Mountains features guest appearances by Ringo Starr, Neil Young and the late David Crosby, among others
Nils Lofgren is best known for his longtime associations with Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen with whom he’s currently touring the world as part of the E Street Band. Lofgren also has close to 30 solo studio, live and compilation albums combined, which have appeared since his eponymous 1975 debut. On July 21, he released Mountains, his 14th studio album. I wasn’t aware of Lofgren’s sizable solo catalog and didn’t know what to expect. To say it upfront, I like what I’m hearing!
Lofgren wrote and recorded Mountains at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz. during the pandemic. In addition to nine tracks penned by him, there is a rendition of a Bruce Springsteen tune. The album features notable guests, including Ringo Starr, Young, vocalist Cindy Mizelle, Howard Gospel Choir, jazz double bass great Ron Carter and the late David Crosby. According to an Ultimate Classic Rockreview, other participants include Kevin McCormick (bass) and Andy Newmark (drums), along with his regular engineer aid Jamison Weddle.
Photo Credit: Rob DeMartin
“I just started writing,” Lofgren noted. “I didn’t edit myself; whatever I wrote came out – rough, gentle, in between. So long as I was excited about it, inspired, I saw it through. It’s got all the different sides you might normally expect from me. It’s a very emotional record. It came out better than I hoped.” I’d say let’s take a look at some of the songs.
The album opens with Ain’t the Truth Enough, which first appeared on May 3rd as the album’s lead single and features Ringo Starr on drums and Mizelle on backing vocals. She has been a backing singer for Springsteen. Written in the wake of the January 6th insurrection, the tune “reckons with the ways that misinformation and demagoguery can tear families apart and silo us in our own realities,” noted a press statement at the time.
Back In Your Arms is the aforementioned Bruce Springsteen song, which first appeared as an outtake from his 1995 Greatest Hits compilation on the November 1998 four-disc box set Tracks. The Howard Gospel Choir and Cindy Mizelle add great backing vocal power, giving this recording a warm and soulful vibe.
As its title indicates, Won’t Cry No More (For Charlie Watts) is a tribute to the former drummer of The Rolling Stones, who passed away in August 2021 at age 80. The blues rock-flavored tune, which was also first released on June 21 as the third upfront single, features nice guitar action by Lofgren and once again Mizelle on backing vocals.
Nothin’s Easy (For Amy) is a sweet love song for Lofgren’s wife Amy Joan Aiello to whom he has been married since 1998. Harmony vocals are provided by Neil Young who Lofgren joined when he was 19 to play piano and guitar on Young’s third studio album After the Gold Rush released in September 1970. “After 54 years singing with musical giant Neil Young, his haunted, weathered soul completes this song,” Lofgren said, according to this Spinpiece. Nothin’s Easy (For Amy) first appeared as the second upfront single on May 3.
The last track I’d like to call out is I Remember Her Name, another tune about Aiello. It tells the story of how Lofgren and her first met at a concert in the ’70s and then reconnected 30 years, according to this Uncutstory, and notably features Crosby. “I thought it would be a great one for David Crosby, and of course he sang beautifully on it,” Lofgren explained. “I’m sad that he didn’t live to hear the album, but I did send him a rough mix of the song. He did get to hear it before he died in January.”
Until Mountains, the only Nils Lofgren solo tune I knew was Shine Silently, off his fourth studio album Nils, which came out in June 1979. Ironically, the song’s title seems to perfectly describe Lofgren whose chart success has been quite moderate, especially during the past 40 years.
Blue with Lou, the April 2019 studio album that preceded Mountains, became Lofgren’s first charting album in the U.S. in nearly three decades, reaching no. 33 on Billboard’sIndependent Albums chart. Mountains is a nice effort, which I hope will help avoid making Blue with Lou a one-off.
On February 1, 1972, Neil Young released Harvest, his fourth studio album, which is near and dear to most of his fans including yours truly. Last Friday, a long-awaited 50th-anniversary reissue came out. Back in February, on its actual anniversary date, I already wrote about the record, covering the background and popular songs, including Out On the Weekend, A Man Needs a Maid, Heart of Gold, Old Man, Alabama and The Needle and the Damage Done. I’m not going to repeat what I already wrote about. Before getting to the meat of this post, let me say upfront what perhaps is obvious when it comes to most anniversary reissues: They are predominantly made for fans and oftentimes not the ideal introduction to an artist if you are new to them. The beautiful Harvest 50th Anniversary Edition is no exception.
The anniversary edition isn’t the first reissue of this album. This poses the question of what is new about it. It comes down to an unreleased solo live performance of Young at the BBC in 1971, which features songs from Harvest obviously before the record was released. Also new is a 2-hour documentary that premiered worldwide in movie theaters on December 1, 2022, with select encores yesterday (December 4). I caught the latter at a movie theater in my area. In addition to a 2009 remastered edition of the actual album, the reissue includes three outtakes from the Harvest sessions. Everything is beautifully packaged in what appears to be a high-quality box set. This clip of Neil Young unboxing the 50th-anniversary edition gives you a good idea of what’s in the box and also provides a nice intro to the album.
