Mountains

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Covid threw me for a loop,” he tells Rolling Stone via Zoom from a hotel room in Vienna the day after an E Street Band show at the Ernst Happel Stadium. “I’d been on the road for 55 years. I loved being home with [my wife] Amy and the dogs. Our son Dylan would come over with his dogs. That was great. But I’d never gone for three years without performing in my professional life. And it kind of took a toll, more than I’d hoped.” We change a few songs here and there, which is great. But there’s a depth that you’re allowed to get into and access when there’s some repetition. That’s mainly because you start hearing a lot of detail of what every other person is doing. And inevitably that familiarity allows for a lot deeper interaction and kind of a musical understanding. This was all last year. I was determined to get it done before the end of the year. Once Bruce said, “We’re going to hit the road in 2023,” I worked a little harder to make sure it was done by Christmas. David said to me, “I want to sing on your record.” I said, “I’d love that, David. Let me wait until I know which song is right for you.” And sure enough, as soon as I started writing that song and I got an inkling of the chorus, I said, “Man, this one’s for David.” And he sang beautifully on it. I hadn’t thought about that, but when Neil said, “Yes.” I went, “Oh, that’s cool. They’ll both be on the record.” I didn’t really think it through like that, but you’re right. That’s heavy.

Mountains, Nils Lofgren - Qobuz Mountains, Nils Lofgren - Qobuz

But then I’m going to California, where the next day you’ve already lost three hours and you’re traveling on a show day. You can’t travel on a show day and keep your sanity if you’re Nils Lofgren. Maybe if you’re some other lunatic drinking and smoking, but not me, man. I got to get there the night before. I don’t travel on show days, period. Unless I’m with Bruce and the band. If that’s their plan, fine. But I don’t leave the tour. Mountains will nevertheless benefit from the guitarist's profile on the Springsteen tour, which - despite a case ofCOVID early in the trek - Lofgren says he's enjoying as much as he ever has. "It's magic, man. It's easy to be honored and excited to be out touring again with Bruce and E Street," he notes. "It's hard not to be excited and have enough adrenalin with what's going on with this band and Bruce after all these years, so it's just a remarkable thing. We're feeling great about it. From my perspective, the band and the audience is as inspiring as ever. It's all great." Missing that show really messed me up. But I’m an adult, so you call on adult reasoning, you take the medicine, you get well as soon as you can. We made the record in isolation with the wonders of technology. And I kind of piecemealed together, mostly just me and Jamison working in my garage studio.

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I stayed at the jam, late at night, sitting up drinking with Ringo. He was very friendly. He gave me his phone number and said, “Stay in touch.” I called him every few weeks, and started a friendship. I was in England every year touring acoustically and he’d come to the shows. We’d both test and wear masks unless I was singing to keep it as safe as we could. I got Covid flying home after finishing World Record with Neil Young. I exposed Amy, but she didn’t get it, thank God. So I was very careful not to start having the traditional arrangement of, “Here’s five musicians, and they’re going to move in for three weeks.”

Mountains (Nils Lofgren album) - Wikipedia

On “Remember Her Name,” you’re pretty clearly singing about Amy. It even references little moments with her at the Empress Hotel in Asbury Park. I was really hoping that the whole Crazy Horse band could do it, but that’s Farm Aid. That kind of blew my idea. I'm really blessed to be part of two great bands - I never take that for granted," Lofgren says. "My joke is to go to management of both bands and say, 'Guys, I've spent 90 years here - more than 50 with Neil, 50 with Bruce and E Street. I've been a good boy and good musician. Can you just let me make the touring schedule for both of your artists for a couple of years?' And the managers just laugh at me and say, 'Get lost.'"Angel Blues” is an old, unfinished song, one of the few on this record from the past. But I loved the opening lines, “Lean your weary halo on my wing/And let the peace come/As your darkness dies in my light/Even angels falter now and then.” Why didn’t we have a camera rolling? That was such a momentous tour. We did this crazy set where Neil had 16-inch glitter boots nailed to the piano, and we’re doing songs no one had ever heard. Neil’s rapping and going crazy. We’re playing this crazy music. People were throwing bottles and yelling at us. They wanted to hear the hits. Come Around Before I Go Insane': Sufjan Stevens''Javelin' Is a Devotional, Contradictory Indie-Folk Gem

Nils Lofgren Details ‘Mountains’ Featuring David Crosby Nils Lofgren Details ‘Mountains’ Featuring David Crosby

I just started writing," Lofgren says. "I didn't edit myself; whatever I wrote came out - rough, gentle, in between. So long as I was excited about it, inspired, I saw it through. It's got all the different sides you might normally expect from me. It's a very emotional record. It came out better than I hoped." In 2019,] before the pandemic, Bruce’s management called me and was like, “There are no shows this year. You’re free to do what you want. Next year, we’re planning on going out and playing all year.” And the same week, Elliot [Roberts], God rest his soul, called me. He said, “Look, in seven weeks Neil wants to start a tour and stay out all year.”

It’s amazing to think this is probably the last record of new songs that’ll feature both Neil Young and David Crosby.