Dolly Parton (1946 - 2026): "After The Gold Rush"

Dolly Parton: 1946 - 2026

From Late Show David Letterman in 1999, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton & Linda Ronstadt singing 'After the Gold Rush' by Neil Young.

A few items to note in performance.  The lyrics change on:

1. "in the nineteen seventies" changed to "in the twentieth century."

2. "And I felt like getting high" changed to "And I felt like I could cry.""getting high" 

(Quoting Wikipedia: "Parton also released a solo version of the song in 1996, though her version altered the line 'I felt like getting high' to 'I felt like I could cry' with the permission of Neil Young.") 

The Glass Harmonica (or Armonica) was played by Dennis James, who remembers the performance in an interview with Rich Bailey in 2002:

Rich Bailey: I remember when you appeared with her on Letterman and you discussed the Armonica a bit. How was that?

Dennis James: Well, it was a great surprise. A sort of unspoken message in the air to me before the broadcast was "Do not say anything on the air!”. After all, these things are Linda's appearances. When David L. leaned over his desk and directed a question to me I simply froze- on playback of the dub I can see myself caught and unable to speak. I received a glance from Linda that said to me it was OK and so when he tried again I called back a flip one liner and on things went from there.

 

Here is the original music video of the cover of Neil Young's 'After the Gold Rush' by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt.

Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt Perform “After the Gold Rush” by Neil Young. 💘 pic.twitter.com/e79XSOPi99

— Dina Shakti 🇬🇧 🇱🇰 (@Dina_Shakti) August 27, 2026

Dolly Parton (1946 - 2026) ... gone but not forgotten.

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Joel Bernstein Interview | The Bob Lefsetz's Podcast

Joel Bernstein
San Francisco, April 9, 2018
Photographed by Joshua Ets-Hokin

Joel Bernstein is interviewed on The Bob Lefsetz's Podcast:

"Photographer Joel Bernstein has tales that boggle the mind, like accidentally shooting the cover of Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush" as a high school student...you'll love his stories!"

After The Gold Rush by Neil Young

(Click photo to enlarge)

 

The After The Gold Rush LP cover is a solarized print of slightly out of focus photograph by Joel Bernstein of Neil Young walking past a building on the campus of the New York University School of Law. The art direction and design is by Gary Burden. 

More on Joel Bernstein @ https://joelbernstein.com/.

Also, see 

• Joel Bernstein Interview: The Story Behind Neil Young's Album "Songs for Judy"
• Joel Bernstein and The Archives

Also, see GALLERY OPENING: Two Takes On Neil Young by Joel Bernstein & Henry Diltz.

Uncropped photo used for cover of After The Goldrush with Graham Nash in foregroundGALLERY OPENING: Two Takes On Neil Young by Joel Bernstein & Henry Diltz
Photo by Joel Bernstein

 Also, see Discovering After the Gold Rush: The Story Behind The Album Cover

"After the Gold Rush" by Neil Young 

 Discovering After the Gold Rush: The Story Behind The Album Cove 

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Patti Smith Covers Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush" - Roma, 27 luglio 2022

Patti Smith at the Wiltern, Sept. 7, 2022(Image: © Jerome Brunet via Rock Cellar Magazine)

From a note by Randy & Shari M:

 

Hello Thrasher,

 

Hope you and your wife are doing well and are feeling the benefits of your recent holiday.

My wife and I had the pleasure of seeing Patti Smith and band perform here in Los Angeles at The Wiltern Theatre last week in which Patti played Neil's song along with some other covers. No one has posted the song from that night on you tube (there are some others) but i did find a version very similar to what we saw from Rome in her recent tour over in Europe. (see below)

 

Thought the members might enjoy it, she has some VERY nice words in the introduction about Neil which was similar to what she said to us. 

Smith and her band — Lenny Kaye (guitar), Jackson Smith (guitar), Tony Shanahan (bass, keys) and Jay Dee Daugherty (drums) — have been playing some shows the past few months, mostly overseas,

At the Wiltern, Smith led the ensemble through a a 17-song performance visiting eras from her influential career, including the Patti Smith Group and beyond, as well as covers of artists such as Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, the Who, Neil Young, the Stooges and more.

