A "Live" Version of the Album On The Beach by Neil Young

NEIL YOUNG - ON THE BEACH (Album) LIVE !via 59ufo | YouTube
 (Click photo to enlarge)

Over on YouTube,  59ufo  is putting together live versions of CSN, CSNY, and Neil Young albums that are fun ways of hearing (and watching) familiar albums in a new way. (Thanks Road Dawg!)

So far, 59ufo  has done the CSN "Porch Couch" album, Deja Vu, ATGR, Harvest, Tonight’s The Night, and On The Beach. 59ufo does a nice job of curating interesting performances, adding relevant visuals to the videos.

The album On The Beach by Neil Young has long been considered to be essential and core to the "Ditch Trilogy/Quadrilogy/Quintology/Sextology".  

Here is a "Live" version of the album On The Beach. 

More on On The Beach: A 50 Year Old Masterpiece.

 

On The Beach: A 50 Year Old Masterpiece

More on Neil Young's "Ditch Quadrilogy": "Time Fades Away", "Tonight’s the Night", "On the Beach" & "ZUMA". 

+ "Ditch Trilogy/Quadrilogy/Quintology/Sextology"

Neil Young's "Ditch Quadrilogy":
"Time Fades Away", "Tonight’s the Night", "On the Beach" & "ZUMA" 

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Neil Young Answers The Question: "What is a Thrasher?"

THRASHER
via Neil Young Archives | T-C | LTE (Click photo to enlarge)

Now that the 1st Leg of Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts' 2025 love earth WORLD Tour is complete, Neil is back to answering letters on NYA.

In particular, Neil answers the immortal question: "What is a Thrasher?" (thanks Road Dawg!)

And more importantly, Neil promises to add the song Thrasher to the setlists for the  upcoming North American Leg #2.  Obviously, the song resonates deeply with the proprietors of this blog.

Which reminds of the time that The NYA Team announced a major discovery back in 2019 of the original lyrics for Neil Young's song "Thrasher".

Original "Thrasher" Lyrics

Apparently, the original "Thrasher" lyrics were "hiding behind hay bales"?!

(More on the nine page original lyric manuscripts for Neil Young's epic, immortal and legendary song "Thrasher" which reveal several telling lyric changes made during the evolution from writing to 1st performance. )

 

The Essential “Thrasher” Request Fold Up Sign

(never leave home without it ... or attend a Neil concert w/o)

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"EARTHALUJAH": A Devotional Journey with Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ and Finding Freedom

image via bgodinspired  (Click photo to enlarge)

 

As Reverend Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping Choir would say during this summer's aborted “Love Earth Tour” by Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse: "EARTHALUJAH"! 

Happy Sunday morning to all of our rustie grain friends. Here's a little something different than maybe your typical TW fare.

From "Rockin’ in the Free World" by Neil Young - Finding Biblical Freedom through Music | bgodinspired :

Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” strikes a chord with many listeners, both musically and thematically. 

The song’s passionate call for freedom and its socio-political commentary resonate deeply, echoing the timeless desire for true liberty—a theme equally profound in the Bible. But how can we connect the cry for freedom in Young’s lyrics to the biblical principles of liberation, love, and justice?

In "Rockin’ in the Free World," Neil Young highlights the struggles and disparities within society, asking listeners to reflect on what freedom truly means. The Bible also speaks extensively about freedom but in a way that transcends political and social realms.

Consider John 8:36 (NIV): "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." Here, Jesus offers a profound freedom that surpasses any societal construct—a spiritual liberation through His sacrifice.

Full article @ Finding Freedom: A Devotional Journey with Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ and Biblical Promises | bgodinspired .

More on  Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ @ Why It Works: Neil Young's “Rockin’ In the Free World".

 

Neil Young (as a homeless person)
(frame from "Rockin' In The Free World" music video)

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On The Beach Album by Neil Young: A 50 Year Old Masterpiece

Rare "On The Beach" Poster with Neil facing camera

 (Click photo to enlarge)

 

The album On The Beach by Neil Young has long been considered to be essential and core to the "Ditch Trilogy/Quadrilogy/Quintology/Sextology".

