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Sunday, May 28, 2017
TRACK LIST: Neil Young's "Hitchhiker" Due 14 July 2017
Already, much excitement about the news we broke last week that Neil Young's newest album "Hitchhiker" is due for release on 14 July 2017.
At the time of our original posting, a track listing was unavailable which of course led to rampant speculation of the songs included with various arguments for against the selections. Now comes word of the track list via Lone Red Rider who shared a listing posted to Diverse Vinyl:
SIDE 1
1. Pocahontas
2. PowderFinger
3. Captain Kennedy
4. Hawaii
5. Give Me Strength
SIDE 2
1. Ride My Llama
2. Hitchhiker / Like An Inca V1
3. Campaigner
4. Human Highway
5. The Old Country Waltz
As Lone Red Rider notes, assuming this is track list is correct, blogger Kahunasunset is closest to the pin, from his speculation on the original topic.
Last month, we posted an intriguing image by Gary Burden | rTwerk.com of what appeared to be a cover for the unreleased album Neil Young | Hitchhiker. Gary Burden is Neil Young's long time art director and cover graphic artist. Also, credited is Jenice Heo, who is responsible for Art Direction, Design.
Hitchhiker includes solo, acoustic songs recorded in 1976 at the Indigo Ranch Studios in Malibu, California.
More on Neil Young's newest album "Hitchhiker", due for release on 14 July 2017.
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I'm surprised that the news didn't break on April 1st. According to Diverse Vinyl? "Your one-stop vinyl record shop" in the UK... Diverse Vinyl??
ReplyDeleteI remember reading that Neil had said
ReplyDeletehe recorded 9 songs at this session
Perhaps The Old Country Waltz is not
on the album. Until we see an official
announcement from reprise Everything is
speculation.
Joseph: I agree, however it is quite possible that Neil made a small mistake with it being 9 or 10 tracks. His self-authored books are great reads (Waging Heavy Peace, particularly so) and an exciting insight into his creative mind, but they are not always factually 100% accurate, as you'd expect from someone with a very varied 50-year career. Or perhaps one track was added from another session at Indigo; who knows.
ReplyDeleteI will say though that the above tracklist is the most believable I've seen so far. Which of course guarantees nothing!
An early solo acoustic The Old Country Waltz (preceding the Stars 'n' Bars band take by several months) and Hawaii would certainly be the surprises I predicted, along with other probable gems such as the original Hitchhiker, Ride My Llama and Give Me Strength.
Scotsman.
The track list is believable as Scotsman mentioned. I'll take ten over nine songs any day! The first 6 songs were all pretty logical choices ;Pocahontas, Powderfinger, C.K., HItchhiker, Llama and Campaigner. Give Me Strength was a great pick, I wasn't thinking Carrie/Homegrown songs so much.
ReplyDeleteEven though this is pretty close to the ultimate acoustic set of songs I'd be more excited to see songs that I've never heard solo acoustic before.
In order of most excited to hear:
1. Hawaii - brand new peak period Neil.
2. Hitchhiker- first studio version of one of
His best.
3. Old Country Waltz - first solo acoustic
take.
4. Ride My Llama - first studio take.
5. Give Me Strength - first studio take.
6. Human Highway - first solo acoustic
studio take.
Then the rest are all equal as I've heard pretty definitive solo acoustic takes of them all, though to hear them in this context In likely u heard versions will be a thrill to say the least.
Not to hijack the thread (would I do that?!), but just to remind you all again that Neil's last Performance Series release "Bluenote Cafe" is an absolutely fantastic piece of live music. Exactly WHY it is hasn't received more positive attention I'm not sure. Perhaps the lack of hype prior to release is to blame; it kind of snuck in under the radar, fittingly, waiting to be discovered in a dark alley. Or perhaps it's the perceived "lightweight" nature of a few of the songs; but when it sounds this good, this thrilling, who cares?!
ReplyDeleteGo and play it on a decent quality set of headphones or speakers with decent bass response (you need to hear and FEEL Rick Rosas' top-drawer bass playing, so crank up the volume and the bass a bit), and I guarantee it will put a smile on your face. And like me, you may find the middle section of Disc 1 drags a little bit, with too many "samey" songs in sequence. So don't feel too bad about skipping a track or two.
But make no mistake: what you are hearing is a battle-hardened, heavyweight, professional, soulful, edgy, hard-hitting, killer band. One of the very best live bands of Neil's career, with band leader Shakey Deal playing some cracking lead guitar and having an absolute blast.
This was a real gift from Neil. And that's without mentioning the late Steve Lawrence's saxophone playing. Wow.
Scotsman.
Agreed, Scotsman. I listened to Blue Note Cafe every day in my car for 3 months. It is a monster set. A total gift from Neil. One of my favorite issues from his archives.
ReplyDeletePatiently awaiting the next performance series....
And wondering what the hell Hitchhiker really is. Is it a "Special Edition" unreleased album? Is it an Archives Disk (Vol2 disk 8, or something?). Or is there a completely new formulation for how the archives will be presented going forward? Will I be buying this content multiple times?