Of course, the above-mentioned 1971 BBC solo concert isn’t the first such early Neil Young live set that features songs from Harvest prior to the album’s release. The one that comes to my mind first is Young’s legendary Massey Hall show captured on Live at Massey Hall 1971, which was released in March 2007 as part of his Archives Performance Series. Another great set I recall is Young Shakespeare, an archives release from March 2021, which I covered here. Given how prolific Young has been about unearthing material from his archives, there’s a good chance there are other such early solo live performances he has released. Frankly, it’s almost impossible to keep up with him!
Let’s take a look at a few clips from the live set included in the Harvest 50th Anniversary Edition. This performance feels very intimate, which is nice. I recommend listening to it with headphones. Apparently, this must have been a small venue. Here’s Journey Through the Past, a nice piano ballad that also appears separately as one of the aforementioned studio outtakes. If I see this correctly, the first released version of this tune appeared on Live at Massey Hall 1971.
Don’t Let It Bring You Down is a tune Young first recorded for his third album After the Gold Rush, which appeared in September 1970. I really dig his vocals here.
Love in Mind is another tune featuring Young on piano. He first released the ballad on Time Fades Away, a live album captured during the supporting tour for Harvest, which Young conducted with The Stray Gators, the band he used to record Harvest.
The BBC live set once again reminded me how great Neil Young is as a live artist by himself with acoustic guitar, harmonica and piano. While I also dig his “electric performances” backed by a band like Crazy Horse or The Stray Gators, oftentimes, I find his solo live performances even more compelling.
Previously, I mentioned three outtakes from the Harvest sessions. These outtakes aren’t new, but I haven’t covered them before. I’m skipping the already above-featured Journey Through the Past. Bad Fog of Loneliness is another tune Young didn’t release until 2007 as part of Live at Massey Hall 1971.
Dance Dance Dance was first recorded in 1969 by Young with Crazy Horse and intended for a county rock album that didn’t come to fruition – sounds like typical Neil to me! Instead, it ended up on the February 1971 eponymous debut album by Crazy Horse, the band’s only record to feature Danny Whitten. Notably, it did not include Young.
Let me also say a few words about the documentary Harvest Time. Filmed between January and September 1971, the film includes non-narrated footage of Young and The Stray Gators during their “barn sessions” at Young’s Broken Arrow ranch in Northern California, scenes of his work with the London Symphony Orchestra for A Man Needs a Maid and There’s a World, as well as footage from a studio in Nashville where further tracking and overdubbing was done. Overall, the film has a fly-on-the-wall feel, which is kind of fascinating. At times, it comes across as a bit disorganized. Clocking in at just over two hours, the documentary is also a bit on the long side.
I think the most compelling footage is seeing Young and The Stray Gators in action during the barn sessions, as well as the scenes at the studio in Nashville where Young is working on harmony vocals with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash for Words (Between the Lines of Age) – man, do they sound great together! Also noteworthy are scenes of Young’s then-wife (soon-to-be ex-wife) Carrie Snodgress and the caretaker of Young’s ranch – the one he sang about in Old Man. Here’s a clip from the film.
Neil Youngstated the following about the documentary on this website: Many unseen performances from the era’s session appear in Harvest Time. As I watched the Nashville sessions, London symphony sessions, Harvest Barn sessions, rare never heard or seen performances, I was transported back to those days.
Jack Nitzsche, Kenny Buttrey, Ben Keith, Tim Drummond (members of The Gators– CMM), John Harris (piano on Harvest – CMM), Elliot Mazer (producer – CMM), are all there with me making Harvest. It’s beautiful and a bit lonely. They are all gone now, these old friends, musicians, except for their unforgettable music and our collective memories together. So great to see all of them at their peak.
Soon after Harvest was released for the first time and Neil Young scored the biggest hit of his career, Heart of Gold, he started to become alienated by the success, feeling he had gone too far to the middle of the road, so should steer “to the ditch” instead. Eventually, this would lead to what became known as his “Ditch trilogy” of albums, Time Fades Away, On the Beach and Tonight’s the Night. While their chart performance and sales didn’t match Harvest, ironically, these records became classics nevertheless.
Looking at Young’s above words and his filmed intro to the documentary, it becomes clear that time has changed his perspective. Now, he seems to be at peace with himself about Harvest, acknowledging the great accomplishment this album represents. There are also clear sentimental feelings when he points out that the members of The Gators and producer Elliott Mazer who were instrumental in making the record have all passed away.
In Young’s intro to the documentary, he suggests he “always” likes to document things he does. With so much material he has released via his archives series over the years, there’s no doubt about it. I wonder how much additional film footage remains in Young’s archives, which hasn’t been released yet, not to speak of recordings. Time may tell!
Sources: Wikipedia; Neil Young Archives website; YouTube
Celebrating music with six random tracks at a time
Welcome to another installment of The Sunday Six! Hope you join me on my first musical excursion in September 2022.
Delicate Steve/Looking Glass
Usually, I like to kick off this recurring feature with jazz, which for some reason seems to be a natural fit for a Sunday, especially during the morning. But it’s also good to shake up things every now and then. So here’s my first proposition for today: Delicate Steve, the stage name of American multi-instrumentalist Steve Marion, who has been active since 2010. His sound has blended elements of progressive rock, folksy twang, African rhythms, surf rock and 1970s pop. Marion is a sought after artist, having collaborated with the likes of The Black Keys, Paul Simon and Tame Impala. Looking Glass is a great-sounding track from Marion’s latest album After Hours released July 8. According to his website, it was “written and recorded on a 1966 Fender Stratocaster that reignited his love for the instrument.”