Regards & Peace,

Randy & Shari M

ps -  Was hoping you were a fan. She's turning 76 in December and she was in full on punk mode in her singing on a few of the longer/faster/harder songs. It's jaw dropping that she can still muster it up in limited stretches.

I thought I had mentioned, but didn't, that 'below the You Tube video' the band info, picture and setlist are from an online site i found in looking for reviews of the show.

Thanks so much for sending along Randy & Shari!  We're doing great here and always really enjoy hearing from around the world about how Neil's music is "everywhere".

Yes, Patti is a real gem and one for the ages, for sure.  At the bottom of this post is a shot we took when Patti opened for Neil back in 2012.  Glad to hear Patti still still brings it.

 

 

Patti Smith - After the Gold Rush - Roma, 27 luglio 2022 

 

"People Have The Power" - Patti Smith
(Dedicated to Neil's Old Black Guitar)opening for Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Philadelphia, 11/29/12
Photo by thrashette
(Click photo to enlarge)

Also, see "Neil Young After The Gold Rush 50th Anniversary" by Harvey Kubernik

 

 

"Neil Young After The Gold Rush 50th Anniversary" by Harvey Kubernik

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ESSAY/REVIEW: "YOUNG SHAKESPEARE" by Neil Young | Bentley's Bandstand | NYA

REVIEW: YOUNG SHAKESPEARE | Bentley's Bandstand | NYA

In classic fashion, writer Bill Bentley "reviews" YOUNG SHAKESPEARE, Neil Young's latest album on Bentley's Bandstand | NYA.

 

We say "reviews" because if you have followed Bill Bentley's work over the years, you know he's a die hard Neil fan.  That said, when Bill writes, we read.

I listened once.

Then I listened again. I felt like you were sitting in a chair across the room from me, playing these twelve songs like you'd just written them. They were so alive and so personal and so strong, and your voice sounded a bit in awe of them yourself. Like maybe you were a bit surprised these were all your creations. Each time another song would start I would get the chills, like I was walking through a new door into a room I'd never been in.

Many of the songs had been on earlier albums and those original versions had always sounded cast in stone--"Ohio," "Cowgirl in the Sand' and others. But now, just you, your guitar and piano, and played them all like they were flowing from your heart for the very first time. You were twenty-five years old that night in Stratford, but the sound of your voice carried an eternal resonance that felt like you had landed on planet Earth carrying a timeless message from another land. It's hard to describe, but you didn't sound like someone on a theatre stage with an instrument or two. This was way beyond that. This music had a cosmic reverberation going on that really did bring in a new different reality. Something was happening.

As I played YOUNG SHAKESPEARE for the third time, I suddenly realized that if I would only be allowed to own one Neil Young album, this would be it.

 

Full review on on Bentley's Bandstand | NYA.

 

 

"Young Shakespeare" Album by Neil Young

 

A preview track and video for "Tell Me Why" from the upcoming "Young Shakespeare" album by Neil Young  is now available on NYA.

As noted here in 2020, Neil Young discussed the unreleased album and film titled "Young Shakespeare" from January 1971 at the Shakespeare Theater in Stratford, Connecticut as "the earliest known film of any of my performances."

 

Young Shakespeare Deluxe (CD, LP & DVD)

(Please shop locally & independently. But if you can't, we appreciate your supporting Thrasher's Wheat by clicking this link . Thank you!!!)

 

RELEASE DATE: March 26th with pre-order now for the album and film on LP, CD, DVD, and Deluxe Box Set.

Neil Young Concert Ticket Stub
1971-01-22, Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford, Connecticut, USA
via Sugar Mountain

"Young Shakespeare" tracklist:

Tell me why
Old man
The Needle And The Damage Done
Ohio
Cowgirl in the sand
A Man Needs A Maid
Heart of gold
Dance Dance Dance
Helpless
Don't Let It Bring You Down
Down By The River
Sugar Mountain

Neil Young - Tell Me Why (live) - Young Shakespeare (Official Music Video)

More on "Young Shakespeare" album by Neil Young.

