Just in case you can't get enough of Neil Young's latest album -- Storytone Solo or Storytone Orchestra -- now comes word of a 3rd version: MIXED PAGES OF STORYTONE.
From a statement on Neil Young's official news page NY Times: (Thanks BNB & bh!)
MIXED PAGES OF STORYTONEWell, what could be next? A 4th Storytone version? The Crazy Horse version, maybe?!
November 10, 2014
The Storytone records have been a labor of love. Thanks to all of you who have purchased them. These songs were written during a period of profound change in my life. Everything I want to share is there.
First, I recorded the songs at Capitol Records with my old friends Niko Bolas and Al Schmitt. I sang them alone with only the instruments I desired to use. There was no over dubbing or enhancing. The resulting music is from my heart, directly to you.
Then, I entered the hallowed MGM sound stage where "The Wizard of Oz" soundtrack was recorded. Surrounded by the finest musicians in Hollywood, with arrangements and orchestrations by Christ Walden and Michael Bearden, I sang seven of the Storytone songs live for the second time. I sang into Barbara Streisand's microphone, a perfectly cared-for antique with a wonderful tone that I loved. I also went to Sunset Boulevard to record the remaining three songs with a big band in an old Hollywood studio rebuilt and now known as East West. All the performances are live with no added effects or recording. I just stood singing into the microphone with occasional harmonica notes blown in between verses, while the musician's played. Sometimes there were 92 musicians singing and playing live with me. It was a thrilling experience, both for the freedom of not playing an instrument while I sang, and for the beauty of being in the same room and listening as the music was created. I will never forget it.
The resulting two records are combined into a deluxe two record set. An orchestra only record is also available at limited outlets, mostly so the record is available in large chain stores that dictate what shape art must be in before they sell it, kind of a sign of the times.
This has been a complex experience, and as sometimes is the case, I have had trouble letting go. The solo versions have all the heart and soul, yet the orchestrated versions have the beauty and depth that these songs cried out for. I listened and listened on my Pono, finding the strengths and weaknesses of both versions. Unable to settle, after the record was handed in and finished, I continued working, trying to find balance between the two approaches I had used.
Mixed Pages of Storytone, a new single special release album, is the result of my journey through these songs and feelings, imperfectly capturing the best of both worlds by editing and combining them, with the roughness and friction of the meeting points rubbing together, bonding their soul and beauty.
Thanks,
Neil Young.
Mixed Pages of Storytone. Available soon in Pono, Reprise Vinyl, and Itunes.
70's ditch trilogy 2 coming soon!
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for Motion Pictures (Part II).
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the following new video for "Who's gonna stand up" is from the "mixed pages" version of Storytone. It mixes live performance with crazy horse and also additional horns and backing vocals from studio:
ReplyDeletehttp://m.spin.com/articles/neil-young-whos-gonna-stand-up-video/?utm_source=spinfacebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=spinfacebook
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ReplyDeleteThe "Stand Up" used for the new video is the same live-with-studio-overdubs track that Neil had up on his website, and is on the EP with the four different versions (solo, orchestra, live, children's choir). From his NY Times post, sounds like Mixed Pages will be a combination of the studio tracks, orchestra and solo.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this has been covered on TW yet, but "MIxed Pages Of Storytone" is available for download via Amazon, and for streaming via Spotify. The songs are in a different sequence than the CDs, and combine elements of both.
ReplyDelete