Category Archives: Neil Young

Neil Young – Best Songs – hyperrust.org, MOJO & Paste – Videos & Audio

neil young

3 Solid lists, butI like the hyperrust.com list best.

Only top 20 counts  & using the following key:

neil young key

Here are the results:

neil young best songs

 

Now for the goodies:

1 Heart of Gold  – Harvest, (1972)

I want to live,
I want to give
I’ve been a miner
for a heart of gold.
It’s these expressions
I never give
That keep me searching
for a heart of gold
And I’m getting old.
Keeps me searching
for a heart of gold
And I’m getting old.

Live 1971:


2 Down By The River – Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, (1969)

Be on my side, I’ll be on your side, baby
There is no reason for you to hide
It’s so hard for me staying here all alone
When you could be taking me for a ride, yeah
She could drag me over the rainbow
And send me away
Down by the river I shot my baby
Down by the river, dead, shot her dead

Neil Young

Live @ Farm aid – 1994 (w/ Crazy Horse)

Continue reading Neil Young – Best Songs – hyperrust.org, MOJO & Paste – Videos & Audio

Today: Neil Young released “On The Beach” in 1974 – 39 years ago

Neil Young - on-the-beach

“Good album. One side of it particularly—the side with ‘Ambulance Blues’, ‘Motion Pictures’ and ‘On the Beach’ — it’s out there. It’s a great take.”
~Neil Young

The second in Neil’s ditch trilogy, On the Beach was also disavowed by Young and unreleased on CD until 2003. It is weirder but sharper than Time Fades Away, with harrowing lows and amazing highs, including the off-the-cuff, eight-minute folk jam “Ambulance Blues.”
~rollingstone.com

Walk on:

From Wikipedia:

Released July 16, 1974
Recorded November 30, 1973 – April 7, 1974Arrow Ranch, Woodside, California;Sunset Sound Recorders,Hollywood
Genre Rock, folk rock, blues rock
Length 39:40
Label Reprise
Producer Neil Young, David Briggs (tracks 1 4),
Mark Harman (tracks 2 3 5),
Al Schmitt (tracks 6 7 8)

On the Beach is the fifth studio album by Neil Young, released in 1974. It was unavailable on compact disc until it was released as a HDCD-encoded remastered version on August 19, 2003 as part of his Archives Digital Masterpiece Series.

Neil Young - on-the-beach

Recorded after (but released before) Tonight’s the NightOn the Beach shares some of that album’s bleakness and crude production—which came as a shock to fans and critics alike, as this was the long-awaited studio follow-up to the commercially and critically successful Harvest—but also included hints pointing towards a more subtle outlook, particularly on the opener, “Walk On”.

While the original Rolling Stone review described it as “One of the most despairing albums of the decade”, later critics such as Allmusic’s William Ruhlmann used the benefit of hindsight to conclude that Young “[w]as saying goodbye to despair, not being overwhelmed by it”. The despair of Tonight’s the Night, communicated through intentional underproduction and lyrical pessimism, gives way to a more polished album that is still pessimistic but to a lesser degree.

Neil Young - on-the-beach

Much like Tonight’s the NightOn the Beach was not a commercial success at the time of its release but over time attained a high regard from fans and critics alike. The album was recorded in a haphazard manner, with Young utilizing a variety of session musicians, and often changing their instruments while offering only bare-bones arrangements for them to follow (in a similar style to Tonight’s the Night). He also would opt for rough, monitor mixes of songs rather than a more polished sound, alienating his sound engineers in the process.

On the Beach:

The world is turnin’,
I hope it don’t turn away,
The world is turnin’,
I hope it don’t turn away.
All my pictures are fallin’
from the wall where
I placed them yesterday.
The world is turnin’,
I hope it don’t turn away.

[The best song on the album…] Ambulance Blues:

“Ambulance Blues” closes the album. The melody ‘unintentionally’ quotes Bert Jansch’s “Needle of Death”. In a 1992 interview for the French “Guitare & Claviers” magazine, Young discussed Jansch’ influence:

“As for acoustic guitar, Bert Jansch is on the same level as Jimi (Hendrix). That first record of his is epic. It came from England, and I was especially taken by “Needle of Death”, such a beautiful and angry song. That guy was so good. And years later, on On the Beach, I wrote the melody of “Ambulance Blues” by styling the guitar part completely on “Do You Hear Me Now?”. I wasn’t even aware of it, and someone else drew my attention to it.”

The song explores Young’s feelings about his critics, Richard Nixon and the state of CSNY. The line “You’re all just pissing in the wind” was a direct quote from Young’s manager regarding the inactivity of the quartet.

Ambulance Blues:

Track Listing:

All songs written by Neil Young.

