Timeline Concerts on Neil Young Archives + Comment of the Moment: New NYA Membership Tiers: Rust & Patron

"Timeline Concert of the Week" | NYA

 

With the recent announcement of Neil Young Archives Membership Tiers: Rust & Patron, more details have been forthcoming on  the "Timeline Concert of the Week" feature.

The "Timeline Concert of the Week" feature is now available to members at the Rust tier level with streams of live concerts from Neil Young's entire career. "Rust" subscribers can also exchange memories and stories with other subscribers. Some concerts are already accessible via the timeline, more will be added over time. Subscribers can send inquiries and express requests.

Timeline Concerts -- previously  320kbs mp3’s -- are now in full 24/96 resolution. 

The 1st Timeline Concert is Neil Young + Promise of the REAL @ SSE Arena - Belfast, Northern Ireland on Jun 7, 2016 from 2016 Rebel Content Tour USA & Europe.

 

Neil Young + Promise of the REAL

SSE Arena - Belfast, Northern Ireland - Jun 7, 2016

 2016 Rebel Content Tour USA & Europe

 

Neil Young & Promise Of The Real - 2015

Photo by Jay Blakesberg

 

While all of this is fantastic news for so many Neil fans around the EARTH, there are some who feel that this is yet another "cough up the buck$" move.  A comment by Aer:

All these tiers do is find a way to suck more money from those that are already buying all the physical product, going to shows, and buying the merch. 150 million and counting. He could just keep improving his passion project without the tiers. He's gonna do it anyway, even if it doesn't pay...... but it looks like Neil is still gonna go for that extra Benjamin each year, too, for as long as he lives longer than we do, unless he thinks he can get more in years to come. It is, after all, the United States of America.

Yes, Aer, as you say: "It is, after all, the United States of America." And Neil -- while always an artist first -- seems to have very carefully plotted all of this over the past 5 decades.  Never selling his song and publishing rights (until just 2 months ago), retaining every lyric scrap, every tape, every mix, literally everything.  He's had this vision and has achieved it practically single handed in terms of the driving visionary force.

As a longtime fan who practically lived with the 1977 Decade retrospective album for years, expectantly awaiting Decade II, this is all a dream come true.  In our lifetime and Neil's.  Too many artists and fans have died before they could get their due or celebrate the history.

Uncropped Image for Neil Young's Decade
by Tom Wilkes
(See Neil Young's Decade: The Images Behind The Album Cover )

Which brings us to the TW Comment of the Moment:  MAJOR NEIL YOUNG ANNOUNCEMENT - New NYA Membership Tiers: Rust & Patron by the "Inextinguishable Scotsman", in response to Aer's criticism above:

Aer Stephen: Appreciate your comment.

We have to remember there are a lot of fans out there who aren't really active on forums, blogs etc. And so the online buzz you get is often from an echo chamber of fans with a particular worldview.

There is a whole community of fans who grew up trading tapes, collecting them, going to gigs etc. And the website can begin to connect these people who may not have been enthusiastic subscribers up until now.

No, there probably isn't this huge base of new fans out there...but there are plenty of "old" fans who haven't fully been engaged yet.

(Fair point - some of these people have either lost interest or are now dead).

But the beauty of a higher price, of course, is that Neil doesn't need many more fans: because each one is contributing more.

I have no objection to (optional) higher prices, as long as the website delivers more than it has been delivering. Better things tend to cost more money...and why not?

If, in a year's time, we are saying to each other "well, we paid extra - and it was so worth it", then it will have been a success.

(And yes, that is a big "if".)

You hit on another great point. The danger of a tier system is that it can become a vertical show of status that alienates anybody who chooses anything other than "top tier". Fine if you want to sell luxury products, but not good for building a grassroots community.

But the upside of a tier system, when handled well, is it allows different offers to target different sorts of people more precisely.

The "patron" option allows people to feel good about contributing more without the people in the other tiers feeling unfairly discriminated against. And I think that's a good thing.

Do I think *some* of the marketing for Neil Young products recently has been an outrageous cash-grab? Hell yes.

