PLAYLIST: "Long Walk Home" | Neil Young Archives

PLAYLIST: "Long Walk Home" | Neil Young Archives (Click photo to enlarge)

 

A new playlist has been added to the Neil Young Archives titled  "Long Walk Home" by rustie extraordinaire Omar "Lone Red Rider".

The playlist -- imagined in an alternate universe -- could have been a followup to Neil Young's album Harvest. 

Omar "Lone Red Rider" describes the playlist as follows:

NYA is featuring something new that may be worth listening to! 

 

For a while, there has been a feature on NYA which allows users to create playlists  but those playlists can not be shared among users. I had created a particular playlist which I shared on social media and garnered some interest. I wondered, if I sent it to NYA, would they consider sharing it so that others can hear it? 

 

Well, I did and they did!

Partly out of my frustration that the latest batch of NYA outtakes were not presented in any useful context and also harboring a dissatisfaction with how post-Harvest era tunes were presented on NYA, I created a speculative tracklist of what a studio follow-up to Harvest might have been. I organized it as a vinyl album called "Long Walk Home" and it is there for all to listen to both on desktop: https://neilyoungarchives.com/playlist?id=P_012 and in the mobile app. 

 

Currently, it seems to work better on iPhones, as long as you update to the latest version of the app.

The Time Fades Away era has been well researched by Pete Long and I recommend his article in issue 96 of Broken Arrow (NYAS). 

There, he shares an early tracklisting of an album called "Last Dance" which seems to represent an intended studio follow-up to Harvest, recorded mostly at the end of 1972 with the Stray Gators as they were rehearsing for their 1973 tour. Here is the running order: Side 1: Time Fades Away, New Mama, Come Along And Say You Will, The Bridge, Don't Be Denied. Side 2: Lookout Joe, Journey Through The Past, Last Dance, Goodbye Christians on the Shore. Of all of those tracks, Don't Be Denied was never completed in the studio. Hence, the studio album was never complete. It's been suggested that the album evolved into a mix of live and studio tracks and then evolved into what we got as Time Fades Away, effectively abandoning the studio album concept. This is where "Long Walk Home" enters the picture.

Starting with the "Last Dance" tracklist, I omitted Don't Be Denied. After this, I cut "Journey Through The Past" as it was, as Neil referred to it as a "song without a home". The only studio version we have of it, recorded in Nashville earlier with the Gators,has a very different feel to it than the rough and ready tracks done after Nashville. I added in "Letter From Nam" from NYA Vol2 Disk1 and noticed that I was on the way to building an album centered on American life and war and politics. From there, it was not a stretch to add "War Song", the much maligned duet with Nash previously released as a single. Sonically and thematically it seemed to fit with this playlist even though it would have likely never been considered for inclusion on a proper album. Finally I added "Soldier" from the soundtrack to Journey Through The Past. A classic Neil song which most of us know from Decade in a shorter version. That seemed to me to be a satisfying listen of tracks representing a feel and era. 

Some who have heard it appreciate it. Some have trashed it. That's OK. 

 

The more I listen to it, I can feel characters come to life in a way that they did in Greendale. Joe and his pregnant wife Annie. The ne'er do well Bill and Millie who struggle to get up every monday morning. Religious fanatics and war zealots. Politicians promising to end wars. It almost feels modern. Actually, it feels pretty damn contemporary to me.  Sure, it's ragged. It risks falling apart at times. It's ambiguous. But real.

Even though it was presented as an "alternate history follow-up to Harvest" it has to be taken as just a fan creation. We won't get the real "Last Dance" album until Neil decides we will. He actually seems somewhat open to it based on recent letters on NYA. So let me end with the Twilight Zone: Imagine, if you will, a phantom collaboration with a hero, across space and time. I feel honored that NYA has decided to share it with you and thankful for Thrasher for allowing me to post it here. 

 

Newsworthy? 

 

Enjoy it while it lasts, spartan artwork and all!

Thanks so much for building and sharing Omar "Lone Red Rider"! 

 

Here's the "Long Walk Home" playlist:

 

Side1:

Letter From Nam

War Song

Come Along And Say You Will

Lookout Joe

Soldier

 

Side2:

Time Fades Away

New Mama

The Bridge

Last Dance

Goodbye Christians On The Shore

 

Really cool that NYA Team uploaded and showcased.  What an era. Vietnam and Watergate. Deja vu, yet again. Over and over. In these times.

 

And a wonderful tribute to our departed friend who we never saw, Pete Long and his labors of love. ... gone but NEVER forgotten ... 

More on Neil Young Archives Playlists @ 

• New Curated Playlist on Neil Young Archives by PARTICLE KID
• PLAYLIST: Neil Young's Unreleased Songs on NYA 
• "Stumblin' with Neil": Kurt Vile's Curated Neil Young Archives Playlist #1
   
     
  ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH PARTICLE KID
  (see New Curated Playlist on Neil Young Archives by PARTICLE KID)

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