Neil Young's A Letter Home Limited Edition Box Set
(Click photo to enlarge)
In the category of "didn't see this one coming"... just announced from Warner Bros. Records:
A Letter Home Limited Edition Box Set
Reprise will release the complete box set, which includes a special "direct feed from the booth" audiophile vinyl version and a DVD that captured the original electro-mechanical process, along with comments from the producers and recording engineers. It includes:
- Standard audio LP pressed on 180-gram black vinyl
- Audiophile LP pressed on 180-gram black vinyl
- Standard audio CD
- DVD with footage from the recording
- 12" x 12", 32-page full color booklet
- Seven 6" vinyl discs pressed on clear vinyl. The 7th disc of this set features a version of Dylan's "Blowin' In The Wind" backed with an alternate take / arrangement of "Crazy"
(Also, see Neil Young’s lo-fi cover of Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ part of deluxe box set - National Bob Dylan | Examiner.com. Thanks Harold!)
April 24, 2014 - (Burbank, CA.) - Neil Young will release a CD, digital album and a Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set of his recent vinyl album A Letter Home on Reprise Records on May 27th. The box set is a beautifully packaged expanded version of the vinyl edition first released on February 21stby Jack White's Third Man Records. The Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set will also contain a Download card for the hi-res Audiophile version of the album. Click here to pre-order A Letter Home. Click here to view the album cover art. Click here to view the Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set package."This is a deeply personal and expressive listening experience which is as real and raw emotionally as it is sonically and yet light of touch in its form and flow."
Young recorded the collection of covers with White on a refurbished 1947 Voice-O-Graph recording booth at Third Man's Nashville headquarters. Imagine a very simple recording studio not much larger than a phone booth and you'll get the idea. He describes the album as "an unheard collection of rediscovered songs from the past recorded on ancient electro-mechanical technology captures and unleashes the essence of something that could have been gone forever." Recorded live to track to one-track, mono, the album has an inherent warm, primitive feel of a vintage Folkways recording.
As for the track-listing, Young chose songs that have personal meaning for him, such as British folk artist Bert Jansch's "Needle of Death" (which inspired Young to write 1972's "Needle and the Damage Done"), Bob Dylan's "Girl from the North Country," Willie Nelson's "Crazy," Don Everly's "I Wonder If I Care as Much," Bruce Springsteen's "My Home Town," and many others. Click here to watch a video for "Needle of Death"
The album begins with Neil recording a spoken letter to his late mother, informing her of his personal and present state of affairs which sets the tone and atmosphere for the duration of the album. He does this once again at the beginning of Side 2 in a way which could explain why he's selected these particular songs to record. In essence, this presentation is, as its title implies, A Letter Home from Neil. This is a deeply personal and expressive listening experience which is as real and raw emotionally as it is sonically and yet light of touch in its form and flow.
The track-listing for A Letter Home is as follows:
A Letter Home intro
Changes (Phil Ochs)
Girl from the North Country (Bob Dylan)
Needle of Death (Bert Jansch)
Early Morning Rain (Gordon Lightfoot)
Crazy (Willie Nelson)
Reason to Believe (Tim Hardin)
On the Road Again (Willie Nelson)
If You Could Read My Mind (Gordon Lightfoot)
Since I Met You Baby (Ivory Joe Hunter)
My Hometown (Bruce Springsteen)
I Wonder If I Care as Much (Don Everly)
Nice.
Neil Young performs "Needle of Death," off his upcoming album, 'A Letter Home.'
Labels: album, neil young, vinyl
by thrasher@PermaLink: 4/24/2014 09:27:00 AM
56 comments
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56 Comments:
Awesome. Gonna listen to the record I ordered 2 days ago before investing in this, but something tells me I'll be buying this as well...
The video sounds better than I was expecting. I have that Willie Nelson's 80th B-Day LP on Third Man Records, and it came with a recording from the booth which did not sound too hot...
