Just the other day, TW commenter Phil remarked on the rationale of unreleased recordings of the Ducks being released as an "offical bootleg" as typical "neilyoungian logic".
And to be crystal clear here, no one is complaining and everyone is grateful that these recordings are finally seeing the light of day regardless of whether an OBS or OPS or whatever series.
Which brings us to the latest head scratching example of typical "neilyoungian logic".
On yesterday's Times-Contrarian | NYA, Neil Young writes about how it has been 50 years since the album Time Fades Away was released and now a CD should be released?!
If we didn't believe in typical "neilyoungian logic" than we'd think ol' Neil was punking us. Or maybe this is Neil's subtle "neilyoungian logic" way of suggesting we take the TFA petition down, mission accomplished???
From A MESSAGE FROM NEIL | Times-Contrarian | NYA:
50 years have passed.
We’re going to try to re-release this in vinyl and CD. A lot of folks have asked for it, so I am asking reprise to re-release. Getting anything made in vinyl is difficult these days, but it’s worth it for the sound. I know there is a petition out there to get TFA on the street again. I hope everyone who wants it can get it.
Watch these pages for an announcement date. I was asked not to show any release schedules anymore because the releases keep slipping back in time, due to the world’s inability to produce vinyl.
If I was not so old and didn’t know how great true vinyl from analog masters sounds, we probably would have already released this in CD and streaming only.
Don’t be Denied.
thanks
n
Ok, so what's the deal with the Neil Young album Time Fades Away?
As one petitioner wrote all the way back in 2005 when we started the Release "Time Fades Away" Petition, not releasing TFA was "... like stashing Mona Lisa in the basement."
"It's like stashing Mona Lisa in the basement."
Petition Signature Signer #6628 by Gareth D.
A lot has happened since Thrasher's Wheat began the campaign to release Neil Young's 1973 album Time Fades Away.
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 in 2005 requesting that the album be officially released. Those interested in obtaining a legal copy of Time Fades Away were urged to sign the petition.
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.)
"Time Fades Away" by Neil Young
Confusingly worded announcement, but it sounds like the vinyl is part of the rerelease of TFA from last year, only delayed because of global pressing availability. But yes this is an album that ought to never again go out of print.
ReplyDeleteThis particular announcement wouldn’t be nearly as confusing if it had been posted on April 1st……..I think. Perhaps the previous release was just a figment of our imagination……… maybe the film The Matrix really was a documentary.
ReplyDeletePeace 🙏
Sometimes I have the impression that there is an underlying connection between items published on NYA within a few days. Currently the lyrics of "Days That Used To Be" are appearing on the front page, Neil Young is sharing memories of his past with Pegi Young in his comments to "Harvest Moon", a re-re-release of "Time Fades Away" is announced... Not to speak of synthesizing imaginary bootlegs. With winter not being over yet in this part of the world I can relate to this melancholic mood looking back.
ReplyDeleteBut then I think it's an archive, damnit. Things like that are constructed backwards, there's no use in fantasizing "underlying connections".
TFA on vinyl, its native format. Dionys, I see the connections too. So much of what arrives on NYA is subject to Neil’s train of thought. It would be interesting to see the site in an entirely chronological view, post-wise. What trends might emerge?
ReplyDeleteFormat is so key to my enjoyment of this music. I couldn’t even bear TFA until I found a 70s pressing leafing through LPs at Antone’s Records. Then the sound made sense to me. The format of some of these newly heard tunes is similarly a focus for me. Will Under The Rainbow include the digital file of the entire unedited show like CKJr Blues did? That’s the way I wanna hear it! Such a presentation does not lend itself to vinyl, but holds up well as a document of the “you were there” feel of the bootleg. It’s for sure my favorite way to listen to Royce and Dorothy.
Ducks: Bootleg? Not a bootleg? I wonder if it’ll be great on vinyl. Likely so. But will there be Official Non-Bootleg Outtakes?
One last thought on format before I hit the hay for the last school day before a much-needed spring break. The new release of Neil Young (CSG Reversal)… what do we think? It sounded big and bold coming out of this iPhone. But on headphones, the mono version felt lacking. It was not meant to be mono, just shoehorned into that format for radio play at the time. It also has the feeling of being rushed out. One of the tracks is not even in mono! It’s the best-sounding one of the bunch. If you haven’t picked it out yet, I won’t spoil it. As it stands, the CSG version is currently still my go-to version. Like Neil said, those mixes are a lot better. The CSG doesn’t bother me as much as it might, because it’s an effect applied equally across the whole album. Classic recorded music is full of these baked-in idiosyncratic sounds. However, when Neeks’s Stereo CSG Reversal is released in full, I suspect it will become the definitive edition of the solo debut. Straight from the console!
One bit of confusion is around whether this will be a special 50th anniversary edition or just a standalone vinyl offering of the re-release we already got. I did poke the bear on this and never got a response. I am sure many others have written in as well, and this never got clarified to my knowledge. What SHOULD a 50th Anniversary edition of TFA look like? Any takers?
ReplyDelete@ LRR - thanks for poking the bear! careful tho
ReplyDeletenot to be a total purist here, but how about the official version it all its sonic glory and alt mix package?
in terms of possibilities, someone put together an alternate mix of TFA from various other dates which we found to be pretty cool. It included an amazingly outrageous version of Last Dance that went on forever.