Young Neil

Young Neil: The Bridge School Benefit 1995 [Vinyl LP]

It is impossible to pinpoint when a new album will become a classic. And while sometimes there are signals, often such a designation comes as a complete surprise. When Neil Young's 1973 live album release TIME FADES AWAY arrived, it was obviously a left-field surprise. It was recorded with the Stray Gators, and featured previously unreleased songs. At a time when the Young's popularity was surging following his highly successful studio album HARVEST, the new live album raised questions marks and even Young responded at the time, "TIME FADES AWAY was the worst record I ever made, but as a door of what was happening to me it was a great record." In so many ways, this music is the perfect window on the unpredictable trajectory of one of rock & roll's true pioneers. TIME FADES AWAY 50 will be released on limited edition clear vinyl .<br/><br/>The 50th anniversary release of TIME FADES AWAY is a true celebration of an era in time that marked music forever. In 1973 Young was writing songs that have lasted to this day, and taking bold changes with the way he presented them in-person. It's a trademark of his that still continues. And with the Stray Gators performing with him -- Jack Nitzsche (keyboards); Ben Keith (pedal steel guitar); Kenny Buttrey (drums), to be replaced by Johnny Barbata; and bassist Tim Drummond. David Crosby and Graham Nash also joined on harmony vocals and acoustic guitar. The real magic of this recording has always been how it was such an adventurous risk to take at a time when so much of the contemporary music then was driven by perfection. Recorded directly from the soundboard to 16-track tape and mixed simultaneously to LP cutting, in some ways Young and the band were traveling new sonic roads. TIME FADES AWAY was recorded directly after the mega-success of Young's album HARVEST, and it feels like the blueprint of the twists and turns of a career where the blaster rockets are kicking.

A 50th anniversary for a seminal album is an opportunity to reflect and reevaluate. A half-century on, and it can take on a new life and a new meaning, especially when that album is Neil Young's ON THE BEACH. <br/><br/>In the first half of the 1970's as Young was recording collections of songs that would each take on an aura of their own, ON THE BEACH became its own achievement.<br/><br/>This new anniversary limited edition of ON THE BEACH will be pressed on clear vinyl, with "50" added to the front cover to mark the passage of time, and is set for release on November 8th, via Reprise Records. <br/><br/>The songs range from "See The Sky About To Rain" to "Ambulance Blues," and explore the evolving counterculture in the 1970s in ways which had not been done. These were songs that he took into a new realm of where he and the country were going, and where that would take them.<br/><br/>ON THE BEACH became a very special moment in the musical history of Neil Young. It was his fifth studio album, and was recorded with a stellar range of musicians, including Crazy Horse's rhythm section Billy Talbot (bass) and Ralph Molina (drums), along with other key players Ben Keith, Tim Drummond, Levon Helm (The Band), Rick Danko (The Band), Rusty Kershaw, David Crosby, Graham Nash and George Whitsell (The Rockets). <br/><br/>Sessions were held at Young's Broken Arrow Ranch in Northern California and Sunset Sound in Hollywood, and there was a definite feeling of expanding elements of musical styles being added to the playbook. <br/><br/>This was Young at his most adventurous, and pointed to several new musical directions for him, yet to be defined.

On his new album, BEFORE AND AFTER, Young has approached a totally eclectic collection of mostly obscure songs like a painter with a new palette. Picking from a vast array of his originals, Young chooses favorites from his playbook like a trip into his music history and performs them mostly alone, taking a solo acoustic journey to a new place. Each of the songs blend and create one continuous flow, clocking in at a 48-minute pure and intimate listening experience. Produced by Lou Adler and Neil Young and mixed by Young and Niko Bolas, aka The Volume Dealers, this is unlike any other album he has released to date.<br/> <br/>Young describes BEFORE AND AFTER succinctly: "The feeling is captured, not in pieces, but as a whole piece - designed to be listened to that way. This music presentation defies shuffling, digital organization, separation. Only for listening. That says it all".<br/> <br/>New versions of the songs themselves seamlessly move and morph with mesmerizing clarity, beginning with his earliest Buffalo Springfield appearance, "Burned," to the recent "Don't Forget Love" (from 2021's BARN) and including the previously unreleased song "If You Got Love".

There are certain albums in the extensive Neil Young Archives that take on a unique life of their own. Maybe it's their rarity, or a galvanizing reputation that sets them apart. One of the most anticipated releases in this ongoing musical march is the live collection ODEON BUDOKAN<br/>Originally recorded in 1976 almost a world apart at two overseas venues: Hammersmith Odeon in London and Nippon Budokan Hall In Tokyo. The ten-track album includes an electrifying range of songs, from well-known classics to true surprises.<br/><br/>This is the first official vinyl release of the previously unissued ODEON BUDOKAN. It has only been available on Compact Disc as part of Neil Young's ARCHIVES VOLUME II box set, released in 2020 in the highest-grade audio high fidelity.

May 15, 2020 (Los Angeles, CA)- Roughly forty-six years after its original recording, Neil Young announces the release of one his most storied and sought-after albums ever, Homegrown. <br/><br/>Often referred to by fans as one of Young's mysterious, great "lost albums," the twelve studio tracks will be released on all formats on June 19th, via Reprise Records.<br/><br/>Neil Young describes Homegrown as "The One That Got Away," and posted the following letter on Neil Young Archives below:<br/><br/>"I apologize. This album Homegrown should have been there for you a couple of years after Harvest. It's the sad side of a love affair. The damage done. The heartache. I just couldn't listen to it. I wanted to move on. So I kept it to myself, hidden away in the vault, on the shelf, in the back of my mind....but I should have shared it. It's actually beautiful. That's why I made it in the first place. Sometimes life hurts. You know what I mean. This is the one that got away. <br/><br/>Recorded in analog in 1974 and early 1975, Homegrown was mixed at that time to original stereo analog master tapes. These original mixes have been restored with love and care by John Hanlon, and mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, making Homegrown a completely original album.<br/><br/>Levon Helm is drumming on some tracks, Karl T Himmel on others, Emmylou Harris singing on one, Robbie Robertson plays on one. Homegrown contains a narration, several acoustic solo songs never even published or heard until this release and some great songs played with a band of my friends, including Ben Keith - steel and slide - Tim Drummond - bass and Stan Szelest - piano. Anyway, it's coming your way in 2020, the first release from our archive in this new decade. Come with us into 2020 as we bring you the past." - Neil Young<br/><br/>Neil Young puts it best, "This album is the unheard bridge between Harvest and Comes A Time." Recorded between June 1974 and January 1975, Homegrown was intended to come out in 1975 before Young cancelled the release. The album has remained unreleased until now, achieving a legendary status among Neil Young fans in the process.<br/><br/>The album is made up of twelve Neil Young songs, of which seven are previously unreleased - "Separate Ways," "Try," "Mexico," "Kansas," "We Don't Smoke It No More," "Vacancy"and "Florida" (a spoken word narration). Also included are the very first recordings of "Homegrown"and "White Line". "Little Wing," "Love Is A Rose,"," and "Star Of Bethlehem" - different mixes of which would all later appear on other Neil Young albums, retain their original form in Homegrown. <br/><br/>Recorded in analog, and mastered from the original master tapes, this long-lost album is a wonderful addition to Young's incomparable catalog.

Young Neil: Touch the Sky [Gatefold / 2 Vinyl LP]