July 2: Neil Young released “Rust Never Sleeps” in 1979

For anyone still passionately in love with rock & roll, Neil Young has made a record that defines the territory. Defines it, expands it, explodes it. Burns it to the ground. Rust Never Sleeps tells me more about my life, my country and rock & roll than any music I’ve heard in years.
~Paul Nelson (rollingstone.com)

For the decade’s greatest rock and roller to come out with his greatest album in 1979 is no miracle in itself–the Stones made Exile as grizzled veterans. The miracle is that Young doesn’t sound much more grizzled now than he already did in 1969; he’s wiser but not wearier, victor so far over the slow burnout his title warns of. .. A+
~Robert Christgau (robertchristgau.com)

One of Neil’s 2-3 best albums for sure.

My my, hey hey
Rock and roll is here to stay
It’s better to burn out
Than to fade away
My my, hey hey.

Track 1 – My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue):

From Wikipedia:

Released July 2, 1979
Recorded 1975 – 1978 at Indigo Recording Studio, Malibu, CA; Triad Recording, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Broken Arrow Studio, Redwood City; the Boarding House, San Francisco, CA; Cow Palace, Daly City, CA; and Woodland Sound Studios, Nashville
Genre Rock, folk rock, hard rock
Length 38:16
Label Reprise
Producer Neil Young, David Briggs, Tim Mulligan

Rust Never Sleeps is an album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse released in 1979. The bulk of the album was recorded live at San Francisco’s Cow Palace, with overdubs added. Audience noise is removed as much as possible, although it is clearly audible at certain points, most noticeably on the opening and closing songs. The album is half acoustic and half electric, opening and closing with different versions of the same song; “Hey Hey, My My”.

Two songs from the album were not recorded live: “Sail Away” was recorded without Crazy Horse during or after the Comes a Time recording sessions, and “Pocahontas” had been recorded solo around 1975.

neil young rust never sleeps back

Young also released a film version of the album under the same title. Later on in 1979, Young and Crazy Horse released the album Live Rust, a compilation of older classics interweaving within the Rust Never Sleeps track list. The title is borrowed from the slogan for Rust-Oleum paint, and was suggested by Mark Mothersbaugh of the New Wave band Devo. It is also an aphorism describing Young’s musical self-renewal to overcome his growing irrelevance.

The album won the 1979 Rolling Stone Critics Poll for Album of the Year. In 2003, the album was ranked number 350 on the same magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The king is gone but he’s not forgotten

Hey hey, my my
Rock and roll can never die
There’s more to the picture
Than meets the eye.
Hey hey, my my.

“Thrasher” from Live Rust:

Tracks:

Side one (acoustic)

  1. “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)” (Young, Jeff Blackburn) – 3:45
  2. “Thrasher” – 5:38
  3. “Ride My Llama” – 2:29
  4. “Pocahontas” – 3:22
  5. “Sail Away” – 3:46

Side two (electric)

  1. “Powderfinger” – 5:30
  2. “Welfare Mothers” – 3:48
  3. “Sedan Delivery” – 4:40
  4. “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” (Young, Blackburn) – 5:18

Musicians:

  • Neil Young – guitar, harmonica, vocals
  • Frank “Pancho” Sampedro – guitar, vocals except on Side One
  • Billy Talbot – bass, vocals except on Side One
  • Ralph Molina – drums, vocals except on Side One
  • Nicolette Larson – vocals on “Sail Away”
  • Karl T. Himmel – drums on “Sail Away”
  • Joe Osborn – bass on “Sail Away”

Album of the day:

-Egil