lived more lives than we ever will…
I was a fledgling Neil Young fan in 1990 while travelling to Toronto first time.. buying up all the cheap cassette tapes I could find (and there were a lot!)..
That short trip in late Sept/early Oct I went to the annual food fair in the city and tried Cinnamon Rolls....(never had them before.. am from NZ)
For days after I was humming the lines to myself: "I wanna live with the Cinnamon Roll... I could be happy the rest of my life with a Cinnamon Roll" !!!
Seriously !!!!
I saw Neil Young and Crazy Horse at Western Springs Auckland in 1985. I still have the t-shirt and the ticket.
I love that line! Lol! I’m always improvising lyrics and never realizing how this messed with my children’s brains when I was raising them! I would have totally sang it that way! 😆
Cinnamon girl baking cinnamon rolls could really make you happy
@@gleaveinjapan Wow, how insignificant. You can now have "Neil Young Fan" stamped on your forehead.
I saw him play in Toronto in 93. Neil (with Booker T and the M.Gs as his band) with Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and blues traveler opening was a brilliant show at Exhibition Stadium. Great show.
Iconic LP . Top 100 rock LP all time . I still listen to this today since Neil handed me a copy out front of the Groove co record store , Newport Beach , Ca back in the day . He put out a stool and played Sugar Mountain , got back in the limo and sped away .
That's the kind of experience we had in the 60s I had a lot of them too. That was fortunate for you. I love sugar Mountain one of his best songs
I'm from Laguna Beach. I often bought records from that store back in the day.
Amazing song...the first time I heard it on the radio in 1969 I was floored by how addictive the deep dark dirty sound was.....it never gets old.....
The opening riffs to “Cinnamon Girl” and the Stones’ “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” are the greatest ever.
Man! The backing track is so spot on. I could listen to it all day. Great job as always folks.
Truly, this is my favorite song ever. I can’t explain the hold it has on me, but it is undeniable. Thank you for sharing this post!
Have heard many of these factoids over the years, but never all together in one concise delivery. Thank you for putting it all down in a way that even an old Dead Head like me can understand. Neil Young has been one of my two or three favorite artists since I saw him on the "Everybody's Rockin' " tour with the band The Shocking Pinks. Seen him a few times since, and it has always been different, and it has always been excellent. Love watching him stomp around the stage with his Guitar, it's real Rock and Roll. Neil Young is The MAN!!!
You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.
The title track and Losing End should not be overlooked. Love both of those too.
I've always considered this one of the greatest "short" rock songs ever. Great opening riff and vocals, mysterious lyrics, and classic solo at the end. A force and urgency through and through. Thank you for this analysis.
Thanks for listening!
I knew Jean. I'll always believe she was indeed Neil's Cinnamon Girl. Rest now in peace, Jean.
One of my favorite albums. Having lived in Thailand for many years always reminded of a Asian woman dancing in a bar. Many years later I met my Cinnamon Girl.
Been away for awhile and forgot how beautiful you are on these. Awesome back story as always Janda...Thank you!!! And thanks to Christian for the great mix!!! Keep On Rocking!!!
Thank you, welcome back!
This and After the goldrush my all time favs of Young.I luv plenty other or his early albums but these are the my all times.
I was hoping (and glad) to hear you give due credit where it was due. Danny Whitten’s influence on this album cannot be understated.
Agreed.
I think it's Danny on lead. sd in Down by the River. Young shouldn't take the credit for it.
I think you mean "can't be overstated". Anyway, I'm sure he was influential on that album, but NY was still in charge and putting all the ingredients together. Too bad his muse left the building more than 25 years ago, and it wasn't Danny Whitten.
Overstated...
@@peterjennings7230 What's your basis for such a claim? How would you know which riffs are by which guitarist? By the signature playing of NY, I can tell that he's playing most of what I would call the "lead" guitar lines, but there's no doubt Whitten's playing is very important, too.
Beautiful job, Jana. I'm a writer, NY one of my readers. I signed a copy of my first novel, THE BEAUTIFUL WOMAN WITHOUT MERCY, for him in San Gregorio.
Cin Girl & Like a Hurricane were faves in my childhood. Amazing songs that only made sense by giving up sense and just going with the flow.
Yeah, the 60's were full of nonsense songs, but they've become classics!
Well researched (best I can tell, without doing a lot more of my own research) and very well presented. As others have noted, the backing track is superb, too.
Thank you for explaining how Neil Young was such an icon for later grunge musicians. I thought it was his incredble lyrics and voice - even the lank hair - but that double drop D is so bass-ey. I cannot play guitar just tin whistles and bodhran and singing but I love singing Neil Young songs in public. I truly understand how his marriage only lasted two years. His first love is the music in his head.
