Comment of the Moment: Outtakes from Neil Young's "Le Noise": "You Never Call"

Larry "L.A." Johnson & Neil Young On the set of film "Journey Through The Past"(Click photo to enlarge)

Earlier this week, outtakes from Neil Young's "Le Noise" were posted to Neil Young Archives.   

The outtake "You Never Call" continues to "wallop" fans with the stunning -- and heartfelt -- pump organ tribute to the late, great Larry "L.A." Johnson, Neil Young's long time film maker and producer who passed away in 2010. 

Here is the Comment of the Moment on Outtakes from Neil Young's "Le Noise": "You Never Call" by Scotsman:

Le Noise was an interesting album, lots of fun sounds and explosions and good ideas from both Neil and Daniel...

But also more than a little bit "half-baked". An impressive totem pole built on weak foundations.

What the extended Le Noise documentary proves is that there was a version of Le Noise *actively in development* that was much more developed, much more nuanced, much *more* interesting.

Almost like a spooky "round the crackling campfire at midnight" set of folk songs. And like Psychedelic Pill, a "look back through the years" soundtrack to Waging Heavy Peace.

But the sessions changed focus — many of the early songs weren't so much built-upon as abandoned (or set aside 'til later). It's a bit like switching queues at the supermarket and starting from scratch.

A lot of the early work got left behind in favour of a series of slightly underwhelming, "cheap-and-cheerful" first drafts.

This gave Lanois more room to do his magic.... but I think the album flatters Daniel's art more than it does Neil's.

More on this in future, but I agree with Dan Swan and mshare about the pump organ You Never Call.

I'd go as far as to say it's not just more interesting and compelling than the guitar version, but more interesting and compelling than just about anything on the released album.

Scotsman.

PS: For the next 24 hours, my latest rambling trip through the alleyways (starting with a rant about factory farming, moving on to songwriting) is free to read on Patreon:

https://patreon.com/scotzman

 

Neil Young via The "Le Noise" Sessions (Click photo to enlarge) 

Thanks so much Scotsman! we seem to always be pleasantly surprised how much these Archives gems which bubble to the surface delight the rustie grains faithful.

And we've been enjoying your ramblings on Patreon, as well, and honored to be a founding member.  Long may you run.

As we've commented so many times, how can so much quality be left to mine after all these years.  It does seem like we will continue to be amazed for decades to come.  Lucky us.

Neil Young and Daniel Lanois

 

More on Larry "L.A." Johnson: 1947 - 2010.

More on Daniel Lanois and Neil Young.

More on the 2010 Neil Young album "Le Noise" (reviews).

More on The "Le Noise" Sessions.

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Daniel Lanois on Neil Young | Pop Matters

Neil Young and Daniel Lanois - August 2013 Photo by Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times
(Click photo to enlarge)

Producer-musician Daniel Lanois worked so closely with Neil Young on his 2010 album 'Le Noise' that Neil named the album after him.

From "Daniel Lanois Still Believes in Magic"  | Pop Matters by Michael Elliot, the legendary producer Daniel Lanois discusses U2, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, his new instrumental album, and how he still lets the music guide him.

How did Neil Young approach you, and how was his Le Noise project conceived?

Daniel Lanois: I was working with [Young’s manager] Elliott Roberts at the time, a great man who’s no longer with us.

I said to Elliott at dinner one night, “Man, I always want to make a record with Neil Young.” I didn’t think too much more about it. The next day, the phone rang. It was Bonnie from Neil’s office: “I have Neil Young on the phone for Daniel Lanois.” So I took the call, and he asked if I would record him playing and singing ten acoustic songs and if I would film him as well because I was making films in those days. 

I had done some films with the band I had assembled at the time called Black Dub. We made some films in the front room of a beautiful estate in Los Angeles. Neil saw those, and they were a little bit noir, in the sense that there were no edits. It was one camera for the entire song as if the performance was witnessed by one pair of eyes. He appreciated that we were telling the song’s story with the camera. That’s how it started. And I said, “Ok. Come to my house. It’s a beautiful place.” We set up all the stuff. And that’s how it happened, except we expanded and went a little more electric. 

We had a little bit of a joke going because we’re both from Canada. I had a nickname, and he had a nickname while we were working. I called him “Pinecone Young”. And I got called “Le Noise”. All I ever do is fucking noise [laughs]. So we’d send little messages back and forth. I’d sign mine “Le Noise”, and he’d sign his “Pinecone Young”. We just had that little bit of Canadian humor throughout the process. 

He’s a very sweet man. I love him. A deep imagination. 

