Neil Young @ Canterbury House 1969: "Timeline Concerts of the Week" | NYA
Today, another full concert has been uploaded to Concert Performance Timeline on Neil Young Archives @ One Night at the Canterbury House | NYA.
One Night at the Canterbury House
Dates: Oct 16, 1969
Venue: The Canterbury House, First Set - Ann Arbor, Michigan
From Jim on Rust Group:
On my first cup of coffee but worked for the medical wing of the Canterbury House so have some knowledge of this era but was too young to attend any of the shows.
Didn't start attending concerts until summer of 1972 seeing Joni MItchell/LA Express, Loggins and Messina with Jim Croce, Airplane/Commander Cody that year at various area venues.
Have been waiting for this release for decades, holy cow! Hope the other two sets get released since this night in Ann Arbor was filled with solo rarities. This show was less than a couple of months after Woodstock in the midst of recording "Deja Vu."This is a one off show because the Canterbury House was very good at picking "up and coming acts" so they required you sign a contract for two appearances. So they signed Neil Young just after the Springfield broke up and then had him under contract to return as CSNY and Crazy Horse broke wide in 1969. Elliot Roberts really liked the Canterbury House and sent them nice thank you notes that are in their archives.
https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2012/05/23/a8370/
Some of the other acts that played the venue and were recorded on reel to reel superbly are very early Little Feat, Buddy Guy, even more Joni Mitchell than has been released already, Gordon Lightfoot, Jim Kweskin Jug Band with Geoff Muldaur, Richie Havens, Odetta, MC5, Janis Ian, early Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Tom Rush, Roosevelt Sykes, Richie Havens, Jesse Fuller (!), Jim and Jean, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Doc Boggs, John Micaleff, Jeremy and the Satyrs, Skip James, Sun Ra, Doc and Merle Watson, Joan Baez and on and on.
https://theconcertdatabase.com/venues/canterbury-house
David Siglin, who managed the Ark Coffeehouse in Ann Arbor for decades, said the Ramblin' Jack Elliott show at the Canterbury House was among the best live performances he ever saw (or something to that effect).
Neil Young played three sets that night in 1969 and here is the song list from Sugar Mountain.
To be clear this is the 2nd appearance but fourth day at the Canterbury House in 1969. In 1968 he played three nights and then came back in 1969 to play three sets in one night.
https://sugarmtn.org/sm_getshows.php?venue_key=855
Notes: Per Ghosts On The Road, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere contains an unpublished verse and the second Country Girl contains alternate lyrics. The 1956 Bubblegum Disaster>It's My Time is just fragments of each song.
via Sugar Mountain
Neil Young solo
October 16, 1969
Canterbury House with seating for a little over 200 people for each set
Ann Arbor, Michigan
* - song debut
1. | On The Way Home |
2. | Helpless* |
3. | Dance, Dance, Dance* |
4. | I've Loved Her So Long |
5. | Down By The River |
6. | I Am A Child |
7. | Everybody's Alone* |
8. | Wonderin' |
9. | Oh, Lonesome Me |
10. | Flying On The Ground Is Wrong |
11. | Country Girl* |
--- | |
12. | On The Way Home |
13. | Helpless |
14. | Cinnamon Girl>The Loner |
15. | Birds |
16. | I Am A Child |
17. | Everybody's Alone |
18. | Dance, Dance, Dance |
19. | The 1956 Bubblegum Disaster>It's My Time |
20. | Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere |
21. | The Old Laughing Lady |
22. | I've Been Waiting For You |
23. | Here We Are In The Years |
24. | Wonderin' |
25. | Down By The River |
26. | Country Girl |
--- | |
27. | Down To The Wire |
28. | On The Way Home |
29. | Helpless |
30. | Flying On The Ground Is Wrong |
31. | Dance, Dance, Dance |
32. | Birds |
33. | The Loner |
34. | Everybody's Alone |
35. | I Am A Child |
36. | I've Been Waiting For You |
37. | Country Girl |
An interesting concluding comment from review by Fed LaBour:
"Neil is pure and he knows who his spiritual enemies are and I hope that his particular knowledge doesn't, of necessity, lead to early, lonely death."Well, thankfully that reviewer's comment did not come to pass!
BTW, here is episode #7 of Thrasher's Wheat Radio 2.0 Vodcast/Podcast, hosted by our good friends WBKM.org in Burlington, Vermont. This episode features our very first special guest Rustie Lone
Red Rider who discusses the new Concert Performance of the Week series.
Thrasher's Wheat Radio 2.0 Vodcast/Podcast - Episode #7 | Hosted by WBKM.org
Labels: concert, neil young, solo
42 Comments:
Accessing the performance through the Timeline (rather than the link posted on the Front Page) brings us to the Itinerary page, where the second and third sets are listed as coming soon! I’m very much anticipating the longer second set that features those alternate lyrics.
