DREAMIN' MAN NYAPS #12
DREAMIN' MAN, Neil Young Archives Performance Series #12, available now, 17 years after the original release of Harvest Moon.
A closer look at Harvest Moon songs, all performed solo acoustic before the release of Harvest Moon, DREAMIN' MAN contains intimate live performances recorded in concert halls during 1992.
-- NY Times
LES PAUL, GUITAR INNOVATOR, DIES AT 94 By Jon Pareles, The New York Times, 08/13/09
Les Paul, the virtuoso guitarist and inventor whose solid-body electric guitar and recording studio innovations changed the course of 20th-century popular music, died Thursday in White Plains, N.Y. . He was 94.
The cause was complications of pneumonia, the Gibson Guitar Corporation and his family announced. .
Mr. Paul was a remarkable musician as well as a tireless tinkerer. He played guitar alongside leading prewar jazz and pop musicians from Louis Armstrong to Bing Crosby. In the 1930s he began experimenting with guitar amplification, and by 1941 he had built what was probably the first solid-body electric guitar, although there are other claimants. With his guitar and the vocals of his wife, Mary Ford, he used overdubbing, multitrack recording and new electronic effects to create a string of hits in the 1950s.
Mr. Paul's style encompassed the twang of country music, the harmonic richness of jazz and, later, the bite of rock 'n' roll. For all his technological impact, though, he remained a down-home performer whose main goal, he often said, was to make people happy.
Mr. Paul, whose original name was Lester William Polsfuss, was born on June 9, 1915, in Waukesha, Wis. His childhood piano teacher wrote to his mother, "Your boy, Lester, will never learn music." But he picked up harmonica, guitar and banjo by the time he was a teenager and started playing with country bands in the Midwest. In Chicago he performed for radio broadcasts on WLS and led the house band at WJJD; he billed himself as the Wizard of Waukesha, Hot Rod Red and Rhubarb Red.
His interest in gadgets came early. At the age of 10 he devised a harmonica holder from a coat hanger. Soon afterward he made his first amplified guitar by opening the back of a Sears acoustic model and inserting, behind the strings, the pickup from a dismantled Victrola. With the record player on, the acoustic guitar became an electric one. Later, he built his own pickup from ham radio earphone parts and assembled a recording machine using a Cadillac flywheel and the belt from a dentist's drill.
From country music Mr. Paul moved into jazz, influenced by players like Django Reinhardt and Eddie Lang, who were using amplified hollow-body guitars to play hornlike single-note solo lines. He formed the Les Paul Trio in 1936 and moved to New York, where he was heard regularly on Fred Waring's radio show from 1938 to 1941.
In 1940 or 1941 -- the exact date is unknown -- , Mr. Paul made his guitar breakthrough. Seeking to create electronically sustained notes on the guitar, he attached strings and two pickups to a wooden board with a guitar neck. "The log," as he called it, if not the first solid-body electric guitar, became the most influential one.
"You could go out and eat and come back and the note would still be sounding," Mr. Paul once said.
The odd-looking instrument drew derision when he first played it in public, so he hid the works inside a conventional-looking guitar. But the log was a conceptual turning point. With no acoustic resonance of its own, it was designed to generate an electronic signal that could be amplified and processed -- the beginning of a sonic transformation of the world's music.
Mr. Paul was drafted in 1942 and worked in California for the Armed Forces Radio Service, accompanying Rudy Vallee, Kate Smith and others. When he was discharged in 1943, he was hired as a staff musician for NBC radio in Los Angeles. His trio toured with the Andrews Sisters and backed Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby, with whom he recorded the hit "It's Been a Long, Long Time" in 1945. Crosby encouraged Mr. Paul to build his own recording studio, and so he did, in his garage in Los Angeles.
There he experimented with recording techniques, using them to create not realistic replicas of a performance but electronically enhanced fabrications. Toying with his mother's old Victrola had shown him that changing the speed of a recording could alter both pitch and timbre. He could record at half-speed and replay the results at normal speed, creating the illusion of superhuman agility. He altered instrumental textures through microphone positioning and reverberation. Technology and studio effects, he realized, were instruments themselves.
He also noticed that by playing along with previous recordings, he could become a one-man ensemble. As early as his 1948 hit "Lover," he made elaborate, multilayered recordings, using two acetate disc machines, which demanded that each layer of music be captured in a single take. From discs he moved to magnetic tape, and in the late 1950s he built the first eight-track multitrack recorder. Each track could be recorded and altered separately, without affecting the others. The machine ushered in the modern recording era.
In 1947 Mr. Paul teamed up with Colleen Summers, who had been singing with Gene Autry's band. He changed her name to Mary Ford, a name found in a telephone book.
They were touring in 1948 when Mr. Paul's car skidded off an icy bridge. Among his many injuries, his right elbow was shattered; once set, it would be immovable for life. Mr. Paul had it set at an angle, slightly less than 90 degrees, so that he could continue to play guitar.
Mr. Paul, whose first marriage, to Virginia, had ended in divorce, married Ms. Ford in 1949. They had a television show, "Les Paul and Mary Ford at Home," which was broadcast from their living room until 1958. They began recording together, mixing multiple layers of Ms. Ford's vocals with Mr. Paul's guitars and effects, and the dizzying results became hits in the early 1950s. Among their more than three dozen hits, "Mockingbird Hill," "How High the Moon" and "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise" in 1951 and "Vaya Con Dios" in 1953 were million-sellers.
Some of their music was recorded with microphones hanging in various rooms of the house, including one over the kitchen sink, so that Ms. Ford could record vocals while washing dishes. Mr. Paul also recorded instrumentals on his own, including the hits "Whispering," "Tiger Rag" and "Meet Mister Callaghan" in 1951 and 1952.
The Gibson company hired Mr. Paul to design a Les Paul model guitar in the early 1950s, and variations of the first 1952 model have sold steadily ever since, accounting at one point for half of the privately held company's total sales. Built with Mr. Paul's patented pickups, his design is prized for its clarity and sustained tone. It has been used by musicians like Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Slash of Guns N' Roses. The Les Paul Standard version is unchanged since 1958, the company says. In the mid-1950s, Mr. Paul and Ms. Ford moved to a house in Mahwah, N.J., where Mr. Paul eventually installed both film and recording studios and amassed a collection of hundreds of guitars.
The couple's string of hits ended in 1961, and they were divorced in 1964. Ms. Ford died in 1977. Mr. Paul is survived by three sons, Lester (Rus) G. Paul, Gene W. Paul and Robert (Bobby) R. Paul; a daughter, Colleen Wess; his companion, Arlene Palmer; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.In 1964, Mr. Paul underwent surgery for a broken eardrum, and he began suffering from arthritis in 1965. Through the 1960s he concentrated on designing guitars for Gibson. He invented and patented various pickups and transducers, as well as devices like the Les Paulverizer, an echo-repeat device, which he introduced in 1974. In the late 1970s he made two albums with the dean of country guitarists, Chet Atkins.
In 1981 Mr. Paul underwent a quintuple-bypass heart operation. After recuperating, he returned to performing, though the progress of his arthritis forced him to relearn the guitar. In 1983 he started to play weekly performances at Fat Tuesday's, an intimate Manhattan jazz club. "I was always happiest playing in a club," he said in a 1987 interview. "So I decided to find a nice little club in New York that I would be happy to play in."
After Fat Tuesday's closed in 1995, he moved his Monday-night residency to Iridium. He performed there until early June; guest stars have been appearing with his trio since then and will continue to do so indefinitely, a spokesman for the club said.
At his shows he used one of his own customized guitars, which included a microphone on a gooseneck pointing toward his mouth so that he could talk through the guitar. In his sets he would mix reminiscences, wisecracks and comments with versions of jazz standards. Guests -- famous and unknown -- showed up to pay homage or test themselves against him. Despite paralysis in some fingers on both hands, he retained some of his remarkable speed and fluency. Mr. Paul also performed regularly at jazz festivals through the 1980s.
He recorded a final album, "American Made, World Played" (Capitol), to celebrate his 90th birthday in 2005. It featured guest appearances by Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jeff Beck, Sting, Joe Perry of Aerosmith and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. The album brought him two Grammy Awards: for best pop instrumental performance and best rock instrumental performance. He had already won recognition from the Grammy trustees for technical achievements and another performance Grammy in 1976, for the album "Chester and Lester," made with Chet Atkins.
In recent years, he said he was working on another major invention but would not reveal what it was.
"Honestly, I never strove to be an Edison," he said in a 1991 interview in The New York Times. "The only reason I invented these things was because I didn't have them and neither did anyone else. I had no choice, really."
