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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"My Boy" - Neil Young Solo @ The Farm at Lakefield College School, May 23, 2025

Neil Young

Image via Clifford Skarstedt/Examiner(Click photo to enlarge)
Here's a video of "My Boy" by Neil Young at The Farm at Lakefield College School Friday, May 23, 2025.  This is song's 1st performance since February 10, 1983, per Sugar Mountain.

UPDATE: Apologies, looks like you need to go directly to YT.

Prior to the concert, Neil posted the following photo to NYA of "My Boy" -- his son Zeke with his father, Scott Young.

Neil Young, Zeke Young and Scott Young

More on Neil Young at The Farm at Lakefield College School Friday, May 23, 2025. 

And here we are with "My Boy" Zeke @ 2015 Bridge Concerts.

w/ Zeke Young @ 2015 Bridge Concerts 

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UPDATE: Neil Young's New Album "Finished"

A MESSAGE FROM NEIL via Neil Young Archives(Click photo to enlarge)

Neil Young's new album is "finished" and due to be released in April, per a statement on Neil Young Archives.

With a working title "Talkin' To The Trees",  the album was completed with producer Lou Adler [Adler is Neil's brother-in-law; Adler is married to actress Page Hannah; Young married her sister, Daryl, in 2018]  and sound engineer John Hanlon. 

The album art has been completed and handed in with Jenice Heo. I am working on the lyric sheets now, hoping to hand-write the words and get them in, in time..

It is a happy feeling I have today, knowing I have made an album I think people will enjoy. I hope it’s out in April. That would be pretty fast.

...

They feel fresh to me and I am very happy to have this all ready for you. It won’t be long now and it will be great to have new songs to play on the road this summer in Europe, the USA and Canada. We are looking forward to that!

Today I will be playing at one of the shelters in Pasadena where many newly homeless people are staying, having lost everything in the fires. Daryl will be with me and we are bringing our two miniature horses, Romeo and Ziggy. They are so friendly and people love to see them with us. 

So that’s what's going on. 

Sending Love and Peace to you all.

N and D

 

Neil Young's latest album track is  "big change is coming" and there is an Official Music Video (See NEW TRACK: "big change is coming" by Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts. 

 

Video Frame via Official Video

Recently, Neil Young announced that tour dates will be coming in February. Earlier, Neil Young has confirmed he will perform this summer at the Glastonbury Festival saying: "We Will Be In Glastonbury" per a Letter to The Editor | Neil Young Archives.

More on Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts: Europe Summer 2025 Concert Tour Planning Underway. 

Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts  

Farm Aid 2024: Saratoga Springs, NY, Sat., Sept. 21  

photo by thrasher 

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Comment of the Moment: "big change is coming" by Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts

 "big change is coming" 

by Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts

(Video Frame via Official Video)

Yesterday, January 17, Neil Young dropped a track from his latest album titled "big change is coming".

In addition, an Official Music Video was released featuring the band  The Chrome Hearts waving the U.S. of A. flag and marching to the beat.

All of which brings us -- obviously -- to our Comment of the Moment on "big change is coming" by Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts by Dan:

Throughout Neil’s career he was borrowed elements from other songs that he has written. 

This isn’t a criticism, but simply an observation. And I have always enjoyed his occasional songs with familiar themes and chord changes. It’s kind of like his signature in a way, and this new track has several different reference points from his past.

I don’t watch music videos when previewing a new song. Because I’d rather let the song stand on its own merits. And I really like the fact that the lyrics aren’t telling you what to think, it’s just observing what’s coming. And the riff is definitely catchy.

I’m looking forward to hearing the whole album in context with the other songs. Neil has always been a great sequencer of his albums, and depending on where each song lives on the album, tends to enhance both the song before and, the song after. This is one of many reasons why I love listening to complete albums. The artists lays out the tracks with a very specific theme, or intention.

