Sugar Mountain (NYAPS 00)

Oh, my! Another entry from the Neil Young Archives Performance Series... seems as though its release may not have been originally anticipated (hence the "00" numbering). Yes, there's a little tape hiss. It's clearly an old recording (November 1968), but pretty damned good (slight hiss and all).

And, the performance itself... wow! Solo-acoustic Neil is almost always awe-inspiring. But, here, you have added bonuses, such as #1) Neil's youthful exuberance, on prime display in the between-songs banter, and #2) The setlist... Buffalo Springfield classics when they were only a year or so old... and as-of-then-yet-to-be-released songs from his debut solo LP.

HIGHLY recommended, folks.

01. (Emcee intro)
02. On The Way Home
03. Songwriting rap
04. Mr. Soul
05. Recording rap
06. Expecting To Fly
07. The Last Trip To Tulsa
08. Bookstore rap
09. The Loner
10. “I used to” rap
11. Birds
12. Winterlong (excerpt) and Out of My Mind - intro
13. Out Of My Mind
14. If I Could Have Her Tonight
15. Classical Gas rap
16. Sugar Mountain – intro
17. Sugar Mountain
18. I've Been Waiting for You
19. Songs rap
20. Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing
21. Tuning Rap & The Old Laughing Lady – intro
22. The Old Laughing Lady
23. Broken Arrow

Sugar Mountain - Live At Canterbury House 1968 is a live album by Neil Young. On November 9-10, 1968, Young performed two shows at Canterbury House in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This album is compiled from these performances.

"I'm a barrel of laughs with my carbine on"

I finally decided to plop down my $11 to purchase a compact disc of one of my all-time favorite Neil Young albums, ON THE BEACH (1974). This album was, in fact, the subject of my 3rd ever HH post (way back in January 2006). This is what I originally wrote:

The 3rd installment of the "I heard Mr. Young sing about her" files. Current selection: ON THE BEACH (1974)

It turns out, Neil can play some blues and blues-influenced rock.

Brief tune-by-tune recap:

"Walk On" - Genuine Neil Young classic! Great rock 'n roll tune. "I hear some people/Been talkin' me down/Bring up my name/Pass it round/They don't mention/The happy times/They do their thing/I do mine"...possibly Neil responding somewhat amicably to"Sweet Home Alabama"?

"See the Sky About to Rain" - Slower tune in which Neil reverts a bit to his country influences

"Revolution Blues" - Neil does some rockin' while singing of gunning people down. David Crosby credited on rhythm guitar, not that anyone would notice (or care)

"For the Turnstiles" - GREAT bluesy acoustic jam. Some darn fine banjo pickin' and angry vocals, both by Neil

"Vampire Blues" - Sounds like some solid 60s/70s electric blues. Neil plays a little lead guitar that highlights just how underrated his guitar work is.

"On the Beach" - 7+ minute title track is slow & bluesy. Once again, Neil plays him some guitar, if I do say so my damn self. Graham Nash credited on the"Wurlitzer Piano" (again, far from the highlight; as always, Neil towers above Crosby, Stills & Nash)

"Motion Pictures" - Slow & soft, but with incredible slide guitar work by guest Rusty Kershaw. Neil sings, strums acoustic guitar, and plays harmonica. Damned fine song in my humble opinion.

"Ambulance Blues" - Nearly 9 minutes, acoustic, and very interesting lyrically..."You're all just pissin'in the wind..."

Bottom line: If you don't have it, you should get it. If you have it, you should keep it!!!

Man, I left out a TON of things! Not a single mention of Ben Keith!!! HOLY CRAP! Failing to mention his slide work on "For The Turnstiles" is an unforgivable sin.

How about the fact that the lyrics to "Revolution Blues" were inspired by Charles Manson?

Of course, there are also things I didn't know at the time. Like "Walk On" and "For The Turnstiles" were on the original acetate pressing of TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT in 1973. (Of course, that album wasn't released until 1975, at which time these 2 tunes had already been released on O.T.B.)

And, "See The Sky About To Rain" was performed on his solo tour of 1971...as can now be heard on the LIVE AT MASSEY HALL 1971 release (from March 2007 as an installment of the 'Neil Young Archives Performance Series').

Hearing the recordings of Neil's North American Tour from last fall, with the great solo-acoustic versions of "Ambulance Blues" reminds me of what a great, great song that is.

This album is in my Neil Top 5.

Chrome Dreams II Tracks/Tour Dates

Chrome Dreams II (set for release Oct. 16) tracklist:
01. Beautiful Bluebird (3:30)
02. Boxcar (3:15)
03. Ordinary People (18:13)
04. Shining Light (4:33)
05. The Believer (2:38)
06. Spirit Road (5:01)
07. Dirty Old Man (2:52)
08. Ever After (3:32)
09. No Hidden Path (11:31)
10. The Way (5:15)

Tour Dates:

10-18 Boise, ID - Morrison Center
10-20 Spokane, WA - INB Performing Arts Center
10-22 Portland, OR - Keller Theater
10-23 Seattle, WA - WaMu Center
10-27 Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre (Bridge School benefit)
10-28 Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre (Bridge School benefit)
10-30 Los Angeles, CA - Nokia Theatre
11-05 Denver, CO - Wells Fargo Theatre
11-08 Minneapolis, MO - Northrop Auditorium
11-10 Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre
11-12 Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre
11-13 Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre
11-15 Washington, DC - Constitution Hall
11-18 St. Louis, MO - Fox Theatre
11-26 Toronto, Ontario - Massey Hall
11-27 Toronto, Ontario - Massey Hall
12-02 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre
12-03 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre
12-05 Wallingford, CT - Chevrolet Theatre
12-09 Philadelphia, PA - Tower Theatre
12-12 New York, NY - United Palace
12-13 New York, NY - United Palace

Drumming up interest in Archives Vol. 1, I hope! (BRING ON the Archives, Neil! Thank you.)

