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.: RALPH MOLINA :.
The first time I met Ralph was on one of his days off in Roma during the Neil Young & Crazy Horse 1987 European tour.
I remember taking him and Billy Talbot on a sight-seeing trip and having a great time talking to him about music
and the tours he did with Neil and the Horse. Ralph is a much quieter character than Billy is, nevertheless he is a witty
and articulate talker when drawn into a conversation. And he's also a goldmine as far as rockstar life-style and r 'n' r anecdotes
are concerned.
Musically Ralph isn't exactly a Charlie Watts, as far as 'tempo' is concerned,
but it's his loose and funky rhythms, and his high-pitched harmony vocals that make him special: the perfect choice
when Neil Young wants to play some raw electric music.
In 1988 I was lucky to spend an incredible week of music in Southern California
and I had the chance to play with Ralph, Billy Talbot and Sonny Mone in Billy's garage. We even recorded one of my songs,
which is now somewhere on a hissy audio-cassette. It's one of those experiences I will never forget.
I remember I even asked them to back me on Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower": it was quite a few years
before Neil Young started playing that song with them!
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(Thousand Oaks, CA - Jan. 1988 - photo by FL)
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