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Neil Young "still sees the vista & hears the muse" and is making new Le Noise in September
If you look over the the left hand side of this blog you will see a statement next to my "about me" picture. It says, "I've got my own row to hoe". That was adapted from a Neil Young song, "Thrasher". This quite possibly is my favorite song of all time. It isn't the music or the melody that appeals so much to me. What appeals to me most is the message I get from that resonates: You own yourself, own up to the outcomes of your decisions and focus on the "now".
"I've got my own row to hoe". Every time I read/say that...I feel good. I also feel good about the upcoming release from Neil in September: Le Noise. Here we have Neil, own his own terms, a solo outing that showcases his soft-sonic, yin-yang, acoustic-electric 1-2 punch. This has been Neil's secret weapon over the years. His sound cuts such a wide swath in between these sonic boundaries that he cannot (will not) be pigeonholed or hamstrung by genres, opinions, labels...or, hell, even himself.
I don't think Neil reinvents himself, either. He is in constant flux. He doesn't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows because he doesn't give a shit which way it blows. If it blows him in one direction or the other...so be it. He will makes sounds once he touches Terra Firma.
Fortunately for us, he touched down in Daniel Lanois capable hands. Lanois produced the new album and coaxed, from all accounts, another Neil classic. Pop & Hiss, the LA Times Music Blog, had a write-up on a sneak-peek listening session they attended. Here is a cool bit:
What’s striking about “Le Noise” is the way it both summarizes and distills Young’s singular approach to music, predominantly just Neil and a guitar: his big, white hollow-body Gretsch electric slashing and burning for most of the tracks, a couple built around picked and strummed acoustic instruments. Both are recorded and amplified -- literally and metaphorically -- by Lanois’ signature soundscapes that loop vocals, and enhance the guitars’ bass notes through distortion boxes, synthesizers and other electronicsThe songs bristle with energy -- anger, passion, love, self-doubt, regret, hope -- emotions that seem all the more pure expressed without percussion, keyboards, strings or other instruments, just by Young’s voice and guitars.
Hot Damn! I can't wait for this. Neil is going to release this in a variety of formats, too. Says Neil:
It will be available in Vinyl, CD and I tunes in the first edition, followed by Blu-Ray, and an APP for I-Phone and I-Pad a month or so later. The app will be free. It gives you an interactive album cover. Forgive my use of the word “album”. I am old school. When you buy the songs/movies from I- tunes they show up in your app. Peace ny
I will be buying all of the above (except for CD). I'm down with the Blu-Ray. I bought the Archives Vol.1 on Blu-Ray without owning a player. I picked upa PS3 to bring it to life. The archives is all I use it for...that a few concert films and my BR copy of "Almost Famous".
I stumbled on a music news website called "TwentyFourBit". Aside from them being a kindred alpha-numeric-blog-titled-music-site spirit, they had some good Neil intel on the new album. One particular post had five vids of Neil performing songs from Le Noise on his current Twisted Road tour. Jump on over to 24Bit to see the post with all five vids. I included one here of a song called, "Love and War". This one hit bone for me.
Speaking of cool Neil websites, the coolest on the web, Thrasher's Wheat, was recently the subject a not from Ol' Shakey himself:
THRASHER'S WHEAT UNDER FIRE, August 17, 2010
It has come to my attention that the negativity on this site has caused the founders to wonder whether it is worth it to continue. They have been moderating and trying to bring fans the news for nearly two decades. This is the most respected site on the net for this type of activity. Let me take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in what I am doing. There is always negativity with any internet endeavour. Now it has perhaps worn you down. It is alright to say goodbye. You have done some folks a great service for a long long time and I appreciate the effort you have shown. Always someone will be negative. Don't dismay. Whether you choose to continue or just hang it up and get on with your life is up to you. Just know that I have appreciated your efforts, tried to stay out of your business and watched you from afar through other's eyes. As for myself, I still see the vista. I hear the muse. I continue. Godspeed. Thank you. Mahalo. Neil.Very cool that Neil acknowledge a Champion effort by a very dedicated fan site. What I absolutely loved, what made me sit up straight and feel oh so damn good about Neil was the message he left in there for all of us fans:
"I still see the vista. I hear the muse".