In the end, that’s what we love about records when they have something unique about them.

Full interview @ "Daniel Lanois Still Believes in Magic"  | Pop Matters by Michael Elliot,.

More on “Pinecone Young” & “Le Noise" @  Daniel Lanois & Neil Young and their musical collaborations.

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Daniel Lanois on Neil Young, Pono and Analog vs. Digital

Neil Young and Daniel Lanois - 2010
Photo by Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times
Here's an interview with Producer Daniel Lanois on Neil Young and the Pono, analog vs. digital debate from Vancouver Sun by Francois Marchand:

“In regards to Neil, bless his heart for going after quality. We’ve spoken about it a lot when I was working with him. When we were kids — and Neil is a little older than me, he’s a generation ahead of me — it was very common to pay a visit to the hi-fi shops. You’d go in and there would be a well-informed sales guy — it was all guys at that time — and you’d have a chance to try the German headphones and the Danish ones and the electro-static speakers. So there was a very, very high regard for an understanding of quality in reproduction in sound.

“It’s no news to anyone what happened: Convenience, MP3 and buzz, and there was a dip in quality. But thankfully in part to Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, it became cool to buy an expensive set of Beats headphones because people want to hear quality all over again.

“Pono is simply a very, very high digital resolution machine. What’s nice about what Neil is up to is that he’s gone back to analog sources and recordings. It’s like a film vs. digital camera: There’s no pixelization in that technology, it’s just saturation. That’s why Neil loves analog and those old tape masters. Then the idea is to transfer to this high-grade digital format so you get the density of the analog and the proper reproduction we should have been operating by all along digitally.

“Neil is saying, ‘Not good enough.’ So here we are. At least people are talking about fidelity all over again. How great is that? It’s not so much about analog over digital, it’s about, ‘You want to go to digital? Bring it on.’ But people don’t really care how you make records. In the end, people just want to be transported by music. Everything is driven by cost.

“Quality has always been with us. Just about every record I’ve worked on sounds really great. Did I ever want them to be played on an MP3 system? I want to shoot the guy who invented that thing.”

Full interview with Producer Daniel Lanois on Vancouver Sun.

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What does Daniel Lanois do when Neil Young and Crazy Horse are forced to cancel? - The Globe and Mail

Neil Young and Daniel Lanois
Photo by Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times
(Click photo to enlarge)
With the cancellation of Neil Young And Crazy Horse's Remaining N. American Concert Tour Dates, there has been quite a bit of gnashing of teeth over how this all should have been handled.

We thought that Billy Talbot's Straight From The Horse's Mouth comment answered the question quite succinctly. At least for us it did.

Not so much for others, it seems.

Producer-musician Daniel Lanois, a participant and co-producer of the Greenbelt Harvest Picnic has this to say in an interview What does Daniel Lanois do when Neil Young and Crazy Horse are forced to cancel? - The Globe and Mail by BRAD WHEELER:

Q: I’ll ask the obvious question about Neil Young and Crazy Horse cancelling their appearance at your festival. Why doesn’t Neil just come and play solo?

Daniel Lanois: That’s the natural response and instinct. Why not show up and do something else? People would have been just as happy to hear Neil sing non-Crazy Horse material. I didn’t speak to Neil about this, but I believe it was asked of him. The response from his manager was that his head was not there.

Q:You and Neil have a relationship. He didn’t give you the news personally?

Daniel Lanois: I heard from him about three weeks back. He was excited about coming in. But I guess the injury happened since. The communication since then has just been through an agent.

Q:So, what happens when you get bad news like this?

Daniel Lanois: Well, my thought was to see if we could get someone else to fill that position. Lucky for us, Gordon Lightfoot made himself available. And I can’t say enough about it. What a great guy to help us out so late in the game. I mean, we’re right down to the wire here. But, one great Canadian icon fills in for another. That’s how I’m looking at it.

There you have it -- "his head was not there."

What more of an explanation do folks need from Neil Young?

"One great Canadian icon fills in for another." And on goes the show.

More of interview What does Daniel Lanois do when Neil Young and Crazy Horse are forced to cancel? - The Globe and Mail.

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Daniel Lanois on 'The Making Of' Neil Young's 'Le Noise'

Daniel Lanois on 'The Making Of' Neil Young's 'Le Noise'.



CBC RADIO 2 host Rich Terfry speaks with Daniel Lanois about Neil Young and "Le Noise".

Ahead of his induction into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame, Lanois reflects on albums that he's worked on over his acclaimed career.

Also, see more on Daniel Lanois and Neil Young.

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