But overall, I think trying to make the the NYA website stand on its own two feet is a worthwhile idea.

Neil says he wants NYA to be an example that other musicians can follow. Well, Neil, it's not much of a great example if (with all your extreme wealth and power) you can't actually make a profit!
That's not very encouraging for those of us without a few hundred million in the bank, is it?

The *best* example NYA can set is by making a sustainable profit that is re-invested into making the experience ever more powerful for its subscribers.

And the way to make a profit isn't to be greedy. It isn't to rip people off with false promises of scarcity, or to treat the customers as wallet-happy idiots to be fleeced.

(Sure, that approach makes a profit; and then everybody leaves and you're left all alone, with your money and your greed).

No, the way forward is to offer a damn-good experience that is easily worth paying extra for. An experience that builds and builds and builds until it simply can't be ignored.

No,this isn't the sort of stuff they'll teach you in the 1983 record company handbook. What else is new?

Scotsman.

Thank you both Aer & Scotsman.  As you both know, our reader comments are vital and we love to hear directly from our fellow rusties.

We'll leave all of this right here. As always, we all make choices under our own true free will.  It is our divine right as sovereign individuals to choose and make informed decisions that is most paramount to us, as a citizen. And as a consumer., as well.  Yeah, there's a lot of crap and bullshit for sure everywhere you look.  And no one likes to get ripped off.

As long as the marketplace of ideas is open,unfettered and uncensored, then the choice is yours to buy, hold or sell.

TW promotes the open free exchange of information amongst fans.  If this helps someone make a decision, then we feel we have done our job and separated the wheat from the chaff.

peace to Aer, Scotsman and all.

More on MAJOR NEIL YOUNG ANNOUNCEMENT - New NYA Membership Tiers: Rust & Patron.

Neil On Demand!

Neil Young Archives | NYA  

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Comment of the Moment: "Toast" - A Roadstory: Neil Young Shares Thoughts on Unreleased 2001 Album

"Toast" by Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse
 “It's got everything that the best Crazy Horse albums have had.” - Neil  

 

Last week, Neil Young shared his deeply personal thoughts on the unreleased album "Toast" with Crazy Horse. (See  "Toast" - A Roadstory: Neil Young Shares Thoughts on Unreleased 2001 Album.)

Back in 2008, we posted here on TW that:

 ""Toast" is named after a defunct recording studio. "Toast" is "perhaps one of the most under-estimated and deceptive Crazy Horse records of all time, with many songs originally discarded, and then re-recorded with Booker T. and the MGs."

Are You Passionate? - 2002

by Neil Young w/ Booker T & M.G.’s

 

In a followup Comment of the Moment on "Toast" by Setz, he suggested would there have been a "Greendale" without "Are You Passionate?"? 

And is there a linkage back to "Sleeps With Angels"?

To help us sort through all of these threads, our  Comment of the Moment: "Toast" - A Roadstory: Neil Young Shares Thoughts on Unreleased 2001 Album by Meta Rocker:

Many thanks to Neil for this tantalizing description.

With greatest respect to Dionys, I second Old Black’s motion for a release. I never expected another Homegrown, Chrome Dreams, etc. I’m not looking for perfection, revolution, or Revelation. I just am particularly fascinated by this period of Neil’s (and the Horse’s) career—Toast sounds like something of a lost link between SWA, AYP?, and the latter day Horse outings.

AYP? has long commanded attention from me, despite (or because?) of its idiosyncrasies and drawbacks. I think that’s partly because the same darkness, sadness, uneasy melancholy that Neil associates with Toast remains latent in AYP? as we know it. It’s somewhat oblique in the title track and others, but themes of losing love, regrets, and yearnings run through the set, albeit a bit camouflaged by the polish and swing of the MGs. A long time ago, I gave She’s a Healer the designation of “soul grunge”. I meant it as a compliment and I stand by that assessment.