The “little ditty” after Dance, Dance, Dance: is anyone else hearing L.A. Girls and Ocean Boys?
A very good morning to my friends at Thrasher's.
To my own loss, I've been absent for a while. So here are a few thoughts about the recent exciting additions to NYA.
But to begin, please join me in empathising with the tragic story of a fellow we are going to call "Jeremy".
Jeremy's a Neil Young fan. But he doesn't regularly visit Thrasher's Wheat, and he doesn't use online fan forums. We don't know if he's subscribed to NYA or not.
Like most people, Jeremy has some sort of social media account. Facebook, probably. And of course, he has an email account.
Here's Jeremy's "tragic" problem:
He's the sort of semi-hardcore fan who would love to hear (and pay for!) the Canterbury House recording....
....but he doesn't know it's available.
And here's the question I've been building up to:
How, exactly, does Jeremy find out about this latest upload? The one that would tempt him to subscribe, or upgrade his existing subscription?
After all, NYA haven't told him about it. There's no email newsletter. There's no article in Rolling Stone magazine that spreads like wildfire around Facebook. And, without exposure to the brain-dead chatter on the forums or the keener analysis on Thrasher's blog, there's no viral "word of mouth" effect that reaches him, either.
The answer, of course, is that Jeremy relies on a friend (or an online Facebook "friend") to tell him about the new additions to NYA.
But that doesn't work, either.
Because it turns out there's no easy way to share the link to any SPECIFIC thing on NYA with the outside world.
If you wanted to share an article from Thrasher's Wheat with Jeremy, you'd just straightforwardly copy-and-paste a link and email it to him with a brief comment like "have a look at this!".
Simple, and effective.
But if you want to share something from NYA, it's much tricker. And even if you can somehow send the direct link to the new Canterbury House show to Jeremy, the BLOODY THING WON'T EVEN OPEN ON MOBILE!
So you feel like you're kind of wasting your time even bothering to send it.
(As an aside, I looked up "Neil Young Canterbury House" on Twitter. Nobody has even mentioned the new upload. Because they either don't know it exists, or if they do, they can't link to it).
The result is that NYA has essentially built a wall around itself, a closed system uncommunicative with (and intolerant of) the realities of the outside world.
Now, this approach clearly works for a dominant tech-giant like Apple. But I'm not convinced it works very well for Neil Young. Neil has a lot of passionate fans, for sure. But many of them live on the edges of the real world, not within his walled-off commune.
And so, they need to be reached.
Lots of possibilities, here.
But they all come down to this question:
How do the fans on the periphery of hardcore Neil fandom get to hear about what's happening on the inside?
Because if people don't know a party is happening, then they won't attend!
And if the fans already on the inside aren't given an easy, efficient way (e.g a direct, clickable link!) to spread the word to those living with one foot planted in the "real world", then they won't.
Is this a fair appraisal of the situation? Your thoughts, please.
Scotsman.
PS
If it's true that NYA still isn't making a profit...
....then is it possible that Neil is spending far too much on the things that don't matter (or not enough on the things that do)?
Excessive spending is optional. And if the cover band that plays at my local pub can run a marginally profitable website, then it shouldn't be too tricky for one of the world's most skilled performers.
PPS
My apologies for not been around much in recent months. My output here at TW will remain limited for now, but it will become the only place I contribute anything at all about Neil's music for the foreseeable future. Until someone re-invents the day to have more than 24 hours.
Meanwhile, a few assorted greetings:
A note to Harm: fantastic work on the concerts. Sorry I haven't been in touch directly.
A note to Eric: I hope you are very well, keeper of the shrunken pineapple!
A note to Dan Swan, Abner, Ian, Doc, RTG, TD, RC, D1, Alan: I hope you are all very well, too!
A note to Thrasher and all here at TW: the comment section here remains the foremost blog for the most intelligent, value-packed, passionate-and-animated-but-ultimately-good-natured discussion of Neil's projects.
I appreciate reading the wildly differing opinions and viewpoints here. Thank you all for your contributions.
This is a great show. I'd also spotted that the other sets are listed as 'coming soon'
I think it's the 3rd set that has Down to the Wire, which I am especially looking forward to hearing.
D'oh, the 3rd set songs are already listed, above with Down to the Wire as the opener
what a dilemma, Scotsman. Another undesired and strange consequent of technology, ironic in its way of creating a form of isolation. I don't understand why Rolling Stone does not have more about the archives. I recently saw a long segment on 60 minutes about Prince and his archive or "vault" but Neil does not get the same attention. Uncut might also help the situation, they seem to be more aware of Neil's depth and breadth- Rolling Stone is a bit of a joke now.