Would not have been able to afford this right now, so I'm perfectly happy with the vinyl I ordered last week. Perhaps in the future if it's still available I'll pull the trigger on it.
Looks nice!
Heard Neil is gonna put out yet ANOTHER version on this album on picture disc where the actual picture on the disc will extrapolate out into a 24 bit/96 kHz audio wave file silhouette when processed through the same 3D imaging decoder that the aliens used in the 1997 movie CONTACT staring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. That track will be "WIGGLE WIGGLE". I got a buddy at Warners in the know.
Wow! That's crazy. Lets see Bob Dylan top that.
I wonder if the version that was released on record store day was the regular version or the audiophile special version?
The vinyl that is available now is the regular edition that was recorded straight to acetate.
The audiophile special edition was recorded straight on analog tape.
Though I do wonder how Neil fit any one of his piano's in that tiny booth or Neil and Jack together for that matter?
Amazon.ca has it listed at $79, forty bucks cheaper than Amazon.com!
"Amazon.ca has it listed at $79, forty bucks cheaper than Amazon.com!"
Up to $99.99 now. Get it while it's still relatively cheap!
"cough up the bucks, cough up the bucks"
What a wonderful Box Set! Really like the idea of the regular and audiophile version and the 6 inch records are real cool. Only wonder how much of a song fits on a 6 inch record? Great that Neil does make a set like this with Jack White and Third Man Records. Ha, and yes, I wonder too how they got a piano in the booth. Think I still have this very old Atari over here. That one for sure would fit... BSM
The box set follows the business model of selling 5 fans the same thing three hundred times. Some people are okay with that, but it's not for me. The CD will be my choice.
I love the songs, love the way Neil is performing them, but overall think it would have made a better live record. The versions on tour have been amazing.
Overall, the whole "record in a box" thing is annoying: it gets old very quickly, and above all it actually distracts you from the performances. The sort of gimmicky thing that David Briggs would have run a mile from.
The Flying Scotsman.
Brilliant idea. A live album with the same songs. I for sure would buy it again.
None of you have said if it's any GOOD.How much
Should I spend if it isn't?
A Letter from Home vinyl now listed on Amazon for 20.88
Anon: I've only heard some of it so far. Maybe the rest will surprise me and I will revise my opinion.
First impressions: As with most of Neil's projects since Briggs death, it seems underdeveloped and a bit light on "heavyweight" material. The songs themselves are fine choices, but you can tell Neil isn't particularly familiar with them at the time of recording, which leads to a somewhat unexpressive performance. Sometimes the first take isn't the best one, after all.
The versions on tour have been far superior artistically. No crackle or distortion to hide behind, just a pure electrifying connection between the song, artist and audience. And due to the intrusive and gimmicky recording method (which really delivers the crippling, crushing blow to this album), you will get a much better sound quality from the live audience recordings than you do the official release!
In my opinion, the "A Letter Home" box set is over-the-top for what is essentially a side-project to give Neil something to do while he remembers how to write songs. So my suggestion is to buy the CD; or just stream it, if you think you were overcharged for the now-abandoned, broken promise of blu-ray Archives.
Then, make up an alternate EP version of "A Letter Home" from the audience recordings of the live shows. It will be a far richer experience. Spend the saved cash on something more rewarding, like a ticket to see Crazy Horse.
Overall, this was a worthy project, but the guiding presence of David Briggs is sorely missed as ever.
The Flying Scotsman.
....sorry, my last comment addressed to Phillip, not anon!
The FS.
Flying Scotsman - this album, to me, is far, far less about sound quality or "heavyweight" songs, and far more about the concept of a melancholy or old Neil looking back on his life in the context of his dwindling time left. The whole "letter" to his mother, these particular songs.
Meant to evoke a feeling more than it's meant to be a marvel of performance or sound. Like you're privy to a personal moment between Neil Young and his mother/family.
I like it. It's completely different.
I think the songs themselves are "heavyweight", all good choices: the kind of songs you don't want to f*ck with by sticking a load of crackling and distortion on top.