Young Shakespeare
Times Contrarian | NYA

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"Young Shakespeare" Album by Neil Young - Preview Track + Video: "Tell Me Why"

"Young Shakespeare" Album by Neil Young

 

A preview track and video for "Tell Me Why" from the upcoming "Young Shakespeare" album by Neil Young  is now available on NYA.

As noted here in 2020, Neil Young discussed the unreleased album and film titled "Young Shakespeare" from January 1971 at the Shakespeare Theater in Stratford, Connecticut as "the earliest known film of any of my performances."

 

Via press release:

Just two months after the release of his seminal After the Gold Rush, Neil Young sat down for a performance at The Shakespeare Theater on January 22, 1971. The Stratford, CT show captures the artist stripped down to the bare essentials—acoustic guitar, piano, and harmonica.

The concert was recorded for presentation on German TV later that year but was not publicly available until now. The original 50 year-old analog tapes have been lovingly restored, making available early acoustic recordings of two After the Gold Rush songs, early Harvest tunes, and beloved favorites such as “Ohio,” “Cowgirl in the Sand,” “Helpless,” “Down by the River,” and “Sugar Mountain.”

Young wrote on NYA that Young Shakespeare is, “a more calm performance, without the celebratory atmosphere of Massey Hall, captured live on 16mm. Young Shakespeare is a very special event. To my fans, I say this is the best ever…one of the most pure-sounding acoustic performances we have in the Archive.”

Young Shakespeare Deluxe (CD, LP & DVD) 

 

Previously Neil tantalizingly teased that maybe he would pair "Young Shakespeare" with the 50th Anniversary release of "After The Goldrush" in 2020 as a double record.

That window has come and gone and it now appears that both albums are on the NYA Timeline as separate albums for 2021.  

RELEASE DATE: March 26th with pre-orders for the album and film on LP, CD, DVD, and Deluxe Box Set beginning on Friday, 2/12.

Neil Young Concert Ticket Stub
1971-01-22, Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford, Connecticut, USA
via Sugar Mountain

"Young Shakespeare" tracklist:

Tell me why
Old man
The Needle And The Damage Done
Ohio
Cowgirl in the sand
A Man Needs A Maid
Heart of gold
Dance Dance Dance
Helpless
Don't Let It Bring You Down
Down By The River
Sugar Mountain

Neil Young - Tell Me Why (live) - Young Shakespeare (Official Music Video)

More on "Young Shakespeare" album by Neil Young.

Young Shakespeare
Times Contrarian | NYA

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Inside Neil Young's Former Topanga Canyon Home Studio: After The Gold Rush Studio & Walking Tour

Neil Young's 1970's home in Topanga Canyon 

 

 

 

A cool, short video "Inside Neil Young's Former Topanga Canyon Home Studio: After The Gold Rush Studio & Walking Tour" by Hiking4Life. (Thanks HtH!)

 

Video shows  Topanga Canyon neighborhood, as well as, interior scenes of the house where Neil Young lived and recorded "After The Gold Rush" album.

 

   

 

The house in Topanga Canyon is also the cover of NYA #1, Disc #2 - Topango Canyon: 1968-1969.

 Archives #1, Disc #2 - Topango Canyon: 1968-1969(See Everything You've Ever Wanted To Know About
The Neil Young Archives But Were Afraid To Ask)

Also, see  50th Anniversary of Neil Young's album "After The Gold Rush" by Harvey Kubernik.