In honor of the album's 50th anniversary we bring you "On The Beach: A 50 Year Old Masterpiece" by Mike "Expecting To Fly". (via RUST Group)

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On The Beach: A 50 Year Old Masterpiece 

Neil Young's On The Beach - 1974
 (Click photo to enlarge)  

 

On The Beach was released on July 19, 1974.  I remember listening to it over and over.

 

I didn't really know what to make of it at first because it was so different than anything else I had ever heard from Neil or from anyone for that matter. But the album kind of crawled into my mind and shaped itself into one of the best listening experiences I have ever had. 

 

The songs are so incredibly intense. 

 

I just loved the answer to critics expecting another Harvest in the form of the songs Walk On (and later on Ambulance Blues.) The beauty of the song written 5 years earlier See The Sky About To Rain, the best (I think) version of the song ever. "I'm a black bat baby, hangin' on your window pane" and other lyrics foretell Neil's later relationship with oil and the companies who produce it on Vampire Blues.

 

And then there is side 2, possibly the best album side of all time by anyone. 

 

"I need a crowd of people, but I can't face them day to day"; oh, the consequences of becoming famous for your work. The title song of the album has some of Neil's best bluesy jazzy guitar work and some really moving lyrics. The atmosphere it creates is hauntingly exhilarating and beautiful. 

 

"Well all those people, they think they've got it made, but I wouldn't buy sell borrow or trade anything I have to be like one of them. I'd rather start all over again." 

 

These are some of the hard-hitting lyrics in Motion Pictures and are deeply important to me. The wonderful Ambulance Blues closes out the album. The entire song is compelling and I can listen to it in my head anytime I want but I love to play the record to listen. "I never knew a man could tell so many lies, he had a different story for every set of eyes, how could he remember who he's talking to, 'cause I know it ain't me and I hope it isn't you" is a verse that resonates through generations.

 

I love the On The Beach album. It's an important part of my life, then and now. If anyone asks about an album that has aged well, think of this one.

 

Mike

Expecting To Fly

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Thanks so much for the memories here E2F & RUST Group!  And it is definitely that time of year to not only be on the beach but in the water.  Stay cool and keep reaching for those seagulls.

More on Neil Young's "Ditch Quadrilogy": "Time Fades Away", "Tonight’s the Night", "On the Beach" & "ZUMA". 

+ "Ditch Trilogy/Quadrilogy/Quintology/Sextology"

Neil Young's "Ditch Quadrilogy":
"Time Fades Away", "Tonight’s the Night", "On the Beach" & "ZUMA"

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A Very Special Comment of The Moment: Riding the Dark Horse -- What Neil Young Taught Me About Autism and Fear

Neil Young & Bridge Kids
@ Bridge School Benefit Concert 2011
Photo Gallery by By Jay Blakesberg Photography

The karma of blogging.  

As regular rustie grains know, there have been many occasions where we have openly wept upon these pages over some of the incredibly emotional stories we have shared on our humble little blog. (See here, and here, and here and here.)

Once again, we share because we care.

The backstory here is that way back on a TW post from 2012, we linked to an article "Riding the Dark Horse: What Neil Young Taught Me About Autism and Fear" by Hannah Brown.

In her essay, Brown blogs about how Neil Young's song  "Tell Me Why" from the album After the Gold Rush, helped her through a very difficult period with her son's autism. 

If you have not read her deeply heartfelt piece of her struggle, we encourage you to now.

So we were so delighted and awed to receive this comment from Hannah Brown on her son's Danny's progress:

It was nice to see that you re-posted my piece. 

Things have become much better for my son and part of what helped him was how I learned to accept him for who he was, and this song helped so much with that. 

He is almost 27 now and works in a carpentry workshop.

Hannah

Thank you so much for sharing Hannah and so very wonderful that your son Danny has found purpose in life. A true joy to know.