If it is Special Release Series, what volume is it?
ReplyDeleteLone Red Rider: I'd say that Hitchhiker isn't an unreleased album from 1976 as such, rather a recording session from 1976 now being released as a "complete piece". So it's not like Homegrown or Times Square, projects that were originally conceived as proper "albums". Does this make it a "Special Edition"? I'm not sure. I suspect they are making it up as they go along.
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of the marketing strategy, I think we all disliked the cash-grabbing method of repackaging the same albums in multiple forms, selling us essentially the same thing twice to compensate for the diminshing number of paying customers. I think this, along with the broken promises over the blu-ray format, has convinced most of us to be a little less hasty in getting out our wallets in future. Treating the fan base with respect and honouring your promises might be a more demanding route, but it pays off and is more sustainable. I think Neil realises this; I'm not sure his mangement do.
Scotsman.
I am going to spend a fortune following Neil different types of 'releases'
ReplyDeleteOfficial releases are re-mastered album of official productions
Performance series are live albums never released under 'official'
Archives volumes are more or less what he actually recorded (released and unreleased)
We are getting too many doubles....
Along with Syscrusher and Lone Red Rider I am wondering (just out of curiosity) under which category this (still hypothetical) album would fall, maybe 'Tequila and grass' 1st 'release'
peace&love
Will Archive II include Hitchhiker songs?
Has anybody else noticed how what was the Official Release Series (discs 1-4) is now called the Original Release Series (disc 5 onwards seemingly)? Just thought I'd throw that in....
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI posted the following in the other Hitchhiker thread but think the momentum had run out there so will re-post here:
ReplyDeleteThis is something I should really know but is the Decade version of "Campaigner" from this recording session or can we expect another version? Or the full version of the one that was on Decade (I read recently there are some copies of Decade out there with an extra verse in "Campaigner")?
Yes, I think this is the same session which produced the Campaigner from Decade. I'd like to see an official release of the unedited version. The streaker streaks but the truth still leaks...
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Sales/Marketing pieces, I'm guessing there will be no physical Archives boxes going forward. Rather than lengthy, chronologically based Archives CDs or DVDs, Neil will just release a bunch of CDs representing whatever he wants to represent for any given era. So there could be a whole lot of these in the Vol2 era. Some live, some studio, some unreleased albums. Maybe some overlap among these.
ReplyDeleteThe Archives website will cover the associated media (photos, videos, bonus tracks etc) and will offer paying subscribers a means to stream these releases (when they are made available) at high resolution or a link to purchase them. I'd guess we may even get stuff from the Vol1 era. Like Early Days. Maybe Neil will rethink the entire Vol1 archives disks and chop them up into finer grained CD releases. So we can buy those songs all over again. That would be groovy,
Well Lone Red Rider if you're right, that would suck. I hope that's not what the Archives becomes. Though I hearpeople say Blu-ray is dead, that's what I hope for. I love that bluray idea, I thought what the NYA team did with the volume one box should've set a precedent for other artists to follow. I mean I wish Lou Reed would do a box set like that.
ReplyDeleteI would just make Vol2 even better, you give each song it's own folder and stuff it with all the relevant versions; live acoustic, live horse, live stray gators etc etc. And then make only the main track available on the cd/download version.
Elliot Roberts said that Archives vol II would be released in 2017 and that's what I hope but.....based on the many announced re-release of old stuff (excluding Hitchhiker) I doubt this would happen. There will be an inflation of double or triples and I do not know how many fans would run to the shops and buy them.
ReplyDeleteI do not know the economical situation of Neil after divorce (he sold his Hawaii mansion for US$ 20 mln) but we should not exclude an impact on certain sales/marketing choices.
Egoistically/economically wise I'd rather he released only 'never published' stuff.
peace&love
I'll second that comment, peace&love....I have most everything on vinyl and CD already. I don't need a new 180g - or worse, 200g - vinyl copy when the originals still sound mighty fine. And I sure don't need a blu-ray of anything. So, bring on the unreleased studio and live stuff. Enough of the repackaging ad nauseum.
ReplyDeletecolumella
There is an interesting youtube interview with Richard Kaplan, who owned Indigo Ranch Studios and engineered the sessions in question in 1975/76. Not sure if this has been posted before, but he goes into some detail on gear, setup, etc. as well as info on songs/albums recorded. Also a humorous story of Neil Young/Diamond mix-up…
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPcsx7G_Bws
Kaplan is fairly insistent that Powderfinger, Captain Kennedy, and 1 other he can’t recall (presumably Pocahontas) were put to tape on the 1st night Neil was there. He seems to suggest that only those 3 songs were done on that night. And, that during most sessions up to 5 songs were recorded. He details Campaigner also, but that seems to suggest that is a different session.