 After The Gold Rush by Neil Young (Click photo to enlarge) 

Uncropped photo used for cover of After The Goldrush with Graham Nash in foregroundGALLERY OPENING: Two Takes On Neil Young by Joel Bernstein & Henry Diltz
Photo by Joel Bernstein 

 Also, see Discovering After the Gold Rush: The Story Behind The Album Cover

"After the Gold Rush" by Neil Young 

 Discovering After the Gold Rush: The Story Behind The Album Cover

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Comment of the Moment #2: PRE-ORDER: 50th Anniversary Edition "After The Gold Rush" by Neil Young

NYA Vol #2: TOP BID $929.99* - Oct 30 | eBay

 

Yesterday's TW Comment of the Moment on the most recent "trick of disaster" by Neil Young and the latest pre-orders debacle for the 50th Anniversary Edition "After The Gold Rush" elicited the usual angst and drama from the extended rustdale community.

Regarding, NYA Vol #2 and the earlier pre-order fiasco, the unreleased box set is  listed on eBay with nearing USD$1,000 68 bids and 6 days left to bid, the current top bid is now at $1,202.68*. (Thanks for update Dan!)

 

50th Anniversary Edition "After The Gold Rush" by Neil Young:
USD$99.98 (See Pre-order details)

 

Which brings us to the Comment of the Moment #2 on PRE-ORDER: 50th Anniversary Edition "After The Gold Rush" by Neil Young by JVJ:
 

Back to Gold Rush... echoing the same sentiment as everyone else regarding the price. 

Even if NY had no interest including bonus tracks, he absolutely has enough ephemera to fill a nice hardbound book (not dissimilar to those deluxe Zeppelin reissues a few years back). This release almost seems thoughtless and I never thought I'd describe a release by NY as such. Even the Greatest Hits collection from '04 seemed to serve more of a purpose. An opportunity for hardcore fans to step outside of their obsession and see the high points of NY's discography from a commercial standpoint (beautifully remastered, too) and an opportunity for casual fans to easily dive back into a wealth of incredible songs.

I'd love to defend that the intent is to let ATGR stand for itself, no additional content needed to measure it's context or potency, but that's negated by the (admittedly great) bonus track.

Maybe it'll make more sense when I have it in my hands (yes, I'm still on board for whatever Neil wants to do. If I haven't bailed yet, I'm not gonna start now).

But if anyone is like me and in for this but doesn't want to feel the sting of paying $100 for something that doesn't come out until next March you can put in a pre-order here:

https://www.bullmoose.com/p/34864091/neil-young-after-the-goldrush-50th-anniv-edition

Doesn't charge until it ships. No shipping. Cancel anytime and buying from a independent (albeit a larger one than most).

Also... not sure if anyone has noticed: if you by Greendale deluxe at The Greedy Hand store and add After the Gold Rush, you can get 20% off the whole order... which makes the price of both a little sweeter. 

I'd do that but I'm worried it would hold up the shipping on Greendale.  

Likewise, the "Return to Greendale" - Limited Edition Box Set by Neil Young and Crazy Horse has also received criticism from fans over the packaging and pricing.

Thanks JVJ for our Comment of the Moment #2 on the subject of PRE-ORDER: 50th Anniversary Edition "After The Gold Rush" by Neil Young.

 "Return to Greendale" - Limited Edition Box Set:
USD$99.98 (See Pre-Order details on box)

Also, see:

  "An Apology" - Behind the Scenes of NYA Volume II Sell Out | NYA

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Comment of the Moment: PRE-ORDER: 50th Anniversary Edition "After The Gold Rush" by Neil Young

 

 

50th Anniversary Edition "After The Gold Rush" by Neil Young

 

With yesterday's start of pre-orders for the 50th Anniversary Edition "After The Gold Rush" by Neil Young, once again, Neil fans are feeling the pain.

Neil Young's classic 1970 album "After The Gold Rush" is being re-released as a 50th Anniversary Edition, available as LP box set and CD listed at USD$99.98 for deluxe vinyl box set, with a 7” single picture sleeve plus a 12" x 12" lithograph of the album cover.

Similar to the debacle over the most recent "trick of disaster" regarding the launch of the long awaited Neil Young Archives Volume II Limited Edition Boxset (see Neil Young apology to fans) the fallout continues over all 3,000 units (@ $249 USD each) selling out in less than 48 hours -- somehow inexplicably and unpredictably -- demonstrating a huge pentup demand for physical Neil Young product by a global hardcore fan base. (See SOLD OUT: Neil Young Archives Volume II Blows Out in 48 Hours.) 