NEW "GET AROUND" LONG-FORM VIDEO AVAILABLE! By Scoop Asphalt
The Video premiere of GET AROUND, featuring ALL the music of "Fork in the Road" will be available at 12:01 AM PST Tuesday April 7, worldwide. This long-form video runs 43 minutes and was shot on a Texas Highway between La Grange and Austin shortly before "South By Southwest" extravaganza began in Austin.
GET AROUND will not be available anywhere else because of its long running time exceeding the capabilities of most major outlets. The long form video also will be available with High Definition Sound as part of a new Blu-Ray currently in post-production at Shakey Pictures.
The new GET AROUND Blu-Ray includes all of the videos made for Fork. Shakey Pictures hopes you enjoy taking a ride in Lincvolt with Neil as he sings the entire "Fork in the Road" album plus the additional bonus track, "Get Around."
Click here for Trailer & Video LinkNEIL YOUNG REPOWERS THE AMERICAN DREAM by Paul Cashmere, 08/10/08
Motorist of the 21st Century won't be relegated to the torture of the Smart car if Neil Young has his way.
The rock star and movie maker is behind a project called Linc Volt, a means of transforming the classic American gas guzzling cars of the 50s and 60s into fuel-efficient automobiles.
L.A. Johnson, the head of Young's Shakey Pictures, spent the last week in Adelaide in South Australia working with Uli Kruger, one of the scientists involved in the development of the project.
Kruger is a researcher in the field of thermodynamics and holds several patents in the field of efficiency enhancement technologies for Diesel engines.
Young and motor mechanic Jonathan Goodwin have been working on the reconstruction of the engine of a 1959 Lincoln Continental Mk IV convertible in the USA and have converted its original engine into a new series-hybrid system. The car has gone from getting 9 miles to the gallon to now achieving around 100 miles to the gallon. (editor's note: Lincvolt has reached up to 60 mpg with CNG as a primary fuel. The goal is most efficient cleanest burn of a domestic fuel to power a generator charging batteries on the go). "Neil says he is repowering the American dream," Johnson tells Undercover.
Once the project is complete, it will be possible for what is affectionately now as "The Yank Tank" to achieve better mileage that a Toyota Corolla.
Johnson runs Shakey Pictures and is producing a documentary of the Linc Volt. He was also the producer of the current Shakey Pictures movie 'Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young : Deja vu', filmed during the 2006 Freedom of Speech tour.
The movie is not a concert movie, instead it is an in-your-face protest at the madness of the Bush regime told as only David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young can tell.
Johnson says he understands why it is still up to the Neil Young's of the world to be political with music. "There is no draft anymore. The government has become clever in realising that by eliminating the draft, they can eliminate the protest but despite that we have had more than 2000 artists submit songs to the Living With War website," he says.
He points out that Pink's 'Dear Mr President' has been one of the most powerful protest songs of the current generation.
Johnson is also working on Young's much talked about Archive project. "Neil was always going to release it in the highest quality there was. When we started it, we did not know what that quality would be but we now know it is Blu-Ray". The collection will also be available on DVD.
The Archive will include everything Neil Young has ever made, including movies. 'Weld and 'Human Highway' will be part of the archive," he says. "When you reach that part of the time-line, those movies will be there".
The first part of the Neil Young Archive will be released later this year.
SINGER FOCUSES ENERGY ON ELECTRIC CAR CNN / The Associated Press
06/03/08
Neil Young, the rocker who provided some of the soundtrack to Vietnam-era protests, is again trying to change the world -- with his car.
Young has teamed up with Johnathan Goodwin, a Wichita mechanic who has developed a national reputation for re-engineering the power units of big cars to get more horsepower but use less fuel.
The two are looking to convert Young's 1959 Lincoln Continental convertible to operate on an electric battery.
Ultimately, they said, they want the Continental to provide a model for the world's first affordable mass-produced electric-powered automobile.
"Johnathan and this car are going to make history," Young told The Wichita Eagle.
"We're going to change the world; we're going to create a car that will allow us to stop giving our wealth to other countries for petroleum."
Young has poured about $120,000 so far into the project, Goodwin said.
What's more, the prototype power system worked during a 12-mile test drive of the car last week -- albeit with a few glitches. iReport.com: See a 20-mile commute in 106 seconds
"She was awesome," Young said of the battery-operated car. "Her acceleration was incredible, she moved with hardly a sound; it was so quiet we could hear the wind through the tags of other cars."
The drive almost ended in disaster when Goodwin, who controls acceleration with a knob in the back seat, twisted it the wrong way while approaching an entrance ramp and the vehicle lurched toward the rear of another car.
Young, in the passenger seat, was able to hit the brakes in time.
"Still needs work," said Goodwin, 37.
Young, 62, said he came across taped interviews of Goodwin eight months ago on the Internet, including a segment for the MTV show "Pimp My Ride." Goodwin's clientele includes California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had Goodwin work on his Hummer.
Young said he set out wanting his car to be able to use biodiesel, but later asked Goodwin whether they could instead power it with batteries and use it as a template to make electric cars more mainstream.
"The technology to make a practical and affordable electric car has been around for a long time," Goodwin said. "There are all sorts of ways of doing it and all sorts of ways to work out how to make it work on a national scale."
For Young, the project may finally complete a mission he set for himself with his music.
"You know, I thought long ago you could change the world by writing songs," he said.
"But you can't change the world by writing songs. Oh, you can inspire a few people, get some of them to change their thinking about something. But you can't change the world by writing songs.
"But we could change it with this car."
CSNY/DÉJÀ VU AVAILABLE NOW ON DVD CSNY/DÉJÀ VU Music Video:
CSNY DOCUMENTARY SET FOR SUMMER RELEASE by Suzanne Kayian, LiveDaily, 5/30/08
Neil Young's politically charged documentary film, "CSNY: Deja Vu," is expected to be released July 25 in the US, according to a press release. The documentary was filmed during Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's "Freedom of Speech 2006" tour of North America.
The tour featured music from Young's controversial "Living With War" CD--an album of protest songs written as a rebuke of President George W. Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Songs from the controversial album are woven together on the new film with archival material, news footage, audience reactions and observations of the issues surrounding the integration of politics and art, according to a statement.
A distribution deal is in the works that will make the film available on the big screen simultaneously with a video-on-demand release. In addition, Netflix will air the film on the "Watch Instantly" streaming service the same day. The band's label is expected to release a DVD version in the fall--prior to the presidential elections. HDNet is expected to air the film the day the DVD is released.
CSNY DOCU HEADED FOR THEATERS by Gregg Goldstein, Hollywood Reporter, 5/14/08
CANNES, France - Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions are finalizing a deal for U.S. rights to the politically charged Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young documentary "CSNY - Deja Vu."
Fortissimo Films, which acquired the film from Shangri-La, has sold rights to 15 more international territories.
The feature, directed by Neil Young, chronicles the rock group's 2006 Freedom of Speech tour in support of Young's "Living in War" album.
The anti-Iraq War theme and songs like "Let's Impeach the President" increasingly polarized audiences as the band traveled through the U.S. Interviews with soldiers and others affected by the war are intercut with the concert footage.
When the film premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival, the band members expressed a desire to release it before the November elections in order to encourage debate. The proposed deal would certainly get it seen.
In July, Roadside will release it theatrically in 15 cities, with Lionsgate handling a simultaneous nationwide video-on-demand release and, via potential partner Netflix, streaming video. The DVD will be released shortly before the elections through the band's label, Reprise, with HDNet in talks to air the film on the same date.
Fortissimo already has sold the film to Australia, Europe, Israel, Japan and Latin America. Cinetic is handling North American sales.
CSNY/DÉJÀ VU in the press:
Leitner's Mondo 2008 Sundance - Saturday
Digital Content Producer, 1/26/08
Csny Deja Vu (Documentary)
Variety, 1/27/08
Four Warhorses On Living With War
Hollywood Reporter, 1/27/08
Find The Cost Of Freedom (Of Speech)
Huffington Post, 1/30/08
Neil Young Admits Music Can't Change World
Spiegel Online, 2/08/08
Neil Young: Music Can't Change World
Associated Press, 2/08/08
Sorry, Neil Young, Music Never Could Change The World
Huffington Post, 2/09/08
Neil Young Says Music Has Lost Its Punch
Contra Costa Times, 2/09/08
Change The World? Well, Maybe Not
New York Times, 2/09/08
Music Can Actually Save The World, Sort Of
Rolling Stone, 2/11/08
Unearthing The Gems In The Berlinale Garden
Sydney Morning Herald, 2/12/08
Neil Young Doesn't "Give Up" Despite Not Changing the World
Exclaim, 2/12/08
First Look - CSNY/DÉJÀ VU
Uncut, 2/12/08
Neil Young Touts New Tour Documentary
San Jose Mercury News, 2/13/08
The More Things Change...
