This clip features the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, amazing studio pianist, Spooner Oldham.
Spooner Oldham, was a "Stray Gator", Neil Young's touring and recording band. The interview by Joe Chambers, is from 2004 at Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama.
Prairie Wind Band - 2005
Ben Keith, Neil Young, Chad Cromwell, Rick Rosas, Spooner Oldham & Karl Himmel
via The Prairie Wind Sessions by Neil Young: “The Painter” | Hearse Theater | NYA
I'm not sure if anyone has spotted this retrospective with Spooner Oldham on the Stray Gators and some old footage. It may be of interest to folks (apologies if this was already posted and I missed it).Thanks so much for sharing this Spooner interview Meta Rocker!
Simultaneously, Come Along and Homefire have been added to the drip of NYA videos uploaded on Youtube. Fun songs and great vintage photos and video sprinkled in--it occurs to me that we're essentially looking at Neil's old home movies in some of these clips. Super fun!
I still have not made a final decision on the incoming second edition of NYA#2, but the free NYA digital subscription offers considerable added value, imho. Do we know if the subscription is for a limited time, and which potential tier(s) of access will it cover?
Nonetheless, I'm glad to see Neil seems to be about as personally involved in managing the release as any one person can be with a project of this magnitude and scope. There have been--and perhaps continue to be--bumps (and forks) in the road for sure. My understanding of the Archives at this point is that, in fact, this represents Neil's ultimate effort to organize and curate his massive body of work, hence the preponderance of previously released material. There may have been some misunderstanding on this over the years, but I don't think the project has ever been simply about getting unreleased songs out there--that's just a bonus or corollary to the comprehensive assemblage of Neil's output.
NYA, digital or box set, is all about presentation. Way back in '77, Decade was Neil's first pass at the Archives concept, and all iterations since then have followed the same basic template: a retrospective of Neil's catalogue for a given period of time, with a clutch of rarities and previously unpublished recordings interspersed with the highlights.
Know what you're getting with any form of NYA: access to a Neil Young media universe, arranged into solar systems and constellations as Neil sees fit. The unheard songs and alternate versions are presented chronologically among the familiar recordings, illuminating their original place within the history of Neil's recordings and artistic career. The 'Doves' (side 1) selections of Hawks and Doves are a perfect example, now appearing on Homegrown and Hitchhiker to show both when they were recorded and how Neil originally intended to release them. Presumably, Old Homestead and Lost in Space will receive similar treatment as the Archives roll on--possibly in Vol. III, which I think we must now assume covers the rest of the '70s, possibly to the dawn of the Geffen period.
All of this should illustrate, if nothing else, the expanse and complexity of the NYA undertaking. How much money, time, and energy a fan wishes to invest in this undertaking is purely a personal decision. Yet I hope I have helped to give a little context on what I think Neil is trying to do, and that my thoughts here can help other Neil Nuts and music lovers and to make sense of the magnificent, unwieldy construct that is The Neil Young Archives.
~Om-Shanti.
Really enjoyed the memories and rare footage of the New Gators in 1991 at Broken Arrow Ranch. Always nice to go on the journey thru the past as the time fades away before it finally comes a time.
Here's our Spooner memory.
Pegi Young w/ Survivors Band (Rick Rosas & Spooner Oldham)
The Hamilton, Washington, DC - 2012-04-07
photo by thrashette
We had a nice brief chat in 2012 with Pegi, Rick Rosas and Spooner after the concert. (See more on meeting up with Pegi Young w/ Survivors Band.)
Keep those homefires burning. namaste.
More on "Homefires" by Neil Young: 2nd New Track on NYA#2
Comment of the Moment: "Homefires": 2nd New Track from Neil Young Archives Vol. II
— ThrashersWheat (@ThrashersWheat) October 22, 2020
See https://t.co/0Pl6WFeka0
☮️♥️@NeilYoungNYA pic.twitter.com/2y1p4j3Dvg
Thanks for the shout out, Thrash... however, it's worth noting my comment above is now slightly out of date. With a basic CD release of NYAII supposedly on the horizon for early 2021 instead of another run of the big box, features like the NYA digital subscription may no longer apply.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping that the mass market edition (as I've been referring to this proposed second version) will priced more in line with the CD edition of NYAI, which I believe went for $70 or so back in '09.
Regardless of how all the details shake out, we're all just passengers on the massive freight train that is NYA, riding our respective box cars (and possibly box sets, as well) through the night.
Have I stretched my NY lyric metaphors far enough yet?
~Om-Shanti.
Sure Meta Rocker, anytime.
ReplyDeleteYes, it does seem things are shifting very fast these days.
change your mind or stay the same as it ever was? well depends on how best to keep the balance.
Incidentally, in another cosmic TW synchronicity, we just happened to stumble across this post from 2012 and Americana and the song "Oh Susanna".
You had a comment there on the Stephen Foster song and how the meaning of the song has evolved from a minstrel tune into a civil rights protest song.
http://neilyoungnews.thrasherswheat.org/2012/04/oh-susanna-story-behind-song-continues.html
namaste
Wow, thrasher... that is a blast from the past—from and about multiple pasts, in fact.
ReplyDeleteI may have been a little out on a limb in reading of Neil’s “Oh Susannah”. As I remember, the Horse arrangement starts with the verse “I had a dream the other night...”. That phrase, for me, has an instant association with MLkJr’s famous speech, especially in the context of American racial history. Also, I seem to remember feeling the line “sun so hot I froze to death” was uncannily suggestive in our times of global climate change. Thus my underlying suspicion that NY used old songs for current commentary throughout Americana.
Even if I’m seeing connections where there are none, a truthful look at American musical history and its legacy can’t leave out the negative parts. We can’t serve equality today by erasing yesterday’s prejudices.
☮️