ESSAY/REVIEW: "YOUNG SHAKESPEARE" by Neil Young | Bentley's Bandstand | NYA

REVIEW: YOUNG SHAKESPEARE | Bentley's Bandstand | NYA

In classic fashion, writer Bill Bentley "reviews" YOUNG SHAKESPEARE, Neil Young's latest album on Bentley's Bandstand | NYA.

 

We say "reviews" because if you have followed Bill Bentley's work over the years, you know he's a die hard Neil fan.  That said, when Bill writes, we read.

I listened once.

Then I listened again. I felt like you were sitting in a chair across the room from me, playing these twelve songs like you'd just written them. They were so alive and so personal and so strong, and your voice sounded a bit in awe of them yourself. Like maybe you were a bit surprised these were all your creations. Each time another song would start I would get the chills, like I was walking through a new door into a room I'd never been in.

Many of the songs had been on earlier albums and those original versions had always sounded cast in stone--"Ohio," "Cowgirl in the Sand' and others. But now, just you, your guitar and piano, and played them all like they were flowing from your heart for the very first time. You were twenty-five years old that night in Stratford, but the sound of your voice carried an eternal resonance that felt like you had landed on planet Earth carrying a timeless message from another land. It's hard to describe, but you didn't sound like someone on a theatre stage with an instrument or two. This was way beyond that. This music had a cosmic reverberation going on that really did bring in a new different reality. Something was happening.

As I played YOUNG SHAKESPEARE for the third time, I suddenly realized that if I would only be allowed to own one Neil Young album, this would be it.

 

Full review on on Bentley's Bandstand | NYA.

 

 

"Young Shakespeare" Album by Neil Young

 

A preview track and video for "Tell Me Why" from the upcoming "Young Shakespeare" album by Neil Young  is now available on NYA.

As noted here in 2020, Neil Young discussed the unreleased album and film titled "Young Shakespeare" from January 1971 at the Shakespeare Theater in Stratford, Connecticut as "the earliest known film of any of my performances."

 

Young Shakespeare Deluxe (CD, LP & DVD)

(Please shop locally & independently. But if you can't, we appreciate your supporting Thrasher's Wheat by clicking this link . Thank you!!!)

 

RELEASE DATE: March 26th with pre-order now for the album and film on LP, CD, DVD, and Deluxe Box Set.

Neil Young Concert Ticket Stub
1971-01-22, Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford, Connecticut, USA
via Sugar Mountain

"Young Shakespeare" tracklist:

Tell me why
Old man
The Needle And The Damage Done
Ohio
Cowgirl in the sand
A Man Needs A Maid
Heart of gold
Dance Dance Dance
Helpless
Don't Let It Bring You Down
Down By The River
Sugar Mountain

Neil Young - Tell Me Why (live) - Young Shakespeare (Official Music Video)

More on "Young Shakespeare" album by Neil Young.

Young Shakespeare
Times Contrarian | NYA

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