The song "Timberline" from Neil Young's unreleased 2001 album "Toast" with Crazy Horse album is now premiering on Neil Young's archive website.
The ~four minute song, tells the story of an unemployed lumberjack and his world battles with faith.
Also, see Whatever happened to... “Toast” by Neil Young & Crazy Horse?
Also, see Comment of the Moment on "Toast" - A Roadstory: Neil Young Shares Thoughts on Unreleased 2001 Album by Tony "Hambone" Hammond in the UK. (See "Toast" - A Roadstory: Neil Young Shares Thoughts on Unreleased 2001 Album.)
Also, see ‘Are You Passionate?’ Turns 10 Years Old and Neil Young's Album of the Week: 'Are You Passionate?' + Defending AYP?
Wow. I need to digest it a bit. But wasn't prepared for how good this would be. Would've been right at home with the Horse sessions on Archives vol. II.
ReplyDeleteSmell the Horse and butter the Toast. It's a good one
Found the line "Goin' back to school
ReplyDeleteGonna show them what I've learned" particularly chilling.
Looking forward to seeing how this fits in with the overall vibe of Toast.
Also got a mail from Greedy Hand tonight with a download link for what they describe as "your Timberland digital hi Res instant gratification track":which appears to be available to any with a pre-order.
Nice spontaneity NYA,
Tony Hambone
Darn, I was really looking forward to hearing the one never-before-heard song off the album. Sounds more like something from his new album to me except for the poor sound. I bet it's fake and he's trying to pass off some new crap as a lost classic. Damn you Neil.
ReplyDeleteTimberline has that dark edge to it, that’s for sure. Very much a cousin to Southern Pacific with the implication of violence a la Revolution Blues. It was no one thing but a confluence of factors that seems to have led to the shelving of Toast. The heavier subject matter was replaced by the more jingoistic (and still excellent) AYP tracks that were added after 9/11. The bitter acrimony of Toast album tracks was either deleted or sweetened in their Booker T incarnations. Neil alludes to a relationship that both parties understand to be over. But some kind of arrangement was met and most of the songs stayed. It will be interesting to hear the Toast versions of AYP tracks and see how much (or how little) was transformed in the process. Given the Horseless final release of AYP, I find it remarkable Goin Home was included at all back then.
ReplyDeleteWith those records that he has rated harshly or pulled from release altogether (like Time Fades Away or Homegrown, which are actually among his best), that denial is less about the songs and more the feeling he has associated with the time spent playing them. It’s difficult to revisit the untimely death of a friend, or the precipice of divorce, so the music made during these crises is what ends up sacrificed. Eventually the hard feelings let up after decades, and the work shines through with the quality and heart that was always there.
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ReplyDeleteEdited:
ReplyDeleteLike a mole, I have inevitably resurfaced to once again rejoice in the gritty musical world of Neil Young, the triple threat from Omeemee. This song perfectly explains why I love Neil Young and his vast body of work, getting wider and deeper by the week. I of course agree with Tomatron that this is a twin of Southern Pacific. I must relisten and wonder.
I have completed part 1 of my Mark Lanegan Irish Wake and 111 day listening party. I recently rebought “Dust” for the deluxe 2nd disc. And, guess what? It redefines in context, what might have been, with the Screaming Trees & Mark Lanegan. As in Toast (but now we get to hear it!).
Neil Young has done it again in 2001, in 2022, when we really need it. I can’t help but believe that DH has encouraged him to release this album. Maybe she will ask him to sell Time Fades Away on CD again. If that happened, I would be very grateful.
I have been in touch with Dan, the other missing torch carrier. He is enjoying the positive, as we know he always will. Soak up happiness where you can. I feel profound Joy that we have been allowed to crack open the time machine and hear what went down in 2001. It is every bit as important as 1976.
Thank you Thrasher for keeping the Thrasher’s Wheat fires burning! I never miss a post & I always appreciate you putting up with rabble rousers like me. You have the patience ce of Buddha, or Job, or whatever. The important thing is that we have community thanks to you and we will now rejoice in the missing link to AYP? Booker T & MG’s never made a bad song. You all have the album “Potato Hole” by Booker T featuring a dude we love on lead guitar. That is the real stuff.
I salute you, Neil Young fans far and wide. I think you have very good taste in Neil Young music.
And, I am posting again. Even if the US is an Oligarchy and the 2 parties serve the 1%. Fu*k ‘em, at least we’ve got rock and roll!
Alan, sleepless in Seattle, your brother in Neil Young related things, and pissed off planet protector. I wish you well.
7/02/2022 03:17:00 AM Delete
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ReplyDeleteDoc, I think what you are seeing are a few stray tracks Neil does not have the rights to (The Last Waltz, etc.) His catalog is not on Spotify, which he confirmed in the latest editor letters. Spotify is trash. I deleted it long ago and was very pleased when Apple Music went lossless without raising their subscription price. When I know I’ll be somewhere with patchy service, I use Apple to listen to Neil Young because with them I can download my playlist tracks, which NYA does not yet offer.
ReplyDelete@ rolandthompsongunner - "Smell the Horse and butter the Toast."
ReplyDeletenice!
@ Hambone - good to hear of spontaneity @ NYA.
@ mrtew - very well played. excellent.
we know how challenging it can be to craft the exact right tone on these sorts of comments.
at 1st, we thought we were reading the usual FB/TWTR/IG snark.
but like all written comments, yours as nuance, irony and humor.
tough trio to rip in a sentence/240 chars or less.
we'd do more of that here @ TW but you know how nuance, subtlety and irony works on the internet w/ short attention spans...