 

Neil Young and son Ben (The "TRANSformer Man")

 

And we do know something about the power -- and healing -- of music, for it has been felt, affirmed in our lives and deeply impacted us to make us what we are today. 

"Sailing heart ships 

Thru broken harbors 

Out on the waves in the night 

Still the searcher 

Must ride the dark horse 

Racing alone in his fright 

Tell me why"

Again, a must read for all of us on the healing powers of music, here is  Riding the Dark Horse: What Neil Young Taught Me About Autism and Fear by Hannah Brown, Author, "If Only I Could Tell You".

"If I Could Tell You" by Hannah Brown

 

No fear. 

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"Out of the BLUE and into the BLACK" or "Better to burn out than it is to Truss"

Front and Back Covers of ‘Out of the Blue: The inside story of Liz Truss and her astonishing rise to power’ (Click photo to enlarge)

 

Our Twitter feed was blowing up this morning as everyone was having a field day at the expense of former British PM  Liz Truss.

Naturally, we had no idea what the kerfuffle was all about??

But many are finding it very interesting how the front and back covers of her book tie in directly to Neil Young's lyrics. Obviously, someone at the publisher is a big Neil fan. 

 

"Out of the blue and into the black 

You pay for this, but they give you that 

And once you're gone, 

you can't come back 

When you're out of the blue and into the black."

 

So hey, hey, my, my, Liz has got to go.

 

(thanks Woody W.!)
 

As some have already noted, Truss's short lived administration didn’t even have time to rust.

 

As an almost lifetime "rustie", we all know that one of the most fundamental universal laws -- in the immortal lyrics of Neil Young -- is that Rust Never Sleeps. 

 

But why?

And if you must know the answer, then to know is to ask: Why Does Rust Never Sleep?

Why Does Rust Never Sleep? Rust Never Sleeps - Rust Repair Shop Sign 
 Rust Repair - $35/hr
Photos by Mimi & Jim R.(see more @ Rust Never Sleeps Repairs) 

Rust: The Longest War by Jonathan Waldman (see BOOK REVIEW - RUST: The Longest War by Jonathan Waldman ) 
International Rust Festival 2010
Design by Rick "Chrome It If You Own It" Ahlgren 
rust radio     

Rust Never Sleep! (sic)Unreleased Rust-oleum Commercial(see DEVO and Neil Young ) 





Rusties On Facebook


#RustiesNeverSleep
(Make Rust Great Again! #MRGA) ALREADY GREAT 

  "Rust Never Sleeps" Tattoo

Berlin, Germany - Neil Young & Crazy Horse Concert - June 2, 2013 

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Decoding Neil: "The Musical Transcendence of Neil Young" by author Martin Halliwell

 

Here is a rather excellent essay by author Martin Halliwell which explores Neil Young’s long-running fascination with dreams.

From The Musical Transcendence of Neil Young by author Martin Halliwell:

Dreams for Young are sometimes a puzzle to solve and at other times a new geography to explore, corresponding to the two dominant dream theories of the 1960s: the Freudian theory in which dreams are a working through of repressed psychic matter; and the existential humanist view of dreams as an alternative topography. 

Dreaming is rarely a doorway to the state of lost innocence for which Young yearns in “Sugar Mountain,” but it has the capacity to transport the singer and the listener elsewhere. Through the act of dreaming Young can drift purposefully, pulling together sounds, images and colours in creative ways, and can explore the twists and turns of the unconscious where one image blurs with the next. The nature of dreams means that their shape keeps morphing. This can lead the dreamer towards deeper meaning, but can also drift away into impressions and noise. At times Young searches for direction–such as the quest on his 2007 track “Spirit Road” to discover the “long highway” within — and at other times escapes from meaning into a play of imagery and sound.