Listen to "Hey Hey My My" and you'll hear Grunge 20 years before they found a name for it...
What a fascinating story! Thanks for sharing, Janda!
Wow, how timely is this? 2 weeks ago I was riding through the desert in Africa and Cinnamon Girl was echoing through my head for a long time. It really is great and I love pondering the lyrics.
this song has the greatest 1 note solo ever!!!! love this song
Nice job of documenting the backstory of this great song.
At the time this album came out I was very close with Pegi Morton and for me this song was about her, although they had not met yet, you never know where a fever ravished mind could take a genius. Hearing this song always makes me remember Pegi.
By far and away, it's my favorite song by Neil Young.
He also wrote "Down By The River" and "Cowgirl in the Sand" in the same afternoon. The... same... afternoon... Most artists don't write 3 songs like this in a lifetime. I remember Richie Furay taking about what a genius guitarist Young was, too. "Who else can play an entire break for a song on one note"
One of my favorite college artists, albums, songs … among a long long long long list …
Massive oversight: no mention of David Briggs who cleaned up the sound after that first album and shaped Neil’s sound thereafter. He is responsible for the Neil Young we know and love.
"Cinnamon Girl" i first heard in 1970 when I bought the album in Buffalo, NY. It haunted me for years. A college girl friend who suddenly broke up with me was devastating, Oh, she had beautiful red hair. You can see why the song and Neil's voice affected me throughout the 70's.
I was recently in bed with the flu.
Although I never wrote three awesome songs that will live forever, I did manage to binge Netflix. Goals.
The first time a buddy of mine turned me on to my first joint and Neil Young , he played Cinnamon Girl. I’ve never been the same!
Neil Young has been my "Hero" since highschool in 1969
I fav of mine. I saw NY in concert in 2008 and he opened with it.
I was at his concert in Sydney about the same time and he finished his encore with it. It was the only song in the concert from his back catalog.
Thank you for this excellent episode. ☮️💟
One part of me is super happy that you are helping to keep the dust off of these great old albums, helping them to see the light fo day once more and maybe in doing so (and this part is important to me) help so maybe a whole new younger generation falls in love with this album the way I did when it was first released. ( and I do not belive you were even alive yet) But another part of me is sad ...like when you are talking about the lyrics IMO your over thinking it big time and all of a sudden its seems like your video has turned into a soap opera reveiw .....anyway I do still want to say thank you....
To a musician, there's nothing very mysterious about these song lyrics. It's a slice of the life. And a masterpiece.
What I’ve as a very amateur guitarist, been impressed with about “Cinnamon Girl” is that it has essentially a one note bridge, but with the heavy chords backing, it works extremely well.
How is it a one note bridge?
Notice I said "essentially" so I'm talking about the part where he plays the same note 24 times then plays a few other notes, then plays that same note another 24 times.@@MikaelLewisify
Neil Young and Crazy Horse saved my life .
Great song
Om a great album by a great artist!!!! ☮️💟
Loved everyone of these songs from this album. Cinnamon Girl has to played really loud and played over and over again. Born 1955. If I have to pick one album from so many artists I’ll pick this every time!
Three timeless classics all written in one day? It is certainly my favourite day in Neil Young's life. Cowgirls is my all time favourite Young tune.
Great one Janda! Never knew there was a specific "Cinnamon Girl". I looked up Jean Ray and Jim..I have to believe a lot was about her. The quintessential folk singer, quiet type..with a tad of Cinnamon hair. Folk isn't my thing, but Neil brought me into it. Thanks and keep em coming.
Such a simple song, but so so great.
Excellent plus job ! You made Neil Young come alive ! 👍👍👍
Many thanks!!
Ben, Michael - thank you from the bottom of my heart for your very important work.
Love the podcast. You are very informative and pleasantly engaging. I was 17 in 1982. We all had a copy of Live Rust in our tape decks. When I get big, I’m gonna get an electric guitar. I mean real big.
Great ,big fan of this podcast . But no mention of the one note solo?just as famous as the riff.
Thank you. I tend to lean more into the lyrics of the songs on these episodes, but yes that one note solo is incredible.
It’s fun to jam to any Neil song in D, I’ll play it in double drop D. Just love that tuning and isn’t far from open G and DADGAD.
Great video and presentation of this very cool info. Thanks, Janda!
Interesting analysis and information, and excellently presented. I'm now a subscriber!
Thank you! Welcome aboard!