But for now; judging from this one song, I’m actually pretty excited about this new album. So hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to hear the whole thing…… soon.

Peace to all……..and here’s hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. 🙏

“Without deviation from the norm, progress is impossible “

Frank Zappa

"A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials".
Seneca (ancient Roman philosopher)

Thanks Dan for the comment, being here and sharing.

For us, the big takeaway is the preparation for change. Awareness of the ongoing #BigShift.

Just as  A Big Shift is coming to the Neil Young Archives, everywhere we look, we hear folks tuning into the accelerating Big Shift. Certainly, a rather major shift in thinking at Neil Young Archives and the newspaper Times Contrarian. Again, this is not merely politics or religion we speak of.  This is fundamental ... our core essence of spirit and soul. Humanity in an age of technocracy.

Earlier, we said that at the risk of saying "told you so", Here Comes "The Big Shift" and the  corruption of mainstream media is blatant and dangerous, it is sadly ironic that this all comes so late in the game for those who should have been paying attention. But, better late than never.  (More on the intersectionality of politics, art and the media.)

Stay tuned, consciousness and awareness are coming! Thanks for the heads up Neil & Hearts!

"There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye"

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NEW TRACK: "big change is coming" by Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts

 "big change is coming" by Neil Young & The Chrome Heartsvia Qobuz
 (Click photo to enlarge)

Neil Young's latest album title will be  "big change is coming" and the title song is scheduled for release tomorrow, January 17, per Qobuz. (thanks HtH!)

 

Also, there is an Official Video being released. 

 

Video Frame via Official Video

 

Last November, we reported that Neil Young was in the studio with his latest new band The Chrome Hearts.

Neil Young and The Chrome HeartsShangri-La Studio, Malibu, CAvia John Hanlon | Instagram 
 (Click photo to enlarge)

Per producer and sound engineer John Hanlon's Instagram  (via Rusted Moon Rusted Moon), Neil Young recorded at Rick Rubin's Shangri-La Studio in Malibu. From photo caption, the recording is analog 16 track direct to vinyl.

 

Lou Adler is credited as co-producer.

Shangri-La Studio is where Neil Young recorded his last studio album "World Record" with Crazy Horse in 2022. 

Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts  

Farm Aid 2024: Saratoga Springs, NY, Sat., Sept. 21  

photo by thrasher

 

The new album will precede Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts Europe Summer 2025 Concert Tour.  Thus far, the only confirmed concert is Glastonbury Festival this summer, which Neil Young will headline.

In December, we reported that  A Big Shift was coming at Neil Young Archives.  Everywhere we look, we hear folks tuning into the accelerating Big Shift.

Stay tuned, conciousness and awareness are coming! Thanks for the heads up Neil & Hearts!

"There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye"

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Comments of the Moment: Neil Young's "Quintessential" Greendale

The Inconvenient Truth of
Greendale

 

Recently, we posted over to the ever-so irrepressible Scotsman's Patreon on Dynamite Tracks #18: Busting out of Jail regarding Neil Young's album Greendale and it's significance.

First, a comment by Ron on the above post:

I hope no-one will be offended if I say am trying hard, but I still don't get what it is they think is important about Greendale - sorry.

The lyrics tell a tale that is interesting, the characters are all relatable, but I don't see or hear anything revelatory or new - and I don't think I did when it was first released 20 years ago either. And I listened to it a lot when it first came out and remember having fun exploring the accompanying Greendale web site.

I can see that there are likely aspects of Neil's character and personality in a lot or maybe all of the characters, I can see that it touches on a lot of the problems of the world, but is there an important insight? Some important message?

Did we not already know then that there was corruption on the highest floor? That Mr Clean was dirty too? That the Government is all bought and paid for? That we need to save the planet?

There is the 'Be The Rain' call to action but hadn't people and organisations been saying similar for many years already? Greenpeace come to mind but I am sure there were many others.

Ok, very fair question Ron and thanks for conveniently asking in comments.