The Kinks/Living On a Thin Line
After a cool guitar instrumental, the next stop on our trip are the ’80s. If you’re well familiar with my music taste, you may be a bit surprised I picked a tune by The Kinks. After all, I’ve said more than once that while they are among my favorite British bands, I particularly dig their ’60s output. That’s still the case, but there are exceptions. One is Living On a Thin Line. Written by Dave Davies, the tune is from The Kinks’ 21st studio album Word of Mouth, which appeared in November 1984. Man, I love it! Are we going to see a reunion of The Kinks? “We’ve been talking about it,” Ray DaviestoldThe Washington Post in January 2021. “I mean there’s a lot of material and, you know, it could still happen.” Now, you really got me!
Bob Dylan/Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
How do you move from ’80s Kinks to ’60s Bob Dylan? To borrow from a famous ad for sneakers, ‘just do it!’ The year is 1966. In May of that year, Dylan released his seventh studio album Blonde on Blonde, which I think is fair to say is widely considered to be among his best records. His accolades include the induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 and a no. 38 ranking in the most recent 2020 update of Rolling Stone’s list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Here’s the terrific opener Rainy Day Women #12 & 35. I just love the sound of the raucous brass band, which is a perfect match to the line, Everybody must get stoned!
Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris & Linda Ronstadt/After the Gold Rush
Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt are three artists I’ve really come to appreciate over the past five years or so. Bringing big acts together for an album doesn’t guarantee a successful outcome, but I feel in this case it worked – for the second time! The case is Trio II, the second collaboration album by these dynamite ladies, which came out in February 1999. While the songs had been recorded in 1994, seven years after the appearance of Trio, it actually took 12 years for these renditions to be released. Why? Label disputes and conflicting schedules. Whatever the reason, this record was worth the wait. Here’s one of my all-time favorites: After the Gold Rush, a tune written by Neil Young who first recorded it as the title track of his third studio album from September 1970. The angelic harmony singing gives me goosebumps every time I listen to the tune. This is so beautiful that it can make me well up!
The Doors/Roadhouse Blues
Okay, it’s time to shake off the goosebumps and kick it up a few notches with a great blues rocker by The Doors. Roadhouse Blues, written by Jim Morrison with the music credited to the band, is the opener of their fifth studio album Morrison Hotel released in February 1970. In case you’d like to read more about the record, fellow blogger Music Enthusiast recently covered it. Songfactsnotes, When Jim Morrison got drunk, he liked to sing blues numbers at The Doors jam sessions. This [is] one of the songs he came up with at one of those inebriated sessions. Interestingly, Road House Blues also appeared separately as the B-side to the album’s only single You Make Me Real. Don’t get me wrong: I dig you You Make Me Real. I just find it surprising Road House Blues was a B-side. In my humble opinion, it would have deserved release as its own A-side single. Ladies and gentlemen, from Los Angeles, California, The Doors!
Roger Daltrey/As Long As I Have You
Once again, the time has come to wrap up another Sunday musical excursion. For this last tune, we return to the current century and Roger Daltrey. I trust the longtime lead vocalist of The Who needs no further introduction. What perhaps you may be less aware of is Daltrey’s tenth solo album As Long As I Have You, which came out in June 2018. The soulful record was Daltrey’s first solo effort in 26 years. In September 2015, Daltrey was diagnosed with viral meningitis during The Who Hits 50! North American tour, forcing the band to reschedule the remaining dates until 2016. This almost led Daltrey to scrap his solo album, for which he already had eight tracks. When his longtime partner in crime Pete Townshend heard the songs, he encouraged Daltrey to finish the project. Townshend also offered to play guitar on it. For more information, you can check my review I published at the time. I’ll leave you with the title track, a cover of a tune first released by American soul singer Garnet Mimms in 1964. It was co-written by Bob Elgin and Jerry Ragovoy. Check out Daltrey’s killer voice!
Last but not least, here’s a Spotify playlist featuring all of the above tunes. Hope you find something you dig!
Sources: Wikipedia; Delicate Steve website; The Washington Post; Songfacts; YouTube; Spotify
On February 1, 1972, Neil Young released his fourth studio album Harvest. The 50th anniversary of what is among my all-time favorite Young records almost escaped my attention. I mistakenly had assumed the release date was February 14.
Young recorded Harvest following the breakup of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in July 1970 after the end of their tour that year, which had strained relationships among the four members. It would take until 1974 before they would get back together again for a reunion tour.
For Harvest Young assembled a backing band he called The Stray Gators. The members were Jack Nitzsche (piano), Ben Keith (steel guitar), Tim Drummond (bass) and Kenny Buttry (drums). In addition to The Stray Gators, Harvest featured various notable guests, including James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and, interestingly, each of Young’s former CSNY’s bandmates.
Let’s take a look at some of the songs. Side one kicks off with the beautiful Out on the Weekend. Like all other tracks, the tune was written by Young.
A Man Needs a Maid is a song about Young’s girlfriend at the time, the actress Carrie Snodgress. According to Songfacts, initially, the tune was coupled with Heart of Gold and played on piano. “It was like a medley,” Young said in [the autobiography – CMM] Shakey, “the two went together.”