@ Tomatron - terrific obs. thanks, CotM material for sure and we'll give it a go after Independence Day.
@ Brother Alan - thanks for the report and updates on Dan. we did have conCERNs.
we have been receiving and replying to your emails but they must be getting lost in your SPAM folder. sigh
Tomatron obs on TL as a cousin of Southern Pacific is really intriguing and requires further exploration.
and thanks for the kind words on the TW community. we do actually try really hard all the time.
and as it should be.
namaste
@ PL DR - now, now. As Tomatron and many others have repeatedly stated, this accusation doesn't hold water.
Pls do not pass along info that is out context/incomplete; i.e., no dis-info/mal-info/mis-info on TW.
as you know, we do have standards here @ TW which are
amongst the highest of all media platforms.
@ Tomatron - thanks for clarifying.
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ReplyDelete@Thrasher : Edited, apologies. I have scoured my email and it’s so weird that I cannot find anything but the email TW transmissions. I will re-scour and report back. I think Facebook & Google figured out you were independent media and declared war. You have had some experience with this in the past. Enemy of the Tech state?
ReplyDeleteI may seem extreme in my views about the calamitous situation our planet finds itself in, Global Warming, the ineffectiveness of our Government to save the humans as the world heats up, etc. But, I have a song to listen to, about the heaviest track ever laid down. “Human Race” from the latest, Barn. Even Black Sabbath could not compete with that. Absolute realization and reaction by our guitar hero. How do you top that? Gravity of horrific consequence. Inaction by the humans to save themselves.
Correction: Your brother Alan in Seattle, in all things Neil Young, and in general.
PS- Dan liked the post, He wanted people to respectfully listen to different points of view. I sent him a photo of it. Dan was unquenchable positivity, a role model to us all. He objected to divisive talk such as my own posts. If I could remember that there are folks out there with very different views than, say, Neil Young. When I throw a grenade, I risk igniting a troll who will make me so sorry so ever talked the shit I talked. The last thing I want is to make TW a target for the malevolent psycho, or anti Neil Young (!) part of the population..
Timberline has that dreary and nasty guitar like "Vacancy." I think it is a truly disturbing song, and like all his best songs, it makes you feel. Neil does not need the literal. The sound is itself disturbing. This is a great song of a certain sort.
ReplyDeleteIn order to properly savor these last few days of anticipation before Toast is unveiled in full, let us share in the observation of said album’s generous runtime: 52 minutes. The total length of the three tracks already accessible plus “a hypnotizing 10 minutes” of Gateway Of Love (per the Greedy Hand write-up) still leaves approximately 25 minutes of material for three songs, an average of more than 8 minutes per tune. Folks, it looks like Toast will be served with a dollop of jam.
ReplyDeleteYeah Tomatron, I'm super excited to hear the jams too and it's bizarre how the track names are posted everywhere but not the running times... I only found them on one site and now can't even remember where or find them again but I copied the info and it seems accurate....
ReplyDeleteToast Track Listing
01. Quit... 5:24
02. Standing in the Light of Love 4:18
03. Goin Home... 7:52
04. Timberline... 4:10
05. Gateway of Love ...10:10
06. How Ya Doin (Mr.Disappointment)... 7:00
07. Boom Boom Boom (She's A Healer)...13:10
Interestingly two of the songs shared with Are You Passionate are shorter than on that album and two are longer! I love that album and can't wait to hear the original versions and the studio version of Gateway of Love. Three more days of anticipation. I don't know what you mean by "three" tracks already accessible though. I can only access two.
@ Our Brother Alan - thanks as always and apologies for communications difficulties which are beyond our control.
ReplyDeleteas we said yesterday on the Independence day post, we will say simply and succinctly that we are totally in solidarity with you in striving to make the EARTH a better place.
Please pass along our greetings to Brother Dan.
@ Abner - hmm, TL is like "Vacancy." ? hmm, interesting. thanks, will give Vacancy a re-listen.
@ Tomatron - right, Toast is getting close to popping!
@ mrtew - thanks for details.
same here, can only access two tracks thus far.
Oh hey very interesting track lengths! No idea either where those came from, Mr. Tew, but they seem legit. Since Goin Home in AYP was from the Toast sessions, and the song card in the NYA file cabinet flips over between the two albums, I’d figured the Toast one would be a remixed/remastered version of the Goin Home we knew. But 7:52 is almost a minute shorter. It could be an edited mix of that performance, which would be weird, or it could be a different take altogether. Whether it’s a brand new take or one of Neil’s famous fade-outs, there will be much to talk about here in three days!
ReplyDeleteWell I looked at the May 30 date on my screen capture of the track lengths and went to that time in my browser history and found the source! It was this very website! Check it out! http://neilyoungnews.thrasherswheat.org/2022/05/more-toast-neil-young-unreleased-2001.html
ReplyDeleteNow that makes total sense! Thrasher’s Wheat does tend to have the best Neil Young-related info on the web. I did a bit of sleuthing myself and took another look at that Goin Home song card. Clicking the post-it on the AYP Goin Home takes us to the Toast version, which does have credits listed, including additional vocals by Astrid and Pegi! So while the two Goins Home are from the same date, the Toast edition will be notably different and not just from being shorter. Neat!
ReplyDeleteInformation provided by my trusted local vinylmeister is confirming that "Toast" popped out of the German bread roaster and is available in continental stores as of now. Can't make it to the store before Friday though, sigh.
ReplyDelete