Norman Russell Young (February 23, 1946 – April 14, 2021) was an American

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

, vocalist and songwriter, best known as one of the frontmen in the influential

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

and

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

band

Poco Poco was an American country rock band originally formed in 1968 after the demise of Buffalo Springfield. Guitarists Richie Furay and Jim Messina, former members of Buffalo Springfield, were joined by multi-instrumentalist Rusty Young, bassi ...

. A virtuoso on

pedal steel The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can p ...

guitar, he was celebrated for the ability to get a

Hammond B3 Hammond may refer to: People * Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist * Hammond (surname) * Justice Hammond (disambiguation) Places Antarctica * Hammond Glacier, Antarctica Australia *Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in South ...

organ sound out of the instrument by playing it through a Leslie speaker cabinet and as an innovator of producing other rock sounds from the instrument.

Early life

Young was born in Long Beach, California and raised in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. He began playing lap steel guitar at age 6, and taught guitar and steel guitar lessons during his high school years at Jefferson High School, Lakewood, Colorado with George Grantham. During that time, he also played

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

in late night bars. Young played in a well known

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

psychedelic rock band "Boenzee Cryque".

Career

Poco

In the late 1960s, an acquaintance of Young's, Miles Thomas, became the road manager for

Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield was a rock band formed in Los Angeles by Canadian musicians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin and American musicians Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song "For What It's Worth", rele ...

Richie Furay Paul Richard Furay (born May 9, 1944) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member (with Buffalo Springfield). He is best known for forming the bands Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bru ...

and Jim Messina needed a steel guitarist for the Furay ballad "Kind Woman" on their final album ''

Last Time Around ''Last Time Around'' is the third and final studio album by the Canadian-American folk rock band Buffalo Springfield, released in July 1968. The line-up at the time officially consisted of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Dewey Martin, ...

'' and after Thomas told Young about the opportunity, Young was hired. Along with Furay and Messina, Young became a founding member of

in 1968 upon the former band's demise. Drummer

George Grantham George Grantham may refer to: * George Grantham (baseball) * George Grantham (musician) George Grantham (born January 20, 1947) is an American drummer and vocalist best known for his work with pioneering country rock band Poco. Grantham and p ...

and bass player

Randy Meisner Randall Herman Meisner (born March 8, 1946) is a retired American musician, singer, songwriter and founding member of the Eagles. Throughout his professional musical career, Meisner's main role was that of bassist and backing high-harmony vocal ...

rounded out the original Poco lineup. The band's membership fluctuated over the years. After Furay left the group, Young took on more song writing responsibility, along with

Paul Cotton Norman Paul Cotton (February 26, 1943July 31, 2021) was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. He was a member of the band Poco and the writer of their international hit song " Heart of the Night". Before that, he was co-guitarist for th ...

and

Timothy B. Schmit Timothy Bruce Schmit (born October 30, 1947) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He has performed as the bassist and vocalist for Poco and the Eagles (band), Eagles, having replaced bassist and vocalist Randy Meisner in both cases ...

. Young is best known for writing the Poco songs " Rose of Cimarron" and " Crazy Love". In 2013, Young was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame. At the end of 2013, Young announced his retirement, but it turned out that it was a short-lived retirement. A few shows were booked into 2014 including three farewell shows in Florida. One of those shows was a performance in a recording studio in front of a live audience for a DVD document of the band's live show. Young said there could be some one-offs in the future after that, but the band would not be actively touring as before. Young and Jack Sundrud wrote and recorded music for children's story videos as the "Session Cats". Young continued to do guest performances with former members of Poco and other country rock artists. Young released his first solo album in 2017 on

Blue Élan Records Blue Élan Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. It was founded by entertainment and insurance lawyer Kirk Pasich, and his son, musician Connor Pasich, in 2014. Stylistically, the label's release ...

, ''Waitin' For The Sun''. Young released his first new music since ''Waitin' for the Sun'' on March 22, 2019. The new tune, "Listen to Your Heart", was released digitally and benefited a local

Steelville, Missouri Steelville is a city in Crawford County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,472 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Crawford County. Steelville is the hometown of Congressman Albert Reeves and Missouri State Representative Ja ...

animal charity, Santana's Hope for Paws (Friends of Steelville, MO Pound) Animal Shelter.

Death

Young died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on April 14, 2021. He was 75 years old.

References

External links

Interview with Rusty Young on Yuzu Melodies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Rusty 1946 births 2021 deaths American rock guitarists American male guitarists Poco members Pedal steel guitarists Musicians from Long Beach, California Guitarists from California 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians The Sky Kings members