So overall the "record booth" concept detracts more than it adds. It feels cheap and gimmicky to me. I auppose it does add a certain creepy aspect to Needle Of Death, in particular.
I think the performances on tour have been more moving, emotionally. The Hollywood shows in particular were extraordinary. So, as with Le Noise and Chrome Dreams 2, I think it would have worked a lot better as a short, focused live EP, rather than a full length studio record.
The FS.
I don't understand the suggestion of shorter, more focused records. Do you also suggest, instead of calling for encores, we shout for "less" during live shows?
Less is (sometimes) more.
Cinnamon Girl works better as a 2 minute song than as a 25 minute one. The same principle can apply to albums too. Or do you disagree?
The FS.
And on the subject of concert length, I'd add that some of the best performances of Neil's career have been short shows: the European freedom tour, the Ragged Glory tour, the Tonight's The Night tour.
Neil's known for a long time that extra songs don't necessarily add to the impact of a project, and in fact can sometimes detract from it.
All I can say is that his voice on the Needle of Death video sounds weak and distant. I listened to it for about 45 seconds and then couldn't anymore. A cover album full of bad recordings? Umm, no thanks.
-Big Old Rig
well to each his own I suppose?
personally I think it's a pretty cool concept done in an innaresting way.
how many among us have not yearned to send a letter home to those of our loved ones who can no longer receive what's in the mail? I've had more conversations with my parents in my adult years than I ever had in my youth, when they were in the flesh.
pretty cool of Neil to let us in on some of it, me thinks. obviously at least some of these songs, especially Needle of Death and Changes resonate with Neil. I kinda dig the way we get the concept to the live production. a life cycle all in it's own. the nostalgic effect of the recording booth just adds to it all. like most things Neil it takes most of us mere mortals more than one go round to fully appreciate where he's coming from, at or where he's going.
what I am curious about though is the lack of quality control with the vinyl itself. I've never purchased brand new vinyl with a chip in the outer edge, foreign matter ingrained in the vinyl, surface scratches, smudges and finger prints abound. although none of this seems to effect playback I wonder if anyone else noticed these blems or is my copy a "one off"?
ironically there is a price sticker imprinted on the back cover from "Robinson Radio $3.98". sadly my copy was way over priced but still, somehow, worth every penny.
speaking of nickels and dimes, seems to me Neil has been in a cash grab mode of late. I mean had I known there was gonna be a deluxe edition I prob woulda dropped some extra coin. now, no way. I'll wait till it surfaces heavily discounted somewhere. I'm sure it'll be worth the wait.
Sorry FS, you won't talk me into shouting "less" at a NY show!
:-)
The FS.
As much as I appreciate what David Briggs meant to Neil's career, several albums since Briggs' death - particularly Greendale, Psychedelic Pill, Living with War, but all of them really - show that the only person essential to Neil's great music is Neil himself.
Let's not forget that Briggs was the producer on both "Old Ways" and "Life," both of which have great songs but also a fair bit of filler. Can't really see how any of the post-Briggs albums are worse than those two.
I partly diasgree: I think the only truly great album since David's death has been Greendale (to be fair, Psych Pill isn't far behind). David Briggs played a crucial role as producer, and Neil is the first to emphasise this in interviews.
Plenty of pretty good albums have been made since 1995, but the "quality control" hasn't been there the same as it was under Briggs's guidance.
The Flying Scotsman.
I don't know. I think Neil, out of respect for Briggs, slags off some albums that are really quite good. "Broken Arrow" comes immediately to mind. But back to "Life," surely that was the album that needed to be an EP, if any of them did. I mean "Too Lonely," "Prisoners"? Those songs are not up to Neil's normal standard.
I can understand the Neil intentions, but please don't mention the Briggs' name for these crappy recordings. Old Ways was recorded in the best Nashville studios and at least the production was professional. For Life, Neil and David Briggs recorded 22 shows with 3 different mobile trucks companies, and again they overdubbed the tracks in the best LA studios. At least the effort was great.
