Yes, the albums are the albums and nothing will ever change that. But I was thinking from the perspective of imagining myself as a new fan, and a boatload of amazing music is a boatload of amazing music, full stop!
I imagine myself as sort of an artistic advisor that worked for Neil so that he could have an ouside opinion. Some call it "producer". Whatever. Anyway the only album by Neil Young that I would never change a hair is "Tonight's The Night". And he is one of my favorite singer/songwriters EVER!
Yes, I did...eventually. Send an email to [email protected] and tell them you haven't received your download codes and give them: Your order Number: Date of when you placed the order: Email address tied to your order:
I agree that in this era of NY albums, Tonight’s the Night is perfect. On The Beach is close. Rust Never Sleeps is nearly perfect for me. I’d swap out Sail Away for Shots. Maybe that makes side one too long.
In a way, I'm happy these songs were never released or ended up being released in different versions because this is a wonderful gift we just received.
I'd argue MOST of his albums from this period are perfect (or near-enough). For me personally, and this is just my opinion, the entire album run from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere through Rust Never Sleeps only has one album that I don't consider essential and/or a strong album in it's own right, and that's American Stars and Bars. I'd farm out the side-b tracks of that record to a Chrome Dreams album, pulling together some of the stray outtakes that didn't otherwise find a home prior to 1980, in a heartbeat.
I sometimes think about those shows. All of sudden he goes back to the mid-seventies, and plays unheard songs like “Try” and “Mexico”, as well as “No One Seems To Know”, “Sad Movies”, “Kansas” (first time since after its random debut in 1999 after someone shouted out a seemingly ridiculous song title we only knew in books) and “Love/Art Blues”. Plus “Bad Fog Of Loneliness”. Was this an era when work was being done on the Archives and Neil rediscovered those songs? The 2007 tour almost could have been the Homegrown tour.
Any more guidance on this? Can't seem to find anything on the archive site and that archive thread has 500 posts! Any database that shows all the hidden stuff? Also, that book pictured above with all the studio sessions, is this part of the archives boxset? Thanks you!
I think that’s exactly what happened! Vol I came out shortly after and there was clearly a lot of digging and subsequent self reevaluation going on. I was getting deeeeeep into Neil leading up to that tour — ****ty AUD boots and all. Seeing one of those shows was truly a godsend.
It's hard to tell whether this flood of material proves that Neil's albums from this period were just randomly cobbled together from the mess of songs he had at the time, or the exact opposite. But either way, I don't think I would change any of them, though I do think the standalone Homegrown release from over the summer could have been released with all "new" material and not missed a beat. Playing the alternate history game is just such a slippery slope -- for example, I wouldn't want to hijack "Pocahontas" from Rust Never Sleeps to include it on Zuma, only to have Rust Never Sleeps and therefore the entire trajectory of my formative musical experience altered forevermore, or pull some accidental butterfly effect thing where including "Separate Ways" on Long May You Run inadvertently results in all of us having two fewer toes or something. Best to just be glad we have it all now
I really like that fold-out timeline in the back of the book. A LOT more useful than that poster is. Spun "Homegrown" first even though I already have it. I just love every track on there and was in the mood for it. Sounds incredible.
I would want to leave the official, canonical albums alone as they are. I only want to add the latest releases that are pretty much studio master quality. That would mean taking Star of Bethlehem and Little Wing off of Homegrown because they were originally published on other records. To substitute I'd add Deep Forbidden Lake and Winterlong from Decade . . . wow would that be a record! And now we can make another Era record with tunes from NYAII, for example Homefires 1. Come Along and Say You Will 2. Homefires 3. Mediterranean 4. Daughters 5. Frozen Man 6. Campaigner 7. Goodbye Christians On The Shore 8. Soldier 9. Letter from 'Nam 10. Bad Fog Of Loneliness
It seems to me that Neil took great care in choosing which songs would end up on each album. We see this with all of the tentative tracklistings from the Homegrown era. I completely agree about the butterfly effect. It would be difficult to imagine the impact on some of these albums that have been important to many of us over the years. I suppose that it's a little easier to do that with Homegrown since it's "new" to everyone, but knowing that the tracklisting is the one that was almost-released gives me pause there as well. In any case, I like it very much as it is.