Side one

  1. “Walk On” – 2:42
  2. “See the Sky About to Rain” – 5:02
  3. “Revolution Blues” – 4:03
  4. “For the Turnstiles” – 3:15
  5. “Vampire Blues” – 4:14

Side two

  1. “On the Beach” – 6:59
  2. “Motion Pictures” – 4:23
  3. “Ambulance Blues” – 8:56

The real engine of the album’s brilliance, though, is the trio of slow, long, lonely hotel room folk songs that closes out the album, peaking with Neil’s “Desolation Row”, “Ambulance Blues.”
~Rob Mitchum (pitchfork.com)

Personnel:

  • Neil Young – guitar on 1 3 5 6 7 8, vocal, Wurlitzer electric piano on 2, banjo on 4, harmonica on 7 8
  • Ben Keith – slide guitar on 1, vocal on 1 4, steel guitar on 2, Dobro on 4, Wurlitzer electric piano on 3, organ on 5, hand drums on 6, bass on 7 8
  • Tim Drummond – bass on 2 5 6, percussion on 5
  • Ralph Molina – drums on 1 5 6, vocal on 1, hand drums on 7 8

Additional personnel

  • Billy Talbot – bass on 1
  • Levon Helm – drums on 2 3
  • Joe Yankee – harp on 2, electric tambourine on 8
  • David Crosby – guitar on 3
  • Rick Danko – bass on 3
  • George Whitsell – guitar on 5
  • Graham Nash – Wurlitzer electric piano on 6
  • Rusty Kershaw – slide guitar on 7, fiddle on 8

..On the Beach was savage and, ultimately, triumphant. “I’m a vampire, babe,” Young sang, and he proceeded to take bites out of various subjects: threatening the lives of the stars who lived in L.A.’s Laurel Canyon (“Revolution Blues”); answering back to Lynyrd Skynyrd, whose “Sweet Home Alabama” had taken him to task for his criticisms of the South in “Southern Man” and “Alabama” (“Walk On”); and rejecting the critics (“Ambulance Blues”). But the barbs were mixed with humor and even affection, as Young seemed to be emerging from the grief and self-abuse that had plagued him for two years. But the album was so spare and under-produced, its lyrics so harrowing, that it was easy to miss Young’s conclusion: he was saying goodbye to despair, not being overwhelmed by it.
~William Ruhlmann (allmusic.com)

Complete album @ youtube:

Album @ spotify:

Other July 16:

Continue reading Today: Neil Young released “On The Beach” in 1974 – 39 years ago

11 favorite performances from The Johnny Cash Show

Johnny cash show

The Johnny Cash Show
The Johnny Cash Show was an American television music variety show hosted by Johnny Cash. The Screen Gems 58-episode series ran from June 7, 1969 to March 31, 1971 on ABC; it was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.

The show lasted a little under two years, but in that time it hosted a lot of fantastic musical guests. Johnny Cash had great taste in music and had to fight to get his choices on tv on several occasions.

There are so many great artists and they’re giving some of the best performances ever done for TV.

Here are my 11 favorite  You Tube clips from the magnificent, The Johnny Cash Show:

 

Bob Dylan –  I Threw It All Away ,  Living The Blues  and  Girl From The North Country  (duet with Johnny Cash):

Neil Young – The Needle and the damage done and Journey through the past:

Johnny Cash & Kris Kristofferson – Sunday Morning Coming Down:

Cash fought hard to keep the word, “stoned” in the lyrics that were broadcast.

Kris Kristofferson – Loving her was easier:

Ray Charles – Ring of Fire:

Continue reading 11 favorite performances from The Johnny Cash Show

Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Summer setlists & videos

neil young crazy horse

In order to prepare well for an upcoming Neil Young & Crazy Horse concert in Bergen, Norway 10 August, I will post setlists, statistics & different videos in this article.

This post will be updated regularly when the July leg gets going…

Recent concerts:

  • 2013-06-02, Waldbühne, Berlin, Germany
  • 2013-06-03, O2 World, Hamburg, Germany
  • 2013-06-05, Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • 2013-06-06, Le Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, Paris, France
  • 2013-06-08, Vorst Nationaal, Brussels, Belgium
  • 2013-06-10, Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England
  • 2013-06-11, LG Arena, Birmingham, England
  • 2013-06-13, SECC, Glasgow, Scotland
  • 2013-06-15, RDS Arena, Dublin, Ireland
  • 2013-06-17, The O2 Arena, London, England

Upcoming concerts:

  • 2013-07-11, Rockhal, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
  • 2013-07-12, Lanxess Arena, Köln, Germany
  • 2013-07-14, Moon and Stars, Locarno, Switzerland
  • 2013-07-15, Vienne Antique, Vienne, France
  • 2013-07-17, Le Festival de Nimes, Nimes, France
  • 2013-07-18, Big Festival, Biarritz, France
  • 2013-07-20, Festival Vieilles Charrues, Carhaix-Plouguer, France
  • 2013-07-22, Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, Stuttgart, Germany
  • 2013-07-23, Paleo Festival, Nyon, Switzerland
  • 2013-07-25, Lucca Summer Festival, Lucca, Italy
  • 2013-07-26, Rock in Roma, Roma, Italy
  • 2013-08-05, Helsinki Classic Festival, Helsinki, Finland
  • 2013-08-07, Oslo Spektrum, Oslo, Norway
  • 2013-08-08, Way Out West Festival, Göteborg, Sweden
  • 2013-08-10, Bergenhus Festning, Bergen, Norway

neil young 2013

Statistics – June – 10 concerts:

 Played 10 times (10/10):

Today: Neil Young released “Tonight’s the Night” in 1975 – 38 years ago

Neil_Young_Tonight's the Night

“The record chronicles the post-hippie, post-Vietnam demise of counterculture idealism, and a generation’s long, slow trickle down the drain through drugs, violence, and twisted sexuality. This is Young’s only conceptually cohesive record, and it’s a great one.”
~Dave Marsh (The New Rolling Stone Record Guide)

“Tonight’s the Night is that one rare record I will never tire of.”
~Chris Fallon (PopMatters)

The title cut:

Wikipedia:

Released June 20, 1975
Recorded August–September 1973 at Studio Instrument Rentals, Hollywood, CA (except “Come On Baby”: Fillmore East, NYC, March 1970; “Lookout Joe”: Broken Arrow Ranch, December 1972 and “Borrowed Tune”: Broken Arrow Ranch, December 1973)
Genre Rock
Length 44:52
Label Reprise
Producer David Briggs, Tim Mulligan, Neil Young, Elliot Mazer (track 10 only)

Tonight’s the Night is the sixth studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, released in 1975 on Reprise Records, catalogue MS 2221. It was recorded in 1973 (most of it on a single day, August 26), its release delayed for two years. It peaked at #25 on theBillboard 200. In 2003, the album was ranked number 331 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Neil+Young+tonight's the night

Roll Another Number (For the road):

Content:

Tonight’s the Night is a direct expression of grief. Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten and Young’s friend and roadie Bruce Berry had both died of drug overdoses in the months before the songs were written. The title track mentions Berry by name, while Whitten’s guitar and vocal work highlight “Come on Baby Let’s Go Downtown”; the latter was recorded live in 1970. The song would later appear, unedited, on a live album from the same concerts, Live at the Fillmore East, with Whitten credited as the sole author.

Fans have long speculated that an alternate version of Tonight’s the Night exists. Neil Young’s father, Scott Young, wrote of it in his memoir, Neil and Me:

Ten years after the original recording, David Briggs and I talked about Tonight’s the Night, on which he had shared the producer credit with Neil. At home a couple of weeks earlier he had come across the original tape, the one that wasn’t put out. “I want to tell you, it is a handful. It is unrelenting. There is no relief in it at all. It does not release you for one second. It’s like some guy having you by the throat from the first note, and all the way to the end.” After all the real smooth stuff Neil had been doing, David felt most critics and others simply failed to read what they should have into Tonight’s the Night — that it was an artist making a giant growth step. Neil came in during this conversation, which was in his living room. When David stopped Neil said, “You’ve got that original? I thought it was lost. I’ve never been able to find it. We’ll bring it out someday, that original.”

Here is “Roll Another Number” (unreleased from the Acetate tape):

neil young tonight's the night acetate

Tonight’s the Night (unreleased – from the acetate tape):

This should end any lingering doubts as to whether the real Neil Young is the desperate recluse who released two albums in the late ’60s or the sweet eccentric who became a superstar shortly thereafter. Better carpentered than Time Fades Away and less cranky than On the Beach, it extends their basic weirdness into a howling facedown with heroin and death itself. It’s far from metal machine music–just simple, powerful rock and roll. But there’s lots of pain with the pleasure, as after all is only “natural.” In Boulder, it reportedly gets angry phone calls whenever it’s played on the radio. What better recommendation could you ask? A
~Robert Christgau (robertchristgau.com)

Track listing:

All songs written and composed by Neil Young, except when noted.

Side one

  1. “Tonight’s the Night” – 4:39
  2. “Speakin’ Out” – 4:56
  3. “World on a String” – 2:27
  4. “Borrowed Tune” – 3:26 (based on “Lady Jane” by The Rolling Stones)
  5. “Come on Baby Let’s Go Downtown” (Live) – 3:35 (Whitten/Young)
  6. “Mellow My Mind” – 3:07

Side two

  1. “Roll Another Number (for the Road)” – 3:02
  2. “Albuquerque” – 4:02
  3. “New Mama” – 2:11
  4. “Lookout Joe” – 3:57
  5. “Tired Eyes” – 4:38
  6. “Tonight’s the Night—Part II” – 4:52

Musicians:

  • Neil Young – vocals, piano, guitar, harmonica, vibes
  • Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar, vocals, slide guitar
  • Nils Lofgren – guitar, piano, vocals
  • Danny Whitten – guitar, vocals
  • Jack Nitzsche – electric piano, piano
  • Billy Talbot – bass
  • Tim Drummond – bass
  • Ralph Molina – drums, vocals
  • Kenny Buttrey – drums
  • George Whitsell – vocals

Album @ spotify:

Continue reading Today: Neil Young released “Tonight’s the Night” in 1975 – 38 years ago