David Briggs and Ben Keith helped Neil a lot. With their expert assistance and help, a booth project of this kind wouldn't have happened.
So Tired.
I'm surprised for the lack of feedback from this album (save Flying Scotchman and 1 or 2 others). I got my copy yesterday, and like Cellar Door, I was pleasantly surprised.
I had my doubts... Had listened to a recording (Willie + Jack White) in the phone booth and it sounded like crap.
A Letter Home has the cracks, pops, and distortion, but overall quality is much better than what I heard before.
I love the feel of the album... I feel like it's 1947. It's very atmospheric. It's quiet & personal.
The tracks? Love MOST of them, save the Boss track (just not a fan of Bruce, and it sounds like Neil trying to be Bruce), and the 2 tracks w/ Jack White (1 too many people in the soundbooth = makes it noisy). That piano on On The Road Again cracks too much through the speakers, very harsh.
Performances? Not as drastically different from the live performances compared to Le Noise / Psychedelic Pill where the live performances shined way too bright compared to the recordings. Performance is good, sometimes is great (the whistling on 2 tracks is fantastic), Girl From North Country is particularly fine (as far as songs I haven't heard him cover before), and there's 2 or 3 flub ups that don't detract too much from the recordings.
Overall, Side 1 is a fantastic experience and Side 2 is good, but trails off a little in effort & interest.
Once again a questionable release by Neil that I ended up liking!
@David McPherson:
"I mean "Too Lonely," "Prisoners"? Those songs are not up to Neil's normal standard."
That's funny, those two songs are my favourites from Life (seriously). My biggest complaint with Life is the production, a bit overproduced at times. Hopefully someday they will be remastered so at least they will sound a little better.
Haven't heard A Letter Home yet (waiting for the CD), but Needle Of Death sounds to my ears like a good quality bootleg. If I understand Neil's statement correctly, the Pono version will sound like a regular recording without all the pops and crackles, so that will be interesting to hear.
It's always great getting new material from Neil no matter what it is, but I sure hope he hasn't stopped writing new songs. I would rather hear new songs from Neil (whatever their quality) than anything else.
Jake
I guess I can see the charm in "Too Lonely." Maybe it's Neil's Bon Jovi or Night Ranger tribute or something like that? :) But if I want to hear mindless, rocking Neil I'd definitely opt for Re-ac-tor, not Life. I love "Inca Queen" though and I know there are plenty of Rusties who hate that one.
Somebody doesn't love Inca Queen? It's AMAZING when cranked up! Certainly in my top 50 Neil songs.
This is music so it's all just a matter of taste, but all I can say is Neil's taste is much more in tune with my taste than Ben Keith. As much as I admire Grandpa (RIP), his favorite Neil album is Harvest. (How many hard-core Neil heads would agree with that?) Neil's are Tonight's the Night and Greendale. So I don't know about you guys, but I'll always trust Neil's taste and judgment over anyone else's, dead or alive. Let the chips fall where they may.
Heres 2 reviews of the album. Way more positive than some people in this forum.
http://somethingelsereviews.com/2014/04/25/neil-young-a-letter-home-2014/
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/neil-young-releases-surprise-new-album-letter-home-vinyl-article-1.1763743
Thanks DePalma. Yes, these reviewers seem less harsh than some fans.
hmmm.
Wonder why the album sounds sonically sub-par and under rehearsed? Maybe because it was recorded in less than a day in a little 1947 Voice-o-Graph vinyl booth?
Maybe this is the future?
Long gone are the days when bands when be in studios for days, weeks, months on end getting it just right.
Old is the new black.
I agree about Briggs...and if he knew Neil was going to make a record in that booth thing, he would have burnt it.....i mean, this is the man who criticised Neil's Bobfest performance becasuse the guitar solos weren't good enough!
