The Rockets got a new name, and the alchemical magic that was Crazy Horse was unleashed upon the world in such heartfelt cuts as "Cowgirl in the Sand," "Down By The River," and "Cinnamon Girl." Although the album received mixed reviews at the time of its release, it is looked upon in retrospect as one of those rare moments when lightning was captured in a bottle. And thus began a storied, on-again off-again relationship between Talbot in Crazy Horse and Young that has produced some truly incredible music.

Several years ago an interviewer observed that Billy Talbot doesn't waste his words, and that he doesn't make much of analysis. "He knows he's part of something beyond words and that is good enough." This interview found him to be the same way, and further, Billy was understandably cautious when asked about his relationships with Neil and the late David Briggs, both of whom he has clashed with. As a big Crazy Horse fan, the interviewer felt compelled to ask pointed questions, the answers to which might illuminate the creative magic within the band. Although the answers don't dish any dirt, they do, perhaps, shed some light on Billy's character.

"One might compare the relation of the ego to the id with that between a rider and his horse," Freud once said. "The horse provides the locomotor energy, and the rider has a prerogative of determining the goal and of guiding the movements of his powerful mount towards it."

As any equestrian knows, it is usually the horse that throws the rider... but in the alternate universe of Neil Young, the rider has thrown his horse several times over the last thirty years. Why? Perhaps there is a clue in the continuance of Freud's narrative, "But all too often in the relations between the ego and the id we find the picture of the less ideal situation in which the rider is obliged to guide his horse in the direction in which it itself wants to go."

Fans can be grateful that, for today at least, Neil is back in the saddle.

Talbot had musical life before Young, and during the "off-again" periods with Crazy Horse, Billy finds the necessary outlets for his creative energy. His latest venture, the Billy Talbot Band, has an album in the works. Tellingly, however, it is taking a back seat to ongoing recording sessions with Young and Crazy Horse, and if Young doesn't shelve the finished tapes (as he has been known to do in the past), NY/CH fans can look forward to an upcoming release.

BT: What's happening is that we have recorded a bunch of my songs. We recorded them all live in a barn, over a four day period. It was a lot of fun. We did a set of songs in the afternoon, the same set of songs at night. Now we're getting ready to mix. We plan on touring at some point.

Is that a project that keeps you occupied when you are not recording/touring with Crazy Horse?

BT: Yes, it is something that I do when not working with Crazy Horse.

In BTB, in addition to vocals, you handle rhythm guitar duties as opposed to bass. How long have you been playing guitar?

BT: I have owned a 1954 D-28 Martin Brazilian rosewood since 1970 and have been writing my own songs all along. I also own a 1967 Les Paul Gibson. I also own a 1966 335-Gibson 12-string electric guitar and a 1964 Strat. My basses are fender precision basses, both 1966 with 1968 telecaster necks of Maple. The white one I have had since 1969. My red one I have had since 1996. I play my bass through a blonde fender Showman brown face from 1962 with a Showman bottom with one 15 inch JBL speaker. Also I use a hand built by Sal Trentino tube splitter with transformers, it's also a tube-direct for recording. When we play big arenas I am able to use along with my fender an 8-10 inch bottom made by SWR with either an SWR 750 watt head or an EBS 800 watt head and pre-amp.

Do you prefer playing guitar to bass, or is it just a change of pace?

BT: I like it all and it affords me, the opportunity to like it all.

I note that your BTB lead guitarist is Matt Piucci, who played lead guitar on the last Crazy Horse album. Tell me how you met Matt, and how you two relate musically.

BT: I met Matt Piucci through my brother-in-law Larry Troiano, who suggested that he would be fun to play with. Matt was in Rain Parade and Larry knew his music and also knew Matt through Matt's wife, Stephanie who is a friend. This was in 1986, I believe, when we started playing together with Sonny Mone and later Mike Hamilton. That band is known as Raw, and we will be later this year releasing a CD of Raw recordings over the last ten years.

Let's go back to when you first hooked up with Crazy Horse drummer Ralph Molina. Did you and he really sing doo-wop on a New York street corner back in the late 1950's?

BT: The answer is we did sing on street corners and hallways and subway stations, but separately. We did not know each other and it was the late '50's, early '60's.