That being said, I can understand why it wasn’t the first thing on Pancho’s mind when asked by RS about the Horse vaults. The sessions were probably not the happiest memories. Then again, look at TtN or SWA—sometimes, potent art comes out of pain. SWA may be my favorite post-Rust Neil, so clearly I appreciate the “sad” records. At their best, I find they can be incredibly cathartic.

I’ll just say that my feeling on Toast is more about curiosity than expectation and leave it at that.

...

That said, many artists tend to be "over-sharers", or at least relatively uninhibited about expressing themselves through their work.

Much like Homegrown, Toast may have been "too much" at the time, but my broad reading of Neil's comments is that, in the end, he wants to share it. If I detected greater reluctance, I might very well adjust my tone for sensitivity. On the other hand, it's difficult to imagine anything more unvarnished or soul-bearing than SWA, Homegrown, or the Ditch albums. I feel many of us are used to be experiencing a full spectrum of emotional territories with and through Neil's music. We shouldn't take it all for granted, of course, but it does seem to have become a way of life--for Ny and for many of us.

As an aside, I was unaware or had forgotten the Toast/Coast connection with John Coltrane. As far as I'm concerned, anything inspired by Coltrane is probably worth hearing. Interesting that, with AYP?, Neil ultimately went instead for the soul/rhythm and blues idiom, the common thread being the white rocker's heartfelt tribute to the deep well of black sounds that flows through the soil (and soul) of American popular music.

...

In my opinion, and I could be wrong since I am wasn’t there at the time, SWA is as much about the tragedy of Kurt Cobain as AYP? is about 9/11. In other words, the event had a heavy impact on how the project turned out, but most of the content is not directly related and much of it was already in place beforehand.

I suspect the other poster was referring to the sound and overall feeling of the albums in question. Thinking of say, the subtle jazz undertones of Safeway Cart or the moody noise of Blue Eden, the ambiance Neil ascribes to Toast seems not entirely dissimilar. Aside from memories or fuzzy fan films of the ‘01 Horse tour (the one where Poncho said everything sounded Latin), the only direct evidence we currently have for the sound of Toast is Goin’ Home as transposed onto AYP? I can hear a passing resemblance to SWA’s title track, though the subject matter is obviously different. I’m sure Toast is distinct from SWA and vice versa, but it would make sense if some of the Horse sound developed between SWA and YOH carried over in some form to these sessions.

Finally, I would say that although it’s probably not possible to dissociate SWA from Cobain once that emotional connection is established, I do think it’s theoretically possible that, if you could find someone who had never heard of Kurt Cobain, they could still listen to SWA and get a lot out of it; likewise for AYP? if perchance we could play it for aliens with no knowledge of 9/11. “

‘It’s old but it’s good’, like any other primitive would.”

Thanks so much  Meta Rocker! You're definitely onto something here that Toast is a link between  "Sleeps With Angels" and "Are You Passionate?"?  

Sleeps With Angels: Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse
(See Neil Young Album Reviews:
Sleeps With Angels + Preview Tracks)

 

So much good commentary that one is left without much more to add  other than the trite but true observation that: "It's all one song!"

But is it really just all one song?  

They say history doesn't repeat but it rhymes.   So while the relationship between the continuities and the discontinuities of history and music may rarely have been better expressed by Mark Twain's or Neil Young's epigrams, we continue to search, learn and grow on the road of life.

And so glad we found you guys.

Also, see Whatever happened to... “Toast” by Neil Young & Crazy Horse? 

Also, see ‘Are You Passionate?’ Turns 10 Years Old and Neil Young's Album of the Week: 'Are You Passionate?' + Defending AYP?

Also, see Neil Young Album Reviews: Sleeps With Angels.

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Neil on Ice

Neil Young | Instagram

 

Neil on ice ... in a good way.

From Neil Young | Instagram, Neil is playing hockey somewhere, presumably a mountaintop in Colorado.

Careful out there young man.

More of Neil on ice...

Neil Young
Polar Vortex Tour January 2019
photo by dh 

"i searched out my companions, 

who were lost in crystal canyons"

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Comment of the Moment: New Neil Young Archives Membership Tiers: Rust & Patron

Neil On Demand!