Damn straight, Neil. Damn fucking straight.
You can read all about all the scuttlebuttin' over on TW's site.
As if it needed to be said...thanks for stopping by and Keep on Rockin' in the Free World, 6149'ers.
Tammy Wynette: "She's Just Unrelenting" (painted up & powdered up and ready to go bad)
If you are a fan of country music...real country music...you most surely will be interested in this book about a true queen of the country music scene: Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen.
I'm not a huge Tammy fan if for no other reason than that I am a causal listener...for now). That being said, I've never left the room or hit the skip button when her pipes are working their magic. I found this interview with the book's author, Jimmy McDonough, on NPR. Says, McDonough: "I have a theory that great artists learn how to do one thing great. And that's Tammy," McDonough says. "In terms of a slow, sad song, nobody could rip it up like Tammy. She is just unrelenting."
There is also a can't-stop-reading excerpt from the book on the page. Dolly Parton chimes in with some dropped-jaw comments, too. Here is a killer bit:
When she gets to the chorus, Wynette belts out the words with the force of an air-raid siren, yet barely bats an eyelash. There's zero body language—the drama's all in the voice. She doesn't act out the song or punch her fist in the air; in fact, she barely moves an inch. Tammy the statue. Until a Tinseltown choreographer teaches her some questionable dance steps in the mid-eighties, Wynette will remain frozen onstage. The anti-style of Tammy's wax-figure performances absolutely mystified Dolly Parton. "I could not believe that all of that voice and all that sound was comin' out of a person standin' totally still. I'd think, 'How is she doin' that?' It seems like you'd have to lean into your body or bow down into it or somethin' to get all of that out. I've never seen anything like it to this day. I was in awe of her. I thought she had one of the greatest voices of all time."
You wan't read the whole dang thing now, don't you. The rest of the excerpt is bow-down. I missed three subway stops because it sucked me in. Have at it...here. The book is on my 2010 reading list.
Here she is...the swingin'est swinger you ever had...
p.s. McDonough also wrote the very insightful, "Shakey" bio on one of my personal faves, Ol' Neil Young. I've spun this yarn three times already. Eat a peach...
p.p.s. NPR is kicking many goals right now with their multi-angled music coverage. Hipster bullshit or not, they are doing a hell of a job. The apps are gold, too.
Homegrown's Alright With Me: Back To Basics in Beantown
Click here to download:
homegrown-s-alright-with-me-back-to-basics-in-beantown-CmdwBHdoqueIickEmGJb.zip (8566 KB)
I went notebook on this one. Hope my five-pint chicken scratch is easy to read.
Cheers to you...figuratively and literally.
Wishing all Those Old Things Were New: "First-Feelings"
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I was standing out infront of my old apartment in Boston yesterday. I last lived there in that specific spot in 2000. "Wishing all these old things were new" is a song by Merle Haggard. It is off his 2000 album, "If I Could Only Fly". The song is less of a lament than it is a reflection on those "first" feelings. I was thinking about this song while standing out infront of my old Boston place. My time in Boston was chock full of first-feelings.
It is Monday morning. I spent the weekend in Boston on a journey through my past. I ran into the ghost of many first-feeling while I was there. I caught up with old friends and retraced some steps that I took when I was Beantown bachelor. One of my fave first-feelings I tried to recapture was attending a Red Sox game. When I lived in Boston I went to dozens of games. I love taking a Sunday Boston Globe sports section to my seat, sipping on a ice cold beer and watching the Sox "Play Ball!". I remember the first Sox game I went to when I was a kid. I might as well have gone to Jupiter to meet aliens. Everything about it was awe-inspiring, overwhelming and flat-out thrilling.
Of course, I couldn't hit that same raw nerve again yesterday, but it was still a great feeling to be out there in the stands backing the hometown team. In between innings at games they play random songs. They played a lot of country songs yesterday. I was surprised, but maybe I shouldn't have been. Country is a consistent seller these days. Today's country is a lowest common denominator play: BBQs, Gap influenced cowboy and cowgirl garb, cheesy lyrics and a pop sound. It's not my thing, but then again, I am not part of the lowest common denominator crowd.
