Neil Young : Songs For Judy

Bump, any info there ?

 

Agree. Love these time capsules. The best of Neil for me.

I especially love Neil's between song banter, or rambling as some put it. Stoned or not. The stories between songs about his ranch or Buffalo Springfield or "residuals" with which he bought his beloved car (a vintage Bentley?) are entertaining and often quite funny. They also give us a window into Neil's life, the "old man" the came with his ranch, how he wrote an iconic song on a napkin in 20 minutes and invites the crowd to help with the lyrics...all part of Neil's charm. Live at Canterbury House and Massey Hall really illustrate this.

Some artists struggle to be funny, and often stumble around between songs with unfunny or crude jokes, but Neil relates stories of his life like he is sharing stories with close friends. Natural, trusting and laid back humor.

And of course with Canterbury House you can choose to listen to it without the banter....I never do.

(oh, and as a graphic designer, I like the cover art for Songs for Judy.)

This 1971 BBC special HAS NEIL AT HIS BEST, songs and banter. One of my faves and has a bunch of songs that we all grew to love, before they were ever released on an LP.

 

IMO when an artist banters he/she shows they care. If they didn't give a crap and weren't happy to be on stage they would speed through the set list and be done with it.

If these recordings were void of his banter I guarantee people would be saying it was an incomplete performance. Part of a good NY performance is his banter, it's Neil.

 

Just got this release on CD and I find it charming. I saw Young on his 1973 Start Gators tour and this track list and the groove reminds me very much of that tour’s solo portion. Amazing the cassettes sound so good mixed with a Sound Board. Nice restoration. I laughed at loud during track one, Songs for Judy.

 

I gave the vinyl a spin today and the SQ is very good on this, Neil was in my living room.

 

It does sound very good. After having the bootleg for years this is a treat. Especially Neil's opening dialogue about Judy Garland, which I had never heard.

 

Neil's increasing use of certain words like "Judy" and "Monsanto" always take me back to 1960-62 and all the stuff that was around all of us. Neil's pulling from his head and that blip.... I just know it cuz a lot of us do it. Which is hard to unstick from sometimes.

Even though Neil hadn't made it across the border yet, I figure he and maybe his dad were watching Buzz and Todd on Friday nights at some point. That'll rub off on something released at some point. Corvette Blues or something. I'm waiting for the wonderful writing of Herbert Leonard to intersect with Neil. Now there's a collaboration of minds. Or from Naked City stuff . Or Arthur Godfrey realtime commercials. Or the John Cameron Swaize stuff (songs for my Timex) Maybe he caught the 1958 Shirley show and the episode where the real brothers turn into swans (what costume getups those were that night on tv... that one still sticks with me even better than wizard of oz or lsd!). Wonder if Neil's written about the Thresher yet. That one still lingers in a won't-go-away-way. For sure, Neil's gonna do some more Judy in relation to that trunk on stage and her vagabond thing on the series. For sure. What I'm waiting for however, is for him to move to better 1962 stuff...... stuff like "songs from my Vac-U-Form" or something. So many ideas, so little time.

 

Neil's wry sense of humour is what makes him so entertaining, alongside the intimacy of his performances.

 

I am loving this release. Thanks men!

 

Men?

 

Joel Bernstein, Cameron Crowe, David Briggs, Neil Young, John Rowland, Tim Mulligan, Chris Bellman and John Hanlon

 

What about their secretaries?

 

And Violet, Johnny, Betty, and Penelope.

 

I'm a man.

 

Sides 3-4 are pretty perfect.

 

That's almost Ten Men Workin'!

 

That should be John Nowland.

 

I was a bit underwhelmed by this release. Neil Young's solo performances can be amazing, but this album is not. Sad, because it looks so good on paper, but it does not quite gel unlike the quite magical "Tonight's The Night Live".

 

Part of that is because it's a collection of songs taken from different shows at different venues and cobbled together from different sources over a period of time. I'll grant you that this makes it tougher to listen to in one sitting to the end.
As I have the CD, it's easy to skip around.

 

You are correct, but there are even albums in the Neil Young cataloge, recorded over a long period of time, that feel more cohesive than this one.

 

This thing is an artifact. I like it for what it is. When I first stumbled across it in the late eighties on a boot called "The Days Of Wine And Rose", it was mysterious and revelatory. It wouldn't have been the most obvious candidate for official release in my opinion, but I like it. They only stumbled with the artwork, imo.

 

They're all temporary, like that McCartney tune.

 

I, too, am somewhat jaded by these releases. I'm not hearing anything really new just better quality. I do remember what a treat it was finding those boots and hearing them. I am glad for those who are having a whole new experience with these recordings.

 

Your first paragraph describes the 1993 Unplugged show, perfectly. Neil was not in a good mood

 

These releases are a boon to those of us who have never heard the boots, but I understand your point. There is something to be said for being a member of a select group of people “ in the know.”