Roanoke Times, 2/19/08
'The time when music could change the world has passed'
Scotland On Sunday, 2/24/08
Neil Young: On the road again
The Telegraph, 2/29/08
There's No Protester Like An Old Protester
CNN, 3/21/08 MTV Once Played So Many Music Videos They Could Afford To Ban Some from idolator.com, July 10 2007
MTV has a history of banning would-be popular videos, but it was 19 years ago this week that one of the network's most peculiar censorship decisions took place. Neil Young's "This Note's for You" was denied play on the network due to a fear of offending valuable advertisers. No nudity, no blood, no graphic drug use--just ad parodies. Did 1988 mark the end of our innocence?
Image from the video
L.A. JOHNSON REMEMBERED
L.A. Johnson, a man who invented a new language with his movies about music and changed the way we saw rock & roll, died suddenly Thursday in Northern California. Over the course of over 40 years and countless collaborations with Neil Young and others, Johnson's prodigious talents as a producer, director, cinematographer and sound editor, among many other abilities including producer of Young's recently released Archives: Volume I collection, made him one of the most respected creative people in his field, and included an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound for his work on Michael Wadleigh's documentary film "Woodstock". The way he saw and felt music was always original and inventive. L.A. Johnson never settled for the road already taken, he would rather take off after his own muse.
Larry Alderman Johnson was born June 11, 1947 in Ft. Benning, Georgia. A self-described "army brat," he learned early of how to live a life on the move, which equipped him uniquely for the rock & roll lifestyle. His early influences were working with the East Coast contingent that included Martin Scorsese, Brian dePalma, Thelma Schumaker and L.M. Kit Carson during the late 1960s, fueled by an energetic political sensibility and street-smart visual moves.
It's appropriate that one of Johnson's first film credits is for the documentary "Woodstock" in 1970. At that culture-defining event he was working with director Michael Wadleigh and legendary cinematographer David Meyers, recording and filming the three days that would change music forever. He grasped the overwhelming power of rock music captured on film, and also saw how being in the right place at the right time is one of moviemaking's most decisive elements. Meeting Neil Young at Woodstock would begin a four-decades long partnership that continued right up to the present, with the release of the Grammy Award-nominated "Neil Young Archives: Volume I" Blu-Ray box set, which has been described as a groundbreaking work combining all the various mediums of music, film and print in a way that has never been done. Mr. Johnson was instrumental in creating this revolutionary new Blu-Ray Media platform, which may very well be recognized as the enduring standard to experience music and other historical events in the digital age.
As the '70s began, L.A. Johnson worked alongside his life long friend and mentor Cinematographer David Meyers as a sound recordist on a new style of films being produced in Hollywood, a combination of music and documentaries that included "Marjoe" and, later, Bob Dylan's "Renaldo and Clara". After the huge surprise success of the Woodstock film, Johnson began visualizing a revolutionary type of cinema that combined the improvisatory excitement of rock and the realistic elements of film. He and Young, again working with David Meyers, produced "Journey Through the Past," which was a cinema verite exploration of life inside the rock & roll world that is considered a futuristic work even today. That was the filmmaker's true strength: music had set him free to find his own voice. Johnson never looked to traditional filmmaking techniques for direction. He was too busy creating his own. Being one of the line producers on Martin Scorcese's "The Last Waltz" allowed Johnson to help capture what many consider to be one of the finest concert films ever. It also opened the door for his second officially released production with Young and Meyers, "Rust Never Sleeps" in 1979.
The following year Johnson produced "Shadows and Light" for Joni Mitchell, which captured that singer-songwriter's creativity like never before. Often cited as one of the great music documentaries, it also began a decade of producing the Bernard Shakey-directed dramatic film "Human Highway" and "Solo Trans" with Neil Young. It was obvious that Johnson, Young and their collaborators were creating a new type of film work, and were clearly in the throes of a freedom of style that let them follow their muse. They didn't look to plug their films into any set framework, instead letting the originality become the most important component.
Many other movies would follow, including Jim Jarmush's "Year of the Horse" (1997) "Silver and Gold" (2000), "Greendale" (2003), "CSNY/Deja vu" (2008) and Jonathan Demme's "Neil Young Trunk Show" (2009), and well as co-producing the recent Neil Young albums "Greendale" and the politically driven "Living with War". Along the way, L.A. Johnson worked with many other artists and events, and never lost the eye and ear of an original artist, one unafraid to listen to himself first. Even more, he also kept his playful spirit and sense of humor, the things that sparked his heart for a lifetime spent doing what he loved best: listening to music and making movies. He leaves in production the Shakey Pictures film "Lincvolt" a musical documentary about re-powering the American Dream.
In addition to his movie and record making, Larry found time to contribute his talent and guidance to the Bridge School Board of Directors and was instrumental in production of the video elements of the Bridge School Concert series for 24 years. His fundraising efforts, as well as guidance and support of the Bridge School web site and video operations was unwavering. His love and support for the families and students of the Bridge school will be happily remembered and deeply missed.
Larry Johnson, a seminal artist in his generation, is survived by two beautiful children, Ben Johnson and Hannah Johnson, and their mother, twice married and divorced, who he loved dearly, music contractor Leslie Morris.
NEIL YOUNG'S FIRST 4 ALBUMS REMASTERED By Guy Listener, July 15, 2009
Yesterday Reprise Records released re-mastered versions of the first four Neil Young albums on CD, Neil Young, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After The Gold Rush and Harvest.
This set of discs mark the first time since the advent of the CD format that listeners have been able to experience improved CD versions of these classic records. The 4 discs are also the initial release in the NYA ORS (Neil Young Archives Original Release Series) program.
(Click here to view/download a desktop wallpaper image of the four CD Covers.)
Each of one these albums were meticulously transferred from the original analog master tapes using the finest equipment and the shortest signal path at Redwood Digital by John Nowland.
These HDCD® 24-bit 176kHz digital transfers were assembled and then mastered by Tim Mulligan in what has become the standard for diligent and conscientious mastering techniques.
Once the mastering stage was complete, a sample rate conversion utilizing a Pacific Microsonics HDCD Model 2 processor resulted in the HDCD® 16-bit 44.1kHz CD master.
In the coming months the public can expect audiophile quality 140 gram and 180 gram vinyl editions of these records followed by high resolution 24 bit/ 192 kHz digital editions in Blu-ray.
We will be covering the NYA ORS Blu-ray releases in a separate article. These releases will match NYA quality.
As of this writing, the CD re-masters of Neil Young, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After The Gold Rush and Harvest have only been on the street one day, but listeners on the Internet boards are already chiming in with opinions.
From the Steve Hoffman Music Forums:
"I can't stop listening to 'After The Gold Rush' - it's a revelation! Like being transported several (and I mean several) generations closer to the master.
I keep hearing details I never knew were there; harmony vocal parts, bass lines etc.
Bravo!"
- OneBit Cambridge ON Canada
"Could be just my system but to me these remasters stomp the originals every way possible especially in openess and dynamics"
-Tomd Chandler,AZ
"I'll wait for the vinyl"
-GregK Ann Arbor MI
An early review of After the Gold Rush at Amazon.com:
I just want to comment on the remastering of this album, which is absolutely incredible. The liner notes state it was remastered from the original analog tapes and was an analog to HDCD 24 Bit 176 KHZ digital transfer...uh...sounds good to me! This album sounds so far superior to the original CD pressing that it made my weak car speakers sound like they had had a Bose makeover. I remember hearing some of the album tracks on the Archives boxset and noticing how incredible they sounded. I had hoped they would do the same treatment to his catalog and it appears they are beginning to.
So enjoy these incredible remasters. The sticker on the outside of the packaging stated that is was "remastered from the original analog tapes...because sound matters", and they are right. Someday pre-packaged music will be gone and the younger generation doesn't give a rat's behind about sound quality so we have to get the best sounding versions while we can. Yes, I'm getting old and crotchety, I admit it. Now get off my lawn!
-Aladinsane
WINNER DECLARED IN JOHNNY MAGIC CONTEST
Liza Piontek's version of "Johnny Magic" picked as top Make-Your-Own Video after a week of voting. See more results and all the videos here. WARNER REPRISE FAMILY PENALIZED FOR BEING EARLY By Neil Young, Reprise recording artist
Warner Reprise records was one of the very first to embrace You Tube. You Tube was in its fledgling stages when Warner made an early deal to work with them. Today, other labels have made more lucrative deals for their artists at You Tube.
So You Tube is the new radio.....but not quite.
Radio used to introduce music to the masses and was crucial to every new release, with identical compensation for every artist and label. Since You Tube has given some labels better deals that others, the Media Giant is treating artists unequally, depending on which label they are on.