One song that came blaring out of the speakers was the Stones, "Jumping Jack Flash". I hadn't heard it in a long time. I have heard it countless times. Hearing it yesterday was jarring and exciting. It sounded fresh. You here old songs that you have listened to so much that you build up a callous to them. You forget how damn good they are and how much you like them. They don't hit bone like they used to. Yesterday's serendipitous Stones song surprise felt like a first-feeling.
Music, unlike other media (movies, books, magazine articles, photo books, etc.) has repeat use. You play certain songs to invoke memories, to fuel a workout, to send a message to a lover, to kick-off a Saturday night's partying...you fave tune is always a play button or needle dropping away. You can't replicate the first feelings of a first listen. You can try and conjure them up when you fire-up that fave song.
After the game I went back to my hotel room and trolled through my itunes library and played some other old faves. The difference this time is that I listened to them. I listened for those bits that struck sparks with me so many listens ago. It felt good. Do that this week. Go find old faves and actually listen to them as if you've never heard them before. It is a refreshing and exciting.
I thought back to my old Boston apartment again. It was amazing to me to think about what I've done since I lived there. In eight short years, I got married in the Dominican Republic. I moved to Florida. I moved to Australia and lived and worked in Sydney for five years. I moved to London where I live today. I have traveled to many cool places around the world. There are lots of first-feelings mixed in there. I'm not big on living out my past over and over again. The past is just a record of where you've come from. I'm most interested where I am going next...looking for more firsts.
NOW: Chaos, Karma & Choice all rolled up into one big Neil Young mule kick... (Part 1)
I'm not big on holidays and birthdays or anniversaries. I just turned thirty-eight last month, but honestly I might as well have turned zero. I am much more concerned with "now". Right now, I am banging out my 200th post on this blog. Is that something to celebrate? No, not really. What it does tell me is that right now, the last 199 posts were worth the effort.
Damn straight.
I like to live life for the now. I'm not taking all that "live today like its your last", bullshit. That is an excuse for not taking responsibilities for your choices. If I'm twenty-one or thirty-eight, I'm still now. I like that perspective. It is liberating and motivating.
Chaos, karma and making choices...that's my gig (now). This, my 200th post on The 6149, is about a collision of chaos, karma and choice.
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"Through libraries and museums, galaxies and stars".
Fuck me. I can't tell you how many times I have listened to that lyric before. These words are hidden gems in an treasure chest of symbolism, hidden meanings and stone-cold truths found within Neil Young's, "Thrasher"
Thrasher. Ohhh, Thrasher. How many times have we seen the sunrise together? How many times has your lonely harmonica coda trailed off only to reveal the even lonely sound ice cubes clanging off one another after the whiskey's run dry? How many times have I asked you tough, life questions? How many times have we shared tears and beers until we shrugged shoulders and flashed knowing smiles?
Many.
Why then...why have you held out on me?! Was it for my own good? Or was it to remind me to always keep my nose to the ground? Ok: same difference.
"Through libraries and museums, galaxies and stars". Now I get it.
(you might want to listen to "Thrasher" before reading any further)
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I didn't want to go to work last Thursday. I wouldn't have except for the fact that I couldn't think of a lie believable enough to tell. Not a lie that my boss wouldn't believe, but one that I couldn't. I am not a liar; the truth is easier (thank you, HST). So instead of an aimless lie, I opted for a truth: Thrasher.
As I got ready for work, I dropped the needle on "Thrasher" off of a used vinyl copy of Neil's "Live Rust". I wasn't paying attention to the lyrics; I had heard them so many times before.
This is right up there for me...it jockeys for the coveted position of my fave song of all time. Neil has always been on a solo trip. Even when he has led bands or stood in the shadows of them...Neil knows where his North Star points. Thrasher is a song about Neil...turning in his keys to the museum and walking out towards galaxies. He has always his own hoe to row...
You listen to a song so many times that sometimes words and the meanings walk past you like people in a grocery store; not until you stumble upon what you are looking for does the object come into focus and you grab it. Hearing a song for the umpteenth time causes a knee-jerk, sing-a-long reaction in all the right places...and then...WHAM! Like a mule-kick to the temple, you get knocked sense-full....not senseless.
"Thrasher" has been prodded for meaning and symbolism by many, many, many a Neil fan over the decades. If you haven't given it the once over before, have a read of the lyrics and couch-session over on my fave Neil site, Thrasher's Wheat. They do a great job of picking it's bones.