 

  "An Apology" - Behind the Scenes of NYA Volume II Sell Out

 

Which brings us to the Comment of the Moment on PRE-ORDER: 50th Anniversary Edition "After The Gold Rush" by Neil Young by Thos, a long time rustie and TW reader here:

It’s bizarre, I just don’t get it! 

 

Release a box set of unreleased rarities that all his fans will desperately want, but only make 3000 copies available worldwide. Then Re-release an album all his fans have already (in some cases 4 times!) with a 7 inch bonus disc for £100, but not in a limited edition!

Again, interesting to compare with Elton John who today released a limited edition (5000 copies) 10 inch Vinyl of an unreleased outtake, to promote his non-limited rarities boxset our next month. That seems a better balance - a limited rarity for the completists and fanatics but make the box set available to all fans, now and in the future.

The ATGR vinyl set price is madness. Has it even been remastered since the last re-release? (No I think). So even if I buy the CD for £9.99 all I’m getting that I don’t already own is the bonus track of Wonderin with vibraphones. Think I’ll cope!

It’s similar to how I feel about Time Fades Away on CD - whenever he is asked Neil says it’s available on CD (see letters to the editor last week), but it’s only available as a very expensive box set of albums we all have already, so effectively fans are being asked to pay £80 for Time Fades Away, which is ludicrous. 

 

I could understand if he refused to release it at all, but since that’s not the case it seems a deliberate ploy to make money. I don’t blame Neil for this, I think it’s clear from Lincvolt, Pono, NYA etc that he’ll plough vast amounts of his own money Into things if he thinks it’s worth it and has never ever come across as greedy - despite the name of his online store! But somewhere in the line through Neil, his management and the record company there is someone who thinks Neil Young fans are mugs and will pay whatever is asked for any old product. 

 

Let’s prove them wrong!

Thanks Thos and we hear you and so many other Neil fans and WTF?!

Again, this all follows after NYA Vol #2 only weeks ago where we seriously  inquired "Who to blame/credit?":

• The WBR/Reprise record company clowns and their poor forecasts?
• Speculators with inside info who front ran the market and cornered inventory, similar to ticket scaling ops (+ the WB/R insider-mole who leaked pre-order code still unidentified???)
• The fact that Neil's Manager Elliot Roberts and his steady guiding business wisdom left the building in 2019?
• The Artist and his Muse and Vista have simply gone tone deaf?
  
• Neil fans themselves and their incessant, entitled attitude of unrealistic demands for artistic purity, personal integrity and business perfection in all arenas of his life and career?
• Or simply did "The Shakey Deal" finally bite "The Greedy Hand" that feeds it, just a bit too hard?
  

All of the above? 

None of the above?  

A combination of a perfect storm that no one could have possibly seen coming?

Already NYA Vol #2 is listed on eBay with bidding nearing USD$1,000 for the unreleased box set.

NYA Vol #2: TOP BID $929.99 - Oct 30 | eBay

 Likewise, the "Return to Greendale" - Limited Edition Box Set by Neil Young and Crazy Horse has also received criticism from fans over the packaging and pricing.

 "Return to Greendale" - Limited Edition Box Set

(See details on box)

While there is always both joy and disappointment with all things Neil, it does trouble us that as Neil heads into the home stretch, that what should be the happiest of times in rustdale are becoming increasingly troubling as it seems the good ship NYA is losing it's bearings on both mission and purpose.

No doubt the times they are a changin'. To focus on the digital and ephemeral or the tangible, tried and true? No one knows.

So we applaud the attempts to get it right and stay true to the hidden path.

And for us, it has always been about the live concert experience.  We have spent $1,000 to see a Neil Young concert for a pair of front section seats, with airfare, hotels, incidentals, etc.  Worth every penny and we wouldn't buy, sell, borrow or trade those cherished memories.

