"Dance, Dance, Dance" is a song written by

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

that first appeared on Crazy Horse's debut album '' Crazy Horse'' in 1971. Young later released a live version of it himself and it has also been covered by other artists, including Dave Edmunds,

The New Seekers The New Seekers are a British pop group, formed in London in 1969 by Keith Potger after the break-up of his group, The Seekers. The idea was that the New Seekers would appeal to the same market as the original Seekers, but their music would have ...

The Flying Burrito Brothers The Flying Burrito Brothers are an American country rock band, best known for their influential 1969 debut album, ''The Gilded Palace of Sin''. Although the group is perhaps best known for its connection to band founders Gram Parsons and Chris ...

and Elvis Costello.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse versions

"Dance, Dance, Dance" was originally recorded by Young with Crazy Horse in 1969 for a country-rock album that was never released.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

critic William Ruhlmann described the Crazy Horse version of "Dance, Dance, Dance" as a "country hoedown." '' Cash Box'' called it "

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

flavored." Young reused the melody to "Dance, Dance, Dance" for his song " Love Is a Rose" that was famously covered by

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

. Young biographer Paul Williams called "Dance, Dance, Dance" a "classic" and said it is much better than "Love Is a Rose." Young performed "Dance, Dance, Dance" live in concert from 1969 through 1971, and then in 1983, 1987 and 1992. A live version from 1971 was released on ''

Live at Massey Hall 1971 ''Live at Massey Hall 1971'' is a live album by Canadian musician Neil Young. Released in 2007, the album features a solo, acoustic performance from Massey Hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 19 January 1971 during the ''Journey Through the Past ...

'' in 2007.

critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine described this version as a "stomping hoedown." Music lecturer Ken Bielen similarly called this version a "hoedown sing-a-long performance that elicits a lot of hand-clapping on the beat.

Cover versions

Dave Edmunds covered "Dance, Dance, Dance" for his 1972 album ''

Rockpile Rockpile was a British rock and roll band of the late 1970s and early 1980s, noted for their strong pub rock, rockabilly and power pop influences, and as a foundational influence on new wave. The band consisted of Dave Edmunds (vocals, g ...

'', a version the ''Rolling Stone Album Guide'' called "successful."

covered "Dance, Dance, Dance" on the US version of their 1972 album ''

Circles A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is const ...

'' and also released it as a single. '' Billboard'' said that "the Neil Young rhythm material is strong for the New Seekers loaded with Top 40 and MOR potential." The single reached #84 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #24 on the ''Billboard''

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

chart. Elvis Costello covered "Dance, Dance, Dance" live in 1972 as part of his duo Rusty with Allan Mayes, while still going by his given name of Declan MacManus. German band

Bläck Fööss The Bläck Fööss ( Ripuarian ''De Bläck Fööss'') are a music group from Cologne, Germany, started in 1970. Name of the band The band's name in Kölsch, a local dialect of Ripuarian, in which the group predominantly sings, means barefoo ...

released a German version of the song called "Pänz Pänz Pänz" (meaning Kids, Kids, Kids) on their 1975 album "Lück wie ich un Du" (i.e. "people like me and you").

covered the song on their 1997 album '' California Jukebox''. According to

John Beland John Edward Beland (born July 24, 1949) is an American songwriter, session guitarist, recording artist, producer and author. Beland's career as guitarist started out in Los Angeles in the late 1960s, playing sessions and local live gigs with K ...

, label president Robert John Jones suggested the song as a possible cut for ''California Jukebox''. As it turned out, Burrito Brothers' fiddler

Gib Guilbeau Floyd August "Gib" Guilbeau (September 26, 1937 – April 12, 2016) was an American Cajun country rock musician and songwriter. As a member of Nashville West, Swampwater, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and later The Burrito Brothers, Guilbeau h ...

had played the fiddle on the original Crazy Horse version and as a result he and Beland had long wanted to record the song. Guilbeau used the same fiddle on the Flying Burrito Brothers record as he did on the Crazy Horse version more than 25 years earlier. Beland stated that:

Crazy Horse cut "Dance, Dance, Dance" and wanted a fiddle on it. So the first person they called was Gib because he was ''the'' guy to call for Cajun fiddle. Nobody could touch him. So he went to play on it. He told us about it when he got back, and we always wanted to cut the tune. I don't know what happened—we never got around to doing it. It was an obvious song for us. So all through the years we talked about it. Then when we were putting tunes together for this album, Robert John said to us "Have you ever heard that Neil Young tune 'Dance, Dance, Dance'? And I said "Holy cow! Yeah! I told him Gib had played on the original record. So we went in and cut it—finally, after wanting to cut it since 1971.

Mumford & Sons Mumford & Sons is a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. The band currently consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums), Ted Dwane (vocals, bass guitar, double bass), and Ben Lovett (vocals, k ...

recorded "Dance, Dance, Dance" live in 2010.

References

{{authority control Crazy Horse (band) songs Neil Young songs Songs written by Neil Young 1969 songs Elvis Costello songs The Flying Burrito Brothers songs Dave Edmunds songs The New Seekers songs Song recordings produced by Jack Nitzsche Song recordings produced by Bruce Botnick Elektra Records singles