You met Danny Whitten in 1963 in Los Angeles. At the time his talents on guitar had not yet blossomed, and he was a singer/dancer. How did you end up forming the vocal group "Danny and the Memories" with him?

BT: I met Danny Whitten in California and we started singing together. We made a record and Ralph's cousin, Lou Bisbal, who was singing with us suggested calling Ralph, who was living in Florida, to come out and complete the vocal group. That was in 1963. We (Billy and Ralph Molina) have been together ever since. We started playing instruments together in 1966.

Some time around 1965 the group moved up to North Beach and re-launched yourselves as Psyrcle. I read that when you saw the Byrds play in Frisco the band experienced an epiphany, changing your sound and 'going electric.' True? Is this when you picked up bass?

BT: Referring to 1965, seeing the Byrds play in North Beach I would have to agree with what you say. Also, right after that we went back to L.A. and started playing instruments.

Then in late 1966 you, Whitten, Molina recruited some new musicians, relocated to your home in Laurel Canyon, and re-christened yourselves as the Rockets. What was the musical vibe at this time?

BT: We had electric violin, three electric guitars, bass and drums. Everyone could sing. We were playing long jams in the middle of songs, with the violins and guitars going at it. We were influenced by a lot of the same things that other rock n roll musicians were being influenced by at that time. Chicago blues, country blues like Lightin Hopkins, Blue Grass, The Stanley Brothers, folk music, Woody Guthrie and others. Plus, our contemporaries and the records that were being made in those days.

Was Whitten's prowess as a guitarist emerging at this time?

BT: Yes, Danny's guitar playing was blossoming, and you can hear some of the same guitar that's on Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, on the Rockets only album.

Although Danny left behind a too-small body of work, his talent and the soulfulness he brought to his playing was apparent. What kind of guy was Danny?

BT: Danny was greatly gifted and talented, a beautiful voice. He could write songs with the simplest and (most) beautiful lyrics, a true American songwriter. We were young and he was a great friend who passed away way too early.

Can you describe the events that occurred around the time the Rockets moved to Laurel Canyon that led you to fall in with Neil?

BT: I met Neil through a friend who brought him up to our house, where Danny and I lived. We developed a friendship over the next couple of years. The Rockets were playing the Whiskey A Go-Go. Neil sat in with us, and asked Danny and Ralph and I, if we would come to his house in Topanga, and help him with a few new songs he had, namely "Down by the River," "Cinnamon Girl," and "Cowgirl in the Sand."

A major development in the career of the Rockets was the gig you played at the Whisky A Go-Go. Did violinist Bobby Notkoff really just abandon the stage during the gig?

BT: No, not really, Bobby didn't play on every song.

Would it be correct to say that during the studio sessions with Neil that followed, the Rocket essentially morphed into Crazy Horse?

BT: I guess you could say the Rocket's became Crazy Horse, but unfortunately, without George or Leon Whittsell, although Bobby did play on Running Dry on the E.K.T.I.N. recording.

Whitten liked to rip it up as a guitarist. Was there a competitiveness when he and Neil played together?

BT: No, there was no competition between Danny and Neil. Danny was the rhythm guitar player, Neil the lead.

The 1971 self-titled album by Crazy Horse included the participation of Nils Lofgren (in fact his classic "Beggars Day" debuts on this album). What was it like working with Nils?

BT: Nils is enthusiastic and beautiful, a pleasure to make music with.

What was the nature of your relationship with Danny during his last painful slide into the grips of heroin?

BT: Painful and dreadful in those last days. I've read that Neil describes a state of nirvana, if you will, in playing live with Crazy Horse that he describes as "swimming"... which is to say that the band obviously has a very special chemistry. Can you describe the elements of magic that each band member brings to the formula?

BT: It's just magic. Don't want to jinx it by trying to figure it out. I have always felt it was special.

You seem to be a central figure in pulling together musical talent. Around 1974 you spent some time south of the border getting to know Frank "Poncho" Sampedro prior to his induction into Crazy Horse as guitarist. What were you guys doing in Mexico?

BT: We were in Mexico having fun. I had a feeling about Poncho, but it still surprised me, the way things worked out.

At times, particularly during the 1980's, the relationship between Neil Young and Crazy Horse was a bit rancorous. Do you think this was ultimately due to his tendency to call you guys only when the occasional urge struck him?