Neil Young Archives | NYA 

 

As always, much excitement amongst the rusties over all the Neil Young news happenings.

On Tuesday, Neil Young announced the long expected introduction of "Tiered Memberships" to NYA.  In addition to the current "Classic" membership, two new membership tiers have been added: Rust & Patron. (See NYA background and details.)  

NYA TIERS  | T-C | Neil Young Archives

 

So, without further ado, we bring you our TW Comment of the Moment  Month:  MAJOR NEIL YOUNG ANNOUNCEMENT - New NYA Membership Tiers: Rust & Patron by the "Inextinguishable Scotsman":

Yes! It's true.

The NYA website, contrary to my doom-and-gloom early predictions, is indeed showing signs of flourishing.

(...and the app actually now works on my phone, sort of.)

I've been actively rallying in favour of a more extensive "concert archive" at NYA for more than 2 years. And I am delighted to see it coming to life.

But NYA (with cheap prices, very limited "exclusive content" and ridiculous expenses) has also struggled to make a profit; a problem even for a shrewd fellow like Neil who has reportedly just pocketed $150,000,000.

So here's a typically-messy compilation of my thoughts, still relevant (I think) as we move forward into 2021. Take 'em or leave 'em.

The goal, of course, is to make a profit. Because as Zig Ziglar said, "you can do a lot more with profit than you can with loss". A profit can be re-invested in the project (or spent on a new swimming pool or vintage car).

And so the secret to the success of an archive project like NYA is to a) increase prices to make it profitable and b) make it obviously well worth the cost, from the target audience's perspective.

Record companies, greedy as they often are, are unsurprisingly enthusiastic about the first point but conveniently ignore the second.

And so people lose interest....the word stops spreading.

People like you and I start to give up, stop visiting.

And the project starts to die.

But if NYA keep *both* points in mind, then they have a real chance of succeeding.

Neil Young, of course, has *too much* great music to release to a conventional schedule. Neil could live to 200 (you'd be a fool to bet against it), and he'd still be discovering new concert tapes in his archive.

("Oh look, a tape of the Mountain House gig from 1990: it somehow fell down the back of the mixing desk for 150 years!")

And the NYA website is the perfect place to (gradually) put all the stuff that doesn't really have a place anywhere else.

Demos, outtakes, videos, live recordings, podcasts...you name it. A treasure chest of gems, misfits, rarities and curiosities. That's what an archive is all about, isn't it?

And over time, it all adds up. It becomes such a remarkable and comprehensive resource that a true fan can't possibly ignore it. And that's what the target should be.

I think a gradual roll-out makes more sense than the short-lived strategy of dumping everything on the site at once. Keep the tension mounting. Neil's most captivating lead-guitar performances build up to boiling point: the same philosophy should apply to NYA.

Surprises have impact. A regular schedule is important and gets the audience into the habit of visiting, but it also becomes taken for granted. Shake things up, sometimes, to keep the audience on their toes.

Record companies are SLOW and need to make announcements months in advance. NYA can act more swiftly, and should.

More suggestions?

Fire off a few cannons, first. An extraordinary show added to the concert timeline (with accompanying notes to give some fascinating context) will generate more benefit (via positive word-of-mouth) than paying for advertising.

The prototype concert additions back in November kind of went under the radar, but they were a leap in the right direction.

Include an allocation of download tickets for premium subscribers. The record company will HATE this idea: that's because they are still imprisoned in 1976 and arrogantly believe they are still owed a living.

Yes, the greedy scoundrels want to extract every last penny from our cold, dead hands. They want us to buy everything multiple times, and (fools that we are), we obligingly line up and bend over.

But of course, we aren't that stupid. We're not cold and dead. We're vividly alive, and we're not going to take any bullsh!t from a dying industry trying to rip us off.
There are plenty of other worthwhile causes to spend our money on, instead.

My point: including some "free" downloads just might be a major selling point for a fanbase which still likes to actually "own" music (rather than just rent it). And it discourages people from seeking out ways to download unofficially.