Speaking of Heart of Gold, a post celebrating the 50th anniversary of Harvest wouldn’t be complete without this song. One of Neil Young’s best-known tunes, it also appeared separately as the album’s lead single in January 1972 and became his biggest hit. James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt provided backing vocals. Taylor also played banjo.
On to Side two. Here’s Old Man, a tune Young wrote about the caretaker of the ranch he bought in 1970 as a 25-year-old. Like on Heart of Gold, backing vocals were provided by Taylor and Ronstadt, with Taylor also contributing banjo. Songfacts quotes Ronstadt from an interview with music magazine Mojo: “I can’t remember why Neil wanted me to sing with him – I guess he just figured I was there and could do it – but we went in there and they were doing ‘Heart of Gold’ and ‘Old Man’ and I thought they were such beautiful songs.” Old Man also became the album’s second single in April 1972.
Another great tune on Side two is Alabama. According to Songfacts, This song can be seen as a follow-up to Young’s 1970 song “Southern Man” from After The Gold Rush. Canadian-born Young abhorred the idea of racism and spoke out – loudly – about his feelings. This song went unnoticed by most, but combined with the previous effort, it caused Lynyrd Skynyrd to pen their Southern Rock classic “Sweet Home Alabama” in response to Young’s assertions...In his 2012 autobiography Waging Heavy Peace, Neil Young said of this song, “I don’t like my words when I listen to it today. They are accusatory and condescending, not fully thought out, and too easy to misconstrue.”Stephen Stills and David Crosby provided backing vocals.
The last song I’d like to highlight is The Needle and the Damage Done, a tune about heroin use and what this drug sadly will do to many who get into it. Young wrote this song about ex-Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten who struggled with heroin addiction. In fact, Young hired him in April 1972 to join rehearsals for his tour to support the Harvest album. But Whitten wasn’t up to the task and Young ended up firing him on November 18 that year, giving him $50 and a plane ticket to Los Angeles. Once Whitten got there, he overdosed on alcohol and Valium, which killed him – making Young feel guilty for many years.
Harvest topped the Billboard 200 for two weeks and became the best-selling album of 1972 in the U.S. While most music artists would have been pleased with such success, Neil Young felt alienated. He followed up Harvest with what became known as the “ditch trilogy”: the live album Time Fades Away (October 1973), as well as the studio records On the Beach (July 1974) and Tonight’s the Night (June 1975). While these three records didn’t match Harvest’s chart and sales performance, they became favorites of many Young fans.
Live solo performance is first release in new official bootleg series
Neil Young keeps cranking out new albums. Just a little over six months after his latest archives release Young Shakespeare, the 75-year-old Canadian-American singer-songwriter issued Carnegie Hall 1970 last Friday (October 1), the first of six releases in a new official bootleg series. And just like Young Shakespeare, Carnegie Hall 1970 is a true live gem featuring solo renditions of early Young tunes on acoustic guitar and piano.
As Young notes on his Neil Young Archives website, the album captures a performance at New York City’s famous concert venue from December 4, 1970. Young makes it a point to specify that it is the early show, given there is a released bootleg for the midnight show. Not only is this a previously unreleased solo concert, but it is based on mixes made from the multi-track recording that was made by sound engineer Henry Lewy that night. The quality is superb and far superior to your usual bootleg.
Let’s get to some music. Here’s the first track Down by the River. The tune initially appeared on Young’s sophomore album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere from May 1969. This is a great stripped back version of what originally is an electric rock-oriented tune.
I Am a Child is a song Young first recorded with Buffalo Springfield for the band’s third and final album Last Time Around that appeared in July 1968. Love this version!
Next up: Southern Man, another great acoustic rendition of a tune that originally was recorded as an electric rock song. It first appeared on Young’s third studio album After the Gold Rush, which at the time of the Carnegie show was his new album that had come out in September 1970.
One of my favorite early Neil Young tunes is Sugar Mountain, a song he composed on November 12, 1964, his 19th birthday. It was first formally released as the B-side to Young’s 1969 single The Loner in the form of a live recording that been captured during a November 1968 performance. What I love about the Carnegie version are Young’s attempts to involve the audience. Since it doesn’t work, he keeps starting over, getting a bit frustrated in the process. You really can picture it!
Let’s do a tune Young performed on piano: After the Gold Rush. The title track of the above noted album is another of my all-time favorite Young songs. Some of the notes he hits sound a bit peculiar. I think Young was still in his early years of learning the piano. Nevertheless, it’s a great rendition.
I could go on and on here, but all things must pass. The final track I’d like to call out is Bad Fog of Loneliness, then a new tune that had not been released at the time of the show. In fact, it had not even been recorded yet. Young would do so in 1971 but not release the song until 2007 on the album Live at Massey Hall 1971.