I understand Thrasher's insecurity about saying anything critical about his hero, in case this puts in Neil's bad book, but look at the people who have the best working relationships with mr young....The "ass kissers' all get kicked out pretty quickly, or are just igored. Neil says something similar in his book, in fact...
I am looking forward to hearing what Neil has done with Girl From The North Country: haven't heard that one yet, but I enjoy Dylan's modern versions. Heard a great one back in 2006 at my first Dylan show.
The Flying Scotsman.
What I don't get though about all these people complaining about Neil doing a record in a booth is what do you want then? Another Psych Pill? Another Harvest Moon? Neil is who is he is because he's always zigged and zagged his whole career and it's paid off incredibly well. As Piero Scaruffi says, "Perhaps no other artist in the history of rock music has produced so many distinguished works in so many different styles and over so many years as Neil Young." That wouldn't be the case if he had listened to his fans and done what they want him to do all the time. And Neil has said this very thing in several interviews. I saw one where he said he would've made about 10 records if he had been making albums to please his audience.
My copy of A Letter Home showed up today from Third Man. My only complaint? I wish I had known it might be available at local record shops-- I would have walked the 2 blocks from the office to check BEFORE ordering it online last weekend. Oh well, I'll give the local business my business this week with some more record purchases!
As for the album itself: The production doesn't bother me all that much, the flubs are tolerable, and I enjoy it. It's not great, but I like it. I'm sure I'll dig it out of my little LP collection every so often for the next few months.
I'm glad Neil did it, because the letter to his mom opening each side really made me smile. That plus the cover of North Country is worth the price of admission to me.
Oh and no one has mentioned the run off groove engraving yet? C'mon folks!
@ Marc
was about to ask what the heck a run off groove engraving was then I put my reading specs on & gave it a good look see.
pretty cool indeed. woulda missed it if not for yer mention. we do need a weatherman since Neil's, (err I mean Homer's), friend Al (as in Gore) went MIA.
just wondering if you noticed any of the blems I described in my earlier post? ANON 4/26 @ 12:35
& BTW fuck the doubters.
I dig this record, warts n all.
The "Neil does what he wants to do" line is correct, and that's absolutely how it should be - I'm very glad he does: but it doesn't tell us anything about how the music sounds at all!
You are here because you are passionate about the sound, right? In which case, why does somebody else's opinion matter. Or is this another case of hero worship?
Neil doesn't actually need people to defend his music. He's a very successful artist. On the contrary, what is DEADLY for a man like Neil is if everyone just fawns over him and says "yes Neil, that was great" about every minor, mediocre thing he does. That kind of response has no positive value. It doesn't mesh well with either his personality or his creativity. I mean, if you don't believe me, ask him yourself, he'll say the same.
Or just look at how his friends respond to his music: Poncho, Billy, Briggs, Drummond, Niko Bolas, Crosby, Nash and Stills (to name just a few) have all have been very critical about some of Neil's projects over the years.
I agree with all that, but one thing is to say, "uh, Neil that didn't work out to well. Better luck with your muse next time." And another is to say, if Briggs were here that project would have been burned to the ground before it ever got started. My point is not to say everything Neil (or any artist in the history of music for that matter) does is great. He's my favorite artist so I like more of his stuff than anyone else, but I still think some is so-so, Arc is horrendous, etc. But what I'm saying is it's precisely his willingness to push the envelope at every step that makes him so great. So I'm glad he made Arc, even though I've listened to it 70 times and still hate it. Most artists just stick to what they know and do it over and over and over again.
Yes, all good points, we're agreed then. I actually like Arc, it doesn't get too many plays though!
That's the interesting part of talking to fellow fans. I think "Too Lonely" and "Prisoners" are filler on Life. Another poster said they're his favorite songs. You like Arc and I hate it. For a lot of people, "Americana" was a pointless covers album that never should have been made. For Christgau, it was the album of the year. That's why I just say: keep them coming Neil.
