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An unofficial news blog for Neil Young fans from Thrasher's Wheat with concert and album updates, reviews, analysis, and other Rock & Roll ramblings. Separating the wheat from the chaff since 1996.
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. 59ufodoes a nice job of curating interesting performances, adding relevant visuals to the videos.
By the year of On the Beach’s
release, rock and roll had become big business, and the American
concert landscape was changing as a result.
Bob Dylan and the Band had
reconvened on their multimillion-grossing run of dates, and CSNY, too,
had begun to sell out stadiums and arenas on what came to be known, by
dint of its excess, as the Doom Tour. In time, messianic pop singers would create grotesque carbon footprints in
the interest of advancing their brands. Young and his band were fueled
by a combination of potent fried weed and honey, called “honey
slides”—and the creeping paranoia that accompanies getting too stoned
matches the mood of the album’s closing songs.
Young sounds confused but resolute.
On the almost seven-minute title track,he makes suggestions,
seemingly to himself: “Get out of town, think I’ll get out of town,” in
a way that makes you think as a listener, He’s never going to get out of town.
“Motion Pictures”—an elegy for his estranged partner, the actor Carrie
Snodgress—is about Young embracing the beauty of nature, as the people
around him are captivated by their television sets. “All those people,
they think they’ve got it made,” he sings. “I wouldn’t buy, sell,
borrow, or trade / Anything I have to be like one of them.” He sings:
“I’d rather start all over again.”
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)
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
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.
UNCUT Magazine: Neil Young's "On The Beach" 50th Anniversary
UNCUT Magazine - February 2024
Neil Young's "On The Beach" 50th Anniversary
(Click photo to enlarge)
UNCUT Magazine's February 2024 issue features Neil Young on the cover, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the album On The Beach.
The cover story is a deep dive into the album’s genesis and subsequent legacy/mythology – with a host of new interviews with Ralph, Rob Frabioni, Will Fuqua and assorted eyewitnesses.
There’s also a track-by-track, where Neil heads including Kurt Vile, J Mascis, Margo Price, Patterson Hood and Low’s Alan Sparhawk talk us through their favourite songs on the album.
Please leave On The Beach as it is, always
was, and hopefully always will be. No extra songs, no outtakes, no
filler, none of that garbage.
You released a perfect album in
1974, nothing can improve on that. Anything you add takes away from the
masterpiece, which is often the case when artists cash in on some
meaningless anniversary crap. If anything was left off the original,
there's a reason. What was originally released was perfect.
I
know I'm probably a lone wolf on the subject, but I've always believed
you're okay being a lone wolf most of the time as well. I know the Neil
Young of 1974 would think this is a bad idea, I'm hoping the Neil Young
of 2023 still feels the same. Please leave On The Beach as it was meant
to be.
Hope you think about it.
Ok, got it Richie and we hear your passion for perfection. We tend to agree not to mess with the original release. But...
How about the outtakes, demos, etc be on a separate disc? Maybe include the OTB poster? And prints from the OTB photo session? Along with proper vinyl reprinting to include the umbrella design inside jacket.
Rare "On The Beach" Poster with Neil facing camera
We sense a surge in relevance of On the Beach
to the these times in which we live. The parallels between the 1970's
and today are unmistakable to all but those asleep and unaware of the pending Big Shift.
Here is Comment of the Moment by Kevin D. in Morro Bay:
"The Essentials" well said Old Grey Cat and another great article by our favorite cat.
On The Beach was the third maybe fourth Neil album I bought after the triple play of EKTIN, AGT and Harvest. To say it was a surprise was an under statement.
Truth be told after that initial triple play I was more than a little confused lets say after my first play of this wonderful album. With each listen I got deeper into it and for me it truly is an essential album. One of the first things I remember noticing when I bought the album second hand around 1975 or so was the pattern from the underside of the umbrella is on the inside of the record cover (not gate fold) but the back side of the actual record cover normally cardboard. Nice touch!
All the folks I played it too never gave it to much thought as their view was it was a downer to listen to. To each their own the more I played the more I agreed with Rusty Kershaw's comment on the inner sleeve - " there is good music in this album".
As the years went by I also invested in the DVD-A which saves my album from too much abuse. With the gallery scrolling and the music playing and a brew by my side - life is good. No honey slides necessary but always an option.
So take advantage of this time before the mother load of Harvest 50 comes out in December and follow the Old Grey Cat's advice and give this album a spin, you won't regret it.
Kevin D. in Morro Bay
Thanks for the thoughts here Kevin!
We sense a surge in relevance of On the Beach to the these times in which we live. The parallels between the 1970's and today are unmistakable to all but those asleep and unaware of the pending Big Shift.
