A Gentle Request From A Beleaguered Neil Young Fan
Photo by Gilles Bascop
Here is a a very gentle request from a beleaguered Neil Young fan.
This Note's For You, JK!
Dear Thrasher:
It’s been way too long since I officially wrote in a contribution to your hallowed website but tonight’s the night so they say so I’ll try to keep this brief & simple in the hopes of helping to ease my mind & assist any other poor soul out there like me. Some may find this hard to believe but even an ardent fan of Neil since the late 1970’s & a subscriber to the Neil Young Archives can get burned out by the sheer volume of his work presented for purchase or free listening or viewing. Case in point: me. To be honest I just haven’t kept up with Neil’s output since the release of Archives Volume II. (Insert gasp here.) Yes, I just haven’t kept up. In the spirit of the holidays I must admit that I like to see physical presents under the tree on Christmas morning. So I’m seeking your advice & the advice of your loyal readers on the following: What one NY record album physically released post Archives Volume II in tangible, peel the cellophane off, hard copy form should I wish for under the tree? Sorry, I can’t open a digital stream of anything & get misty eyed about it. This could be NY solo, or with any of his band mates (Crazy Horse, Promise of the Real, CSN) I value everyone’s opinion, even Bernard Shakey’s if he happens to chime in. I just want to cut to the chase & get reacquainted with the best of NY again. As an aid to those not keeping accurate score, if you would be so kind as to rattle off the laundry list of album choices released during this time period I would be most appreciative & so might your readers. It was a stroke of genius that Neil’s team sent out an email tonight providing a discount to NYA subscribers on a purchase from the Greedy Hand Store prior to the end of 2022. I can assure you & all others that I don’t work for them & I don’t get an additional 10% from The Big Guy. I don’t want a coffee mug or an organic cotton hoodie or a foam slip mat. I need music! Thank you & Merry Christmas, John Kwit Former Hibernating Reporter
Understand John, totally.
We think you speak for many a Neil Young fan who finds their options for the holidays to be a bit overwhelming. As we always say, "That's a good problem to have".
Please, drop suggestions for John below. Or just go to the Neil Young Store/Greedy Hand @ https://neilyoung.warnerrecords.com/
(and, FYI, just like JK, no, Thrasher's Wheat absolutely does NOT get a cut of the action here for promoting Neil Young's The Greedy Hand store. zero. zilch. nada. TW, is an independent blogger that is entirely self funded and reader sustained by the rustie grains communities, like you. )
Labels: neil young
by thrasher@PermaLink: 12/20/2022 10:06:00 AM
18 comments
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18 Comments:
Dear JK,
Your missive has been posted, so standby to be inundated with suggestions from the rustie grains communities.
Frankly, given the amount of music, why not a Neil coffee cup, hoodie, or hat?
Well, maybe we're being too greedy here, but how about that lovely Harvest 50th Anniversary Edition Deluxe Vinyl boxset?!
Sure would make a great gift under that Christmas tree, now wouldn't it?!
(Hint, hint Mrs JK. now get out there and redeem that discount code! Someone's watching and knows who's been and good and bad, naughty & nice.)
peace,
thrashers
Hi JK,
Without a doubt Toast is the album you should have wrapped up under the tree. Superlative NY and CH playing on songs that really mean something - and meant so much to Neil that he could not release them at the time.
How many of us have heard our partner/spouse etc say to us at one time or another 'Don't say you love me'? A real tour de force and sadly one that has not been matched by anything more recent in my view.
You have a real treat in store if you have yet to listen to Toast.
And a Happy Christmas to you and all rusties - even to those who philosophise.
Hi JK:
As frequently is the answer in life … it depends.
If you were not an avid collector of bootlegs … I’d maybe go for the Bottom Line show. That material … in debut … hard to top. Rust Bucket would be another fine choice.
But, frankly, some of us already heard those shows on bootlegs years ago (thanks, HH and Rust list). So hard to justify making that your only choice, when there are new music options too.
For my money, I’d go with the most recent record, World Record. Is it a career defining work that will stay in the pantheon after it settles in with repeated listens? Doubtful. Heck, of the last three Crazy Horse albums, I think Colorado has more songs that will stand the test of time. But Chevrolet is such a monster of a song that it’s worth the purchase just for that one track.
(Whoever wrote in these parts that among the last three albums with Crazy Horse, there’s one great album of songs in there … can’t disagree with them.)
2 best albums post NYA 2?! I agree that Toast is tops. I also love Barn, Colorado, & World Record (my CD of WR is wrapped, waiting under the tree, I believe). I would say “Don’t buy Noise & Flowers” when compared to other live albums from 1971, for instance.