While a 50th Anniversary Edition "After The Gold Rush" doesn't excite us nowhere nearly as much as going back to listen and relive two evenings in Chicago of an acoustic spellbinding Neil in concert.

"One Of These Days"
Neil Young Solo: Auditorium Theater, Chicago, Il - June 29, 2018
Photo by thrasher

A concert where Neil literally played inches from us with pure pristine sound. Priceless, as they say.

To conclude -- for us here at TW -- we tweeted out to Neil on 50th Anniversary Edition "After The Gold Rush" the following:

Happy 50th Anniversary ATGR!
Thanks Neil.
You've been there for us all before, during and after all of the gold rushes.
LMYR another 50.
peace,
thrashers@NeilYoungNYA pic.twitter.com/aSRr3A5NGa

— ThrashersWheat (@ThrashersWheat) October 31, 2020

 

 

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"After The Gold Rush" Album by Neil Young: Released 50 Years Ago Today on September 19, 1970

After The Gold Rush by Neil YoungReleased 50 Years Ago Today 9/19/1970 

On September 19, 1970, it will be 50 years since Neil Young's album "After The Gold Rush" was released.

Here's an exclusive look in an advance of the publication of "Neil Young After The Gold Rush 50^th Anniversary" by Harvey Kubernik.  

 

 

Harvey Kubernik is the author of 19 books, including "Neil Young - Heart of Gold" (see TW review). We interviewed author Kubernik while TW celebrated Neil Young's 70th birthday back in 2015.

 

Also, see GALLERY OPENING: Two Takes On Neil Young by Joel Bernstein & Henry Diltz.

Uncropped photo used for cover of After The Goldrush with Graham Nash in foregroundGALLERY OPENING: Two Takes On Neil Young by Joel Bernstein & Henry Diltz
Photo by Joel Bernstein

 

 Also, see Discovering After the Gold Rush: The Story Behind The Album Cover.

"After the Gold Rush" by Neil Young 

 Discovering After the Gold Rush: The Story Behind The Album Cover

"Neil Young After The Gold Rush 50th Anniversary" by Harvey Kubernik
See https://t.co/5b1OLSleZp
☮️♥️@NeilYoungNYA pic.twitter.com/W7HUuG6PKV

— ThrashersWheat (@ThrashersWheat) August 9, 2020

 

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Comment of the Moment: #62 on the 100 Greatest Title Tracks Ever Laid Down On Wax - "After The Gold Rush" by Neil Young

UPDATE Oct 30, 2020: See PRE-ORDER: 50th Anniversary Edition "After The Gold Rush" by Neil Young + BONUS TRACK: "Wonderin'" (Official Music Video)

#62 - 100 Greatest Title Tracks Ever Laid Down On Wax | NPR

After The Gold Rush by Neil Young

(Click photo to enlarge) 

Last week, we observed the 50th Anniversary of Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush" with a major essay by Harvey Kubernik . 

 

 At the same time, After The Gold Rush by Neil Young was listed as #62 on the 100 Greatest Title Tracks Ever Laid Down On Wax | NPR. and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's Déjà Vu" is listed  at #100.  

 

This inspired our Comment of the Moment on 50th Anniversary of Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush" by Meta Rocker:

@thrasher,

Check out #62, 96, and 100 on the list below. #99 is also worth noting in honor of Croz and the Byrds.

100 Greatest Title Tracks Ever Laid Down On Wax | NPR.

Since the link I posted lists a top 100 title tracks, I'll dip into that topic as concisely and coherently as I am able. I suspect the concept of a "title track" evolved out of marketing for early long play (LP) records. I have no hard sources on this, and maybe I should get some, but note how the Beatles' first UK album is labeled "Please Please Me with Love Me Do with 12 other songs". "Please Please Me" is, technically, an abbreviation. Also, side 1 starts with the song Please Please Me, while Love me Do leads off side 2 on the original vinyl.