...People will download regardless of whether you "allow" them to or not! The old-skool music industry failed to learn that lesson 20 years ago, tried to fight it, and was mortally wounded as a result. So you might as well make it a selling point, instead.

Yet more suggestions:

Make every page easy to share a link to, online. No, neither you nor I use social media. But lots of people do. Why not make it easy for them to spread the word?

Or do the opposite: make it SO jumbled and messy and impenetrable and chaotic that it feels like a REAL archive. It all depends what the goal is. Do you care about reaching a sustainable audience or not? Don't answer too hastily.

Some fans, of course, are naturally more connected than others. If I knew someone who ran the foremost Neil Young internet blog (not to name any names) that helps spread the word across the planet, then I'd consider giving that person a complimentary membership. For obvious reasons.

And what about me: the inflammable, pompous Scotsman? Will I myself be becoming a patron?

Of course not! I'm a professional, not a bloody "patron". And I've contributed more of value in the last few paragraphs than some folks actually on the Warner payroll.

But I will be satisfied to settle for a complimentary upgrade to my membership: NYA knows how to reach me on line 1.

The key to success for this website?

Make it a bargain.

...Note that I *didn't* say "make it cheap"!

On the contrary, I'm entirely in favour of a higher price. But make it worth it. Blow us away with that live show from Rotterdam 1989, and then Concord 1993, and then Cal Expo 1996 (or whatever). Release things often and without too much warning, jolting us out of our routine-induced stupor.

No matter how costly the subscription, NYA should make the customer think "WOW! I really got a good deal there. This is an incredible resource. Now, I'm having so much fun I must rave about this to my friends..."

That's how the word spreads.

(NYA Vol 2 gave us something to talk about, alright: the Greedy Hand marketing was so contemptuous I spent two weeks telling everybody I know that I'd never buy a Neil Young box set ever again. So it works both ways.)

Easier said than done? Yes, of course. Especially with a record company that might well be pressing for the stingiest approach possible.

But you don't make waves by playing it safe - Neil knows that better than any of us.

Don't get me wrong! NYA shouldn't fire every bullet it has at once. Far from it. But it does need to come out firing...on a frequent, sustainable basis.

If it does, I think people will quickly start to notice that yes, this is an exciting project and yes, it really is worth paying extra for.

In the meantime, though, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. Lots of potential, here.

Scotsman.

PS - Following on from one point above:

Thrasher probably doesn't get enough credit for maintaining this blog, hosting the discussion, and generally promoting Neil's work (year after year).

Musicians sometimes have a mixed relationship with their fanbase. Do they want the attention or not? You can understand why "both" would be a popular answer.

But without fans like Thrasher spreading the word, it's safe to say that even a monumental artist like Neil wouldn't have much of a fanbase in today's harsh musical climate.
 

So many great points here "Inextinguishable Scotsman"!  When you come up out of hibernation you really mean it.  Must be the Spring weather. :)

Agree that there are many angles at play here.  Artist's vision. Fan satisfaction.  Business, expenses and revenue. ART+ COMMERCE (hey Abner!)

And we do thank you for acknowledging the role TW has played in the history of NYA going back to those "Archives Guy" days.  It has been our pleasure and honor of a lifetime to share this stage.  As you well know, we wouldn't buy, sell, borrow or trade anything, we'd rather start all over again.

We noticed this news was sort of a big deal in the Bob Dylan world over on Expecting Rain. (Thanks Harold!)  While we really do try not to elevate -- or reduce -- every discussion into the Bob & Neil framework -- yet again -- we are compelled to point out the connections.

 

Bob will head off in a direction and eventually Neil learns, follows and improves.  (We've been through this a thousand times before.)  Where once Bob was light years ahead of Neil in curating his Archives, now suddenly, Neil is leader of the pack with his "Cutting Edge File Cabinet Technology".