I won’t make any complaints about too many new Neil Young albums to keep up with. I am happy to stand back & watch them roll in.
I am a satisfied NYA listener, & I mostly buy CDs for sound resolution vs price of vinyl. I want resolution, & enjoy making my own CD compilations / albums to listen to.
I already had an unofficial version of (FM Broadcast) Citizen Kane Jr, which I will not re-buy. I have not bought any of the other new “bootlegs” since Carnegie Hall.
If you want modern master stuff, go with World Record or Barn. If you want studio, go with Toast. If you want live electric, go with Rust Bucket, my favorite live Crazy Horse album.
Your Brother, Alan in Seattle
save your money for Archives 3. And supposedly there’s a Ducks bootleg on the horizon, nut I doubt I will ever see it.
Agreeing here with Julia and Alan- Toast.
Julia! peace!
I'm with Julia, Alan and Abner, Toast all the way!
Merry Christmas to everyone, and a big thanks to Thrasher and Thrashette for all they do!
For my money there are two options. One is ‘Toast’ for a studio experience, and two, is ‘Way Down in the Rust Bucket’ for a live experience. I find Rust Bucket to be the better choice for two reasons. One it is arguably the best live Crazy Horse recording ever officially released, and two, it’s a lot more music for the money. But Toast is certainly a great album and well worth the money too. I’m still of the mind that World Record is perhaps the best album Neil has released….. ever. I know that this is not a particularly popular opinion, but it’s mine. For what it’s worth.
Peace 🙏
On vinyl, Toast for sure. I would also recommend “I'm Glad Y’all…” on vinyl. As many records as there are of this period, it is very much the 70-71 show in its final form, and the packaging is most pleasing. I wouldn’t spring for the current LP of World Record, as it has the truncated Chevrolet.
But I wanted to put this out there for all the rusties here tonight. Wanting to take advantage of our subscriber discount, I was looking into the different versions of WR. We rhought that only the vinyl would have the shorter Chevrolet. But an image search revealed that the CD also appears to have the 13.5 minute mix. This leads me to believe the other manufactured medium, the cassette, includes the short mix as well, although I couldn’t find anything definitive. Neil’s original post on the matter seems to have been removed from NYA. Can anyone confirm any of this? With the discount I ordered the cassette because I like to have alternate versions, and if it is released, might get the second edition vinyl with the full 15 minute Chevrolet.
Also, thrasher, don’t stop thrashin’!
Oh, forgot Rust Bucket came out after Vol II. That one is a must-have, absolutely.
Hey Tomatron ,the cd shows a time of 13.32 on the label but plays 15.16
After “Golden years” it should read Neil is WORTH paying attention to!
It’s nice to see people making peace here on TW.
What a community. Where would we meet up if Thrasher burns his credit card for fuel and disappears in a UFO over a desert canyon while on peyote? (And stops the blog?!). Or he might be doing some other adventure (nearly identical 🤣)… He and Thrashette would probably at a good live show in any given night. What a guy! What a friend we have had in Thrashette to just LET him take care of us like this! And only 5% of the blog readers ever post?! That is amazing.
Thanks to all of you who post your thoughts and analysis. Your passages bring pleasure to many. We have a lot in common. We live on the same planet. And Shakey has got the world on a string. Long May You Run, all of you.
Your brother Alan in Seattle
Thanks, Still. That’s funny! I hope they get around to adding a song card for the alternate Chevrolet.
My top 3 are Rust Bucket, Toast and Citizen Kane Jr Blues. Unwrapping the deluxe version of Rust Bucket would certainly make for a truly wonderful Christmas Day for any rustie.
My immediate reaction was to say Toast, but I had forgotten Rust Bucket came after Archives II. The weekly release of each Rust Bucket track on NYA during the Covid lockdown in the UK was such a treat and the highlight of the week. I particularly enjoy watching the videos - they guys are just having so much fun. I am also quite taken by Carnegie Hall if you prefer acoustic solo Neil - my personal favourite of the bootlegs so far, although the setlist of Citizen Kane Blues is pretty special and makes it worth having in your collection too.
Toast is worth it for Boom Boom Boom alone. Possibly the best (non-Archives 2) Neil song in years .
Try: “Hitchhiker” if you have not given that one a spin!
I would also recommend live at Festival Hall London in Feb 71 rather than the official bootlegs also released this year - he’s in fine form and much better voice. I’m not sure it’s available in the US (sorry don’t know where you are based) but I found his versions hugely mpressive and you can see why UK journalists wanted a live album released after ATGR (they were wrong but you can see why).
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