Today's web world has created a new way. Artists today can go directly to the people. There is nothing standing between the artists and their audience. Freedom of expression reigns. People today feel that they should be able to get all the music and art that they want, from the artists who they appreciate. When that conduit is broken, the connection is weakened.
If all artists were compensated equally, and the people decided who had the hits and misses by virtue of number of downloads and plays, there could be no grounds for disagreement that would cause the facilitator of the art to break the conduit between an artist and an audience. That is what has happened to Warner Bros artists caught in You Tube's web. You Tube has a responsibility to respect the artists it facilitates and resist punishing them to make a business point.
It is time for industry wide standards of artist's compensation on the web.
Reprise and Warner Bros artists deserve what artists from other labels are getting. Let the people decide what constitutes success. Warner Bros and Reprise are looking for a level playing field. Until they get one, these problems may not go away. That is the essence of the issue between Warner Bros Reprise and You Tube.
NEIL YOUNG ROCKS JAVAONE from C-Net News
SAN FRANCISCO--At JavaOne here, Neil Young showed off his multimedia project that chronicles his music career and uses Java to do so.
Young said he tried to do the project on DVD, but users couldn't watch the high-resolution video and listen to the music at the same time. With Java and Blu-ray, the content can be updated and offer the best viewing and listening experience, as well as great navigation and design. "Storage is the only limit," Young said, and recommended the Sony's PlayStation 3 as the best way to view his project.
Users will be able to download any archival materials, which are automatically assigned to their place in a chronological time line, Young said.
In a meeting with a few press members following the JavaOne keynote, Young talked about the Archive project, which goes back to the late 1980s. The first stage, he said, was collecting the materials.
"I am kind of a pack rat," he said, adding that over the years he's accumulated a lot of unreleased material. "I only give the record company what I want people to hear at the time. So I have a lot of unreleased material. Putting it all together tells a much different story than just what has been produced (for public consumption)."
Click here to read more and see a replay of the speech.
SPIDER NAMED IN HONOR OF NEIL YOUNG from Science Centric, 5/9/08
An East Carolina University biologist has brought his admiration of Neil Young to a whole new class. Or species, to be exact. Jason Bond, an ECU professor of biology, has named a newly discovered trapdoor spider, Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi, after the legendary rock star.
"There are rather strict rules about how you name new species," Bond said. "As long as these rules are followed you can give a new species just about any name you please. With regards to Neil Young, I really enjoy his music and have had a great appreciation of him as an activist for peace and justice."
In 2007, Bond discovered the new spider species in Jefferson Co., Ala, and later co-wrote a paper with Norman I. Platnick, curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, on the genus.
Bond received $750,000 in grants from the National Science Foundation in 2005 and 2006 to classify the trapdoor spider species and contribute to the foundation's Tree of Life project. He is both a spider systematist - someone who studies organisms and how they are classified - and taxonomist - someone who classifies new species.
Spiders in the trapdoor genus are distinguished on the basis of differences in genitalia, Bond said, from one species to the next. He confirmed through the spider's DNA that the Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi is an identifiable, separate species of spider within the trapdoor genus.
NEIL'S VENUE TUNING 1-800 GETLOUD from the Rocky Mountain News
If Mark Knopfler's guitar tone sounds a little cleaner and a little sweeter when he plays Red Rocks in June, he (and his fans) will have Neil Young to thank.
When Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young played Red Rocks two years ago, Young demanded "to talk to somebody," said director of operations Tad Bowman, who ended up being that somebody.
"He explained that he thought we had some electromagnetic interference issues," Bowman said. "The (electrical) transformers for years had been right underneath the stage" and Young felt the magnetic field they created affected the tone of the instruments a few feet above them onstage.
So this year bigger, better transformers will power Red Rocks - and they've been relocated away from the stage area.
CRAZY HORSE "TOAST" NY Times
In 2000, Crazy Horse was in San Francisco, south of Market street, at an old studio called "Toast." Coltrane had recorded there, among many other jazz greats, known and unknown. The Dot Com boom was happening and buildings were being bought and turned into lofts or torn down completely and rebuilt. New money was everywhere. Toast was a target. The place was a little run down and sort of on its last legs.
To a man, if you asked Crazy Horse about these sessions, you would learn that it was a depressing atmosphere and things were not going well. The band recorded there for months and came up with very little. Nothing, other than one song, "Goin' Home" was ever finished. But a lot was started. Several of the songs written at Toast showed up on the "Are You Passionate" album with Booker T. and the MGs. But that album met with mixed reaction.
Now, years later, John Hanlon, the original co-producer with Neil, is at work mixing all of the Toast material. Many songs share a bluesy, jazz-tinged vibe as a common thread. Three solid rockers are interspersed in the mix. Other songs are long with extensive explorations between verses, a Crazy Horse trademark, kind of like a down-played Tonight's the Night, except these songs deal directly with love and loss, not drugs. The ambient atmosphere, foggy, blue and desolate, pervades many of the tracks, if not all, with Tommy Brea's muted trumpet and dusky male and female counter-part BGs occasionally surfacing from Poncho and Ralph on one side, Nancy Hall and Pegi Young on the other. A cool and sleepy lounge piano rises in the fog occasionally.
The result of this is perhaps one of the most under-estimated and deceptive Crazy Horse records of all time, with many songs originally discarded, and then re-recorded with Booker T. and the MGs. The original performances now surface again through a foggy past. Like an abstract painting, lyrical images of a love lost and maybe even destroyed forever just refuse to die, creating a landscape littered with half-broken dreams and promises.
"Toast" is coming, a dark Crazy Horse classic for the ages. This first NYA "Special Edition" is the beginning of a new series of unreleased albums.
GREENDALE HITS STAGE IN DALLAS! "Greendale Will Have You Revved Up To Save The Planet"-- Dallas Morning News (read review) "Dallas Troupe Takes A Crack At Rock Opera"-- Fort Worth Star-Telegram (read review) GREENDALE ON TO NEW YORK! Will be performed July 23-26 NY Times
Undermain Theatre, through special arrangement with Wixen Music Publishing, is pleased to announce the transfer of its production of Neil Young's Greendale to this summers Ice Factory Festival presented by Soho Think Tank at the Ohio Theatre, 66 Wooster St. in New York City.
Undermain Theatre Presents Theatrical Premiere of Neil Young's Greendale
The Undermain Theatre through special arrangement with Wixen music publishing is pleased to announce the theatrical premiere of Neil Young's Greendale. The rock opera by the legendary singer - songwriter will be adapted for the stage by the Undermain Theatre in the spring of 2008. This song cycle has been compared to Thornton Wilder's Our Town and Sherwood Anderson's Winesberg Ohio as a portrait of the changing face of small town America. Performed with a live band and sung by an ensemble cast, Greendale explores the lives of three generations of the Green family through themes ranging from corruption to mass media consolidation to environmentalism. Described by Neil Young as a "musical novel," Greendale was released in 2003 as an album, a film, and a rock tour. It is soon to be published as a graphic novel and this spring it will be produced as a play premiering at Undermain.
"The listener is left practically breathless with the beauty, hope, pathos and power of the music and the story." - Neil Strauss, New York Times
Voted one of the best albums of 2003 by Rolling Stone magazine music critics.
March 29 - May 3, 2008
Previews March 26, 27, 28
Undermain Theatre
3200 Main Street
Dallas, Texas 75226
http://www.undermain.org./
Box Office: 214-747-5515
Greendale At Comic Giant DC by Eric Millikin, talkaboutcomics.com
Outspoken musician and political activist Neil Young is putting his anti-war and environmental convictions into a graphic novel... The legendary artist, renowned for his strong anti-George W. Bush sentiments, has made it clear that the project will be just as biting politically as the rest of his artistic catalogue, said writer and collaborator Joshua Dysart...
Dysart, who describes his own political leanings as "left of Lenin," says the graphic novel's theme is decidedly anti-war and pro-planet. The story is set in the fictional town of Greendale on the eve of the Iraq invasion in 2003. "It's just sort of a smorgasbord of the political reality of that moment of 2003 when we went into Iraq," Dysart said Thursday in a telephone interview from his home Los Angeles.
The novel has been two years in the making and will be published by the DC Comics subsidiary Vertigo.
Joshua Dysart On Neil Young's Greendale At Vertigo by Steve Ekstrom, newsarama.com
After discussing Josh Dysart's upcoming Unknown Soldier project at Vertigo, Newsarama got the lowdown on his collaborative effort with music legend Neil Young and his critically acclaimed album from 2003, Greendale, which also spawned a critically acclaimed film of the same name.