Here is the album’s full track list:
1. Down By The River
2. Cinnamon Girl
3. I Am A Child
4. Expecting To Fly
5. The Loner
6. Wonderin’
7. Helpless
8. Southern Man
9. Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing
10. Sugar Mountain
11. On The Way Home
12. Tell Me Why
13. Only Love Can Break Your Heart
14. Old Man
15. After The Gold Rush
16. Flying On The Ground
17. Cowgirl In The Sand
18. Don’t Let It Bring You Down
19. Birds
20. Bad Fog Of Lonliness
21. Ohio
22. See The Sky About To Rain
23. Dance Dance Dance
Originally, Young had planned to launch his official bootleg series in April 2021 with the release of six albums. Then things changed. “But you know what happened…Fires and floods, Covid…”, he wrote on his website. Upcoming releases in the bootleg series include Royce Hall. January 30, 1971, Dorothy Chandler Pavillion. Feb 1, 1971, Under the Rainbow. Nov 3, 1973, The Bottom Line. Citizen Kane Jr. Blues’ May 16, 1974 and The Ducks – ‘Trick of Disaster’ August 1977.
“Of the six releases still coming at you [now five – CMM], four [now three – CMM] are our own multi track masters, so they will sound amazing – much better than the original bootlegs you may have heard,” Young further wrote. “One of the other two is the original tape it was recorded on. We remastered it.” Sounds like Neil Young fans have much they can look forward to.
Sources: Wikipedia; Neil Young Archives website; YouTube
This nice demo of Neil Young and Graham Nash performing Young’s Birds appears on the massive Déjà Vu 50th Anniversary Reissue that appeared last Friday, May 14. In addition to remastered edits of the original tunes, the reissue features 38 previously unreleased tacks, including session recordings, outtakes and demos.
Déjà Vu, the sophomore studio album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, and their first as a quartet with Neil Young, originally was released on March 11, 1970. Due to the pandemic and some bad blood between the former band mates, the reissue was delayed by more than a year. Plus, as Rolling Stone sarcastically reported, these guys always broke the rules, starting with the use of their names as a band.
While I’ve only heard bits and pieces so far, the reissue looks like something fans of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young are going to enjoy. More casual listeners of CSNY will probably get less out of it. The box set is available in five-vinyl-LP and four-CD/ one vinyl-LP formats. Both boxes come with a 12×12 hardback book.
While David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young at least each gave their blessing to the reissue, it mostly appears to have been Nash and Stills who were committed to it. Among the additional tracks, Young is only represented with two: The above Birds and an alternate take of Helpless.
According to Ultimate Classic Rock, Crosby toldRolling Stone, “I am very proud of the record, [but] this is like a repackaging. It’s probably a good thing, but it’s not that big a deal to me. The guy who looks backwards and does this kind of stuff is Nash. He always has been. I don’t really give much of a shit about that.” If anybody was harboring any hope of a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunion, insensitive commentary like this certainly doesn’t help!
Let’s end it on a more positive note. Here’s what Nash had to say to Rolling Stone about the demo of Birds with Young. “I know it’s just me and Neil doing it with his acoustic guitar, but that’s a beautiful piece of music. It’s me trying to be the best harmony singer I can be with somebody of the stature of Neil Young. I don’t want to stick out singing extra words that he’s not singing. I have to be on my game. And ‘Birds’ is a perfect example of that.” Young included a piano version of Birds on his third solo album After the Gold Rush from September 1970.
Sources: Wikipedia; Rolling Stone; Ultimate Classic Rock; YouTube
Solo acoustic gig from January 1971 is among the earliest concert footage of Young released to date
Since I first had learned about it a few weeks ago, I had been looking forward to the latest release by Neil Young, which came out Friday, March 26. Not only is Young Shakespeare a brilliant title, but it’s yet another highlight from Young’s archives. The live album and concert film comes only four weeks after Way Down in the Rust Bucket, which captures a terrific November 1990 live performance with Crazy Horse I previously reviewed here, and four months following the massive box set Neil Young Archives Volume II: 1972–1976.
Young Shakespeare documents an acoustic solo concert at the Shakespeare Theater in Stratford, Conn. on January 22, 1971. Neil Young was 25 years old at the time and had just entered what arguably is the best period of his solo career. Only four months earlier, he had released After the Gold Rush. Harvest, On the Beach and Tonight’s the Night were still about one, three and four years into the future, respectively.
Part of Young’s Journey Through the Past solo tour, the Shakespeare gig happened only three days after the famous Massey Hall show in Toronto Canada. The latter concert was captured on Live at Massey Hall 1971, which came out in March 2007 as the second release from Young’s Archives Performance Series. A vast amount of additional albums have since appeared in the series. If I see this correctly, Young Shakespeare is the second release of Volume 03, even though it’s registered as Volume 03.5. Well, I’m not an archivist.
As reported by NME, initially, video footage of the concert was filmed by German television at the time, but it never aired. Only bits and pieces recorded by visitors that night had been floating around among Young fans. Young considers the gig as superior to the Massey Hall show, calling it “a more calm performance, without the celebratory atmosphere of Massey Hall” on his archives website last year. “Young Shakespeare’ is a very special event,” he added. “To my fans, I say this is the best ever. ‘Young Shakespeare’ is the performance of that era. Personal and emotional, for me, it defines that time.”
I think Young may be right. The true magic of Young Shakespeare isn’t the set list. Neil Young fans have heard these songs a million times before. What I find fascinating are his announcements that illustrate what went through his mind at the time. They also convey Young’s great sense of humor. The entire gig comes across as very intimate. It’s almost like you’re in the same room with Young, and he’s chatting and cracking jokes while tuning his guitar for the next song. How about some music?
