Back to the website: I've been looking over the timeline. We have always been told that the Island in the Sun sessions took place in Hawaii before the Trans vocoder sessions. Supposedly, he played IITS for the folks at Geffin and they didn't like it. So he then did the vocoder songs on Trans. According to the NYOA timeline, recording for the vocoder songs started on 9/24/81 and ended on 12/11/81. The recording for the three, more traditional sounding songs (that were supposedly held over from IITS) started in Hawaii on 5/10/82 and ended on 5/12. This suggests to me that the long accepted scenario is somehow wrong. Can anyone shed any light on this?
Didn’t Trans start out as a Neil Young & Crazy Horse album. I’m guessing the original tracks were recorded before Island in the sun tracks, that album got canned, he went back to the trans material, wiped the Crazy Horse tracks and overdubbed the synths and stuff.
Yes, I understand it as Kahunasunset does, Neil offered up Island In The Sun first and then went back to the Trans material after Geffen rejected IITS. The info cards for the Trans songs I think are wrong. I think they combine the Hawaii musicians with the '81 Crazy Horse musicians for every track. It does say 'in progress' so I'm sure that will be corrected. Anyway, I think the vocoder material was recorded with Crazy Horse but that Crazy Horse were added onto the solo synclavier recordings that Neil made previously. Not sure but I think that the unreleased 'Solo Trans' album they have in the timeline could be the original solo recordings, possibly an EP? Exciting stuff! But the big question, why no placeholder for the unreleased Island In The Sun album?
They played Opera Star and Prisoners of Rock 'n' Roll at one of the Melbourne shows of the Alchemy tour. They also played a killer version of Danger Bird the same night. I really hope Danger Bird makes the album. Sugar Mountain set list.
Just checked my info and I have the Trans songs recorded solo on September 24, 1981 at Modern Recorders. If you check the info card for Sample And Hold from the Lucky Thirteen album it has that same date and recorded with Crazy Horse alone. That confuses me a bit. It could be Crazy Horse recording the same day, or that my solo recording dates are wrong. Could also be that NYA haven't separated the over dubbing sessions from the solo sessions.
Archive stuff. Some may be interested in this message which I have from Ken Viola who in 1980 recorded a version of Neil's unpublished song "High School Graduation" on THE SOUNDS OF ASBURY PARK, NJ. The song was originally written around 1967. Allmusic.com lists Neil as a performer on Ken's recording but... "Neil is not on my recording. A collector I met told me about the song. Neil allowed the co-publisher to send me a lead sheet, and we arranged the song. The demo is just Neil on Vocal & Piano, not even the complete song!" So there is a Neil version of it out there somewhere! Keep an eye on the Archive! Sugar Mountain
Awesome story! I had searched for the Ken Viola version of that song years ago but never found it. I had read the lyrics before but it's so great to finally hear a the melody that goes with them! Thanks! The Archives volume 1 book lists the demo of that song as being recorded at the same demo session as One More Sign etc, surprised that it's on piano, but makes sense if it's incomplete as that might be why they left it off the volume 1 box. Sounds like another gorgeous tune from '60's Neil though.
I'm pretty sure this is the Australian show that has selections on Alchemy.What they include will be more than interesting.
Just to follow up: I've turned to JRiver and I'm blown away by what I've been missing.... Tonight's the Night!
Solo Trans movie was filmed at Hara Arena, Dayton, Ohio on 18 September 1983 with Shocking Pinks and released in 1984. Instead the new unreleased album is an acoustic show from the early 1983 Us Tour. There were also songs played with the synclavier.
There's a home recording of "Casting Me Away From You" on Archives Vol. 1 from October 1965 by NY & his friend Comrie Smith. It does indeed use the same melody as the later "Emperor of Wyoming" instrumental and includes the lyric "We found things to do in stormy weather" that wound up in "Long May You Run."
Do I understand correctly, that we still don't know if these new archive releases will be NYA website exclusives or if there will be a physical release as well?
These releases are described as imminent. The website is now still for free. There isn't any reason that they are website "exclusives"
Sampedro said that the "vocoder songs" were first recorded with Crazy Horse, then Neil went back to them (after Island... was rejected) and started tinkering with them; adding overdubs. Is there a source that says the songs were first recorded solo?
Unless they are bait to keep people on the site until the paywall comes down. But that seems unlikely, perhaps. It will nonetheless be interesting to see what kind of subscription options that will be on offer.
In Neil and Me, Scott Young wrote that Neil at the beginning recorded a couple of pieces with the vocoder and the synthetizers and after he called Crazy Horse to record them. He mentioned Sample and Hold and Computer Cowboy.
Thanks. I always imagined he recorded the whole thing with Crazy Horse first...would have been something to hear.
Anyone else notice that On The Beach, American Stars N Bars, Hawks & Doves, and Re-ac-tor are all in 24/176, while the rest of the hi-res catalog is 24/192? I know this quartet were all re-released on CD together in 2003, but not sure why that would mean different sample rates were used?