Legendary Riverboat Shows to be NYAPS #1

Sounds sweeeeeet to me!

Neil Young Lyrics I Find Amusing

Last night I was cool at the pool hall
Held a table for 11 games
Nothing was easier than the first 7
I beat a woman with vericose veins

From "Sedan Delivery"

(Thanks to K.K., whose comment jogged my memory.)

Should Be A ROCKER!!! (Dammit!)

YOUNG PLAYS NEW RECORD FOR REPRISE

NY Times, August 16, 2007

Continuing a tradition that goes back to 1969, Neil Young played his latest recording for Reprise yesterday. The recording was played for about 100 people in Burbank. Produced by "The Volume Dealers," NY and Niko Bolas, the recording runs 60+ minutes and includes two giant songs that time in at 18:30 and 13:00, respectively. Drawing from three songs written previously, and 7 new songs, the latest Neil Young is a very diverse recording. A release date is unknown at this time. The title is Chrome Dreams II.
Chrome Dreams is a legendary NY album from 1977 that had originally been scheduled for release but was shelved. The original cover for Chrome Dreams was created by Neil's long-time producer and friend, the late David Briggs. Unfortunately, all original documentation and art for this album was lost in a fire that destroyed Neil's Malibu home in early 1978.
________________________________________________

[NOTE: "NY Times" as in Neil's website, not the New York Times--which ironically might've made it MORE reliable, in Haahnster's opinion!]

Rumor has it that one of the "previously written" songs is "Ordinary People", the unreleased Bluenotes-era monster and fan favorite! Neil, PLEASE, you can still release the Archives!!! I swear it'll work. New material AND the Archives...

Randomly Quoting SHAKEY

"One thing I could never tell Neil--or even talk to Neil about--is what he should record. I've never in twenty-six years suggested the kind of material he should be writing. It doesn't work like that. If I thought it did, maybe I would, frankly. It just doesn't. If you just say, 'Boy, that's a hit single' to Neil, not only is it not released as a single, it's off the album."

Elliot Roberts, Neil Young's long-time manager, as quoted by Jimmy McDonough in Shakey

Shocking News!

Thrasher's Wheat is reporting that the first volume of the Neil Young Archives is being delayed until February 2008.

Shocking news, indeed.

Now, Back to Massey Hall (Again)

SERIOUSLY, just go BUY the damned thing (if you haven't already). It's BEAUTIFUL!!!

Now, Back to Massey Hall

OK, so I said I'd have more to say on the latest release from the NYAPS, Live At Massey Hall. However, I've been left all but speechless. It's PHENOMENAL! Now, of course, for more than a year I've had a beautiful sounding copy of the soundboard recording of Neil's late show from this very date (January 19, 1971). So, I've heard a lot of this before. But, this sounds even better, especially on the DVD. It truly feels like he's in the living room playing.

Plus, the DVD has film footage of all but 4 songs. Now, the footage does not appear to be from this date & venue. But, for the most part it matches up well enough, and it certainly enhances the experience. Some interesting extra features are present as well: notes, lyrics, newspaper articles, a couple extra videos, home movie footage (including the ranch hand who was the inspiration for "Old Man")...

This is seamlessly edited to sound like one show, and at 17 songs, it's a full set list. Wonderful. I haven't done a side-by-side comparison of the b**tleg to the new release, to see which songs are from the late show (and, by process of elimination, which ones must be from the early show). I doubt I will.

However, one song that must be from the early show is "Bad Fog of Loneliness" (which has never been officially released on an album, although it was on the Red Rocks Live DVD in 2000). On the b**tleg of the late show, Neil introduces it with a hilarious monologue along the lines of (I'm paraphrasing here): This is a song you're not likely to hear again, folks. You see, about once a month I have a meeting with my songs to decide which ones to record...This song wasn't even invited to the meeting. [Hilarious!]

But, on this release, he introduces it with a story about being scheduled/rescheduled to appear on The Johnny Cash Show. I haven't heard it enough yet to even attempt to paraphrase it, but it's pretty funny too. Most casual fans of Neil Young might not realize what a great sense of humor he has. But, many of the recordings of his concerts reveal hilarious lines/stories/jokes. It could be one of the more revealing aspects of this Archives "Performance Series" to many listeners.

KEEP 'EM COMING, NEIL!

PS - The best part might be that there is an insert containing this information (click here then look at the photo). PLEASE let it be true.

SWEEEEEEET!!!

Thrasher posts that the latest release from NYAPS (Neil Young Archives Performance Series), Live at Massey Hall (aka Massey Hall 1971), is #1 on Amazon.com.

Speaking of Amazon.com, I suppose they're in the clear now. After pre-ordering this thing the first week of February, and getting an email on March 8th that it had shipped, release date (yesterday) came and went with no delivery. A quick check of tracking info warned of a possible delivery date as late as the 20th!!! I considered the purchase of a handgun. But, then this evening, upon returning home from work, joy was achieved: my CD/DVD combo had arrived!

More on this tomorrow...

HOLY SHIT!!!

I'd better start saving my pennies NOW!

CLICK HERE!

Jeezus H Kryst, I think you've got a hard-on...