Neil Young has long been fascinated with the art of film-making, so it only stands to reason he would want to create a cinematic companion piece to an album he holds in such high esteem as the recently-released Colorado. Screened nationwide in theaters just prior to the record’s street date, Mountaintop is, by and large, a treasure trove of insight into the creative chemistry of the Canadian rock icon in the studio with his band of choice, Crazy Horse.
Clearly, Young treasures this re-connection with his beloved band. The movie’s main graphic for its theatrical poster (and as a repeated image in the film itself) hearkens directly to the cover of the seminal album 1990 Ragged Glory. And while this lineup is not the same one that recorded 2012’s Psychedelic Pill—Frank “Poncho” Sampedro is absent– it is the foursome that played some impromptu concerts in 2018, comprised of long-time rhythm section bassist Billy Talbot and drummer Ralph Molina, along with multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Nils Lofgren.
A collaborator of Neil’s on and off since After The Gold Rush in 1970, not to mention an integral participant in the eponymous Crazy Horse debut of the next year, Lofgren has also been a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band since 1984. So he knows more than a little about spontaneity and his versatility also adds immeasurably to these proceedings, not just in allowing the quartet to record live in the studio, but also to lighten the mood when necessary after one of the bandleader’s testy outbursts.
As clearly depicted more than once here, Young becomes overtly frustrated during these sessions, railing against the facilities as well as the personnel operating them, most specifically engineer and Colorado co-producer John Hanlon. In fact, the former Buffalo Springfielder is so loud and unabashed in voicing his displeasure(s) at one point that cinematographer Adam C.K. Vollick is asked to leave the studio because the atmosphere is so tense.
To be fair, Mountaintop does feature a few instances of Neil’s praise for the musicians and technical staff. And the one-time partner of Crosby Stills and Nash also offers positive recognition to the whole group for jobs well-done more than once. But those are decidedly quieter intervals than the tempestuous interludes, a contrast so obvious it begs the question if those segments were inserted deliberately to offset a potentially negative impression.
But hat warts-and-all approach nonetheless makes Mountaintop a fascinating piece of work on a number of fronts. It is absolutely engrossing (to a point) to follow the painstaking work involved in fine-tuning the lightning-in-a-bottle moments of inspiration between Neil Young and Crazy Horse. And it is wholly remarkable to take note of the meticulous attention to detail—not to mention the patience—the quartet applies to the arrangements of vocal harmonies and nuanced touches such as subtleties percussion.
Still, the footage of this stop-and-go process is too often too similar. As a result, the film radiates a certain static quality that may cause the attention to wander in more than a few viewers. Picturesque shots of the high-altitude scenery provides some respite, as does over-the-shoulder perspective on the technical aspect of the project. But the inclusion of some narration would help immensely to provide pacing that would render this ninety-minutes more arresting to watch in its entirety.
Likewise, interviews with the principals at regular intervals in the film would aid viewers in ascertaining the progress of the project. The artistic process is intrinsically mysterious to be sure, as is the often spontaneous working method(s) of these recording artists. But working closely with Neil Young, Vollick and editor Jason Dopko could no doubt clarify and elucidate the sequence of events as they evolved; for instance, a decidedly accessible narrative would result from the concentrated application of focus on a single track from start to finish.
It would be arresting to follow a song from its gestation as a composition to a completed recorded track, especially so if the chosen number were one close to Young’s heart, like “She Showed Me Love,” featured so prominently near the close of Mountaintop, Of course, that approach would also make for a more conventional film and, based on a past history of idiosyncratic cinematic endeavors including Journey Through The Past and Human Highway, that is probably not what Neil Young had in mind.
