Neil Young Archives Vol. 2: 1972-1976 (2020)

Like I did with Vol. 1, I’m going to briefly go through this remarkable set. What’s remarkable about it is not just the music covered (some of Neil’s most well-known), but that its limited to just five years. For reference, the first set covered nine years. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that the place at which this set starts is a couple days before original Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten died. That event sets the course for what Neil does in the four years after, including the legendary “Ditch Trilogy.” An important figure in Neil’s nascent career, it’s incredible that Whitten only will appear on one volume of this planned five volume Archives series. So the story here is that Neil started rehearsing to take Harvest on the road and gave Whitten a chance, but his addiction was too strong. Neil sent him home and Whitten immediately overdosed. Combined with the unprecedented success of Harvest, this caused Neil to write in the Decade liner notes: “‘Heart of Gold’ put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch.” And that’s where Neil finds himself at the beginning of this collection.

Disc 1 – Everybody’s Alone (1972–1973)

Befitting the archival nature of the release, we start with an unreleased song (and not the song this disc is named after, which…is perfect Neil). “Letter from Nam” would go on to become “A Long Walk Home” on Life but without the obnoxious sound effects that pervaded that album. This tender rendition is much more befitting its subject matter. The next song, “Monday Morning,” also goes on to become another song, “Last Dance” for Times Fade Away. The first three songs were all recorded in LA right before the tour that Times Fade Away is pulled from. I really enjoy the studio banter between Neil and Henry Lewy, the producer for this random session. The majority of this disc has a similar vibe of filling in around Times Fades Away, but really only pulling one song from the album itself. Most likely because of Neil’s feelings about that tour and album.

Disc 2 – Tuscaloosa (1973)

This is more or less Time Fades Away II in the sense that it covers the same tour that Time Fades Away is taken from, but with a heavier presence of Harvest and back catalog songs. Specifically Tuscaloosa is the majority of the February 5, 1973 performance in Alabama when Kenny Buttrey was still the drummer on the tour (he had left by the time of Time Fades Away). Charitably, this features a tracklist that the audiences probably preferred more to what the tour eventually morphed into, and the Harvest tracks make a nice showing, particularly “Harvest” and “Out on the Weekend.” That said, Neil’s vocals are loose, to say the least. “Alabama” is a bit all over the place. That suits the drawn out epic of “Don’t Be Denied,” but I’m not sure it was suited to the Harvest material or what audiences expected from this tour. Much has been made of how Neil feels about this tour, and you can already hear his faint disinterest in some of his singing.

Disc 3 – Tonight's the Night (1973)

This is largely the same album it’s named after, but with some interesting additions and alternative takes. The long drawn out, mostly instrumental “Speakin’ Out Jam” version sets the stage. Neil sort of vamps the lyrics towards the end, giving us a real feel for what these sessions must have been like (a drunken wake, in their own words). I really like the version of previously unreleased song “Everybody’s Alone,” a song that appeared on Vol. 1, too. It’s too bad this never appeared on an album, but Neil does that. Has songs rattling around for years, looking for the right take. Aside from the extended intro to “Tonight’s the Night Part II,” the only other addition here is a rendition of Joni Mitchell’s “Raised on Robbery” when Joni stopped by the sessions one day. It’s messy, but a fun what if scenario, and of course, Joni’s voice is always a joy to hear.

Disc 4 – Roxy: Tonight’s the Night Live (1973)

“Welcome to Miami Beach, ladies and gentleman. Everything is cheaper than it looks.” Recorded shortly after Tonight’s the Night, this chronicles a short stint Neil and the Santa Monica Flyers did to celebrate the Roxy’s opening on the Sunset Strip (they played the first three days it was open). These shows were apparently incredibly boozy and sleazy, the Las Vegas version of Neil Young, complete with fake trees and stripper shoes nailed to the piano. If the recording of Tonight’s the Night was an extended drunken wake, this is the post-funeral outpouring of emotion. The band dressed in tacky clothes and took on exaggerated stage show personas. One of Neil’s funniest bits was saying “here’s one you’ve heard before” and then launch into “Tonight’s the Night” for the third time that night. The band knew these songs really well at this point, and would just run through the album, complete with the reprise. There’s something more intense about these performances, more anger and less grief, as they finally comes to terms. Audiences were not prepared for this and some of the reactions were not good, but the Flyers played on. If you like the album, you’ll enjoy this.