Listening to all of this stuff, and getting confirmation of the actual dates when the songs were recorded, as well as a better sense of all of the unreleased albums and/or album concepts gives further insight into Poncho’s observation that he didn’t think he was ever recording a specific album, but would later find out that Crazy Horse songs would be appearing on an album long after the fact.
Sadly, one of only two Neil shows/tours I missed in 25 years in Portland. Somehow escaped my radar...till the day after. Sigh. If he tours late Spring or Summer maybe he'll have this batch on his mind again.
A brief review after digesting disc 1 1) "Letter From 'Nam" - This one is ever so slightly vanilla Neil. Strummin' and vocalizing, which is fine, as the vocals are lovely here. It's spacious. 2.) "Monday Morning - This might as well be "Last Dance," and what a treat it is to hear Neil play this song solo. This version also reminds of how great of an acoustic guitar player Neil is, picking those notes in the verse, and then seamlessly break into a groove for the chorus. 3.) "The Bridge" - Amazing to have such a fantastic studio take of this beauty. I'd like to hear this play back-to-back with "Soldier." 4.) "Time Fades Away" - This is so punk! Proto-Tonight's the Night. Do you think this was a stab at a serious take, though? I don't know if it would have been a totally releasable version, but really, it could have fit in the abovementioned album's devil-may-care-attitude 5.) "Come Along and Say You Will" - I think this edges into the more abstract Neil, what with the structure being atypical. 6.) "Goodbye Christians on the Shore" - A beautiful piece; it's hard to imagine something like this would sit in the vault for 48 years. This is top-notch Neil Young. 100% 7.) "The Last Trip to Tulsa" - The twin to this disc's "Time Fades Away." Off the chain. It just doesn't give a ****. And that's what I like about Neil; it's control and release. 8.) "The Loner" - More in the pocket. A superb live variation, which fits this incarnation of the band perfectly. I could listen to this one over and over. 9.) "Sweet Joni" - Now this is full on abstract Neil. And then your brain wraps around it. You catch the pattern. It's just another way to write with pure passion. A storyteller (or at least he used to be), 10.) "Yonder Stands a Sinner" - Halfway between the raucous "The Last Trip to Tulsa" and the ever-so-tight "The Loner." It hits the sweet spot, and must have been in the running for the original Time Fades Away." Young's guitar is especially hot on this take. 11.) "LA (story)" - This is a delight. The rap is one of the funniest. The playing sets it's own groove: really inventive off-the-cuff stuff. And it falls right into the next song. On top of his game. 12.) "LA" - Such a touching variation. It sounds even more classic in this form. What's cool about this song is the many parts, all with vocals; it never gets a chance to breathe, musically. I've always felt that was part of the song's charm. It's more charming on this take. 13.) "Human Highway" - The harmonies here are so different from other versions. CS&N take more of a backseat, like the backing band in this case. I like that, because it shows Neil in full control on this take. It makes it more of a Neil Young version and not a CSNY version. In sum, this disc is a dream come true in itself.
Not sure if I'm reading you correctly but... this is the version from Time Fades Away -- the only track from TFA included.
I see Neil has released a YouTube as for the retail version stating "available at all music retailers". Why then is it STILL not available on Amazon UK? Given some of the issues people have had ordering through Neil's site, I would much prefer ordering through Amazon or SDE.
It’s still over three months away. Patience, it’ll be up soon most likely and hopefully a little bit cheaper too.
I know. I'm being daft particularly as it doesn't come out til March. Just want to get the thing ordered.
Come Along And Say You Will hasn't been given its due appreciation or maybe it's a sleeper? but to me this is a top notch Neil song and the recording sounds absolutely inspired and joyous. This opens my "new" mid 1970s Neil record I'm slowly compiling.