Sun Green 

Neil Young's Greendale Concert Tour - 2003

 

Which brings us to the Comment of the Moment by none other than Scotsman himself on Neil Young's "Quintessential" (thanks Dionys) album Greendale:  

Thanks all for the lovely and perceptive comments.

I like people who enjoy Greendale because I get the sense we're on the same wavelength. We'd probably get on well in the real world should we meet up for a ginger beer, strong coffee, or pint of real ale.

And one of many reasons I like Greendale is because it's its own world.

Not all albums or tracks are like this. Alabama from Tuscaloosa, for instance, with no added context, is objectively an out-of-tune din. Subjectively, it's a dreadful performance. What elevates it to being perceived as a work of art is because we see it in the *context* of Neil Young's life and career in the golden 70s. It's part of the legend.

But with Greendale, although there is lots of Neil Young in it (perhaps more than any other album), all we need to appreciate it is to notice ourselves within this town he has created for us. Dionys and Dan Swan get to the heart of this, above.

Some will relate to Sun Green (seeking to break out and fulfil her potential), some to the artist Earl (trying to juggle the drive to create with the need to survive), some to Grandpa (on the Earth long enough to have seen a lot, done a lot, survived through a lot).

Many here, I think, will relate to all three. They will also relate to the grief of Carmichael's widow, and Jed, too: because like Jed, we've all made mistakes. (If we're lucky, they're the kind of beneficial mistakes that help us learn, and not the kind of mistakes that permanently derail us, or hurt anybody else.)

"Change comes slow in the country". And a big part of the success of this record is Neil is writing from his own experience of living in the middle of nowhere.

The clubs and bars in major cities might change every year — as might the political leaders. Parts of rural England, meanwhile, haven't changed in 200 years or more. The people haven't changed much, either.

The Sun Greens of the world often find peace (and the space to create and think and dream) in the countryside, but need to get out to the city to find inspiration, or to make an impact. Because that's where the change they seek to make is most likely to happen. (In the 21st century, the internet is it's own kind of city.)

So I agree with all you guys that Greendale touches on politics themes. But I don't see it as a political album, not *as such*, because the word "politics" for me brings to mind two things:

A) A sense of top-down power, sometimes rigged against those of us with a sense of ethics (on both sides of the political spectrum)

And:

B) a force that divides us into polarised groups lobbing spears at each other.

Grandpa, meanwhile, strikes me as the kind of guy who "doesn't trust any of the b*stards". The more time you spend on Earth, the more you seem unfold... And eventually, you tune it all out.

Sun Green, too, is the kind of the person who'd be out there making a positive ruckus regardless of who is in power.

Quite wonderfully, we're left with an album that retains it's relevance through the ages, no matter who's in power, no matter whether they represent us or not.

We can still go out and make a difference.

Greendale, I think, speaks most strongly to those who really believe in this. Lovers of this album want to get up and really make a positive contribution, and probably have done numerous times in their lives already. They are do-ers, not just talkers.

(The boss of this very website will certainly relate: he started the first Neil Young blog not in 2016 or 2022, like me, but in 1996 — ahead of just about everybody in the blogging world.)

I'll submit what some will interpret as a smug or deluded opinion, but I'd prefer it to be interpreted as just a bit cheeky:

Having a passion for Greendale says something very complimentary about us.

Scots.

So back to Ron's original question and Scots justifications on Greendale  being "quintessential".

"Truth is all I seek" - Sun Green

 

Not to repeat ourselves, but -- as many of our long time readers here at Thrasher's Wheat know -- we have long since declared: "The Inconvenient Truth of Greendale".

Neil Young’s Greendale
Written by Joshua Dysart, Illustrated by Cliff Chiang
The inconvenient truth of Neil Young's Greendale is that Neil Young was right -- and his message is even more relevant today than upon Greendale's original release.