I know plenty about Neil Young however you added to that in your nine minutes. Great work!!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you!
yes this is my favorite album by Neil Young I love the violin by Bobby Notkoff [info: Bob Clark, ty] on running dry-- another great song in there I can feel myself out in the desert as I listen to it especially when I listened to it when it first came out. Los Lobos amongst many other groups that do great live versions of cinnamon girl. I think they did it twice when I attended two back to back shows at Stephen Talkhouse And Amagansett which is the town between East Hampton and Montauk Long Island a great club to see any band at. I was dancing on the tables as the band played that song and many of the others -- that was a great night Los Lobos.
It is Bobby Notkoff on violin not David Briggs on fiddle!!!!😂
@@BobClark-ll7zc ty I will fix no longer have my album
One of the greatest songs ever. Thanks for the info.
Greetings from another fellow Chicagoan. I found this video very interesting for various reasons. First of all I didn't know that Neil drop tuned his guitar to D-A-F-G-B-D. I always played it with regular standard tuning. (E-A-D-G-B-E) I might want to watch some close up videos of Neil playing the song to see if there are any chord alterations. I've always played the song by ear, myself. Also I didn't know that Neil knew Phil Ochs. Phil Ochs is one of my folk heroes, and, IMHO is criminally overlooked, as well as his contributions to folk music, and the folk music scene of New York in the early to mid 1960s. Also, I didn't know that The Who or Phish covered Cinnamon Girl. I'd LOVE to hear their versions of the song some day. As I have a weakness for red headed women, I always thought that's what the song was about. Every time I perform it, I always dedicate the song to all the red headed women in the world. (Although, in my heart, there is a red headed woman that is special to me in my life, but, since we are only just friends, and out of respect for their privacy, I shall not comment further) I don't listen to the radio because it never plays what I want to hear, especially when I want to hear it, and The Drive only plays "Classic" Rock, (Whatever the fuck THAT is) and only the hits that everybody is sick and tired of, but because of this video, and the insight you gave about one of my all time favorite Neil Young songs, I might actually give your show a listen some day. Thanks for a very educational and insightful video on one of my favorite Neil Young songs, and one of my favorite Neil Young albums.😊❤🤟🤘✌👍
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment, and please do check out the show sometime!
Is that a typo? Double Drop D is DADGBD. Not DAFGBD, which in spite of being a fan of altered tunings, I’ve never heard of.
A TIMELESS ALBUM !!!!!!!!!!!!
This explains a lot about Inside Llewyn Davis& the “Jim and Jean” act in the film. I had no idea they were real. And the titular character, who crashes on their couch, is probably based more on Phil Ochs than Dave Van Ronk, as everybody seems to think.
I assume he was meant to be a mixture of both. The Van Ronk connection is obvious with the album cover.
Nice chance encounter with your podcast. Never knew! Longtime WDRV listener from suburban Palos Heights.
As complex as Neil was, it took a Southerner from birth who influenced that grunge sound out of him . RIP Danny Whitten, born in Columbus Ga. to a cab driver and a waitress, May 8, 1943.
Just like every song Neil put out there Cinnamon Girl was a work of pure top level blues rock genius. Neil is a gift to us.
Let's get something straightened out: NY has been bashing the debut solo album so brutally and for so long that he should probably be arrested for child abuse. The much-maligned guitar over-dubs are absolutely gorgeous, especially on the most recent remaster. I adore that album!
Nice review Janda. Maybe 'only your hairdresser knows for sure'. So much in the creative process is unknowable or untranslatable. Like in a dream our thoughts are fused together from snippets of unrelated day to day events. We don't know why or how but we need to scratch that itch 'the muse' and set it free and once we do, it has a life all it's own.
Nice show!
he was a huge influence on my songwriting and why i continue to put songs on you tube
Excellent presentation , thank you ❤😊
Fantastic video! Thanks!
Now the other mystery is the gal named Gail he met in a bar who wore glasses that wrote 'Like A Hurricane' about. He was extremely attracted to her but she didn't fancy him. In the 3rd verse of the studio version he sang, "You four-eyed woman you touched my lips..." instead of 'Before that moment..."
Fire eyed
Young's nebulous lyrics were infamous for his whole career.
I've been obsessed with playing Neil Young songs lately haha.
Great episode! Thanks for the info. Interesting backstory!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Myself and friends always thought it was about Groupies... Everyone listened to Neil Young..this was 1971 to now for myself
The best outro in pop music!
Such an atypical song for its time... and it's still one of my favourite!
New sub? Oh yeah...
So legend has it that the roadies who set up the shows for CSN&Y use to blast this song while preping the sound checks before the shows and it use to piss off the rest of the group.