The first tune I’d like to call out is one of my all-time favorites: The Needle and the Damage Done. Mind you, when Young performed the song that night, it had not been recorded yet. I was included on his fourth studio album Harvest released in February 1972.
Dance Dance Dance is a track from Crazy Horse’s eponymous debut album that came out in February 1971. At the time of the Shakespeare gig, it was another yet-to-be-released tune. Young cheerfully calls it hoedown music.
Here’s a medley of A Man Needs a Maid and Heart of Gold, performed on the piano. Young introduces it by saying he hasn’t played the piano for a long time and usually screws it up. He cheerfully adds, “But you’ve never heard it before anyway, so you probably think that’s the way it is, and it’ll be alright.” Obviously, Young was correct. Both songs would appear on Harvest.
In addition to yet-to-be released songs at the time, Young played some old tunes. After all, his solo tour was titled Journey Through the Past. Here’s one of them, Down by the River, a song from his second album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere released in May 1969.
The last track I’d like to highlight is the album’s closer Sugar Mountain. Young wrote this song on November 12, 1964, which was his 19th birthday. The tune’s first official release was a live version, which became the b-side of Young’s first solo single The Loner from February 1969. It’s always been on of my favorite Neil tunes. It also cracks me up when Young says, “If you don’t know the words…just, you know, you’re all university students. Just memorize them after the first time!”
Here’s the full track list:
1. Tell Me Why 2. Old Man 3. The Needle and the Damage Done 4. Ohio 5. Dance Dance Dance 6. Cowgirl in the Sand 7. A Man Needs a Maid/Heart of Gold 8. Journey Through the Past 9. Don’t Let It Bring You Down 10. Helpless 11. Down by the River 12. Sugar Mountain
NME notes Young Shakespeare is only predated by footage from Young’s gigs at New York’s Café Feenjon in June 1970, and the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young concert at Fillmore East in March 1970. Obviously, there’s also the aforementioned Live at Massey Hall 1971, so I assume NME referred to video recordings. The new release is available on CD, vinyl and major streaming platforms. The DVD is available exclusively in Young’s own store.
Neil Young has been on a roll releasing material from his archives. The above clip is from an upcoming album and concert film titled Young Shakespeare. Scheduled for March 26, it captures an acoustic gig at the Shakespeare Theater in Stratford, Conn. on January 22, 1971. As reported by Ultimate Classic Rock, this is the earliest known footage of Young in concert.
Recorded three days after the famous show at Toronto’s Massey Hall (released as Live at Massey Hall 1971 in March 2007), the footage was taken for German TV. Apparently, it never aired and wasn’t released otherwise until now.
Tell Me Why, written by Young, is the opener of the album and film. It also is the first track of his third studio album After the Gold Rush, which came out in September 1970, only four months prior to the Shakespeare and Massey Hall shows.
While I like many of Neil Young’s electric tunes with Crazy Horse, I think oftentimes he’s even better solo with just his acoustic guitar and harmonica or piano. Notably, Young Shakespeare features various tunes from Harvest, the follow-on to After the Gold Rush, which had not been released at the time. These songs include classics A Man Needs a Maid, Heart of Gold and The Needle and the Damage Done. Following is the official film trailer.
Here’s the track list:
1. Tell Me Why 2. Old Man 3. The Needle and the Damage Done 4. Ohio 5. Dance Dance Dance 6. Cowgirl in the Sand 7. A Man Needs a Maid/Heart of Gold 8. Journey Through the Past 9. Don’t Let It Bring You Down 10. Helpless 11. Down by the River 12. Sugar Mountain
Young Shakespeare will be available on vinyl, CD, DVD and streaming platforms. It comes on the heels of Way Down in the Rust Bucket, another excellent live album Young released on February 26, which I previously covered here.
Two weeks ago, I blogged about Playing For Change and that organization’s incredible videos produced with musicians from all over the world, covering well-known songs. One of the clips I highlighted was The Weight, featuring Robbie Robertson, Ringo Starr and professional musicians from eight other countries. The first thing I thought was, ‘how cool is it that Robertson and Starr are in the video. My second thought: ‘The young dude playing guitar and singing is killing it on vocals with his soulful voice. That guitarist was 23-year-old Marcus King. Earlier today, I listened to his solo debut album El Dorado and have to say I’m pretty blown away!
King who hails from Greenville, S.C. is not a newcomer. In fact, he has performed for a whopping 15 years! After beginning to play guitar at a very young age, already as an eight-year-old he started to be on stage with his father Marvin King, a professional blues guitarist. In 2013, as a 15-year-old, he formed the Marcus King Band. In October 2015, their debut album Soul Insight appeared. They have since released two additional records and two EPs. El Dorado, which came out on January 17 this year, was produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. Let’s get to some music!
Here’s the beautiful opener Young Man’s Dream. Spill Magazinecalled it reminiscent of Neil Young’sAfter the Gold Rush era. With King’s high pitched vocals and the tune’s sound, I think that’s not too far-fetched. Co-written by King, Auerbach and Nashville singer-songwriter Pat McLaughlin, the track also has some early Rod Stewart feel. It’s just cool!
The Well, a nice blues rocker that’s right up my alley, was co-written by King, Auerbach and Ronnie Bowman, a bluegrass vocalist and songwriter. I dig the main guitar riff and sound of that tune. Check it out!