We can identify this second trend in one of Young’s early dream songs, “Broken Arrow.” This six-minute coda to the second Buffalo Springfield album Buffalo Springfield Again seems to be inspired by the early-summer release of The Beatles’ concept album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, leading Young to incorporate crowd noises from a Beatles concert and the opening distorted snippet of a live performance of “Mr Soul,” sung by drummer Dewey Martin. Despite its musical variety there is little input from the band, except for backing vocals by Richie Furay, added after Young had recorded the song in September 1967. Its power stems from Young’s sound experiments and the visually arresting figure of a Native American standing alone on a riverbank with an empty quiver. This image of the ‘vanishing Indian’ with a broken arrow suggests either surrender to an unstoppable force or an offering of peace. 

What makes this a mysterious image is that there is no discernible enemy in sight; instead the verses describe a triad of social pressures (fame, adolescence and marriage) as if modern social organization has defeated the nobility of the Native American.

 

Full excerpt at The Musical Transcendence of Neil Young by author Martin Halliwell.

 Neil Young: American Traveller (Reverb) by Martin Halliwell

Also, Martin Halliwell's new book is titled Neil Young: American Traveller (Reverb).

For more on Neil Young's dreams, also see:

• "All Those Dreams" by Neil Young from the album Storytone
• Americana and The American Dream
• Review: Neil Young's Dreamin' Man
• Chrome Dreams II Reviews

‘The Visitor’
by Neil Young + Promise of the Real

(see NEW ALBUM: ‘The Visitor’ by Neil Young + Promise of the Real)

 

 

"All in a dream, all in a dream
The loading had begun
Flying mother nature's silver seed
To a new home in the sun
Flying mother nature's silver seed
To a new home"

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PHOTO: Neil Young @ Berlin Wall, October 1982

Neil Young - Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz, October 1982 image via Rusted Moon  (Click photo to enlarge) 

Over on  Rusted Moon, a detailed look at the back cover image for
Neil Young + Promise of the Real's new live album "Noise & Flowers".

 
Neil Young + Promise of the Real's "Noise & Flowers" 

 image via Rusted Moon  

 (Click photo to enlarge)

 

The back cover of the album "Noise & Flowers" features a photomontage showing Neil Young & Promise of the Real as graffiti on the Berlin Wall. The wall is also decorated with flowers - matching the album title.  

 
Before the Fall: 
Neil Young writes Beatle's lyrics "Love Is All We Need" on the Berlin Wall in October, 1982

For more, see Rusted Moon. Also,

Rockin' In The Free World

Neil Young Lyrics Analysis

Freedom (1989) by Neil Young -
"The rock and roll coda of the Cold War"(+ new, revised lyrics for RITFW)

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Wheat of the Moment: Riding the Dark Horse -- What Neil Young Taught Me About Autism and Fear

Neil Young & Bridge Kids
@ Bridge School Benefit Concert 2011
Photo Gallery by By Jay Blakesberg Photography

The karma of blogging.  

From the TW Vaults, here is a post from 2012,  "Riding the Dark Horse: What Neil Young Taught Me About Autism and Fear" by Hannah Brown.

In her essay, Brown blogs about how Neil Young's song  "Tell Me Why" from the album After the Gold Rush, helped her through a difficult period with her son's autism.

One day I was driving home when I got a very distressing phone call from Danny's school. 

He had had a terrible tantrum and still wasn't calm. I wondered how I would cope with him when he got home. We had just moved and I was finishing the final edits on my novel, If I Could Tell You, about four mothers raising children just diagnosed with autism. I couldn't help feeling frustrated that I had immersed myself in writing a book about autism, yet my son was still having such a difficult time. It was as if all my knowledge and experience wasn't enough to help Danny. After the conversation, I put on a Neil Young CD, After the Gold Rush, which I had just found in a box I had unpacked that morning. I hadn't listened to it in years. I heard the first song, "Tell Me Why," which contains the lyrics "Still the searcher/Must ride the dark horse/Racing alone in his fright," and a light went on for me. 

I pulled over, crying. 

Because then I understood what it was like for that dark horse, how terrible and intense his fear was. 

We parents are the searchers and we can't give up, no matter how rough a ride it is. 

A must read for all of us on the healing powers of music, here is  Riding the Dark Horse: What Neil Young Taught Me About Autism and Fear by Hannah Brown, Author, "If I Could Tell You".