Neil Young: "Well I made that statement before I'd actually heard the record.
I love
that record now.
Before, I saw it as all these groups saying 'O.K.
Uncle Neil, time for that rocking chair'. I love all those guys on the
record - The Pixies, Sonic Youth and that Nick Cave guy in particular.
When I heard it, it really touched me."
This led Cave to discuss what he refers to as his “hiding songs.”
These “sacred” tracks “deal exclusively in darkness, obfuscation,
concealment and secrecy.”
***
Cave shared, “My ‘hiding songs’ serve as a form of refuge for me and
have done so for years. They are songs that I can pull over myself, like
a child might pull the bed covers over their head, when the blaze of
the world becomes too intense. I can literally hide inside them. They
are the essential pillars that hold up the structure of my artistic
world.”
Alongside Cohen’s ‘Avalanche’, another track that Cave refers to as a
“hiding song” is ‘On the Beach’ by Neil Young, the first track on side
two of his 1974 album of the same name. The album explores the isolation
and alienation that Young experienced after the success of his 1972
album Harvest. Discussing how his successful album inspired On the Beach, Young said, “[Harvest]
put me in the middle of the road. Travelling there soon became a bore,
so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride, but I saw more interesting
people there.”
‘On the Beach’ reflects Young’s struggle with fame and his love-hate
relationship with being a performer. The musician sees escape as the
only way to cope with his feelings, which he admits are “meaningless” in
the grand scheme of things. He finds that escaping into nature,
spending time with friends and hitting the road doesn’t rid himself of
his issues, but that’s all he can do.
Ahh, ‘On the Beach’ yet again.
More on "the essential Neil Young song and album 'On the Beach' ":
Rolling Stone magazine lauded it upon its release (and has since ranked it the 311th greatest album of all time). Jack Garner of the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, in his 8/16/74 review, called it “a strong, complete and exciting record.” Across the pond, in the Bracknell and Ascot Times, Geoff Thompson agreed, though he thought it had a listening curve: “On the Beach is an album that takes quite a bit of getting into, but once you are in, there’s no escaping.” A few decades later, in a capsule review that I posted to the original Old Grey Cat website in the late 1990s, I called it “a grim realization (or is that acceptance) of life, circa 1974.”
It reflects the moment when the fantasies of youth give way to self-doubt (if not self-recrimination). On the Neil Young Archives, Neil himself wrote, “Looking back on this album, somehow it makes me feel sad remembering that part of my life.” (It may be why he allowed the LP to go out of print in the early ‘80s and waited until 2003 for it to be issued on CD.)
***
The original (red) Rolling Stone Record Guide (1979), I should mention, gave On the Beach two stars but no mention in John Swenson’s half page take on Neil’s oeuvre. For the 1983 (blue) edition, rock curmudgeon Dave Marsh elbowed Swenson to the side and rewrote (and expanded) the discography. The two stars remained, but a sentence description was added: “[T]his album’s apocalyptic prophecy is rendered all but unlistenable by Young’s grating, whining delivery.” (He gives Tonight’s the Night five stars and a paragraph of praise, however, so all’s forgiven.)
In a similar vein, L.A. Times rock scribe Robert Hilburn wrote in his August 27, 1974, review “[T]he tone of the new album is drab, sullen, isolated.” Newsday’s Robert Christgau, too, found little to like: “Something in the obsessiveness of this music is easy to dislike and something in its thinness hard to enjoy.” (He spent the bulk of the review praising Time Fades Away so, as with Marsh, forgive him his misjudgment.)
(I share those sentiments simply because I enjoy digging into what I like to call “the first draft of history.” It takes time for critical consensus to congeal, after all.)
Thanks OGC! Definitely essential Neil, for sure. Also, we enjoy your digs into “the first draft of history.” Agree, yes, it sometimes takes decades -- if not more -- for critical consensus to congeal. And somewhat ironically, you know what Neil had to say about critics and pissin' in the wind ...
The Tattoo of the Moment is from WolfmanZack (aka Weed Detective) with a pretty audacious Neil Young tattoo of "On The Beach Face".
WolfmanZack -- who BTW is ranked in the "Top 0.05% of Neil Young listeners on Spotify 2 years in a row" -- says this:
The artist does that kind of half-face portrait style as his signature style, and I'd been wanting a Neil tattoo.
"On the Beach" is my favorite Neil Young album so it seemed fitting, he added the weed bolo tie flourish, I made sure there was plaid and sideburns etc
Quite a statement, we must say. And we thought we really liked "On the Beach" album!?
More on the dedication to Neil Young's album "On the Beach".
In an exclusive interview on Human Highway.org with Gary Burden of R.Twerk & Co., the artist, art director, and designer talks about his journey along the Human Highway. Here's an interesting snippet:
Q: Besides the archives, a favorite Neil album design of yours?