Disc 5 – Walk On (1973–1974)

This is another disc that is essentially comprised of material from one album, in this case, On the Beach. I’ve seen complaints off and on about the sheer amount of “repeat” material on this volume of the archives, which is not what people really expected. I think the vision of the Archives has evolved over time, going from a sequential history of Neil’s career in these first two volumes to a chance to showcase the unheard vaults in future volumes (Vol. III is looking to be mostly unheard music, for instance). The new stuff on this disc includes a great recording of “Winterlong,” a suitably thick rendition of “Bad Fog of Loneliness,” and a tender “Greensleeves,” the holiday traditional.

Disc 6 – The Old Homestead (1974)

For those looking for unheard gems, unreleased songs, and interesting takes, The Old Homestead is the disc for you. I’ve read many fan wishing for a standalone vinyl release of this one. Of the 19 tracks, only two have been released before (to be fair, some of these are unreleased mixes and versions of released songs). There are three different versions of the unreleased “Love/Art Blues,” showing just how stuffed this sock drawer is. “Give Me Strength” will later be recorded for Hitchhiker, but the “harmony” vocal by Ellen Talbot on this early version is endearingly out of tune and gives it a rough earnestness (I love the strange echoing knock in this version, too). A cool bit of history pops up on the lone recording from the 1974 Crazy Horse session at Chess Studios in Chicago. This was the legendary moment that Billy Talbot introduced Neil to Frank “Poncho” Sampedro, who would go on to be the new rhythm guitarist for the Horse until 2014, as well as becoming one of Neil’s most prolific collaborators on various projects. They do a version of “Changing Highways” here. “Homefires,” one of Neil’s best unreleased songs appears in a trio of songs with Tim Drummond on bass and recorded by long time soundman Tim Mulligan (the gentle “Pardon My Heart” version is also really lovely). Another unreleased song, “Frozen Man,” is simple but very good, making you wonder how some of these things get cut. Lastly, there’s a song left off this collection but included as an outtake on the Neil Young Archives website. It’s called “Barefoot Floors” and I remember Jimmy McDonough talking about it at length in Shakey. It’s pretty, elegant, with great acoustic playing from Neil (he lets those bass notes vibrate in a way I love). He seems so fragile and open here, I can imagine he felt it was a bit too revealing. But you really have to wonder why it didn’t appear on the released collection. It really shows off Neil’s acoustic vibe well. He’s lost in the playing and words.

Disc 7 – Homegrown (1974-1975)

Read my full review here.

Disc 8 – Dume (1975)

As will be a familiar habit on this archive, Dume is essentially an extended Zuma, with all but one album track included on this disc. The rest of the disk is previously unreleased versions of songs that would be recorded in other forms for future albums. One song, “Born to Run” (not Springsteen’s) has been recorded a few times since, including during the Ragged Glory sessions, but still not released. Check out my Zuma review for more thoughts on these songs.

Disc 9 – Look Out for My Love (1975-1976)

This is the strangest disc in the set, as it covers late ‘75/early ‘76 songs from the future albums American Stars ‘n’ Bars and Comes A Time, along with a huge helping of the turgid Long May You Run album. There’s not much here to remark on, except for the overdubbed version of “Stringman” recorded in London. This is the version that was supposedly coming out on an album called Chrome Dreams, but that album has always had a nebulous validity. Other than that, most of these are either album tracks or slightly different mixes from these sessions. It makes sense historically, but feels superfluous. EDIT: I completely missed that there is a fantastic version of “Separate Ways” on this volume…with the Stills-Young Band, no less. I’m a fan of the Homegrown version but this is a very cool, more peppy version.

Disc 10 – Odeon Budokan (1976)

This is a recreation of a popular bootleg that mashes together two different concerts, a solo set from London and a Crazy Horse set from Tokyo. “You’ll have to elect a leader among you, to speak for you” is some classic Neil shit. As often happens during solo performances, Neil sometimes takes a while to move between instruments and the crowd gets restless and starts shouting out songs. It’s pretty tedious and probably annoying. Neil’s response here is perfect. “Too Far Gone” is lovely, and I prefer this non-overdubbed version of “Stringman” (it’s the same recording as on Look Out For My Love). The Crazy Horse section of this disc is extremely clear with almost no crowd noise, and the band sounds just like a garage band jamming on the weekend. Its a side of Crazy Horse you don’t usually get from the better known live releases like Live Rust or Weld. Those performances are big. This one feels closer and more loose.

Five years. The next few albums would mine many of the songs written and recorded over these five years. Some won’t appear on albums for more than a decade. When the inevitable academic studies of Neil’s career start, they will look back at these years as probably his most important, and certainly most prolific.

Thanks for reading Only Castles Burning! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.