Next month will see the release of new albums by two of the most influential singer-songwriters of our time: Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Both are scheduled for June 19, which I assume is a coincidence. I’ve previously written about Dylan’s new work Rough and Rowdy Ways, most recently here. Young recently announced the release date for Homegrown, an album that originally was supposed to come out in 1975. But the end of Young’s 5-year relationship with actress Carrie Snodgress caused him too much pain, so the songs ended up in the vault.
As reported by Relix, Homegrown includes 12 tracks and features guests like The Band’s Levon Helm (drums) and Robbie Robertson (guitar), as well as Emmylou Harris (backing vocals). Other musicians include Ben Keith (steel and slide guitar), Tim Drummond (bass) and Stan Szelest (piano).
The title song and tunes like Love Is a Rose, White Line, Little Wing and Star of Bethlehem already found their way on other Young records over the years. The remaining tracks will be released for the very first time. Here’s one of them called Try, a country tune you could easily picture on the Harvest album. It sounds like Harris is singing backing vocals on this song.
Relix also published a statement by Young: I apologize. This album Homegrown should have been there for you a couple of years after Harvest. It’s the sad side of a love affair. The damage done. The heartache. I just couldn’t listen to it. I wanted to move on. So I kept it to myself, hidden away in the vault, on the shelf, in the back of my mind….but I should have shared it. It’s actually beautiful. That’s why I made it in the first place. Sometimes life hurts. You know what I mean. This is the one that got away. Recorded in analog in 1974 and early 1975 from the original master tapes and restored with love and care by John Hanlon. Levon Helm is drumming on some tracks, Karl T Himmel on others, Emmylou Harris singing on one. Homegrown contains a narration, several acoustic solo songs never even published or heard until this release and some great songs played with a great band of my friends, including Ben Keith – steel and slide – Tim Drummond – bass and Stan Szelest – piano. Anyway, it’s coming your way in 2020, the first release from our archive in the new decade. Come with us into 2020 as we bring the past.
Pitchfork revealed the album’s tracklist:
01 Separate Ways
02 Try
03 Mexico
04 Love Is a Rose
05 Homegrown
06 Florida
07 Kansas
08 We Don’t Smoke It No More
09 White Line
10 Vacancy
11 Little Wing
12 Star of Bethlehem
Looking forward to this one!
Sources: Relix; Pitchfork; YouTube
Christian's Music Musings 
I’m really excited about this. I love new old music. This was recorded in his prime. I wish more artists had albums sitting around like this from back in the day. Neil is so prolific that you never know what else he has around.
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