I didn’t
know of the 1960s folk duo Jim and Jean. They performed regularly at Greenwich
Village’s Café Raffio and were buddies with the legendary Phil Ochs. Indeed,
Phil and Jim (Glover) were a short-lived folk duo called The Sundowners. Jim and Jean
were a husband-and-wife duo who got their first big break on The Art Linkletter
Show because, well, Jean’s mother Lee Ray was Linkletter’s secretary.
Neil Young
has never fully admitted who his “Cinnamon Girl” really was, but those who
should know say it was Jean Ray. Jean’s younger brother Brian idolized Neil
and met him a few times as a kid when the Buffalo Springfield star would drop by Jean's house to see her – though they
were both married at the time.
Brian maintains that the late Jean
Ray is not only the “Cinnamon Girl,” but she’s also the “Cowgirl in the Sand.”
Both songs were on Neil’s 1969 Reprise album with Crazy Horse, “Everybody Knows
This is Nowhere.” Neil offered a clue to the barely kept secret in the liner
notes for his 1977 “Decade” compilation, indicating that he "Wrote
this ("Cinnamon Girl") for a city girl on peeling
pavement coming at me thru Phil Ochs eyes playing finger cymbals. It was hard
to explain to my wife."
Brian
followed in Neil’s footsteps and became an extremely skilled guitarist and
songwriter, co-founding and fronting the terrific LA-based, indie-rock band,
The Bayonets. His Bayonets partner is Oliver Leiber who is – you guessed it – the
son of Tin Pan Alley songwriting legend Jerry Leiber.
Brian released a wonderful cover of “Cinnamon Girl” earlier this year as a tribute to
his sister. The single was issued on Steven Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Records/Orchard
label. You know Little Steven from Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.
Ah, but the
story continues. You see, Brian Ray was Etta James' musical director and guitarist late in her career and has long been Paul McCartney’s guitarist,
touring and recording with him since 2002. So it’s no surprise that he backed
Sir Paul and Neil Young when they performed together last year at Desert Trip. In rock and roll, what goes around always comes around.
Here's a 2010 video of Brian performing "Cinnamon Girl" at the Roxy, long before he released it as a cover single. He tells some of this story in the first minute of the clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoVOpeDD7O4