 

 

 "Cutting Edge File Cabinet Technology" | NYA

 

These times are unprecedented in music history and we're so lucky to be alive to be part of this roll out.  As noted here previously, the Neil Young Archives are -- unquestionably -- a quirky quixotic quest unprecedented in the entire history of commercial music.

The Neil Young Archives represent a towering achievement which no other artist in history has accomplished by building a fully interactive archive of all media types into a single simple interface, while cost effectively (via the internet) reaching every audience on EARTH.

 "A Rusties Holy Grail"

 

We're enjoying NYA and feel so blessed to be a part of the rustie community! Thank you and we love & miss you all. All together very soon.

Bucket Envy @ TW HQ - March 2021

 A Good Day @ Thrasher's Wheat! 

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MAJOR NEIL YOUNG ANNOUNCEMENT - New NYA Membership Tiers: Rust & Patron

NYA Tiers

 

Today, Neil Young has finally announced the long expected introduction of "Tiered Memberships" to NYA.

In a posting on NYA, Neil Young writes:

We’re creating two additional tiers of membership in addition to the current Classic tier - Rust and Patron. NYA’s Classic tier will provide all of the benefits you’re now enjoying plus an extra treat (see below), remaining at the same price ($19.99/yr). 

 

Neil On Demand!

In addition, Neil Young announced that all of the Bridge Concerts will be made available to rent for 24 hours @ $9.99 each, which will be donated to the Bridge School. Neil Young writes:

Coming with these concerts at Movietone is a huge selection of films from the archives, videos, short subjects and full length movies. These films, now found on the Movietone page, are all available for new “Rust” subscribers and of course, “Patrons”.

 

Don't Be Denied!

The Bridge School

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Comment of the Moment: Playing Videos on Neil Young Archives

Neil Young - "Born To Run" | DUME Album
Official Music Video | NYA
 

As the flood of unreleased Neil Young material from NYA continues to inundate us like a "water-washed diamond in a river of sin", many fans are trying to figure out the best method to listen, watch and absorb the bounty of files.

At last count, over 50 new music video/visualizations have been uploaded recently on Neil Young Archives.

 "Born To Run" | Song Folder | NYA

Official Music Video | NYA
 

Here is the Comment of the Moment on A Good Day @ Thrasher's Wheat! by tomatron, who suggested...

Massive video dump this week! Well, they’re really visualizations...

What’s new: over 50 videos on NYA2 song cards.

How to listen: REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. Since the videos cannot be played in either album playlist form or continuously through the cabinet, it is just as easy to play them from latest to earliest recorded. Start with CSNY Human Highway 4/15/76 and work backward through the Stills-Young stuff, a handful of Odeon tracks, and some choice ‘75 Horse, ending with Like A Hurricane.

Keep going, one backwards album at a time. You’ll hear Dume in reverse, introduced by solo piano No One Seems To Know and Crazy Horse’s Pocahontas. Little Wing kicks off a long sequence of Homegrown/Old Homestead tunes. The result of this scheme is an abridged version of NYA2 that winds its way back over the span of four years, with frequently trippy video accompaniment.

Any drawbacks? The missing videos are mostly missed. It amounts to a small percentage of the overall haul, but these are the tunes sans vids: odeon budokan - all 10 tracks; dume - pardon my heart; walk on - walk on; roxy - roll out the barrel; tuscaloosa - here we are in the years, after the gold rush, out on the weekend, heart of gold, time fades away, lookout joe, new mama, alabama.

Having to select them one at a time is a bummer, but this is the best way, using the arrows to go back through the file cards. You can go fullscreen or keep the video embedded in a large viewer, where the song’s date recorded is conveniently still visible. File cards with no video are easily clicked past. There is a minor snag when you hit outtakes and have to click on the cabinet to escape.

Why it works: since vinyl necessarily plays start to finish and CDs and digital can’t have the track order reversed without some programming (and Cabinet View plays chronologically), the videos are a practical way to enjoy the collection from latest to earliest performed. And there are some real visual gems in here. Ideally the NYA2 viewing session would culminate in a screening of Journey Through The Past!