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Brothers Abraham, Martin & John + Neil Young's Song "My Pledge" #MLKDay

Frame from Neil Young's video for "My Pledge" - Director: David Braun

It's Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so we thought this might make an appropriate posting for the day.

In 2016, Neil Young released the album Peace Trail with a song titled "My Pledge", which contains some enigmatic lyrics.  These lyrics refer to a song by Dion from 1968 titled "Abraham, Martin and John".


 

In the song "My Pledge", Neil sings about the alienating side effects of modernization, including cell phones and the monetization of Jimi Hendrix's music. The song also references Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr and John Kennedy.

"Dressed in white like a nightingale
Her name was Florence, Florence of the land

I knew I'd seen her somewhere
But she was busy with him gone

She came with three different brothers
Abraham, Martin & John

I heard a song about that once
And I never knew what it meant"

The above lyrics are followed by another line about 3 rock stars who died in a plane crash. The lyrics -- of course -- refer to Buddy Holly, Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens -- The Father, Son and Holy Ghost or The American Pie.

Back to Abraham, Martin & John.




"Abraham, Martin and John" is a 1968 song written by Dick Holler and first recorded by "Dion" DiMucci. It is a tribute to the memory of four assassinated Americans, all icons of social change, namely Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. It was written in response to the assassinations of King and the younger Kennedy in April and June 1968.

The struggle continues and the dream never dies. "But I do see what I see, And I want to do my duty." #WT1sWBWO "That's my pledge, judge."

Dion - "Abraham, Martin and John" - 45 RPM Single Picture Sleeve, 1968

Dion sing “Abraham, Martin and John” on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1968

“Has anybody here, seen my old friend Abraham?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lot of people, but it seems the good, they die young
You know I just looked around and he’s gone.”

“Didn’t you love the things that they stood for?
Didn’t they try to find some good for you and me?
And we’ll be free
Some day soon, it’s gonna be one day.”

 

"Abraham, Martin & John" by Harry Bellafonte

"Abraham, Martin & John" by Dion
The Best Of Dion
℗ 1994 Capitol Records LLC

"Abraham, Martin & John" by Ray Charles

Dion solo performing "Abraham, Martin & John" @ Joe's Pub (2.20.11)

"Abraham, Martin & John" by Moms Mabley

Neil Young - Peace Trail
More on Meta Reviews: Neil Young's "Peace Trail".

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UPDATED: The Mystery of Neil Young's "Florida" Finally Solved

1st Edition of Tonight's the Night 

Photo from Bill White Collection

 

In July 2020, we shared a posting on The Mystery of Neil Young's "Florida" Finally Solved.

 

The posting detailed how with the release of Neil Young's "lost '70's" album "Homegrown", one of the biggest mysteries of it's replacement -- "Tonight's the Night" -- is now resolved.

The post has been updated to include a photo from the Bill White Collection of a 1st Edition of the Tonight's the Night album package with the (in)famous "Hello Waterface" screed as well as a loopy indy news article in Dutch (of all things) printed on the little folded insert. Also, included is the transcript of what we only now know is "Florida" printed on a faded backdrop of the "On The Beach" sleeve insert. 

(Thanks Bill!)

For more, see The Mystery of Neil Young's "Florida" Finally Solved.

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The Mystery of Neil Young's "Florida" Finally Solved

"Tonight's the Night" Album Liner Notes w/ "Florida" Story
w/ "On The Beach" Overlay + Roy Orbison Photo

Now, with the recent release of Neil Young's "lost '70's" album "Homegrown", one of the biggest mysteries of it's replacement -- "Tonight's the Night" -- is beginning to finally be resolved with the "Florida" track.

"Homegrown: Never Known to Fail" by Neil Young
(See reviews @ 1st THOUGHTS: Neil Young's New Album 'Homegrown')
Neil Young's Ditch Trilogy -- consisting of the mid 1970's albums "Time Fades Away", "Tonight’s the Night" & "On the Beach" -- is well documented as containing the "missing link" to the Rosetta Stone of understanding his entire body of work over the decades.