In this part of the interview with Newsarama, Dysart discusses collaborating with Neil Young on a graphic novel also titled Greendale and the distinction of his project amidst two critically successful projects from other areas of the entertainment industry involving a little fictional town set in northern California.
Newsarama: Changing gears - tell us about your graphic novel project involving Neil Young's Greendale album from 2003 - your project actually takes place in this fictional town created by Young, correct?
JD: Yes. It takes place on the eve of the invasion of Iraq and it's the story of a young high school girl on the road to finding her inner-activist in a small fictional town set in northern California. Two truly incredible things are about to take place in this town: one is that a visitor of supernatural proportions is arriving to shake things down to their very foundations. The other is that our protagonist is about to discover something miraculous about herself and all the women in her family.
Unlike the Unknown Soldier, there will be nothing ambiguous about the politics of this book at all. Everyone knows Neil Young is left of Lennon and I'm looking forward to being unapologetically leftist right along with him. The book will be anti-war and pro-planet. It will be humanist and righteous and fun and sad and hopeful-assuming I don't screw it up.
NRAMA: Is Neil Young directly or indirectly involved with this project? Do you have his endorsement?
JD: Absolutely. He is directly involved. I pitched him my take. We got notes back from him. I even met his whole family-his son and daughter, his wife, and of course, the man himself. (Crosby, Stills and Nash were also there, but now I'm just namedropping... heh). He's a wonderful, wonderful person-when I met him it felt like he'd been in my life forever; which, through his music, I guess he has.
NRAMA: Will there be characters from Young's album/ film involved in your project?
JD: Yup, characters and situations but there's a story-telling element in the Greendale art book that didn't really make it into the film or the album. So, that's what I've focused on for the graphic novel. We're not just stringing the stories from the album together. It will be very different from the previous incarnations of the material. A little bit traditional Vertigo, a little bit Dysart, a whole lot Greendale.
NRAMA: Which songs from Greendale resonated with you the most?
JD: The album is, to a large degree, a story; so, it's hard to pick out favorites and separate them from their role in whole piece. The sort of meta-sensibility of the first song, "Falling From Above", is very engaging. "Devil's Sidewalk" personifies the crunchy, clumsy, marching, majestic attitude and sound of the whole album. "Leave the Driving" is probably the best example of storytelling, especially when it juxtaposes the actions of Jed-actions that will destroy his whole life-with the larger observation of global paranoia in the second half of the song. I dig that humming punk rock rattle of an E in the otherwise slow ballad "Bandit"; which, out of context is probably my favorite song on the album. "Grandpa's Interview" has my favorite scene in the whole story. Grandpa's rage at the television crews sort of becomes a huge tirade against this sense of misplaced obligation we feel towards the media machine. "Sun Green" is an epic piece of music, and a success if only for this one line, "Hey Mister Clean, you're dirty now too!" You can bet that will find its way into the book. That's almost the whole album, huh? I should stop.
continued... Please see http://www.newsarama.com/Comic-Con_07/DC/Greendale.html for the rest of this story
CHROME DREAMS by Jef Michael Piehler, sidestreetrecords.com
Perhaps it was the aborted tour with long-time band-mate Stephen Stills, or the scrapped CSNY recording sessions that preceded those ill-fated shows, or maybe it was the upcoming tour with CRAZY HORSE, but late summer 1976 found Neil holed up at the ranch, sorting out his career by choosing the final songs for his retrospective 3LP set, tentatively titled "Decade."
Scheduled for release in early November, Decade test pressings were sent to reviewers & covers (for in-store displays) were sent to record stores. As November, and then December came and went, Neil fans and retailers were left wonderin' if rumours of a drug overdose were true, and if so, would Reprise cancel the dicey 3LP set and release an easy-money greatest hits "memorial album"?
With no word one way or the other, "Decade"displays came down & Christmas displays went up. Neil would prove the rumors false 6 months later by finally releasing a new album -but to the shock of retailers, it would only be single LP titled "American stars 'n bars," instead of the highly anticipated "Best of" 3LP they were expecting.
Unlike the unreleased "Homegrown"LP, very little was known about any "Chrome Dreams" LP. First mentioned in the Sept.9, 1976 Rolling Stone in a blurb about a 10-date CRAZY HORSE tour that's ....."scheduled for November, just about when he'll release his next LP, planned as Chrome Dreams."
Johnny Rogan mentions the LP in his book as an early version of "American stars n bars" that "...had (been) altered considerably ...by the time it was released in June 1977." ...and that was it; "Chrome Dreams" was never mentioned in the press again & it was assumed to be just another pencil sketched song-list album.
Out of the blue, reports from Germany in July 1992 claimed that the acetate of the legendary album had surfaced. Initial "proof" came by way of xeroxed "test pressing data sheet" which provided more information about "Chrome Dreams" than anyone had ever imagined. Unfortunately, the data sheet had been created by the record dealer/Neil Young collector that "discovered" the acetate in 1992. The sheet's design was meant to be both easy to read/understand, and a ridiculing joke aimed at "detailed-information-fanatic" collectors --but nobody got the joke, and most collectors dismissed the acetate and any stories about this "unreleased Chrome Dreams album" as fake. Their loss; detailed information about the unreleased/previously unknown studio recordings was so impressive that even NYA archivist Joel Bernstein conceded to the accuracy of the information.
Photos of the labels proved that the acetate really did exist, and we all assumed that it was just a matter of time before a bootleg CD would appear so we could finally hear this thing.
Sure enough, a year later the bootleg CD was released in Germany; unlike same/similar-titled CDs to follow, this first bootleg CD is the original acetate, with a couple of (unlisted) "hidden" tracks at the end of the 12-song program.
Authenticity of the "album" remained a subject for debate until some months later when I acquired the actual acetate. It's a bit noisier than the CD, but it sure sounds better.
Most-importantly, whatever this "album" was supposed to be called, this acetate is positively legitimate, as described in this article and of immeasurable historical importance, period.
Made up mostly of songs recorded between September '75- November 1976 at Indigo Studios - Malibu Canyon, CA, the album starts off with an "alternate" version of "Pocahontas." This solo acoustic version is in fact the same take as on "Rust Never Sleeps" (July 1979) --minus the overdubs. "Will To Love"("American stars 'n bars"),"Star 0f Bethlehem"("Decade" October 1977) and "Like A Hurricane" ("stars 'n bars") sound much brighter, though they're all released takes.
Side 1 ends with a studio version of "Too Far Gone." At first it seems as if this is just a "warm-up" version before the tape rolled for the 1989 "Freedom" recording. In fact, the tempo is so similar that this take is only 10 seconds shorter than the released version! Unlike the released version, the sparse arrangement & hung-over performance that shuffles along under the lyrics with Neil reciting each line matter-of-factly, as if just-written.
Side two opens with an alternate version of "Hold Back The Tears," which was apparently recorded around the same date as"Too Far Gone." Unlike the "stars 'n bars" version, this take is considerably slower, and definitely more intense.
"Homegrown" follows, & even though this is the same take as the "stars 'n bars" LP, the mix is noticeably different. The guitars are pushed way up-front and have a "crisp distorted" sound. "Captain Kennedy" ("Hawks & Doves" 0ct. 1980) is next, with the well-known March 31, 1976 Hammersmith Odeon - London, U.K. version of "Stringman" right after. Often bootlegged, but just another famous unreleased song until 1993's "unplugged" album. This song was performed often during the 1976 U.K. tour, but never recorded in a studio (or performed again,until 1993).
An AMAZING example of TEXTBOOK "NEILYOUNG WITH CRAZY HORSE" follows with the STUDIO VERSION of "Sedan Delivery" that makes the "Rust" version sound like an "Old Ways" out-take! This plodding, ragged & LOUD performance would've fit just as well on "Times Square" or "Eldorado" as it does here.
It's a matter of personal opinion, but for me, the next track is the highlight of the album: the "Powderfinger" "studio demo." The stunningly-simple-but-brilliant acoustic performance defines "Neil the storyteller" at his very best. Additionally, this take isn't "better" than the "Rust" version; it simply stands apart as a completely different and, somehow, far-more-desperate & heart-breaking song, absolutely perfect from start to finish.
Even so, it'd be hard to find a better closing track to this set than"Look Out For My Love." Lost in the shuffle of the "Comes A Time" tapestry (October 1978), this haunting wordplay proves to be the perfect summary of the thunder & lightning that came before it.
Had it been released, "Chrome Dreams" might have stood today as one of Neil Young's best records ever. The bar-room characters amidst historical references & passionate love songs creates a magical atmosphere. But like most first drafts, the perception of what's important & what isn't must be left to the artist, and not to the record company bean counters or the whims of the artists' "biggest" fans. As near-perfect as "Chrome Dreams" might seem, it's release would've created un-fillable holes in other near-perfect albums like "American stars 'n bars," "Comes A Time" and "Rust Never Sleeps."