Next up is Wildflowers & Wine, another co-write by King, Auerbach and Bowman. I really find it impressive how much soul the 23-year-old has in his vocals. That’s three great songs in a row, which already make it worthwhile to listen to this album.
There’s more. How about some country? Ask and you shall receive. Here’s Sweet Mariona, yet another tune co-written by King, Auerbach and Bowman. Listen to that sweet-sounding pedal steel guitar!
Another soul gem with a dose of country flair is Beautiful Stranger. I also love the gospel type backing vocals. To write this song King and Auerbach teamed up with country singer-songwriter Paul Overstreet.
The last track I’d like to call out is Too Much Whiskey, another co-write by King, Auerbach and Overstreet. It’s a great mix of blues and country.
In addition to King (lead vocals, guitar) and Auerbach (bass, guitar, backing vocals), other musicians on El Dorado include Gene Chrisman (drums), Matt Combs (strings), Paul Franklin (steel guitar), Chris St. Hillaire (percussion), Russ Pahl (guitar), Ray Jacildo (Glockenspiel, keyboards), Dave Roe (bass), Mike Rojas (keyboards), Billy Sanford (guitar), Bobby Woods (keyboards), as well as backing vocalists Ashley Wilcoxson and Leisa Hans.
Deservedly, El Dorado has received great reviews. Rolling Stonecalled it “excellent” and King “one of the most exciting guitarists to break through in years.” NPR’s rock critic Ken Tucker characterized the record as “a real beauty — and a turning-point for King.” Last but not least, Spill Magazine opined the album is a “musical masterpiece.”
King seems to be happy with the result as well, as he should be. “I’m really proud of it,” he told Rolling Stone. And what did Auerbach, who has produced for other artists like Dr. John, Ray LaMontagne and The Pretenders, have to add? “It’s staggering how good he is, how crazy-good his vocals are, how he can go anywhere on guitar.” I think that nicely sums up my sentiments.
Sources: Wikipedia; Spill Magazine; Rolling Stone; NPR; AllMusic; YouTube
A tribute to the amazing voice and versatility of Linda Ronstadt
The other night, I caught the great documentary Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice on CNN. While I had been well aware of Linda Ronstadt’s amazing vocals, I had not fully appreciated her musical versatility. I’d like to focus this post on the latter, since it’s safe to assume her biography has been covered a million times.
Yes, Ronstadt “only” performed music written by others, which perhaps in part explains why it took me so long to write about her. But it would be a serious mistake to underappreciate her. You don’t need to take it from me.
Let’s start with a few comments from other artists I dig, who are featured in the documentary. “Linda could literally sing anything” (Dolly Parton). “Linda was the queen. She was what Beyoncé is right now” (Bonnie Raitt). “Linda was a very determined woman” (Don Henley). “There’s just no one that will have a voice like Linda’s” (Emmylou Harris). “Try following Linda Ronstadt every night” (Jackson Browne).
Linda Ronstadt in Feb 2019
And then there’s Ronstadt’s sheer success. The documentary noted she “was the only female artist with five platinum albums in a row:” Heart Like a Wheel (November 1974), Prisoner in Disguise (September 1975), Hasten Down the Wind (August 1976), Simple Dreams (September 1977) and Living in the USA (September 1978). I assume that statement refers to the ’70s only. According to Wikipedia, Mad Love from February 1980 also hit platinum, which would actually make it six such albums in a row. Plus, there’s another series of five platinum records in a row Ronstadt released between September 1983 and October 1989.
Let’s get to some music. I’d like to kick things off with Rescue Me, from Ronstadt’s eponymous album, released January 1973, her third record. Co-written by Raynard Miner and Carl Smith, this nice rocker was recorded live at The Troubador in Los Angeles. In addition to Ronstadt’s great vocals, I’d like to call out her impressive backing band: Glenn Frey (guitar, backing vocals), Don Henley (drums, backing vocals) and Randy Meisner (backing vocals), along with Sneaky Pete Kleinow (pedal steel guitar), Moon Martin (guitar), Michael Bowden (bass). Among the album’s many other guests was Bernie Leadon. Following the record’s release and with Ronstadt’s approval Frey, Henley, Leadon and Meisner formed that other band called the Eagles.
When Will I Be Loved is one of the gems on Ronstadt’s breakthrough album Heart Like a Wheel from November 1974. The Phil Everly tune nicely illustrates her ability to select great songs and make them her own. I dig the original by The Everly Brothers, but Ronstadt took it to another level. Apart from beautiful harmony singing, it’s the guitar work by Andrew Gold that stands out to me. Similar to her eponymous album, Heart Like a Wheel features an impressive array of guests, including Frey, Henley, J.D. Souther, Timothy B. Schmidt, Russ Kunkel, David Lindley and Emmylou Harris, among others. Once again, it goes to show great artists like to play with other great artists.
In September 1977, Ronstadt released her eighth studio album Simple Dreams, which became one of the most successful records of her entire career. Among others, it includes Blue Bayou, one of her best-known songs. And then there’s this fantastic version of Rolling Stones classic Tumbling Dice. Check out that great slide guitar solo by Waddy Wachtel, who in addition to electric also played acoustic guitar and provided backing vocals, together with Kenny Edwards. According to It Came With The Frame, Ronstadt at the time had a fling with Mick Jagger who helped her overcome challenges in mastering the song’s lyrics. That little help from her friend came to end when Bianca Jagger flew straight to California to confront her husband. Apparently, she actually liked Ronstadt as long as she didn’t get too cozy with Mick!