Gary Burden: My favorite album cover that I have made, ever, is Neil Young’s “On the Beach.” This cover is loaded with information! From the styles of clothing and objects to the Coors can to the headline of the newspaper of the day of the photo shoot.
My final “gift” to the viewer/consumer was printing the tacky floral designs inside the sleeve.
That one blew the mind of the record company. Not in a good way!
"On The Beach" -- the final link of Neil Young's Ditch Trilogy -- is considered by many fans to be one of his best and their most favorite of all Neil Young album covers and artwork. Designed by Gary Burden, photographed by Bob Seideman, and graphic lettering by Rick Griffin, the cover is quite enigmatic with a Cadillac car fin jutting from the sand like a crashed rocket being buried by time. A shoeless Neil stares out into the ocean near a forlorn potted palm. A jaunty yellow beach umbrella matches Neil's jacket. The yellow theme is even continued with a Coors beer can on the table. Inside the album, things become even more crpytic with the album's liner notes. Fans have poured over Rusty Kershaw's strange handwritten note for clues and meaning often to no avail. Apparently, the recording sessions' heavy use of Honey Slides took a toll ... possibly to the creative sides' benefit?
So, the inside scoop with On the Beach is, even if you don’t see his name listed as playing something on a particular song, even if he’s not listed as a producer of anything, Rusty Kershaw is all over everything except those first two songs because he has everyone bombed on honey slides the entire time they’re making this album. Julie Kershaw’s cooking this stuff up by the pound. Ben Keith says, 20 minutes after eating a honey slide, you start forgetting where you are, which, remember, is the very thing Neil Young wants to do at this exact point in his life. Elliott Roberts, Neil’s manager, says, “People passed out. The stuff was like much worse than heroin. Much heavier. Rusty would pour it down your throat and within 10 minutes you were catatonic.” If you haven’t figured out where this is headed, these sessions go way off the rails. Musicians are switched over to instruments they barely know how to play. The shortest song to come out of this is four minutes and four seconds long. The longest and, arguably, best song is nearly nine minutes. Keep in mind, everyone may be losing their shit on honey slides but, for Rusty Kershaw, this is just Monday. Or, who ever even cares what day it is, man? He’s used to this and, as a result, in much better condition than anyone else to take creative control. And that is exactly what he does. If you think I’m playing this up to tell a good story, Neil Young’s own roadie, Willie Hinds, once said On the Beach is Rusty Kershaw’s album, not Neil Young’s.
With Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Tony Perkins in starring roles and direction by Stanley Kramer, the film "On The Beach" is based on Nevil Shute's 1957 novel on the aftermath of nuclear war.
Fascinating how the film and album have similar trajectories. On the album, Neil Young sings as if he's devising his exit plan the entire time because he knows the destructive nature of the muse which is anlagous to the theme of the novel and film. And this post apocalyptic world view was presaged by "After The Goldrush" -- but that's another story.
The vibe of the album is bleakly dark ("Burn outs stub their toes on garbage pails/ Waitresses are cryin' in the rain"), resigned ("Though my problems are meaningless/ That don't make 'em go away"), sometimes apocalyptic ("The world is turning/ I hope it don't turn away", and the Manson line: "But I hate them worse than lepers/ And I'll kill them in their cars".) Neil's psyche in music and lyrics reveals a man going through transformation via his art.
One of my all all time favorite albums was released 45 years ago today. On the Beach by Neil Young. A stone cold classic @NeilYoungNYApic.twitter.com/QZaaw9iHcg
Neil Young - Live at The Bottom Line - 1974/05/16, NYC, NY
Pushed It Over The End (AKA Citizen Kane Jr. Blues): 0:42 - 6:26
Long May You Run: 7:38 - 11:47
Greensleeves: 12:03 - 13:55
Ambulance Blues: 15:00 - 23:08
Helpless: 24:17 - 29:20
Revolution Blues: 30:50 - 34:28
On The Beach: 35:05 - 40:26
Roll Another Number: 41:30 - 44:11
Motion Pictures: 49:15 - 53:10
Pardon My Heart: 54:38 - 58:39
Dance Dance Dance: 59:18 - 1:01:58
“Motion Pictures (For Carrie),” is a song about actress Carrie Snodgress.
“I think I was starting to realize what a fucked-up life I had chosen for myself with Carrie,” Young told Jimmy McDonough in the 2002 biography Shakey. “So I was outta there.”
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Concert Review of the Moment
This Land is My Land
FREEDOM In A New Year
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The Unbearable Lightness of Being Neil Young
Pardon My Heart
"We're The Ones 
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