In any event, this "album" of rough sketches stands as a unique historical document, long-lost somewhere in the pages of Neil Young's amazingly-brilliant career; and at the top of the "ESSENTIAL Neil Young tapes" list.
NYA VOLUME 1 PACKAGE PROBLEMS Neil Young
We are aware of package problems with the box that the NYA V1 set comes in. Some users have experienced boxes where the book and/or Disc pack have fallen into the slots in the box and are difficult to recover without damaging the box further. If you have this problem, just email wbr@b3custserv.com and get a new box free. Thanks for your understanding. I am personally very sorry that is has happened to some users.
RE-ISSUE OF A MASTER: FURNACE MFG COMPLETES PRESSING OF NEIL YOUNG'S OFFICIAL RELEASE SERIES DISC 1-4 BOX SET
Fairfax, VA (PRWEB) November 22, 2009 -- Furnace MFG is proud to announce the pressing completion of Neil Young's first four albums on 180 gram audiophile quality vinyl in limited edition box sets. Each box set (and all corresponding jackets included within) are numbered with gold foil stamps and limited to 3,000 units. The records were pressed by the Pallas Group in Germany - arguably the finest vinyl pressing facility in the world.
Neil Young's self-titled solo album was first released in 1969. That was followed by "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere" also in 1969. The following year saw the release of "After the Gold Rush" and finally in 1972, "Harvest" was released and reached both critical and commercial success.
Warner Bros. Music selected Furnace MFG to press the vinyl records, hand-stamp each individual jacket and box set with a unique number in gold leaf, and assemble the final product for distribution and sale to customers. The entire project is limited to just 3,000 box sets. Once the box sets are gone, this limited edition configuration will no longer be available.
The records were pressed at Furnace's German partner - the Pallas Group on 180 gram audiophile quality vinyl. Pallas has a long history of extremely high-quality vinyl pressing and is considered the plant of choice for many audiophile record labels throughout the world.
Tom Biery, General Manager of Warner Bros. Records and vinyl enthusiast commented: "In all my years of working vinyl releases, I was shocked at just how incredible these Neil Young re-masters sound. There is no doubt in my mind that when listening to these recordings on the new, upgraded vinyl format, it will be as close as anyone will audibly come to actually being in the studio listening to the original master tapes. It now sounds as if you are in the room with Neil during the session."
The limited edition Neil Young Official Release Series Disc 1-4 Box Set will be available on November 24th exclusively at www.becausesoundmatters.com or www.neilyoung.com
About Furnace MFG: In business since 1996, Furnace MFG (www.furnacemfg.com/vinyl) is a recognized leader in CD and DVD duplication, replication, and vinyl record manufacturing and packaging.
OUT OF THE BLUE AND INTO THE BLACK - RENAISSANCE VIA NEIL YOUNG'S ARCHIVES by Kandia Crazy Horse ESSAY This is the briar patch, the place from which all funky thangs flow. On the anniversary of the death of my Afro-Algonquin Southern (re)belle mother, my bare feet are planted in the dirt. Since it's also the last days of Black Music Month, I am out of my head, thoughts swirling across the amber waves pondering the intersections of family, flesh, and funk, questing after new sounds and cultural concepts even as I journey into my sonic past. The last time it seems I was so enmeshed and empowered by cultural renaissance was just over 21 years ago, when Neil Young first heralded his now released Archives project, and I embraced the notion that Neil Young's work is black music.
My late mother was a restless adventurer born in Virginia -- and I perceive Neil Young as the same via osmosis from his maternal grandfather, Bill Ragland, a Virginian émigré to the Great North and scion of the Southern planter class from Petersburg. The Neil Young I love most is the direct heir of aspects of Daddy Ragland's personal lore: he had the first radio and gramophone in Winnipeg, Canada; he fiercely retained his American citizenship while big pimpin' in Manitoba (foreshadowing his grandson's famous Canadian retentions despite residing in California).
Daddy Ragland boasted that his grandfather had freed the enslaved Africans on the family plantation. But he was also descended from the original British invaders who established Virginia Colony, destroying my people's lifeways and ecology in process, setting precedents for America's current crises around violence, resources, and the environment. The glories and tensions in Young's family fables would appear to be the benefactor of much of his catalog's leading lights: "Southern Man," "Cortez the Killer," "After the Gold Rush," "Country Girl," "Pocahontas," "Here We Are In the Years," "Alabama," "Broken Arrow," "Powderfinger," and "Down By the River."
Young's internal narrative of ur-Americana (literally carried on the blood) is enacted again and again and refashioned throughout Reprise's 10-disc Neil Young Archives -- Vol. 1 (1963-1972), a collection that traces his odyssey from Ventures acolyte and early earnest folkie to embryonic trickster of eco-metal. The epic nature of Young's work, akin to a late modern, machine age substitute for Greek myth -- at least for the hippie, Coastopian jet-set -- was once lost on me. The voice beaming over the radio waves in "Helpless" and "Sugar Mountain" was repellent to these ears, raised in the 1970s when Mother Nature was on the run and the last universally-recognized golden era of black music abounded with diverse male songbirds (Ronnie Dyson, Carl Anderson) and badass lovemen (Teddy Pendergrass, Eddie Levert). But one day, after yet another wearisome visit to a coffeehouse festooned with Harry Chapin songs and some showoff girl's fey rendition of "Helpless," I encountered three Neil Young masterpieces that forever altered my hearing: "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing," "Broken Arrow," and "Cinnamon Girl." I became a Buffalo Springfield devotee for life.
What also went down? Somehow, pre-Web and locked away in the wilds with limited resources, I discovered my favorite bit of rock trivia: Neil Young was in a band with Rick James signed to Motown for a seven-year deal, the Mynah Birds. Young's engagements with psych, punk, and grunge are well-documented -- even if most shirk the challenge of unpacking his electro output -- but the lurking presence of the funk in his aesthetic is often ignored. Now, I ain't saying ole Neil could come down to my former hood and swing with a Chocolate City go-go outfit (maybe he could trouble the funk?), but on "Go Ahead and Cry," the ringing of his unleashed 1970s guitar sound is already evident. The sublime meeting of Young's thang with "The Sound of Young America" makes one lament how differently (black) rock history might have looked had the Mynah Birds triumphed at Hitsville.
My view is that Young couldn't have written some of his best songs, like "Cinnamon Girl" and "Mr. Soul," plus freakery I dig such as "Sea of Madness," without that brief spell at Motown. (It's interesting to imagine former auto-line worker Berry Gordy and car enthusiast Young rapping by chance). In a weird way, the shades of Young that appeared on the pop stage and relentlessly morphed between "Clancy" and "When You Dance I Can Really Love" seem to coexist with turn-of-the-'70s Motown mavericks who also flirted with polemics, space rock, and soul yodeling: Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Eddie Kendricks.
The Mynah Birds are sadly absent from volume one of Archives, despite a fleeting citation in its chronological timeline. But a few months before the box set dropped I acquired my grail of Mynah Birds tracks, and the picture of Young as a potential R&B artist who brought some of the Motown sensibility to bear upon the aesthetics of his next band, the Buffalo Springfield, emerged tantalizingly. Alongside it was the turbulent back story of the striving front man Ricky James Matthews (a Mick Jagger acolyte who later renamed himself), who failed to gain support for his hybrid vision of black rock even as his old bandmate soared from the ashes of Woodstock Nation.
Aside from the future Super Freak, Young's key ace boons on the funk express were Bruce Palmer (1946-2004) and Danny Whitten (1943-72) -- besides Stephen Stills, the stars of this first set. Palmer, a native of Toronto who shared a deep spiritual bond with Young, had been in an all-black Canadian band led by Billy Clarkson even prior to his membership in the Mynah Birds. He subsequently brought his low-end theories to the Springfield; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (before being replaced by young Motown bassist Greg Reeves); and Young's thwarted revolutionary electronic project Trans (Geffen, 1982). Palmer also reunited with Rick James after the Springfield's implosion, producing the beautiful psych-jazz classic The Cycle Is Complete (Verve, 1971), a rival to Skip Spence's Oar (Columbia, 1969).
Columbus, Ga.,-bred Whitten might still be Young's most fabled collaborator. His premature death by heroin overdose inspired "The Needle and the Damage Done" (included amongst other Harvest tracks on disc eight of Vol. 1) and the dark and stark standout of the "Ditch Trilogy," Tonight's the Night (Reprise, 1975), which will feature in the next Archives installment. Even before starting the Laurel Canyon-based Rockets (which became Crazy Horse), Whitten had been a live R&B dancer and seems to have restored some genuine Southern rock 'n' soul flava to the mix of his boy twice-removed from Dixie. Every time I hear the vainglorious funk bomb that is "Cinnamon Girl," I recognize that element is there and regret Whitten's passing even more.
