Over on ebay.com recently, a MASTER PRESSING SHEET for "Time Fades Away" by Neil Young was put up for auction. (Thanks John K.!)
A few things pop out.
First, we were reminded of the advance distribution copy of TFA that was sent to Thrasher back in 1973. But we must have misplaced our copy somewhere along the line?! (j/k)
Second, the pressing was "Direct to disc by Computer" in 1973.
As noted here back in 2014, "Time Fades Away" was recorded directly from the soundboard to 16-track
using the Quad-8 CompuMix, the unreliable first digital mixing
soundboard—against the wishes of producer David Briggs, who referred to
it as the "Compufuck" but was forced to yield to the desires of Young.
This resulted in a murky-sounding release. Because no two-track stereo
master tape was ever made as would commonly be done, the album could not be
remastered in a traditional manner. If any new release was to be
attempted, a new mix would need to be made from the original multitrack
tapes.
"It's like stashing Mona Lisa in the basement."
Petition Signature Signer #6628 by Gareth D.
Neil Young's 1973 Time Fades Away is one of the most remarkable live albums ever recorded. Certainly at the time of release, it was almost unprecedented for an artist to release a live concert recording of previously unreleased material. Long out of print on vinyl, still unavailable on CD in the early 21st century and widely bootlegged, the album is considered to be the "Holy Grail" of all Neil Young albums.
In an effort to gain wider distribution of this essential Neil Young recording, fans started a petition requesting that the album be officially released. Those interested in obtaining a legal copy of Time Fades Away were urged to sign the petition today.
In 2003, it seemed that an official release was near when four of the "Missing 6" Neil Young albums surfaced. (On The Beach, one of the four albums released after a long hiatus, was also the subject of a fan's petition drive which would eventually gather over 5,000 signatures from the Neil Young Internet fan community Rust and Human Highway.)
I never suspected you were famed WB art director Ed Thrasher!
ReplyDeletethe orange juice was cold, cold, cold
ReplyDelete— Barbata ruled
I bought this album when I was 20- in 1980- and was totally confused. WTF. But my stereo system, so to speak, would just return the stylus back to the beginning. After four listens "LA" became one of my favorite songs and the whole thing started to make sense to me (in a limited way). I mean, it is hard not to hear the current of desperation. The emotion comes from within, it is never manufactured, a totally authentic attempt to understand himself and the world he was living within. I recommend this album to anyone who wants to understand emotional authenticity. The humanity of the record is frightening and for good reason. It is hard to take a look at the end of the rope.
ReplyDeleteOne might say: it is harder to look at the end of the rope than it is to actually reach it.
ReplyDelete@ wardo - well, actually, no, we are not WB art director Ed Thrasher.
ReplyDeletebut when we roll, we're looking more than two lanes wide, for sure.
@ Art - that one took a minute.
@ Abner - good points.
certainly, many listeners are looking to understand emotional authenticity in these times.
Maybe even more so today than back in 1973 when the album was much less appreciated.
As for the rope PARADOX, is not what was exactly visualized in the DH film?
Thrasher, I never saw the film "Paradox." I did, however, listen to at least one incredible guitar workout from the movie.
ReplyDelete@Abner - see PARADOX image at the bottom of the post:
ReplyDeleteTW Song of The Moment: "Married Man"
talk about tying the knot ...
This just in -- the SuperDeluxeEdition site is reporting that TFA will be getting a standalone CD release in August, and includes this link to Amazon Canada:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0B6DHBSMV?tag=sdepcwca-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1
I see nothing on NYA about this, of course.
Here's the original post:
https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/neil-young-time-fades-away-and-the-eldorado-ep-get-standalone-releases/
Thanks wardo! good to know. will followup.
ReplyDelete