Thanks for the suggestions here Tomatron!   Really helpful.  There's so much material being uploaded on NYA that it has become a real challenge for the more casual fans to keep track.  We suppose the good news is that there isn't some big rush need to take it all in.

 

 "Born To Run" | Video Tab | NYA

Official Music Video | NYA

 

Here at TW, we have decided to take a leisurely approach to enjoying the vast pristine of NYA's goldrush.  To each, their own.

How about yee, drunkards of the villages?

Also, see more on Expecting to Calculate Neil Young 2021: Numbers Add Up To Nothin'.

 "A Rusties Holy Grail"

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VIDEO: "From Hank To Hendrix" - Solo Neil Young, 1992 | NYA

"From Hank To Hendrix" Neil Young - 1992-09-12Deer Creek Music Center, Noblesville, Indiana

A newly discovered concert of Neil Young solo at the Deer Creek Music Center in Noblesville, IN on 1992-09-12 has been located and video of the song "From Hank To Hendrix" is now playing in Hearse Theater | Screen #2 | NYA.

Neil Young posts on NYA:

Deer Creek!

My son Zeke showed me this one. I had never seen it before. We did a whole show and this is the first song I have heard or seen from it. We will be looking at ‘Deer Creek’ with fresh eyes and ears. Maybe it’s a whole concert movie for us!
ny

More on setlist, reviews, etc on Neil Young solo at the Deer Creek Music Center in Noblesville, IN on 1992-09-12 | Sugar Mountain.

Judging from review below, Neil seems to have been in vey good spirtits and cracking jokes. (Click to enlarge)

 

REVIEW: Neil Young solo at the Deer Creek Music Center in Noblesville, IN on 1992-09-12 | Sugar Mountain

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Comment of the Moment: "Toast" - A Roadstory by Neil Young

"Toast" by Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse
 “It's got everything that the best Crazy Horse albums have had.” - Neil

 

Last week, we covered the news that Neil Young had shared some deeply personal feelings on the unreleased 2001 album "Toast" with Crazy Horse.  

Similar to the long unreleased  album "Homegrown" - which Neil felt was too personal to release back in the 1970's --  "Toast" it seems was also too personal to release. Neil writes:

The music of Toast is about a relationship. 

There is a time in many relationships that go bad, a time long before the break up, where it dawns on one of the people, maybe both, that it’s over. This was that time.

Which brings again to the Comment of the Moment on  "Toast" - A Roadstory: Neil Young Shares Thoughts on Unreleased 2001 Album by Setz:

I frequent here often but comment seldom, cause it just doesn't flow out in type as it feels. 

But I can't get past the short time frame between two of Neil's albums that could maybe be the least received at release but maybe the most coherent stories he has told. It seems clear that AYP [ "Are You Passionate?"] came from deep places of love and changes within it. Tours with CSNY in between, which always has had ups and downs, then Greendale comes to light. If you're a forward person, who wouldn't want to turn up the light? Greendale shows happiness, love of family and community around the dark shadows we all deal with every day. So I wonder if there would be Greendale without AYP? 

Now that we've had twenty more years of our own light and shadows, does this art become more relevant? 

Thanks Setz for sharing your thoughts on "Toast". Very interesting, as others have noted.

So, would there have been a "Greendale" without "Are You Passionate?"?  Good question.  Of course, we'll never know and will only begin to conjecture once we do hear "Toast" someday.

We've always found "Greendale" to be very uplifting and inspiring. And maybe as you suggest, "Greendale" was a boomerang reaction to the downcast vibe of "Toast".

More on "Toast" - A Roadstory: Neil Young Shares Thoughts on Unreleased 2001 Album.

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PLAYLIST: ‘Way Down in the Rust Bucket’ by Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse | WTJU.net - 91.1 FM

‘Way Down in the Rust Bucket’  - Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse "Let me go on record as saying that I think this 'Way Down in the Rust Bucket" is the best Crazy Horse record we ever recorded. I love it! "~ Frank “Poncho” Sampedro, Rolling Stone -  March 2, 2021

 

Early this morning, over on radio station  WTJU.net (91.1 FM, Charlottesville, VA) the edition of "Why Sleep" with DJ Alex Shoabi, he played extensive cuts from ‘Way Down in the Rust Bucket’ by Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse.

