Unplugged (1993)

Neil Young doing Unplugged seems like a no brainer, right? Well, you have to remember the message surrounding “This Note’s For You.” Neil pretty aggressively criticized the commercialization of music that MTV is largely responsible for (I mean…music videos are literally commercials for artists). So when his manager Elliot Roberts tried to set this up, Neil was already against it. In fact, Neil walked out of the first attempt at Radio City Music Hall. Eventually he agreed to do a new session in LA at Universal Studios, but it was still pretty dicey. The finished project was a crowd pleaser and an ostensible success for both Neil and MTV, but…it’s somewhat of a superfluous release in my mind. If you want to hear Neil unplugged, he’s been doing solo acoustic shows his entire career. These days, just buy Massey Hall or Songs for Judy or any of the other acoustic live albums. As I mentioned last time, I saw him unplugged just the year before, where he did many of these songs unaccompanied whereas Unplugged employs a backing band of various Neil friends on half of the songs.

That said, there are some interesting moments on Unplugged that bear pointing out. The first six songs in particular are all unique performances. From the stripped down “The Old Laughing Lady” which eschews Jack Nitzche’s cinematics to the spooky “Mr. Soul,” Neil chose this venue to experiment a little bit with various songs. He pulls out the bluesy “World on a String” (love this guitar) and the previously unreleased “Stringman” which rarely see play. The latter is a sparse piano piece. But it’s really on “Like a Hurricane” that you get a special moment. Played on the pump organ, the majestic guitar epic becomes akin to a Phantom of the Opera performance, extremely foreboding and dramatic. I can’t say I like it as much as the full band electric form, but it’s certainly striking. Sadly, I’m not really a fan of this version of “Pocahontas,” a song I really adore. It’s fine, still a fantastic song, but the performance is a little perfunctory. I think I prefer when this song is really clean and more intimate. The crowd’s reaction is also very strange, clapping in odd places. I don’t think they are really taking the subject matter seriously, it’s just a song they recognize.

Elsewhere, Nils Lofgren subtle accordion accompanies Neil on piano for a lovely version of “Helpless.” There are many great versions of “Helpless,” and this is definitely up there with the best. The only thing that knocks it down a little is the chorus harmony. It doesn’t quite fit to my ears, but doesn’t detract very much. One of the biggest revelations on the entire album is “Transformer Man,” a key song from the much derided Trans. Ditching all the electronics and vocoders gives this song a sing-song quality that is unexpectedly beautiful. The lovely backing vocals from Nicolette Larson and Neil’s half-sister Astrid Young are particularly effective on this rendition. Instead of a strange computerized attempt to get inside the head of his non-verbal son Ben, it instead becomes a gorgeous ode to him. If there’s one place where Neil improves on the original, it’s this one.

The Harvest Moon songs on here are virtually unchanged from their studio versions (see Dreamin’ Man Live ‘92 for better versions). “Look Out For My Love” is a great rendition with real energy and feeling behind it. Does Neil add an unexpected interpolation of “Crime in the City” during the solo? It sounds like it to me. I quite like the performance of “Long May You Run” on this, the only worthwhile song from the ill-fated Still-Youngs Band album it’s from.

Top 3:

1. Transformer Man
2. Look Out For My Love
3. Like a Hurricane

Cut song: Unknown Legend

Of course, you can also watch this in movie form as it was for MTV. The staging is somewhat funny to see, with Neil and his scraggly beard, leather jacket, and surrounded by half a dozen acoustic guitars (does he uses all of them? Your guess is as good as mine). Having listened to a lot of Neil solo acoustic recordings, I can tell you that if Neil was loving this experience, he would be talking between songs more. Maybe some of that was edited out, but neither the movie or album include any of the normal Neil banter in settings like this (the best Unplugged album — Nirvana, of course — includes a lot of Kurt’s banter, though).

Watching Neil lurch over his pump organ for “Like a Hurricane” further cements the Phantom of the Opera vibes. Someday I need to talk about Neil’s unique movements when performing. It’s particular to him and I’ve never understood if it’s because of his height, his back issues, his polio, or some strange way of keeping time. Oddly, it’s not the origin of his nickname Shakey (nor is his voice; the nickname was given to him due to his unsteady camera movements). One moment of great banter comes after Neil finishes “Like a Hurricane” and an audience member shouts out “Thanks, Neil!” Neil’s reply? “Oh, it’s nothing, really.” That’s Neil for sure. Reminds me of his hilarious delivery of “Thanks” he sometimes says after blowing the roof off a venue for ten minutes.

Best moment of the movie? Watching Neil’s guitar tech Larry Cragg (the legendary caretaker of Old Black) sweep the broom for “Harvest Moon” live in his own spotlight. Just before Neil launches into the song he introduces various band members and then glances Cragg’s way and shakes his head with a smile. He looks like he’s about to break out into laughter as the song ends. Perfection.

I love watching Nils on “Transformer Man,” manning the autoharp and contributing vocals throughout. “Do di do do.” After declaring he would never work with Neil again, Tim Drummond looks to be having the time of his life on bass here.

Despite the early 90s fashion and somewhat cheap (by today’s standards) filming, the movie is in a lot of ways the best way to experience this.