I first and foremost swear fealty to Buffalo Springfield. But for all his seemingly mercurial guises, the plaid-and-denim-clad Young who conjured Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Reprise, 1969) and the songs from the Ditch in company with Crazy Horse and other canyon pickers appears to be the most enduring direct influence on later generations. To try to make sense of Young's legend, I consulted an amen corner: Harry Weinger, VP of A&R at Universal Motown; famed Harvest producer Elliot Mazer; and young J. Tillman.
I also saw my Alabama-bred friend Patterson Hood at the Bowery Ballroom, bringing an element of Stills and Young's guitar duels and Young's volume to the stage, backed by the Screwtopians. Brother Hood's chief band, Drive-By Truckers, came to most folks' attention with 2001's Sept. 12 Soul Dump release Southern Rock Opera, a sprawling masterwork in two acts that dealt with -- among other Southern myths -- the complex relationship between Young and Lynyrd Skynyrd icon Ronnie Van Zant (see "Ronnie and Neil"). When we discussed the Archives before the gig, Patterson professed to be waiting on tenterhooks for the next volume, due to the Ditch releases: TTN, Time Fades Away (Reprise, 1973), and my favorite, On the Beach (Reprise, 1974).
Tillman -- Pacific Northwest-dwelling solo artist and multi-instrumentalist member of Fleet Foxes -- was illuminating on the subject of Young as artistic forebear. This year, the Foxes were summoned by Young to tour with him and perform at his annual Bridge School benefit, even as Tillman promoted Vacilando Territory Blues (Bella Union) and began to develop his next solo recording Year In the Kingdom. Kindly, he paused amid all this flurry to speak on Young's influence when we crossed paths earlier this year:
"Neil is a figure to follow and not follow. Following him is kind of antithetical to the spirit of his music, but it's hard to resist the mythology ...
"Neil's understanding of the technical side of the recording process, and his obsession with gear and tone, stands in total contrast to his completely intuitive approach to making records." he continued. "Each of his records has an environment that is as big a part of the record as the songs. Recording in a barn, an SIR storage space, doing honey-slides with Rusty Kershaw - he always positions himself for moments of magic."
Despite Young's great capacity for harnessing magic, what Archives demonstrates beyond the master's curatorial intent is the vast gulf between the violent-but-halcyon time that begat his earliest works and now, when ever more plastic reigns in our common culture. When I cited surprise at a sudden small surge in younger folk and country-rockin' artists who profess overt adoration of and respect for Buffalo Springfield and Stills' Manassas, Tillman voiced skepticism:
"Our generation has been told that we can buy authenticity. Advertising is so enmeshed in our thought life we've developed Stockholm syndrome. People buy the idea of the '60s and '70s like a product, like it's something you can own by buying things, or conversely, by becoming a product fashioned in the style of the '70s. There are plenty of people dying to make a buck off that. It's sad how commodified music has become, how people just do it to be it, instead of doing it because they are it. Neil refused to be bought or sold or owned in his own time, like any of the greats."
As for Young followers on the blackhand side, they may not be legion but today -- more than four decades after he was meant to produce Love's masterpiece Forever Changes (Elektra, 1967) and long after his road dawgin' with former Malibu neighbor Booker T. Jones -- there are more than you might think. Richie Havens still cut what might rate as the best-ever Young cover: his desperate, electric, heavy metal "The Loner" on Mixed Bag II (Stormy Forest, 1974). The other week I attended a taping of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and after the show, when Roots' guitarist Kirk Douglas spotted the behemoth Archives box I was toting, he ripped a few blazing riffs from "Cinnamon Girl."
Outlaws don't always go out in a blaze of glory. Some, like Young, abide, too ornery for entropy to overtake them. I expect him to continue restlessly exploring where he and Sudanese bluenote sound intersect in the eye of the volt. As for the native rights supporter who came off like the inscrutable brave in Buffalo Springfield's dynamic cowboy movie -- but who totes a cigar store Indian onstage? The rebel in me that thrills to Young's peculiarly suhthuhn quixotic qualities and access to American African's obsession with freedom wants him to account for these lyrics about my ancestral sovereign Wahunsunacock's martyred daughter, Matoaka:
I wish I was a trapper
I would give a thousand pelts
To sleep with Pocahontas
And find out how she felt
In the mornin' on the fields of green
In the homeland we've never seen.
Hey now hey ... my my my. Aren't we both, the contested bodies, still looking for America?
SPOTLIGHT
Neil Young: Archives Vol. I 1963-1972 by Bob Gendron
Neil Young's Archives Vol. I 10-disc multimedia box set is the stuff of dreams. Specifically made for the Blu-ray disc format (the compilation is also available on 10-disc DVD and 8-CD sets, respectively), it is the most groundbreaking music release in decades-an immersive intersection of sound, vision, and interactivity that will change how bands present their history and how fans experience art.
For years nothing more than a rumor that became legendary for the myriad delays caused by the absence of a suitable technology, the set reaffirms Young's brilliance, ambition, and imagination. Not there was ever any doubt. That the Canadian native possessed the foresight to commence this project in earnest nearly four decades ago, and then execute it with such intelligent design and loving enthusiasm, staggers the senses. And that's exactly what Archives Vol. I does from beginning to end.
The first of four planned chronological sets intended to document nearly every aspect of Young's peerless career, Archives Vol. I spans 1963-1972 and includes 128 songs (48 of which are previously unreleased), more than four dozen bonus tracks, the debut non-theatrical release of the 1973 film Journey Through the Past, and, most strikingly, mind-blowing 24-bit/192kHz stereo PCM sound remastered from the original master tapes. A giant box with a "secret stash" compartment, 236-page hardbound book, foldout poster, and custom keeper for the sleeved discs complete the impressive physical package. The ingenious manner in which the material is presented onscreen (and, by extension, on your stereo) is even better.
Almost everything is organized in a virtual file cabinet in which every song has its own folder. Click on the song title and a folder opens up, revealing every detail pertaining to the tune (musician credits, recording date, record label and catalog number (if applicable), and cover art) as well as a set of subfolders. While the latter vary according to the song, they hold a wealth of memorabilia, documents, and photos. Certain tracks also come with audio and/or video logs-bonus media that comprise live footage, radio interviews, concert banter, promotional spots, and television appearances.
If all that wasn't enough, each disc includes a timeline, a thoroughly engrossing pursuit that encourages user navigation and includes thumbtacks that, when clicked, open extra archival aural and video material. The timeline is also where all future BD Live downloads will appear. Only available on Blu-ray, Young intends on making additional content available for free as it is discovered and restored, meaning that Archives Vol. I could grow infinitely in scope. This potential is alone worth the investment in the advanced technology, and it seems Young is sincere in making good on the promise. Written Young biographies that speak to what happened in his life during the time period on each particular disc and assortment of other menu options, including an audio/video setup helper that ensures that televisions are properly displaying the 1920 1080 content, round out the menu choices.
In terms of exploring new avenues for presenting content, it seems nothing has been forgotten. Not even footage of Young perusing his own archives alongside photographer Joel Bernstein and producer L.A. Johnson. As he sifts through a seemingly endless stacks and spreads of photos, papers, and paraphernalia, Young's blunt comments and astute reflections serve as some of the most revealing matter in the box. Cleverly, the moments are all "hidden" as Easter Eggs amidst the menus. Other Easter Egg content is scattered amidst the song files, be it an unreleased take of "I Believe In You" with Young jingling sleigh bells or a jaunty alternative version of "When You Dance, I Can Really Love" that comes across as more raw (and country) than the original.
And it's the pairing of Young's incomparable music with corresponding historical records-original lyric manuscripts, never-before-seen photos, radio ad sheets, rare 45rpm single artwork, setlists, tape boxes, hand-drawn sketches, newspaper articles, concert and album reviews, advertisements, show programs-that makes Archives Vol. I. a journey that's like nothing else. The opportunity to explore, browse, and watch Young's amazing evolution-on this volume, we see him from his time with the clean-cut high-school band the Squires to his tenure in Buffalo Springfield before his subsequent stretch as an idiosyncratic solo artist, Crazy Horse associate, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young member-offers unparalleled insight and unlimited depth.
There are too many highlights to mention, too many surprises to list. Just as it should be: One of Archives' biggest achievements is the way it invites the user to peruse, loiter, and sample at their own leisure. Yes, this major creative excavation is meant to be savored, but it's difficult not to want to devour everything. Young and Johnson even provided a listening-only option where tracks play straight through as they would on a CD while a period home-playback mechanism (i.e., reel-to-reel tape deck or old phonograph) "plays" the tune and doubles as a screen saver. Witty.