And now -- at long last -- Neil Young's unreleased album "Homegrown" -- which was recorded in 1974 and 1975 -- is the "one that got away", Neil writes on NYA. At the time, Neil considered "Homegrown" to be "too personal and frank" to be released and chose to release the album "Tonight's The Night", instead.

"Florida" Lyrics by Neil Young

First, one of the most bizarre aspects of the "Tonight's the Night" album is the liner insert (see top image). The cryptically strange "On The Beach" album overlay has the story of a Florida town - presumably Miami Beach - and some odd happenings. Along with a photo of Roy Orbison, the meaning and significance of the story has long remained a mystery to Neil fans -- and the subject of much idle speculation. (Here is a transcription of the "Tonight's The Night" album liner notes.)

1st Edition of Tonight's the Night 

Photo from Bill White Collection

 

"Florida" is like a stream of consciousness fever dream/nightmare. And after reading the TTN liner notes for 45 years now, we had no idea what was going on other than "Man, Neil must've been really stoned. Or he's a very vivid dreamer. Or both."

Gliders?
Tall buildings?
A couple?
A baby in a red blanket?
A photo of Roy Orbinson?

Roy Orbinson
Detail of "Tonight's the Night" Album Liner Notes w/ "Florida" Story

But "Florida" all now makes sense in the context of its placement between the songs "Mexico" and "Kansas" on the album "Homegrown". Essentially, the song's lyrics analysis of "Florida" is that the song/poem/spoken word track is indirectly about Neil, Carrie Snodgress, and their son Zeke.

Carrie Snodgress
(See more on Carrie & Neil)

Snodgress was perhaps best-known for her role as a frustrated homemaker caught between a domineering husband and a self-absorbed lover in 1970's "Diary of a Mad Housewife." She was nominated for an Academy Award and won two Golden Globe awards for best leading actress and new star of the year.

Despite critical acclaim for her role in "Housewife," Snodgress turned her back on Hollywood in 1971 to live with boyfriend Neil Young on his northern California 15,000-acre ranch called "Broken Arrow" and care for their son, Zeke, who was born with cerebral palsy.

Neil Young recorded several songs which reference Snodgress. The most well song is "A Man Needs A Maid" from the album "Harvest" containing the lines:

"I fell in love with the actress She was playing a part I could understand"

Back to the "Florida"/"Tonight's the Night" album liner notes mystery. Again, the couple with the baby are Carrie and Neil with Zeke. And Carrie wants custody of Zeke so she takes the baby and says "he's mine". And Neil protests.

In the context of "Florida"'s placement between the songs "Mexico" and "Kansas" on the album "Homegrown", Neil sings "Daddy is a travelin' man" as the coda on song "Mexico" as a response to Zeke being better off with his mother rather than a musician on the road.

Then we look at the lyrics for the song "Kansas":

Kansas
"I feel like I just woke up
From a bad dream

...

Hold on, baby, hold on
We can go gliding through the air
Far from the tears you've cried"

In "Kansas", Neil wakes up from a "bad dream". Then, the lyrics of "gliding" references back to the glider soaring around between buildings, plus the 'baby'.

So, we'll stop here without digging any deeper in the symbolism and metaphors and leave that for another day.

Carrie Snodgress - Vogue Magazine, ~1971
(Also, see more on Carrie, Neil:& Zeke - Interview in People Weekly, Sept 26, 1983)

w/ Zeke Young
2015 Bridge School Benefit Concerts

Also, see the Dutch translation of the other liner notes on the "Tonight's The Night" album.

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UPDATE

"Florida"
via Letters To Editor| NYA

In yet another one of those stunning synchronicities that have followed us all our lifetimes, no sooner than we posted this analysis last night then a comment appears below letting us know that the above letter was just published on "Florida" where Neil confirms our dream thesis analysis. (Thanks Greyrider!)

boom, drop the mic. well, future proves past, yet again ... just sayin' ...

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