After having become one of the biggest female music artists on the planet and having firmly established herself in the country, pop and rock genres, Ronstadt took the gutsy decision to turn to Broadway in the summer of 1980. She became the lead in the New York Shakespeare Festival production of Gilbert and Sullivan’sThe Pirates of Penzance, alongside actor and vocalist Kevin Kline. While people in the music industry tried to talk her out of it, saying it would be the end of her career, it all made perfect sense to Ronstadt. Her grandfather Fred Ronstadt had once created a musical arrangement of The Pirates of Penzance. Ronstadt also co-starred in the 1983 film version of the operetta, for which she won several Tony Awards and earned a Golden Globe nomination. Here’s Poor Wandering One.
During her Broadway and operetta phase and beyond, Ronstadt continued to release studio albums and took excursions into new musical territory.First up: An album of pop standards, ironically titled What’s New and featuring songs by the likes of George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Sammy Kahn. It was the first in a trilogy of jazz-oriented albums. Again, Ronstadt’s record company Asylum and her manager Peter Asher were quite reluctant to produce such a record. But Don Henley didn’t call her “a very determined woman” for nothing, and in the end, the record label and Asher knew they couldn’t talk Ronstadt out of it. The album actually turned out to be a success, peaking at no. 3 on the Billboard 200 and spending 81 weeks on the chart. Here’s Ronstadt’s take of I’ve Got a Crush On You, co-written by George Gershwin and his older brother Ira Gershwin.
In 1987, Ronstadt took yet another musical turn. Inspired by her Mexican heritage (her father Gilbert Ronstadt was of German, English and Mexican ancestry) and her exposure to Mexican music, which was sung by her family throughout her childhood, she recorded Canciones De Mi Padre, an album of traditional Mariachi music. Released in November 1987, it became the first of four Spanish language albums Ronstadt released. It also remains the biggest-selling non-English language album in American record history, with 2.5 million copies sold in the U.S. and nearly 10 million worldwide as of 2012. According to Wikipedia, it also is the only recording production that used the three best Mariachi bands in the world: Mariachi Vargas, Mariachi Los Camperos and Mariachi Los Galleros de Pedro Rey. Ronstadt simply didn’t do anything half-ass! Here’s Tú Sólo Tú.
If you’re new to Linda Ronstadt, I suppose by now, nothing would really surprise you. Plus country isn’t perhaps as big a leap as operetta and Mariachi music. Here’s a tune from Trio II, the second country collaboration album Ronstadt recorded with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris: Neil Young’sAfter the Gold Rush. The album appeared in February 1999. I have to say I’ve rarely heard such beautiful harmony vocals. It’s like angels singing. And dare I add it as a huge Neil Young fan, I like Ronstadt’s take better than the original, which is one of my favorite Young tunes.
I’d like to wrap things up with one more song: Back in the U.S.A. Ronstadt’s cover of the Chuck Berry tune was the opener of Living in the USA, released in September 1978, her third and last record to peak the Billboard 200. Back in the U.S.A. also became the album’s lead single in August of the same year. Dan Dugmore and Waddy Wachtel on guitar and Don Grolnick on the piano do a beautiful job. Russ Kunkel (drums), Kenny Edwards (bass, backing vocals) and Peter Asher (backing vocals) round out the backing musicians.
Linda Ronstadt has had an exceptional career. In addition to having released more than 30 studio albums, including three no. 1 records on the Billboard 200, she has appeared on approximately 120 albums by other artists. According to her former producer and manager Peter Asher, Ronstadt has sold over 45 million albums in the U.S. alone. She has also produced for other artists like David Lindley, Aaron Neville and Jimmy Webb. In April 2014, Ronstadt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She also became a Kennedy Center Honoree last year.
In a February 2019 interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Ronstadt said that it was in 2000 when she started noticing something was wrong with her voice. “I would start to sing and it would start clamp up. It was like a cramp. It was like a freeze…It’s very slow-moving this disease, so it took a really long time to fully manifest.” After these first signs, Ronstadt recorded one more album, Hummin’ to Myself, released in November 2004. During an April 2011 interview with the Arizona Daily Star, she said, “I’m 100 percent retired and I’m not doing anything any more. I’m at the ripe old age of getting to be 65 and I find that I don’t have the power that I had and that’s not worth inviting people to spend their money.”
While Parkinson’s is a bad disease, especially for a vocalist, Ronstadt is very gracious about it. “You know, I’m grateful for the time I had,” she said in the documentary. “I got to live a lot of my dreams and I feel lucky about it…Another person with Parkinson’s said that life after death isn’t the question. It’s life before death. So how you gonna do it? How you gonna live?” BTW, in good old CNN fashion to repeat content, the documentary airs again tonight at 9:00 pm ET and tomorrow (January 5, 12:00-2:00 am ET). If you like Linda Ronstadt, I highly recommend it.
Sources: Wikipedia; It Came With The Frame; CBS Sunday Morning; Arizona Daily Star; YouTube
Christian's Music Musings 