Comment of the Moment: Time Fades Away as "The Greatest Lost Album"

Neil Young
Soundcheck - St. Petersburg, FL, February 1973
Photo by Joel Bernstein

The Neil Young Comment of the Moment is on Time Fades Away being called by Uncut Magazine "The Greatest Lost Album" by BigChief:

To resolve the T.F.A. dilemma, as Neil's first four albums were re-mastered and re-released in vinyl and C.D., wouldn't it be a timely decision at this point to release the 'Ditch Trilogy' in like manner?

It could be packaged in a triple L.P,C.D. box set titled 'The Ditch Trilogy' respectively. Include the original liner notes and all, right down to the glitter that was included in the first pressings of T.T.N. These recordings demand to be owned as a set together, like a chapter in a novel, to fully appreciate and understand their place in Neils body of work.

I highly doubt that it will happen, but wouldn't it be great if there were footage of the T.F.A. concerts included in the Archives Vol.2? Now that just might help to change my mind about an otherwise less than stellar recording. How about some video to accompany the T.T.N. era? Thats whats really missing here. We are fortunate to have the audio from these performances, however, this was an era prior to Neil having cameras documenting his every move as he did later in his career.

It seems there is very little footage prior to 1976, except for the Harvest stuff which I am grateful for.I know I'm getting a little off track here, but I was really disappointed when I found that the 'Vol#1 Archives' didn't include any live footage of Whitten era Crazy Horse! Something to think about, however, is the fact that with all of the information that is so readily available today via internet and such has inadvertantly over exposed Neil to his fans to the point that he has sacrificed a great deal of his mystique.

Neil has been an artist who obviously has been aware that when you talk about 'mystique', you no longer have it. Dylan had it as did Lennon to a degree, however, Neil built his entire career around it and he knew how to make it work for him. The 'lonely, stoner hippy' personna that characterized his image was the result of his fans perception of him based more on the lyrics of his songs than the reality of who he really is. Although he claims that he never even tried heroin, I know of people whom to this day believe he's a junky based on misinterpretation of the 'drug' lyrics of certain songs. "I love you baby can I have some more"? as if the addict in question is knocking on Neils cellar door for some more dope.

I've seen the needle and the damage done and believe me, no artist could possibly be as creative and enjoy the longevity and success of a career in anything as Neil has while enslaved to hard drugs ( see Curt Cobain).

Thanks Big Chief!

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