How do you get a coupon code when ordering the cd A Letter Home on Neil's site
Here is Girl from the North Country, which some good soul put out on You Tube just yesterday. And when I went a lookin' for it, there was the definitive version with Bob and Johnny right above!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cPfI9c_Dk0
So far, I really like what I'm hearing. Sounds like some ancient 78s that Harry Smith had hidden away and were just discovered in someone's attic. And I love Thrasher's take: "Old is the new Black". What goes around comes around...Old is the New New!
Those who buy this non-sense box-set really need some psychical therapy! :-))
"My advice is don't spend your money on therapy. Spend it in a record store."
-Wim Wenders
Anyway, A letter from Neil arrived today and I really like it. BSM
I LOVE Neil Young music and have scooped up every single one of his latest releases since the Blunotes era, usually the day they come out. I even like Trans and Everybody's Rockin'. I love his quirky creativity, politics, and massive output. I'm a little confused about this latest release, a nostalgic recording session in Jack White's booth. This is hardly high resolution music. Even the SPEED of the recording ebbs and flows, changing from moment to moment, creating off-tuning. I heavily invested in a kick-ass Blu-ray home theater sounds system when Neil released the Archives Vol. 1, others have bought Pono on Kickstarter…. and now we get…. LOW resolution, bad sound, from the man who demanded more from sound resolution. It might be "high res" but a scratchy LP sound gets in the way of the music. I would've preferred he do it at Redwood Studio or anywhere else… Alan in Seattle
Bought my vinyl copy for 17.00
at my local record store These are my thoughts. The album has very nice feel and vibe. Excellent versions of Changes,girl from north country, needle of death. In fact all the songs are pretty good could have been better if neil had rehearsed some of them a bit. He's unfamiliar with a few of the songs and it shows. However,My Hometwon, is simply unlistenable.
Although advertised as recorded on 1940's recording equipment,this sounds like an old 78 from the 20's and 30's. The record pops and
crackes and neils guitar sounds tinny. Bottom line absolutely no post production which makes me feel cheated. I dont want to pay 17.00 for a record that snaps and pops distorted sound and even skips in places.
Neil should understand that even in the 40s and the 20's there was some production done to recordings
A little production would have went a long way here. The concept the vibe and the songs are fine but just recording it and slapping it together with no touch ups to is an insult to the listener.
Like Le Noise,this is a record that could have been much better,with Le Noise Neil let lanois go wild with things on a Letter Home there's nothing done.
Neil seems to have too much on his plate and his music is suffering at least his recorded output.Neil could have still retained the feel he wanted with at least taking out the crackles and distorted warped sound Its too bad A Letter Hone
could have been a very good album.
U2 still stays in the studio for days, weeks and months getting it just right. This record is nothing but a money grab. Neil seems to be doing lots of little money grabs these days, but more power to him. And kudos to all of you who bought the super super deluxe set!! You've got a lot more money to burn than I do, that's for sure! Hell, use them for coasters so all your friends can see them.
It's almost like Uncle Neil just loves fuckin with us. "Pono meet Jack White's shitty novelty record booth". Har har har. Good one Neil! All you that bought the Neil edition Pono, pray he includes this letter home on there, eh?
At least he's productive, and now that we have this POS record out of the way, how about a new Crazy Horse album to kick off the upcoming tour? Surely they're not going to play the same set list from 2012?! Or are they?! Ha! But no worries. At least he can't cram Crazy Horse into that little record booth, can he?
Old Neg
I am still thanking my lucky stars for this beautiful gift of music and a chance to give these beautiful songs a spin.
When a man with Neil's voice and talent breaths new life in these beautifully written ballads, it's the greatest homage an artist can pay to another. Thank you Neil.
For me, the sound and range is familiar because of it's rawness and spontaneity the way the Band recorded the Basement Tapes. It's original and genuine in the way the artists would have wanted to hear their music after all the years.
Pure genius, Jack and Neil.
Keep it coming guys.
Your Momma loves you.
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