Rolling Stone is more than a bit of a joke and I think the reason Neil doesn’t get the attention is because he’s still alive. The media prefers dead artists apparently.
Peace 🙏
Just tried to listen to the new Timeline concert and it keeps freezing up open me. I'll try again later......but what I heard was awesome.
Peace🙏
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I think the direct reach of the Media itself might not be so important, nowadays, compared to fan-driven word-of-mouth.
But the thing about articles in Rolling Stone, Uncut, etc is that they provide a container for ideas that fans can easily share and discuss with others online.
The same goes for official (or fan-made) YouTube videos, or blog articles like the ones we are commenting on right now.
Whereas most things on the NYA site itself are either difficult to share a link to, not available on mobile, or are behind a wall.
So I think the air of mystery and sense of discovery at NYA is to the site's credit. But what's not so good is that it's not easy to invite someone along to the party that's happening at NYA, once we ourselves have discovered it.
Even as a passionate Neil Young fan myself, I've only discovered half of these fantastic concerts days or weeks after they've been uploaded. I for one would have been quite happy for NYA to send me a friendly, non-sales-y e-mail newsletter, just telling me about the new additions.
In the meantime, though, word-of-mouth works wonders. But it has be encouraged, and made easy.
Scotsman.
Typo correction:
*But it has to be encouraged, and made easy.
I respectfully disagree, prince deserves that attention and should not be thrashed. Neil young gets great publicity
No worries mate, you're welcome. And welcome back. Any chance we'll see you at SHF?
Neil is pure....
SONY
Unfortunately, I am not much use in word of mouth. I am technologically out of touch except for my professional life. I am not in the archives so much, but instead listen to full CDs, just finished a listening binge of Broken Arrow and Sleeps with Angels. I am happy to take suggestions for how I might help with the Scotzman problem (sorry for using the "s" and not a z). I struggle and need help from my students to keep up with the recent technology.
I agree that Prince should get attention, never meant otherwise. I think Neil has always been in the background and he is a giant. I remember him saying "I have always felt like this little guy." I get what he is saying. His persistence in staying on the fringe of popular music is part of this, the other past is the difficulty of some of his best work. It is very much like what happens in fiction writing. Some of the very best writers are marginalized as they do not fit into the more commercial markets. I mean, Americana? This was the middle finger to everything commercial, God bless him.
50 years ago today….. The Concert for Bangladesh…. the first and still the best concert for a charitable cause….
Peace 🙏
P. S. Happy Birthday to Jerry Garcia. 💀🌹🌹
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@ Scotsman - it's great to see you again like a long lost friend that we've never seen.
thanks for sharing your thoughts here. we're humbled & honored.
and sadly, now it is our turn to step away ...
The Music Saved Our Lives ... Seriously & Literally
It isn't gone
And it will soon come back again
Separate ways, separate ways
Set 2 is now online!
Front page of NYA, 8/1/21 : Neil says “new album is done, now pressed and ready to go complete with great film by dhlovelife”. Great news indeed.
Peace 🙏
Harm:
Thanks for the greeting, and apologies again for not being in touch. No excuses, I've just been busy and have fallen behind with all things musical. I'll get back to keeping up-to-date with the threads at SHF.
Scotsman.
Set #2, great stuff. There’s that little ditty again, this time right after DBTR. Future L.A. Girls…
The Horse rides on!
Clearly to my ears, the first set was just the warm-up for the 80 minute
second set that sounds as good as anything on the
first two sides of "Four Way Street." This second set is so
in the moment for the music and it seems like they made some
sound adjustments for both the vocal and guitar.
So curious now about the third set...and does he have
Crazy Horse stuff like this in the archives?
They could easily do a full release using the best versions of each song and raps that would be like a sequel to the 2008 Live at Canterbury House album.
dangit
I’ll take it all…….. warts and all. Amazing how this has sat in the archives for this long. Neil is just so prolific it’s scary.
Peace 🙏
Finally getting the chance to check out the ‘new audio’ for Rust Bucket, and it’s extremely impressive to say the least. This DVD is just epic on every single level. What a loose and joyful performance, I love the ragged video image with the now pristine sound quality in all its ragged glory. Without question, my favorite Crazy Horse video of all time.
Peace 🙏
There’s some more new stuff up. J. Hanlon just announced the addition of Horseback to streaming tracks. It’s included as an outtake from Psychedelic Pill. But a visit to that area of the File Cabinet reveals additional goodies. An entire alternate version of A Letter Home - Clean Tape Feed is now available. Don’t know how long that’s been there but it’s new to me. And they have added an In Progress file card for Bad Example from the Americana sessions.
er, John O, that is
Thanks Tomatron for the information about A Letter Home "cleaned". This cleaning makes the songs much more audible! Surprising that there was no information about this on NYA (or I missed it...).
