Ralph Molina
Rock Ink
A short story by Bill Mensema
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYgNnrsQQNQ
Ralph Molina
Ralph Molina a short story by Bill Mensema r o ck in k | 2012
Š 2012 All rights reserved Text: Bill Mensema (www.billmensema.com) This story was previously (july 2011) published in Dutch in the magazine hp/ De Tijd Design: Ebel Kuipers (www.ebelkuipers.nl) Typefaces: ek Wytske (beta) by Ebel Kuipers and ffQuadraat by Fred Smeijers Cover photo: trendscout:: (www.flickr.com/photos/trendscout) Pictures inside by Ken Lund (www.flickr.com/photos/kenlund) Page 11: www.drummagazine.com/features/post/ ralph-molina-in-the-saddle-with-crazy-horse/P1/
If
only one could be you, Ralph Molina. You must be one of the luckiest people alive, while you – Crazy Horse’s drummer – are recording the Neil Young song Change Your Mind. You could wonder where Neil gets all these songs and grooves, but you really don’t. You haven’t done that for years. That guy’s got something. He hears something in the air – in the same air that you breathe – that only very few can hear. In all his strangeness Neil just knows how to connect with that weird thing that hovers somewhere over this earth. And time and
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again he submits a song that’s just a great honor to play. Now it’s the early nineties. Already Neil has sung this song Change Your Mind a couple of times on his own. Most of the times just Neil and his guitar are very good, but that’s not what Crazy Horse is meant for. You three are there for the jam. You are there for the groove. You are there to release that great moment out of yourself and out of Neil, when everything floats in those lengthy sessions, in which Neil and Poncho (and earlier Danny before he shot himself to hell) are dueling with their guitars. To create music that is not destined for the head nor the heart, but for the soul. Here’s another break. A few rolls on the toms, and there’s Neil’s guitar again. While Poncho refrains himself with a fading feedback, Neil cuts through the canvas once more. He pulls his guitar strings all the way down. He holds the chord while shivers run down your spine. But you play on. You keep the beat. Slow, not too fast, always on track, always there. You look at Billy, but he’s gone. He gazes down, with his eyes closed. He is lost in that painting Neil and Poncho are coloring. Which can only be great if you two provide that wonderful layer. Billy doesn’t know where he is and that’s fine. As it should be. Billy is best when he’s loose, when he follows his instincts. You smile, Ralph. You smile, because you stay here. You’re the anchor that this drunken boat needs. You’re a machine that steams forth, yet you know where you are. You follow Neil and Poncho with your eyes, you follow their fingers, you see their ecstasy.
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And you feel Billy in your veins and in your pores. But you also know that in the morning you have to drop your wife’s car off at the garage. You know it’s four o’clock in the afternoon. You know what’s left, what’s right, what’s day and what’s night. Most of all you know you’re grateful – and happy and excited at the same time – to put this incredible song on tape. Some earlier recorded songs were mediocre, very occasionally they were just shit, but sometimes – sometimes – they were brilliant. While Neil and Poncho are battling with their guitars, while Billy stares God once more straight in the face, you are sure this is one of those truly brilliant moments. You smile and you want to let yourself go, but there’s the last chorus. As usual, Billy picks it up straight away as well. Together, you sing the harmonizing verses. But when you want to close at last, just when you want to hit the last rolls, Neil puts in an amazing feedback. He looks at you quickly. You see it. You know what he wants. The song continues. Again from scratch. Now you really smile. You are Ralph Molina, you’re the drummer of Crazy Horse, and this is one of the best songs you will ever record. You don’t count down. You count on. Here we go. Here we go again. Now you close your eyes as well. Once more. Fucking brilliant!
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Bill Mensema
Rock |Ink k ort verhaal rock i nk
Check out these rock ink publications also @ www.issuu/rockink: – Bluebird – The death of Jeffrey Lee Pierce
Ralph Molina Ralph Molina (born June 22, 1943) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for Neil Young’s backing band Crazy Horse. Born in Puerto Rico, Molina has been a member of Crazy Horse since they were formed in 1962 as Danny & the Memories. He has remained throughout the band’s many personnel changes, and has performed on all 20 releases by the band, with and without Young. Molina’s style of drumming is characterized by simple, but steady beats and fills. (Wikipedia)
Rock Ink Bill Mensema (*1960, Delfzijl, The Netherlands) has been travelling to the u sa and Australia regularly since 1980. There he has layed the foundation for his subsequent authorship. Music has always played an important role in his life. In the 1980s he was the lead singer of the band Crimes of Nature, that performed all over Europe and released one album: Buddha (1987). His fascination for America and popular music has culminated here in this evocative tale. So far Bill Mensema has published three novels in Dutch: – Doem Dada (Doom Dada – 2008), – Fietsen met Bob Dylan (Bicycling with Bob Dylan – 2009) and – Captain Liefie (Captain Sweety – 2011).