TRANSCRIPT: Neil Young's Track by Track Commentary on New Album 'Hitchhiker'

On August 31, Neil Young streamed a Live Facebook session from a radio station in Telluride, CO.

Thanks to Nicolas in France, we have a transcript of the session and Neil Young's fascinating track by track commentary.

Neil Young's new album 'Hitchhiker' was released last week and is currently #4 #3 #2 on Amazon Top Sellers. Even more surprising is that the Vinyl Edition of Neil Young's "Hitchhiker" is #17 #16 #14 on Amazon Top Sellers in all formats -- MP3, CD, etc.

The album is successful amongst music critics with an 88 rating per Meta Critic. Meta Critic score distribution:

Positive: 15 out of 15
Mixed: 0 out of 15
Negative: 0 out of 15

'Hitchhiker' earned 4.5 Stars out of 5 Stars from Rolling Stone, calling the album: “a buried-treasure mother lode”, Paste wrote that: “the songs seem to hang as delicately as drawings in the sand, waiting to be wiped away by the rising tide” and Uncut said: “‘Hawaii’ is the real curveball…that makes one marvel at what else lingers incognito in those storied vaults”.

Here is a transcript of Neil Young's track by track commentary on the new album Hitchhiker. (Thanks Nicolas!)

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Hello, this is Neil Young…

Around the time of the full moon on August 11th 1976, my producer David Briggs and I recorded an album in one night, at Indigo Studio in the hills above Malibu, California.

My friend Dean Stockwell was in the studio with me as I sang these songs. No one had ever heard them before. The album was called Hitchhicker. I had no accompaniment but my guitar, harmonica and a studio piano as I sang those songs in the order you still hear them today on the album Hitchhicker.

The idea I had at the time was to present these new songs in their purest and most simple form, just as they had been written. I loved the old records by Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, Ledbetter and many other old folk recordings. I had a deep connection with the 1960's folk movement and loved the music played in the coffee houses I visited so often. That's when I first heard Sonny Terry, my favorite harmonica player, as he played with Brownie McGee at the 4th Dimension coffee house in Winnipeg. I was still in high school. These influences remain with me today.

As Briggs, Stockwell and I drove the winding dirt road to Indigo, the sun setting in the Pacific, we passed Garth Hudson's old house, the last house on the road before Indigo. There're only three or four houses on this 3-mile dirt road winding on the mountainside. Dust rose behind our aging 1959 Cadillac convertible which Briggs had named 'Nanu the Lovesick Moose'. We pulled up at Indigo and I got an old Gibson J-45 guitar and some capos out of Nanu's spacious trunk. Briggs was already in the building as Dean and I followed him and went in. He was inside the studio with the owner, Richard Kaplan, and they were setting up microphones. I was exited to put these tunes down, really feeling good about the session. I smoked a little weed with Dean and we settled in to this small room where I would play acoustic and sing. Dean drank a little Tequila and sat in a chair that was established previously as being the quietest one in the studio, so Briggs would no be recording any squeaks or rattles during the taping. We were all feeling just fine. I strapped a capo on the old Gibson ; "ready Briggs?" I asked, and he nodded "yes" through the control room glass.

I started with Pocahontas, a song I had recently written. I previously tried it, recording with Crazy Horse for an album called Zuma, but that version did not make the cut. Then came another capo change for Powderfinger, which I had also tried for Zuma with The Horse and not captured well enough to use. Then, came Captain Kennedy, a complete (???) I had never played before, followed by Hawaii and Give Me Strength, two songs written around my recent breakup with Carrie Snodgress, mother of my first son Zeke.
At this time, Briggs joined us in the playing room and we stopped the proceeding to do some more libations. That accomplished, Briggs returned to the control room; "Rolling!" he announced. We continued with Ride My Lama, another outtake from Zuma, followed by Hitchhicker. You may be able to hear the drugs kicking in here… Then came Campaigner, a song I had written about politics and Nixon. Human Highway was next.

At that point we moved my vocal microphone to the piano outside in the main studio for the last song, The Old Country Waltz. Briggs did not want to change the mic, so we had to carry it out there. It was the same mic I had sung into; he wanted the songs to all be consistent without any unnecessary distractions or changes. He was mixing live as the songs went down, and my vocal mic was part of the sound.

By the time we were done, it was about 2 a.m. and we celebrated; we knew we had done something. After the celebration, Dean, Briggs and I got in Nanu and headed down the mountains to the ocean under the light of the full moon: it was really beautiful. The Pacific Ocean, the full moon, reflecting…we had a great vibe that I can still feel, and as I hear it today I am happy to share it with you now, in the record Hitchhicker.

Back then when we played this record for business folks, the reaction was that it was not a real record, but a collection of demos. I was advised to record the songs with a band, but the Hitchhicker versions are the true originals, recorded earlier than any versions you may have ever heard, and I always knew the original album would find its place and surface. That time is now. The album will be finally released. A long time, a long wait, but worth it. This music is the essence of those times, pure and undisturbed, just as it was 40 years back.

Some have noted, after hearing this, that this recording may be a high water mark for me, hard to match, yet here we are 40 years later and The Visitor will arrive soon, with his own ideas.

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More on Neil Young's New Album "Hitchhiker":

• Neil Young’s Previously Unreleased Hitchhiker, and His Dark Malibu Years | Vulture (5+ Comments)
• REVIEW: Neil Young's Unearthed 1976 Recording 'Hitchhiker' Is a Lost Treasure" | Rolling Stone (15+ Comments)
• Neil Young's Live Facebook Session on August 31 (15+ Comments)
• REVIEW: Neil Young's Hitchhiker | American Songwriter (15+ Comments)
• Neil Young's Live Facebook Session on August 31 (15+ Comments)
• STREAMING: Neil Young's New Album "Hitchhiker" | NPR (25+ Comments)
• Tweet From Neil Young on "Hitchhiker" Release (25+ Comments)
• UNCUT Review: Neil Young's Upcoming Album "Hitchhiker" (2+ Comments)
• Comment of the Moment: Neil Young's Next Studio Album "Hitchhiker" (20+ Comments)
• UPDATE ON NEW ALBUM: Neil Young's "Hitchhiker" Now Due September 8 + Preview Track (10+ Comments)
• Neil Young's Indigo Ranch "Hitchhiker" 1976 Sessions Revealed: Behind the Scenes w/ Richard Kaplan - Part #1 (10+ Comments)
• Neil Young's Indigo Ranch "Hitchhiker" 1976 Sessions Revealed: Behind the Scenes w/ Richard Kaplan - Part #2 (15+ Comments)

"Hitchhiker" is now available on vinyl and CD to pre-order on Amazon.com.

Neil Young | Hitchhiker
(Click to enlarge & preview tracks)

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