Greendale is "Everything You're Looking For" - Bandit

The inconvenient truth of Greendale is its uncomfortable confrontation with themes such as the power of mass media and global corporations, loss of personal freedoms and privacy, destruction of the environment, rampant fraud and corruption, an out of balance government and breakdown of the family. All of which we've detailed before here, here, and here.

"a little Mayberry livin' can go a long way"
GREENDALE 2020 HINDSIGHT by James Mazzeo

More on Sun Green in the "compelling", "controversial" and "audiences challenging" concert opera "Greendale" by Neil Young.

"This is Greendale" Brochure - Part #1
Tomorrow's Town - Today (1948)

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Neil Young's Dynamite Tracks #18: Busting out of Jail

From the irrepressible Scotsman on Dynamite Tracks #18: Busting out of Jail:

Bob Dylan said:

“Hearing Elvis for the first time was like busting out of jail.”

Bob’s words ring true. And whether the jail-break is instigated by Elvis Presley or Bob himself, busting out of jail is one of my favourite themes for music... and art in general.

Some music is about wallowing in despair, a comfort food of sorts. I prefer tracks that provoke positive action.

Sun Green is the classic, probably definitive Neil Young song about busting out of jail. A dynamite track not just in its performance, but in its very conception.

On one level, Greendale as a whole is basically the “guidebook to Neil Young”: and Sun Green is the bit where everything reaches boiling point. Obstacles within are demolished, and the spirit reaches its potential. A journey to freedom.

On a more down-to-Earth level, Greendale is about a bunch of very normal people—and a few abnormal ones—living their lives. And because Neil created them all, he’s in all of them.

He’s the curmudgeonly, world-wise Grandpa, but he’s also the ever-youthful Sun Green.

Remember how in the Wizard of Oz the real characters from Dorothy’s life on the farm appear in Oz, but they’re not quite the same? Parallel, but not identical? Greendale is like that:

 In the character of Jed, we see an echo of Danny Whitten. And the track Carmichael tells a vivid story of a grief and mourning that is essentially the 2003 version of Tonight’s the Night.

…not identical, but parallel.

Greendale is not a political album, thank God… nor is it an environmental one. (The excellent final song kicks open the door to an environmental avenue).

It’s an album about living. And of course, there’s a lot of death in it, too. Death adds tension to Greendale, inspiring the survivors to live their lives more fully.

 

Full post @ Scotsman on Dynamite Tracks #18: Busting out of Jail.

More on "Sun Green" and GREENDALE by Neil Young & Crazy Horse.

 
Neil Young & Sun Green
Radio City Music Hall, New York, March 18, 2004
Photo by thrashette

#BeTheRain

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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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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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Neil Young Playlists: Only Castles Burning

Neil Young - ~1972

 

Something a little different on Neil Young playlists. 

From  Only Castles Burning  | Substack: (thanks Dionys!)

As I was making my way through every Neil Young album, I kept a running list of my favorites songs from each release. 

My intention was to distill his entire discography down so that I could just put on a playlist while working and get the songs I particularly liked from his career. Well, it turns out I like an awful lot of his songs. I took that list, compared the widely available versions of each songs, and came up with this 81 strong playlist, which runs a bit over 8 hours. This isn’t exactly reflective of the Top 3 I did for every album, though. I put them basically in order of recording, but since some of these are from live albums, they aren’t necessarily in order of composition. 

It will be fun to put this on shuffle and see what happens.

I made Apple Music, Qobuz, Amazon Music, and YouTube playlists. Spotify is not here for obvious reasons. While I will also make a playlist on Neil Young Archives, I’m not prioritizing it here because NYA user playlists aren’t shareable for some reason (and they really should be, hint hint).

Apple Music: Only Castles Burning playlist

Qobuz: Only Castles Burning playlist

Amazon Music: Only Castles Burning playlist

YouTube: Only Castles Burning playlist

Thanks for all the hard work here Only Castles Burning  

Admittedly, we don't mess with playlists.  We prefer the concerts when we do extended Neil listening.

