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

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

that first appeared on

Crazy Horse Crazy Horse ( , ; – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota people, Lakota war leader of the Oglala band. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by White Americans, White American settlers on Nativ ...

's debut album ''

'' in 1971. Young has released a number of live versions of the song himself, and it has also been covered by other artists, including

Dave Edmunds David William Edmunds (born 15 April 1944) is a Welsh retired singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Although he is mainly associated with Pub rock (United Kingdom), pub rock and New wave music, new wave, having many hit record, h ...

The New Seekers The New Seekers were 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 wou ...

The Flying Burrito Brothers The Flying Burrito Brothers are an American country rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1968, best known for their influential 1969 debut album, ''The Gilded Palace of Sin''. Although the group is known for its connection to band f ...

and

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

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. These recordings have been released on archival albums like ''Neil Young Archives'' and '' Early Daze'', a collection of early Crazy Horse songs from 1969.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

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

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it "

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

flavored." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

''said that it "sounds like a reel." 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 an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...

. 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'' in 2007.

critic

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

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

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

Rockpile Rockpile were a British rock band of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Noted for their strong pub rock, rockabilly and power pop influences, they were a foundational influence on new wave. The band consisted of Dave Edmunds (vocals, guitar), ...

'', 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. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is called the radius. The length of a line segment connecting t ...

'' and also released it as a single. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' 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 the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

chart.

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 ( ) are a music group from Cologne, Germany, started in 1970. From 1973 to 2003 Werner Dies was producer of the music group. Name of the band The band's name in Kölsch, a local dialect of Ripuarian, in which the group pr ...

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 in Los Angeles in the late 1960s, playing sessions and local live gigs with Kris 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 are a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. The band consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drums), Ted Dwane (vocals, double bass, bass guitar), and Ben Lovett (British musician), B ...

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