Comment of the Moment: Neil Young Archives Timeline Concert Highlights

"Timeline Concert of the Week" | NYA

(See Neil Young Archives: Complete Listing of "Timeline Concerts of the Week" + UPDATE: NYA Subscriber News)

 

Last week, we featured a post on Timeline Concert Highlights on Neil Young Archives .

 

Here is the Comment of the Moment on Neil Young Archives Timeline Concert Highlights | Only Castles Burning | SubStack by Jim McK:

 

All three sets of the Canterbury House show in Ann Arbor, Michigan from October 16th, 1969 is my favorite Timeline Concert so far. 

 

 That is such a unique one-off evening (i.e. 8, 10 & midnight shows) that were just months after Woodstock which was also a time period in the midst of recording Deja Vu and just after the summer when "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" was all over FM radio. As usual, so many new songs and each show ended with a solo acoustic version of "Country Girl" which wouldn't be recorded for a few weeks.

In fact, the "Country Girl" recorded at the Canterbury House had extra lyrics that didn't make the cut for Deja Vu.

Rather brilliant move by the Canterbury House to book two shows at once for both November 10, 1968, when Neil Young was relatively unknown after the break-up of the Springfield, and also for October 16th, 1969. Elliott Roberts was very familiar with the Canterbury House booking team from the shows done (and recently released) by Joni Mitchell in 1967. The venue held less than 200 people and was often SRO for acts like Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Lowell George/Little Feat, Captain Beefheart, Dave Van Ronk, Odetta, Doc Watson, Len Chandler, the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, the New Lost City Ramblers, David Ackles and Steve Noonan. Plus, Ann Arbor (known as A2 locally) is such a cool place to hang out anyway. Pretty sure every act that played the Canterbury House was recorded at the soundboard on reel to reel tape that was state of the art at the time. A few months after the 1969 Canterbury House show Neil Young returned to the Detroit area with CSNY for a show at the Masonic Auditorium.

Here is part of a summary of what happened at the Canterbury House in Ann Arbor that was written for the University of Michigan paper, Michigan Daily:

“It was wonderful in so many ways,” Rubin said. “It was a religious organization first and foremost … but a lot of the ministers were very progressive so it became a place where people who were part of ‘the Movement’ gathered and went for meetings, to hang out, to go to services on Sunday. I am not religious, and I didn’t grow up Christian but even I went to services. They were just really profoundly pleasant and inspiring services to go to. Also, one of Ann Arbor’s first health food restaurants was located as a little kind of salad bar in the front of Canterbury House.”

Although Rubin currently still DJs from time to time, she finds the differences between recorded and live music to be crucial to an audiophile. As you can tell from recordings such as Neil Young’s Sugar Mountain – Live at Canterbury House 1968, shows at Canterbury were nothing like the recorded material from the same artist. They told stories, they had extended asides, or “raps” as the Young reissue calls them, and they could converse with the intimate crowds. Rubin said this is where the beauty of live music rings true.

“Recorded music always sounds the same, because once it’s recorded, it’s like publishing a book. It’s codified. It’s there on a page,” Rubin said. “Live music is more spontaneous. It can vary quite a bit more … And the way sound works live is very different than the way it works coming off of a stereo or coming out of speakers … You can feel the air move and you certainly could at Canterbury House.”

https://www.michigandaily.com/statement/you-cant-bury-canterbury/

When asked elsewhere by another reporter why he played the Canterbury House Neil Young with Elliott Roberts sitting next to him he responded,

“Well, cause this is a groovy place. It’s got a good reputation and it’s crowded, really good crowds, and it’s the best place to start, because the crowd is receptive."

When the single, “Heart of Gold,” was released the flip side was “Sugar Mountain” that was recorded live at the 1968 show for the Canterbury House. Must say, in Michigan both sides of the single were often played because of the local venue. Those Canterbury House recordings then became almost mythological as Neil Young’s fame grew over the years. 

Thanks Jim for the CotM! So glad Canterbury House made it out of the vaults.

 

Timeline Concert: Holmdel, New Jersey - 1992

More on Neil Young Archives Timeline Concerts.

Also, see Neil Young Archives: Complete Listing of "Timeline Concerts of the Week" + UPDATE: NYA Subscriber News.

Here is a listing of all of the Neil Young concerts on the NYA Timeline. 

---

---