That said, the primary reason we posted this was because of your observation that "NYA user playlists aren’t shareable for some reason (and they really should be, hint hint). Agree 100%.

Maybe the good folks at NYA will look into sometime. hint, hint

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'The Songs of Neil Young': Northfield (MN) Fine Arts Boosters Fundraiser - Nov 18

 'The Songs of Neil Young'Northfield (MN) Fine Arts Boosters fundraiser

Here is an interview about 'The Songs of Neil Young', a fundraiser for the Northfield (MN) Fine Arts Boosters. 

Check out this new interview with The Morning Show - Ray Coudret on Northfield Fine Arts Boosters fundraiser 'The Songs of Neil Young', 11-17-23 from the KYMN Morning Show. https://t.co/v0kzT9eGwa

— KYMN | 95.1 The One (@KYMN95TheOne) November 17, 2023

Here's what we found interesting in the interview. The organizer discusses researching Neil Young and learning that Neil has a lot of songs to choose from.

Bob Dylan has published over 600 songs. 

Bruce Springsteen has published almost 600 songs. 

Tom Petty has published about  400 songs. 

Neil Young has published over 1100 songs.

More on the ever so prolific Neil Young.

Neil Young Archives Albums Ranked | Ultimate Classic Rock

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An Artistic Comparison of Bill Callahan and Neil Young: Trains, Horses, & Moons

 Night scene on the New York Central Railroad
American Express company’s special express train. , ca. 1884. Apr. 11.  (Click photo to enlarge) 

Here is "An Artistic Comparison of Bill Callahan and Neil Young: Trains, Horses, & Moons" from Recliner Notes by Scott Bunn:

The third song on Bill Callahan’s 2020 album Gold Record is called “35”: 

Callahan and his band move on to the bridge that continues exploring the theme of maturity and finding one’s self:

Tired eyes wander
Into their own sight
Leaving a body unscripted
And forced to improvise.

Here, Callahan is describing the feeling of an older person — one with “tired eyes” — who is still pushing themselves to create art. After the word “improvise,” Callahan’s acoustic guitar moves into the forefront of the song and he ad-libs a neat little guitar passage. Callahan uses the phrase “tired eyes” as poetic shorthand to refer to an older person who grows weary of reading the books of a younger person. It’s also the title of a song by Neil Young from the 1975 album Tonight’s the Night (through recorded in 1973 as any good Neil Young freak will tell you):

The song opens with Young woozily and wearily reciting words that sound as if they are the ramblings of a guy at a bar who is half talking to himself and half talking to the other patrons:

Well he shot four men in a cocaine deal
And they left them lyin’ in an open field
Full of old cars with bullet holes in the mirrors
He tried to do his best but he could not.

Later in the song, the song’s narrator appears to be talking to himself more than anyone else:

Well tell me more, tell me more, tell me more
I mean was he a heavy doper or
Was he just a loser?
He was a friend of yours.

In between verses, Young and the assembled band plead, “Please take my advice / Open up the tired eyes.” It could be an appeal to the four men shot in the drug deal, hoping beyond hope that they aren’t truly dead. Or, the words of the chorus could be the song’s narrator talking to himself again, attempting to jar himself out of a self-imposed haze of booze and drugs to try to comprehend the actions of a friend. Another interpretation is that Young and his band are singing directly to the listener, beseeching them to truly look at the state of the country around them and our collective desperation and deep need of compassion and love. “Tired Eyes” is an intense and forlorn cry for help by Neil Young.

In the lyrics of “35” and in the quote above, Callahan refers to works of literature from his youth that he is not able to connect with anymore. He doesn’t mention music. Inserting the phrase “tired eyes” could be a gesture to the Neil Young song, a nod to a song that, in Callahan’s youth, was powerful and spoke directly to him, but now cannot feel its significance anymore. Not only is Callahan older, he’s married and a father, and it’s difficult to put himself into the position of the song’s narrator, distraught over a friend’s participation in a failed cocaine deal that left four dead. 