Phil
Phil, I’m glad you’re digging the alternate versions. Apparently this was the second LP in the deluxe vinyl set. I gave them a spin and surprisingly enough, I can’t do anything with them. In the case of each track I kept finding myself preferring the acetate versions over the clean tape feeds. These feel sort of halfway done - a clearer listen, yes, but too lo-fi to compare to Neil’s other solo acoustic records, yet not antiquated enough to communicate the concept of the record. The best of the batch is Girl From The North Country, where clarity of the harmonica stands out. But I still prefer the old scratchy one within the context of A Letter Home. And I’m sure a live take of that cover exists with higher production quality. The two bonus tracks exist only as clean tape feeds - Crazy on piano and Blowin’ In The Wind, and those two are good enough for me.
It would be cool if we could share playlists through NYA, and I hope that becomes a feature before long. Creating and enjoying them is one of my favorite benefits of membership. One I assembled covers everything currently available from 2011-2013. This period features the Horse, of course, as well as a plethora of covers/standards. Psychedelic Pill is amazing, but tough to digest in a single listen. Americana and A Letter Home become monotonous with the sameness of their respective tracks. Also, album outtakes must be selected separately to be heard. The four hour playlist titled “Horse Driftin’” addresses these concerns by weaving the albums and their bonus tracks together for a varied experience that still retains the vibe of each record for a spell.
Horse Back now kicks the set off, followed by the first four tracks of Psychedelic Pill. Born In Ontario leads beautifully into the first half of A Letter Home. The cover tunes move from old-timey to garage-heavy Americana, then Travel On gives way to Twisted Road to conclude the first half of the set.
Neil resumes his time-traveling transmission with Reason to Believe and the rest of the Third Man acetate recordings. With the 1957-rooted conclusion of that album, Crazy Horse make their return to the playlist with a highlight of Americana, the early sixties-penned High Flyin’ Bird, and the rest of the album plays out to its oddball coda, God Save The Queen. The clean tape feed of Blowin’ In The Wind fits rather nicely here. Now it’s time to bring back Psychedelic Pill for the big finish, beginning with the charming fade-in of She’s Always Dancing, building to the powerful release of Walk Like A Giant, and reprising with an uneffected title track. Neil’s lonesome piano version of Crazy plays us out to wrap up an epic listen.
In the latest batch of letters to the editor, Neil responds to fans’ requests that he release Canterbury ‘69 in some official fashion. He takes the opportunity to confirm that he does plan to release it as an NYA album. Performance Series 00.5? They’ll likely do it like the last one, taking the best versions of each song played that day. My hope is that they do a double or triple vinyl to include one of every song played over the course of the three sets; they’re all brilliant! Set Two is particularly gorgeous. So this is my dream tracklist, including the most entertaining raps throughout. This list was compiled on the fly, so if anyone feels a different version of a song would work better, definitely holler!
canterbury 69
down to the wire - 3
on the way home - 1
helpless - 3
i’ve loved her so long - 1
flying on the ground is wrong - 3
cinnamon girl > the loner
birds
i am a child
everybody’s alone
dance, dance, dance
the 1956 bubblegum disaster > it’s my time
everybody knows this is nowhere
the old laughing lady
i’ve been waiting for you
here we are in the years
wonderin’
oh lonesome me - 1
down by the river
country girl
My dream would be all three sets and all dialogue from Neil. Dream big 👍
Peace 🙏
This is the music i fell in love with out on Highway 61.
I knew a guy a long long time ago that played me a tape of Neil's unknowns (at the time) like Country Girl after I first listened and fell in love w/ After The Goldrush. He told me he recorded at a gig in college. I met Harry Klein or in 1971 at a college party and he had a fabulous collection. He and I were big Laura Nyro fans.
COUNTERFEIT BARN
The tracklist of Carnegie Hall 70, first official bootleg, is available now on NYA with CITS as a teaser. All the show seems to be included in the album (23 tracks).
Release date is 1st of october 2021...
Nice but we have a lot of recordings from this era. So, I'm mainly excited by the Ducks and Bottom Line bootlegs...
Credits cite Neil on vocals, guitar, piano, and harmonica. Is this correct? I’d thought he hadn’t busted out the harp until later, like Royce Hall. Cellar Door, Massey Hall, and Young Shakespeare feature no harmonica. One fun thing about this period is Neil adding these new instruments that feel today as though they’d been there all along. I like to get a clear picture as to when each was introduced.
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