BT: No, it was just a part of life. Everything seems to be working out after all as evidenced by our last shows live in Rio and Buenos Aires where it seemed we were playing more together than ever.

Which NY/CH songs do you most enjoy playing live?

BT: I don't have one favorite... I really don't.

Do you have any input on what songs NY/CH plays live?

Yes, we all do. When we get together it's as a band, with one guy making the final decision.

When working with Neil, does he allow you to feel the song and then add the bass as you feel it?

BT: Of course, but it can happen in different ways... Why do you think you so often act as a lightning rod for Neil's anger? Is that an accurate perception?

BT: I don't know if that is an accurate perception. I guess occasionally I am the spokesman for the spirit of the band and therefore perhaps the recipient of occasional outbursts from Neil Young to Crazy Horse.

Why didn't Poncho participate in the 1990 Crazy Horse album, Left for Dead? Was he off working on Freedom?

BT: Poncho had made it clear that he wasn't interested in doing anything with Crazy Horse other than with Neil. Ralph and I needed to do our music and so therefore, we went on without him at that time. We no longer use the name other than with Neil. That band had evolved into Raw.

Did the release of that album (Left for Dead) act as a wake up call to Neil not to neglect his most potent rhythm section?

BT: No, not really. We did it because we had to, that's what we do. It's like why did you climb the mountain? Cause it was there. We wanted to not lose the urgency of creating.

Was the title of that album a message to Neil?

BT: The album title was a song first. Sonny Mone wrote it. What inspired him to write it? You would have to ask him, but I know he has a deep respect for Crazy Horse and everything that we had done so far with Neil.

"Crazy Horse" circa 1990

Do you still keep in touch with Sonny?

BT: Yes, we do. We still plan on recording again in the future, with Matt and Mike and Ralph, as Raw.

I think my favorite Billy Talbot bass riff is the repetitive descending bass line on "Safeway Cart" off of Sleeps With Angels. It totally illustrates your strength as a "feel" player by enhancing the eeriness of the song. What NY/CH song do you think illustrates your best creative effort?

I don't think about it that way. Each time I do what I do, I'm never really happy, but sometimes it feels good. I'll leave it to people who think about that kind of stuff.

What is your favorite Crazy Horse album? BT: I would have to say the first one (self-titled, 1971).

Apparently over the years you butted heads at times with producer David Briggs. Would you care to explain the intricacies of that relationship?

BT: David always wanted what was best for Crazy Horse. He loved the way we were, but it also frustrated him. I think it's a part of growing, of life, we all change and change again.

You sing, play bass, guitar, piano, and write music. From what artists do you draw inspiration?

BT: As many great artists as I can. I take inspiration wherever I can find it. I cry in old movies, record Ray Charles off of TV or Duke Ellington, or am inspired by questions and inquiries from fans.

My favorite of your songs is "You and I," which you wrote for Left For Dead. What is your favorite song that you have written?

BT: As far as songs that I have written, you have only heard a couple. I like "You and I" and I also like the MP3s on our site. There are a bunch of new songs that have been finally recorded of mine that I hope you will be hearing soon. Perhaps, one of those will become your new favorite.

Do you have a lot of material just waiting to be recorded?

BT: I have recently recorded a bunch of songs. There have been some from the past that haven't been recorded. But essentially, I am catching up. The more I get recorded, the more I write. I seem to be able to express my self though a song often enough to keep me relatively sane. I hope that you will get to hear them.

What was the absolute high point of your musical career?

BT: The highest point that I can visualize are probably numerous live shows here and there through the years. These shows have been rewarding on their own as they occurred.

How do you look back now on performing solo acoustic on the HORDE tour on the second stage in the afternoon at the "HORDE 'O Culture" tent?

BT: It was fun. I really liked it when the girls joined in on violin and cello. I thought the audience was great each time. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did.

The CSNY web site says it's "rumored" that CSNY is going to tour this summer. Do you have an idea if and when the Horse will release a new album and/or go on tour?

BT: We (NY/CH) are recording now and we will see what happens next.

What hobbies do you have when you are not playing music?

BT: My family.

What should your fans know about Billy Talbot that they have probably not heard before?

BT: I'm a romantic... I don't know. I'm a dreamer in every sense of the word.

Any "last words" for your Crazy Horse fans?

BT: You have to be the greatest fans ever. I truly feel lucky.