Thanks so much Scott for sending our way!

We did come across Bill Callahan awhile back and enjoyed thoroughly, so thanks for refresher and reminder.

Full article @ "An Artistic Comparison of Bill Callahan and Neil Young: Trains, Horses, & Moons" from Recliner Notes by Scott Bunn.

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Comment of the Moment: Photo of the Moment: Neil Young Concert in Dijon, France - 1982 Europe TRANS Tour

Neil Young
Parc des Expositions, Dijon, France - 1982-09-15
photo by Bruno Fisson
(Click photo to enlarge)  

For all the TW regulars out there in the rustie grains communities, you're really going to love these synchronicities.

The quick back story here is that last week, we posted on Photo of the Moment: Neil Young Concert in Dijon, France - 1982 Europe TRANS Tour.   The photographer is unknown of this back to the future, time traveling cosmic cowboy/TRANSformer man.

 

In the thread, a fan named Bruno Fisson asked "Who took photo?".  Upon spotting the photo and thread, John K. recognized Bruno's name as author of the once definitive book on Neil Young bootlegs.

 

Neil Young: A Complete Illustrated Bootleg Discography 

published w/ Broken Arrow Magazine (quarterly journal of the Neil Young Appreciation Society)

 

John K went on to digress about this little synchronicity and thank Bruno for his research way back in the 1980's.

But wait.  It gets even better.

Which brings us to the Comment of the Moment on Photo of the Moment:  Neil Young Concert in Dijon, France - 1982 Europe TRANS Tour by Mr. Bruno Fisson:

Thanks John.

Thanks Thrasher!

I'm very moved... and I didn't know I had fans! You know, I’m only a collector who likes to share what he knows and has learned over the years...

It also allows me to remember Alan Jenkins, without whom all this would not have been possible.

If I asked "who took the picture?" It’s that I'm sure we were neighbors that night!

And here are some other pictures I took… which show that Neil's outfit was worn for at least 3 songs (On the Way Home, Don't Cry No Tears, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, and I think, maybe Cortez The Killer…) 3 different guitars for those songs!

Sorry ViP, the Wyoming Native T Shirt is not blue but rather "old black" or "used black"!….

Sorry Dionys, but I don’t think the jacket is so "clownesque", especially since it reminds me of the outfit of surgeons who operate in French "operating theaters"! (I'm not sure that's the right term?!)

When I think back to this concert, what immediately comes to my mind is the extraordinary presence of Nils. Like a goblin spinning around Neil, a wisp dancing through the air…

For me, Nils has always been a huge guitarist that I love a lot and that I find far too underrated!

There is an anecdote of this concert that I would like to share with you:

In those 80's, very athletic Nils used to do flips on stage.

His brother Tom, who was his tech, had set up a small springboard which he watered before the concert began. When Nils started his flip, the landing did not go well and Nils slipped and found himself on the ground on his back, while continuing to play! Amazing ! And what a professional!!

For my "fans", I would like to tell you I’m still collecting Neil bootleg vinyl… And I’m actually working on an update for "A Complete Illustrated Bootleg Discography"… So I’m looking for any kind of help."

Photos are in chronological order!

Thanks so much Bruno for reaching out here.  Quite a discovery and putting together pieces from this unique period in  Neil Young's musical styles and fashions.

Here are Bruno Fisson's Neil Young concert photos from Parc des Expositions, Dijon, France - 1982-09-15 on 1982 Europe TRANS Tour.

Neil Young
Parc des Expositions, Dijon, France - 1982-09-15
photos by Bruno Fisson
(Click photo to enlarge)

More on  Photo of the Moment:  Neil Young Concert in Dijon, France - 1982 Europe TRANS Tour.

 

TRANSformer Man 

Before Berlin + After Berlin

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