Yet Archives Vol. I is as much a visual as a sonic undertaking. Despite the early periods covered, illuminating video footage abounds. One of the set's priceless entries shows Young strolling into a Hollywood record store, finding a CSNY bootleg LP, confronting the clerk, and literally taking the album out of the shop. Viewers are also treated to watching CSNY perform "Down By the River" on ABC's The Music Scene in 1969; Young strolling unannounced into a Greenwich Village coffeehouse to play a few songs; CSNY singing "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" onstage in June 1970, with Stephen Stills plucking a double bass; Young working with the London Symphony Orchestra on "A Man Needs a Maid"; Harvest recording sessions inside the vocalist's Broken Arrow Ranch barn, complete with musicians perched on hay bales; Young observing the printing of his album covers at a record-pressing plant; and more.
Using the various "support" elements (radio interviews, timeline, etc.) as reference points, Young's music assumes greater relevance and gains in stature. Ideas behind songs and arrangements, as well as reasons and regrets, unfold with narrative clarity and frank humor. Archives Vol. I removes much of the opaque divide between Young and his audience, allowing for unmatched transparency and enhanced perspective. The inspiration behind "Old Man," decisions behind the flawed remixing of Young's solo debut, motives for the singer's move to Topanga Canyon (and later, Broken Arrow Ranch), initial ideas for what became Harvest, and feelings on subjects ranging from everything to Buffalo Springfield's breakup to songwriting to his own image are all divulged.
"It's interesting how I contradict myself over time," Young observes at one point, the statement indicative of the set's enormous span and informative nature. From the start, it's clear that Archives was as revealing to Young as it is for the fan. And it's the singer's hands-on involvement, whip-smart commentary, and willingness to share so many riches and memories that remove ego from the equation. What could've been a monumental celebration of self is instead a fascinating portrait of a pioneering artist that's forever evaded labels, rules, and convention. Even at 10 discs, Archives Vol. I leaves you wanting more-a testament to both Young's superior body of work (in addition to the entirety of Live at the Fillmore East and Live at Massey Hall releases, nearly every song from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After the Goldrush, and Harvest are here) and the project's spare-no-time-or-money-expenses quality.
And nowhere is that attribute more manifest than in the sonics. The warmth, richness, fullness, airiness, separation, body, extension, detail, intimacy, tonality, depth, dimensionality, clarity, and sheer life-like presence that these recordings convey defy expectation and transcend limitation. At every step, whether on 1965's "The Sultan" or a wowing, previously unheard 1971 version of "Dance Dance Dance" with Graham Nash, the sound is room-filling, balanced, natural, lively, and utterly engaging. Digital has never been better.
Neither has any box set in recent memory. In Archives, Young and company have gone beyond their realm. They've created a platform that other artists can use to assemble their own music-based multimedia scrapbook. Think of what Pearl Jam, Radiohead, and Bob Dylan could do with this format! Until that happens, Young has established a precedent that may be impossible to top, and he's not yet even halfway through.
NEIL YOUNG - FORK IN THE ROAD by Mike Ragogna, April 6, 2009
"Takin' a trip across the USA, gonna see a lot of people along the way," sings Neil Young on "When Worlds Collide," the first song of his new ten-track travelogue, Fork In The Road. Following the full-throttle activism of his previous album, Living With War (Young's indictment of the U.S.'s Middle-East occupations and the Bush administration), this time out, the socially-conscious artist offers a road map of sorts to a nation (and world) currently choosing its future direction. Like Living With War, there are plenty of guitars a-janglin' and a proper dose of finger-waggin'; but Fork In The Road is more interested in focusing on the joy that is our love affair with cars, Young's own passion that led to the creation of LincVolt technology that converts gas guzzlers into bio-mobiles. The album comes fully-loaded with "car" metaphors and allegories (just like this paragraph), but it's a fun ride for Young's usual passengers as well as anyone just checking out what's under the hood.
First off, "When Worlds Collide" shows us the path we've traveled, where "wrong is right," "truth is fiction," and how "strange things happen when worlds collide." However, there is no rowdy "Let's Impeach The President" fist-shaking, it's all Obama-cool fist-bumping. Among the retro, garage rock 'n' roll and bluesy rockers embedded here, Young offers catchy chants such as "Cough Up The Bucks"'s repeated title that plays off its main theme, "Where did all the money go? Where did all the cash flow? Where did all the revenues stream?" The answer is found in the song's opening line, "It's all about my car, it's all about my girl...it's all about my world," and aware of that reality, Young launches into his solution in "Johnny Magic," the story of an "inventor" and the Wichita, Kansas, company that converted his 1959 Lincoln Continental into an efficient, bio-fueled/battery-powered vehicle.
In November 2008, Young told the San Francisco Chronicle's Al Saracevic, "All we're doing is showing that you can run a car like this at 100 miles per gallon or more," and "Johnny Magic" expands that intention to widescreen proportions as Young travels to Washington and, Mr. Smith-style, takes Congress on a ride in his "Heavy Metal Continental." On that topic, "Fuel Line" gives us another shout-a-long with its tag "Keep fillin' that fuel line, keep fillin' that old fuel line" that can be interpreted as both sarcasm (like "go on, keep wasting gas, moron") and suggestion (as in "we can fill 'er up on bio-fuel 'til she pukes"). "Get Behind The Wheel" is yet another car tribute that can be taken two ways: literally, as Young's simple statement, "Gotta get behind the wheel in the morning and drive," or as his pitch to get our metal mates up to green specs since we spend so much time riding and adoring them.
Fork In The Road's more sensitive tracks use their slower tempos and reduced production thump to bring home philosophies like, "You know that the end is not in sight...you can never take your eyes off the road" ("Off The Road"), "You can sing about change while you're makin' your own...just singing a song won't change the world" ("Just Singing A Song"), and "Instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle for where we're goin', there's something ahead worth lookin' for," from the album's angelic Harvest/After The Gold Rush love child, "Light A Candle." But for the most part, the album rocks along courtesy of Neil Young (guitars and vocals), Anthony Crawford (electric, acoustic, and lap steel guitars, Hammond B-3, background vocals), Rick Rosas (bass), Chad Cromwell (drums), and wife, Pegi Young (vibes, acoustic guitar, background vocals). It was produced by the artist and Niko Bolas (alias "The Volume Dealers"), and it was recorded in NYC's Legacy Studios and London's famous RAK Studios.
Neil Young's sense of humor shines in scattered lines throughout (as well as on all of the album's associated videos), but, weirdly, Fork In The Road's title track is as serious as it is goofy. Its well-conceived randomness breaks into one of the album's most memorable sing-a-longs: "There's a bailout comin' but it's not for you, it's for all those creeps hidin' what they do." All true, and the Young/Bubba hybrid of "Fork In The Road" (featured on the best intentionally bloggy video this side of YouTube) rants and rolls about change and choices, such as when he addresses the horrors of a flat-screen repossession that results in a hole in the wall and missing a Raiders game. The track's most commendable "thank God someone's saying that" moment (and probably iTunes' least favorite) is when Young offers up the ugly truth about online sound quality: "Download this...sounds like s*%#." And whether it be about everyone having to adjust what they do to make money ("My friend has a pickup...he takes his wife to beauty school, now she's doin' nails..."), bringing the troops home ("They're all still there in a f#%*ing war, it's no good, whose idea was that?"), staying positive ("I've got hope, but you can't eat hope..."), or even about his own career ("My sales have tanked, but I've still got you, thanks..."), Young's mission on this and every song on the album is to make you think, and maybe even re-consider some out-of-the-box, "wacky" ideas--you know, like bio-fuel car conversions.
Many will appreciate Fork In The Road's altruism, and it would be refreshing if Neil Young disciples (such as the musically prolific Matthew Sweet) dedicated whole projects to the causes of their hearts. However, many will feel that this album is just a mile-marker along Young's journey to his next epiphany. But remember how the futuristic/controversial Trans endeared itself to a younger, more open-minded generation than the previous one who just wanted their favorite rockstar to keep grunging along or, in the very least, write "Heart Of Gold-Part X"? Well, now Young is no longer merely dreaming about those silver spaceships...he's making his own and riding in them, and this time, Mother Nature doesn't have to be on the run. After living with war for years, with the effects of global warming becoming more apparent, and feeling the consequences of funding every consumer and Wall Street whim, we finally are experiencing some of those scary forecasts that now place our future in that proverbial fork in the road. All Neil Young wants is for us to choose our path wisely and drive down it efficiently.
Image from the video
