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 themselve ...

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

country rock Country rock is a music genre that 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 sty ...

and Americana band Poco. A virtuoso on pedal steel guitar, he was celebrated for the ability to get a Hammond B3 organ sound out of the instrument by playing it through a

Leslie speaker The Leslie speaker is a combined amplifier and loudspeaker that projects the signal from an electric or electronic instrument and modifies the sound by rotating a baffle chamber ("drum") in front of the loudspeakers. A similar effect is provided ...

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 is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. 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 Lakewood is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 15 ...

with George Grantham. During that time, he also played

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

in late night bars. Young played in a well known

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

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 Canadian-American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1966 by Canadians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin (musician), Dewey Martin and Americans Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely know ...

Richie Furay Paul Richard Furay (born May 9, 1944) is an American musician 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, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey ...

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 Marti ...

'' and after Thomas told Young about the opportunity, Young was hired. Along with Furay and Messina, Young became a founding member of Poco in 1968 upon the former band's demise. Drummer George Grantham and bass player Randy Meisner 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 and Timothy B. Schmit. 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, what turned out to be 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, ''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 J ...

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 Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

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