I was fairly sure the takes of Powderfinger, Captain Kennedy and Pocahontas for Hitchhiker would be those on Chrome Dreams boot; indeed the tracklist sheet (even as this has been debunked as fake) suggests Sept. ’75 dates for all. But it does leave open the question of whether Hitchhiker is a one session deal, or is a compilation of Indigo sessions. Probably the memory of all involved is hazy…
Another separate small detail: the type font on Hitchhiker is very similar to last PS release Bluenote café. Not sure what this says, but at least it looks official.
Dom
Pocahontas was recorded 11 August, Hitchhiker too. Campaigner was written during the Stills-Young Tour. So the first available date for recording it was again August.
ReplyDeleteSo Tired.
In my opinion the first song recorded at Indigo was Will To Love (overdubs). June 2017?
ReplyDeleteSo Tired.
Great video. That would seem to suggest that those three songs appear on Hitchhiker in different versions than the ones we've heard. That doesn't mean Campaigner couldn't be though.
ReplyDeleteI always sort of thought this Hitchhiker tape was a different thing, an entity solely upon itself. None of the songs used as album masters. Like a mini concert for Dean Stockwell, nine songs old or new played straight through.
I think that these are the same songs,just unedited for this release.
DeleteSo Tired
I'm wondering if this is a hoax, although I really hope it's happening. On Amazon it's possible to pre-order the reissue of Decade & both of the upcoming "official / original" CD boxes, Decade with a release date in June & the boxes with a release in September. Hitchhiker is allegedly coming in July, between both of the other releases but isn't mentioned anywhere. Surely reprise would have notified big players like Amazon? Also, the Hitchhiker catalogue number according to Diverse Vinyl is NYHITCH001 which is unlike any reprise catalogue number I've ever seen. I sincerely hope that I'm proved wrong, but there are elements of this that just aren't adding up to me.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet Diverse Vinyl simply does not have a catalogue number. Just a release date. The catalogue number reads like "Neil Young Hit Crazy Horse" or "Neil Young Hitchhiker". Still, one never knows.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the memories of those in the studio and whether these were all recorded in one night, the last memory I would trust is Neil's memory. The facts in his book are highly suspect. Did you know he claimed that the pedal steel part that Jerry played on Teach Your Children was actually done on a lap steel? How could anyone with half a musical ear actually believe that? He just allows himself to be confused. It's possible that Briggs made a compilation of his favorite Indigo Sessions tracks. I'm missing Hold Back the Tears! That's just as stony as the others!
Thanks to all for great discussion and harmless speculations.
ReplyDelete@Dom - fantastic clip! Very revealing. Just posted on it and would love to hear what others think of the commentary.
@ Old Black - what?! Fake news on TW?! We'll hand up our blogging shoes if we've been conned with a chaff story.
We try very hard to provide nothing but the freshest wheat. This story was actually vetted by a highly trusted source before the Diverse Vinyl posting. It's certainly understandable that this looks like a shakey deal but it does have legitimacy.
The Indigo Ranch Studios interviews add even more credibility as well as Gary Burden's artwork posting on his official site.
But as always, use disCERNment.
@ LRR - those hazy, crazy days are just a faded memory. Thanks, as always, for your contributions to the Neil fan community over the decades! What's in been now? 25 years since we met in Nashville???
Neil Young will release a new studio album—which he originally recorded in 1976. The disc, dubbed Hitchhiker, is set for an August 4 release via Reprise Records and will be available on vinyl, CD and digitally.
ReplyDeleteThe 10-track acoustic album was recorded live in the studio August 11, 1976, at Indigo Studios in Malibu, California. It contains some of Young’s best-loved songs plus two previously unreleased tracks.
The original session was produced by Young’s longtime studio collaborator David Brings with new post production by John Hanlon, who has worked with Young since 1990 and produced his most recent works, including Peace Trail, Earth, The Monsanto Years, etc.
As these songs were recorded in a single session, the resultant performances are breathtaking and passionate. The simplicity of a single voice and guitar captured here are as pure and powerful as the creator intended with only Young and Briggs in the room at the time of recording.
Many of the songs would not appear on vinyl until years later. The title track, for example, did not officially appear until 2010’s Le Noise and naturally sounds worlds apart from the original. The version herein of “Captain Kennedy” has certain raw spontaneity compared to the slightly gentler version that would eventually surface on Hawks & Doves in 1980.
Perhaps the most noticeable jewels in the crown of Hitchhiker are the two previously unreleased tracks that have remained in the vaults since 1976: “Hawaii” a soaring ballad and unlike anything else Young had recorded at the time. Side one closes out with “Give Me Strength,” which would be occasionally performed live in the mid-Seventies but now available here for the first time and may well be considered one of Young’s best long lost gems.
Hitchhiker Track Listing:
1. Pocahontas
2. Powderfinger
3. Captain Kennedy
4. Hawaii
5. Give Me Strength
6. Ride My Llama
7. Hitchhiker
8. Campaigner
9. Human Highway
10. The Old Country Waltz
Have you actually heard this album?
Deleteup on Amazon for pre-order vinyl as 8/4/17 release, so we got that going for us!
ReplyDelete