The theme of the playlist was big bands, like The Rolling Stones & Eric Clapton,   playing in small clubs.

 

Playlist:

• "Over and Over" - Neil Young & Crazy Horse - "Way Down in the Rust Bucket" - Reprise[2021 (1990)] : Recorded November 13, 1990 at Catalyst Club (capacity 800) in Santa Cruz
• "Mannish Boy" - Rolling Stones - "Love You Live" - Rolling Stones[1977] : Recorded March 4, 1977 at El Macombo (capacity 458) in Toronto
• "Bite the Bullet" - Neil Young & Crazy Horse - "Way Down in the Rust Bucket" - Reprise[2021 (1990)] : Recorded November 13, 1990 at Catalyst Club (capacity 800) in Santa Cruz
• "Satellite of Love" - Lou Reed - "Take No Prisoners" - Arista[1978] : Recorded May 17, 1978 at the Bottom Line (capacity 800) in Greenwich Village
• "Farmer John" - Neil Young & Crazy Horse - "Way Down in the Rust Bucket" - Reprise[2021] : Recorded November 13, 1990 at Catalyst Club (capacity 800) in Santa Cruz
• "Penguin in Bondage" - Frank Zappa/Mothers - "Roxy and Elsewhere" - Warner Bros.[1974] : Recorded 8, 1973 at the Roxy (capacity 500) in West Hollywood
• "Danger Bird" - Neil Young & Crazy Horse - "Way Down in the Rust Bucket" - Reprise[2021 (1990)] : Recorded November 13, 1990 at Catalyst Club (capacity 800) in Santa Cruz. My buddy Thrasher tells me this was the first live performance of this classic from 1975's Zuma
• "Sivad" - Miles Davis - "Live Evil" - Columbia[1971] : Recorded December 19, 1970 at the Cellar Door (capacity 163) in Georgetown
• "T-Bone" - Neil Young & Crazy Horse - "Way Down in the Rust Bucket" - Reprise[2021 (1990)] : Recorded November 13, 1990 at Catalyst Club (capacity 800) in Santa Cruz
• "Fire" - Jimi Hendrix Experience - "The Jimi Hendrix Experience ("purple box")" - MCA[2000 (1968)] : Recorded March 15, 1968 at Clark University ("performed in front of 600 students at this small western Massachusetts college")
• "Love to Burn" - Neil Young & Crazy Horse - "Way Down in the Rust Bucket" - Reprise[2021 (1990)] : Recorded November 13, 1990 at Catalyst Club (capacity 800) in Santa Cruz
• "Badge" - Eric Clapton (with Pete Townshend, Steve Winwood, Ronnie Wood) - "Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert" - RSO[1973] : Recorded January 13, 1973 at Rainbow Theatre (capacity 2800) in London
• "Roll Another Nunber" - Neil Young & Crazy Horse - "Way Down in the Rust Bucket" - Reprise[2021 (1990)] : Recorded November 13, 1990 at Catalyst Club (capacity 800) in Santa Cruz
• "Cortez the Killer" - Neil Young & Crazy Horse - "Way Down in the Rust Bucket" - Reprise[2021 (1990)] : Recorded November 13, 1990 at Catalyst Club (capacity 800) in Santa Cruz

Check out last night's edition of "Why Sleep?" | WTJU | 91.1 FM | Charlottesville, VA.

Thanks DJ Alex! We just might have to take you up on the offer to co DJ sometime.  Maybe a LIVE RUST, WELD, YEAR OF THE HORSE & RUST BUCKET edition? Or we can wait for the release of ALCHEMY to do a true "Rust Trilogy"? 

In the meantime, enjoy the RUST BUCKET & keep on rockin'!

Bucket Envy @ TW HQ

 A Good Day @ Thrasher's Wheat! 

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