From: "James P. McKelvey"
To: rust@flying.fish.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 1996 7:22 PM
Subject: The real David Briggs RIP (fwd)
The passing of David Briggs, age 51, on November 26th, 1995, from lung cancer could have a similarly profound effect on Neil Young's recording career, just as the passing of Jerry Garcia did with the Grateful Dead's live performances. Things just won't be the same without both influential men in their respective bands. While this won't be the demise of Neil Young's recording career it certainly is the end of an era.
One thing is for sure, David Briggs enjoyed the anonymous nature of being a producer. There was almost a transparent feature to his production work that focused more on bringing out the best of what a particular "group" had to offer than any signature his production values might have imposed.
"In an age when records are put together with extreme artifice David's mission was to break through that," explained Joel Bernstein who is the Neil Young tape archivist, musician and photographer. "He not only tried to bring out the best performance out of the artist he also wanted to present the listener with a realistic true picture of music being played in a room. He went after that live in a room sound! There was no technical trick that he and Neil wouldn't do to get that live feel, however."
David Briggs the producer always preferred a very emotional "live"
sound that he could capture best in living rooms, basements, big barns
and rehearsal warehouses like Studio Instrumental Rentals Very little is known of the David Briggs that worked with Neil
Young. Briggs was born on February 29th, 1944 in Douglas, Wyoming. He
worked for a time as a staff producer for Bill Cosby's label,
Tetragrammaton. David Briggs met Neil Young when he picked him up
hitchhiking in Topanga Canyon. Shortly after that meeting Briggs
produced several cuts on the debut solo album by Neil Young that was
released after he left the Buffalo Springfield. It wasn't till their
second album together, "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere," that the live
sound that he pursued with Neil Young came to the fore.
David Briggs was best known in rock circles as producer of Neil
Young's most beloved works but he was also at the production helm for
acts like Nils Lofgren and Grin, Spirit, Jerry Williams, Alice Cooper and
more recently Virgin Records Royal Trux, Nick Cave, 13 Engines and the
Sidewinders.
"There certainly weren't any recordings of Neil Young and Crazy
Horse that David Briggs wasn't involved in," Joel Bernstein recalled.
David Briggs was often confused by fans and journalists alike as
being the same session musician and producer who owns "House Of David" in
Nashville. Since parts of the country album by Neil Young called, "Old
Ways," was recorded at "House Of David" this only added to the confusion.
The David Briggs who played keyboards for people like Elvis Presley,
J.J. Cale, Arthur Alexander, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez was the "other"
David Briggs and he lives in Nashville.
"They are both David Briggs, they both produced records, and they
both always got miscredited," Bernstein insisted. "If you look in the
"Record Producers File," that came out like twelve years ago in Scotland,
they put under David Briggs name all the albums they both produced. Our
David Briggs (who lived in California) always referred to him as the
'other' David Briggs."
"When not working, David Briggs enjoyed reading books, chasing
beautiful women; driving fast cars; going to Las Vegas; insulting
managers, lawyers and record executives; and a number of other endeavors
ill-suited for publication," according to the "official" Neil Young
biographer, Jimmy McDonough, in an obit in the Los Angeles Times.
Jimmy McDonough has been working on a Neil Young biography for over
five years and has interviewed over three hundred people for the book.
McDonough said over the phone that he has enough interviews with David
Briggs alone to do a very interesting book. He laughed when he said it
will be published right around the time the archives come out.
"When you make rock 'n roll, the more you think the more you
stink--it's *this* attitude," said Briggs pausing to give the finger in
an unpublished interview with Jimmy McDonough in 1991. "Rock 'n roll is
not sedate. Is not safe. Has nothing to do with money. Rock 'n roll is
elemental - it's like wind, rain, fire. Rock 'n roll is fire, man,
*fire*. It has to do with how much you can thumb your nose at the world."
At the time of his death David Briggs had been heavily involved with
Joel Bernstein with the "Neil Young Archives" project. This has been
discussed for over five years in the press and could involve anywhere
from three to twenty CDs worth of unreleased material.
"He was very passionate about his work," Joel Bernstein
told the online Internet magazine ATN. "He never did anything
halfheartedly. He was very direct, very opinionated, and told you to
your face what he thought and expected you to do the same.
He'll be sadly missed."
By Jim Mckelvey (c) 1995
More on David Briggs, his life and producing Neil Young albums.
A Neil Young Music Blog tracing His Influence from alt-country to Grunge
Thrasher's Wheat - A Neil Young Fan Page
Neil Young Articles 
Friends of Neil Young
Jammin' with Neil Young