EMI would have been using these previously issued singles to market the LP, which was then a quite new format, particularly in rock 'n' roll and other pop music (the label of "rock", which we take for granted today, also had yet to evolve in 1963). If my history is right, long players started with jazz and especially classical recordings, where longer pieces of music demanded playback media with increased capacity.

Until thing started to evolve for various reasons around the early '60s, 45rpm discs--and before them, 78s--were the fundamental unit of recorded music on the market. Early albums by popular artists were often, in effect, greatest hits compilations of singles. Therefore, it seems that a "title track" may have originally developed so that record companies could highlight successful, familiar songs in order to sell this novel, relatively expensive thing called an LP record. The Beatles' "Please Please Me" LP is a prime example of this clever strategy.

However, artists such as The Beatles developed the album into an art form all its own, so that within a few years, singles were promoting or previewing albums, not the other way around. Ideas, like the title song, that started as marketing devices began to take on aesthetic and artistic dimensions.

To write about all of Neil Young's title tracks would require a separate post. Yet I haven noted one or two interesting patterns: in terms of sequencing, the title track on a Neil Young album is--with a few notable exceptions--generally either track 2 or track 6. Check the track listings if you hadn't thought about this before. Occasionally, such as on Harvest Moon or SWA, they turn up as track 4. Even more rarely, they serve as opener (TFA) or closing number (H&D, FITR), or both (TtN). Then we have Journey Through the Past: neither the film nor its soundtrack album bothered using the song with the same name.

Neil has occasionally hinted that the convention of having a title track makes it easier to come up with names for the literally dozens of albums he has produced. But it's interesting to note how this all seems to derive from advertising gimmicks, reshaped and subverted to develop a novel art form.

Ironically, the digital age has almost put us back where we started: downloads and streaming have made the marketing of individual tracks economically viable again, whereas it just doesn't seem like a good deal when looking at the expanded capacity of cassettes and CDs. And of course, the ultimate in retro formats, the EP (extended play) has made a come back, particularly among young indie artists with hipster-ish tendencies, but also now with Neil himself due to release an EP of new recordings in September.

The only previous Neil EP I can think of is Eldorado, which I nearly forgot exists. Does anyone know of any others? For most purposes, the success of the LP format rendered EPs obsolete. Record companies tried to use them to promote LPs or deliver an "economy" option when LPs looked costly beside the familiar 45rpm, but that didn't last long.

For all that commodification has done to promote the mass production and distribution of music (and other arts), it's pleasing to see the artists adopt these profit-driven contrivances and actually do something creative and fulfilling with (or in spite of?) them.

Thanks  Meta Rocker, as always.  Very interesting and something we never considered.

We believe you're correct that the only previous Neil Young EP is Eldorado, which we examined in depth here back in April 2020.

More on  50th Anniversary of Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush" with a major essay by Harvey Kubernik . 

Also, see GALLERY OPENING: Two Takes On Neil Young by Joel Bernstein & Henry Diltz.

Uncropped photo used for cover of After The Goldrush with Graham Nash in foregroundGALLERY OPENING: Two Takes On Neil Young by Joel Bernstein & Henry Diltz
Photo by Joel Bernstein

 Also, see Discovering After the Gold Rush: The Story Behind The Album Cover

"After the Gold Rush" by Neil Young 

 Discovering After the Gold Rush: The Story Behind The Album Cover

Also, at #100 on the 100 Greatest Title Tracks Ever Laid Down On Wax | NPR, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's Déjà Vu".

See "50 Years On: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's Déjà Vu" by Harvey Kubernik contains exclusive, never heard stories by Richard Bosworth on opening for Neil Young with Crazy Horse in 1969 which is truly revealing.

  

Deja Vu Photo Composites
via Susan Miller 

 

 Déjà Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 1970 

More on "50 Years On: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's Déjà Vu" by Harvey Kubernik.

UPDATE Oct 30, 2020: See PRE-ORDER: 50th Anniversary Edition "After The Gold Rush" by Neil Young + BONUS TRACK: "Wonderin'" (Official Music Video)

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