This is the first tome I've listened to someone explaining _Cinnamon Girl_ but l had looked Jean Ray up before because the connection. Neil would've been smitten by her (He's Scorpio, she was Cancer; she died some years back) because she was a honey. And Janda you could be a Cinnamon Girl❤️
You must have placements in Capricorn, surely?
I'm a scorpio, cancer rising, long , dark red hair
@@tina-g4h I'm Cancer Sun and Ascendant and l have two Stationary Planets in Scorpio. Jean Ray was extra cute.
I bought After The Gold Rush when it first came out then I bought Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. Although I have some of Neil Young's later albums, EKTIN is my favourite.
Regarding Danny Whitten - I too was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis as a young man but fortunately I never went down the drugs path. R.I.P. Danny.
It's a pity you didn't show a picture of Jean Ray! I have Jim & Jean's third album and it is wonderful.
Thanks Janda, love your work.
Thank you so much!
cinnamon girl was a lite skinned black girl,cinnamon like. she was a dreamer of pictures so did i and we both studied photography at columbia college,chicago,il. she was quite a groupie and ran the downtown streets at night. eventually hooking up with neal young..
Greats songs along a good portion of my life!!
I have heard him tell the story a differently a couple of times. I liked the tail of the hitch hiker girl best!
When I was living in the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid 70’s, the local FM rock station KSAN ran a spot with the late Martin Mull stating something negative about playing Neil Young’s music. I don’t remember hearing many of his songs played on the station. I think a lot of people had problems with his singing (I did for a long time), but over the years I’ve become a huge fan of his work.
In retrospect, people had problems with Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Tom Verlaine of Television and David Byrne. Punk rock changed everything in terms of the spectrum of singing, and in the end it became all about the lyrics and the music.
To take things even further in terms of what later became acceptable for some, try listening to The Residents record Duck Stab. If you can get through listening to it and get some meaning and laughs from it, you have reached the pinnacle of tolerance for terrible singing. The singer on this record is still making records nearly 50 years later.
Good job, thanks.
Good video Janda about a great song and album. Finally got to see a video without A.I. Love vids w/that "human" touch! Not enough of them anymore. (must be getting old, LOL)
wonderful !!!
I completely adore you and so much appreciate you.
A must most Most great vidio. Thanks!
You're welcome!
Janda, You're awesome ❤
Thank you!
Danke. Fürs Senden ❤
Fascinating. Have always loved this haunting sexy rock song. Many thanks.
I am Jean Ray’s sister. It’s True that she was cinnamon girl and cowgirl in the sand. Neil visited our family on the beach in Malibu when he was seeing Jean, who also lived there. She was separated from her husband at the time. I was around 11 then and Neil took a walk on the beach with me. I remember thinking “wow, he’s really listening to me“. Most adults did not listen and reflect the way he did. When I was in my late teens, I was at a party Neil attended. He kept looking at me so I went over to tell him about our earlier meeting on the beach. Once again he was charming and friendly. Jim and Jean got back together and Jim wrote“what’s that got to do with me“. Jim and Neil were friends, and I believe this song describes the triangle that occurred for a short period of time.
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My favourite Neil Young album. Three obviously great songs, and as you listen to the album repeatedly, you come to appreciate all the others. The live versions with Crazy Horse (1971) are great too. One of the hopes of my life is that Neil, or a Neil Young tribute act (does one exist?) will add the much needed solo to Cinnamon Girl. Typically of his contrarian cantankerous nature, he has not done so.
At the board for no reason. Neil rocks and good video!
Neil Young and Crazy Horse were the OG grunge rockers!
Thank you Janda. Awesome podcast.
Thanks so much!
I get really annoyed when the radio station cuts off the guitar jam at the end, it is an integral part of the song, not just an appendix.
"Cowgirl' not "cowgirls" and "Down by the River" not the River. Your research is fantastic- strange you got the titles wrong. Two of my favourite Neil Young songs from my favourite N.Y. album. Thanks
She's reading from a script
Really, when it comes to tempo in rock-n-roll composition, Neil Young is from another planet. The tempo to me always seem slightly slow, consistently in his recordings, the two that stand out for me are: Cinnamon Girl and Heart of Gold. I really would like Neil Young to explain his approach to tempo, because I think it is his one defining song signatures and always strangely slightly slow.
Thanks -this was a great video.
I remember meeting the guy , drummer /writer in a local club n N.Y. state .,The band was playing the song ,which was getting air play back at that time. And after the set i said something like: you do a great cover , The lead singer said ,yeah we should ,pointed to the drummer and said he wrote it.I said ,naively ,why did't you record it .Their record company gave it to the stars .on the label.Funny how history is invented.