"Through libraries and museums, galaxies and stars"
Where the vulture glides descending
On an asphalt highway bending
Thru libraries and museums, galaxies and stars
Down the windy halls of friendship
To the rose clipped by the bullwhip
The motel of lost companions
Waits with heated pool and bar.
On an asphalt highway bending
Thru libraries and museums, galaxies and stars
Down the windy halls of friendship
To the rose clipped by the bullwhip
The motel of lost companions
Waits with heated pool and bar.
I hadn't thought of this one line in this way before: "libraries and museums"...the past, stored knowledge, the finish line: "galaxies and stars"...the future, discovery, the starter's pistol. Yes! This makes sense! You see...I have an itchy trigger finger.
Long story short, my now is "this close" to happening. Through a mix of chaos, karma and choice, I am this close to galaxies and stars. Fuck me. I don't want to jump the gun (the starter's pistol), but I feel ALIVE.
It is a fucked up thing to feel all of your passions and loves colliding, crashing and cajoling one-another into a lightening strike now. My passion has always been about music, music, music, people, connections, friends and the love for my woman and the music we make. Passion does not sit on the shelves of libraries and museums. It is a living and breathing and blood-pumping now.
Chaos, Karma, Choice...this is The 6149 in living color. I'm in no mood to strike deals with the devil, but I am walking up to a crossroads. It is here I will make my bones...make a bona fide decision that, good or bad, I will own up to. On the other side of this crossroad cum decision will be my own row...
I'll be honest...it is 2:24 am on Sunday morning here in the UK. I'm haIf-drunk and full-on...and drowning the early morning hours in a goblet of red and earfuls of song. I am on the edge of my seat for tomorrow. Tomorrow...the breeding ground for now..."galaxies and stars".
Should I go to bed or should wait to greet the sun? HA HA! Does it matter? No...it does not. Not when now is in the room.
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This ends part one of this post. Now is over, for now...
Soon enough, now will happen again. When it does...I'll get full-frontal, full disclosure, guts-spilled, galaxies and stars...and tell you all about it then...which, will be now, then...
Ok, time to put he cork back in the bottle...
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In the meantime, here is Neil performing "Thrasher":
Talking Old Soldiers...(Neil and Crosby strike an "old" pose)
When I saw this pic, I thought of the Bettye Lavette cover of the Elton John song, "Talking Old Soldiers". Bettye sings the shit out of this song. She sings the shit out of every song she sings. She sticks her soul-finger into emotion's open wound and wiggles it around until emotions got nothing left in the tank to give. She's no steeler though...she's a natural born sender.
I included Elton's version here as well. I figured you need to hear how his floor gets mopped up...even though he does it justice it...Bettye wears the Blue Ribbon.
This pic also reminded me of a Neil and Willie tune. You'll be tappin' a toe and slappin' a knee before you can say, "Trans".
Fucking Neil...
"They say sing while you slave and I just get bored..." (I've got my own row to hoe and it ain't gonna be on Maggie's Farm)
When I moved to Australia in 2005, I took time off from work and went back to school to take on a full time MBA program. A lot was learned, but one of the courses I took had deep impact on me that made a fundamental change in my thinking: "Foundations of Management Thought". Forget about all the management and business bullshit for a minute. The gist of this course was about exploring centuries of philosophical theories and applying them to management practises (Blah, blah, blah...).
I was the only American in a group of twenty-two. American schooling is not like European or Eastern when it comes to learning about different world philosophies. The emphasis is just not there. It was never more evident to me until I took this course. Pretty much everyone else in the group had a much deeper knowledge of the philosophies we discussed, debated and challenged over the twelve week course.
The course itself was extremely well done. The link to the "management" was strong and well thought out. I wasn't all too concerned about how I could apply it to business as much as I was trying to grasp how this was effecting me personally. One of the philosophies we focused on was existentialism. This one grabbed me by the balls and hasn't let go since.
I wouldn't even think about trying to get into all of the different perspectives on existentialism from the different philosophers here and now. Shit, I still don't understand them all. That being said, I have done a lot of reading on the subject. My process for exploring this subject is this: read...read and learn as much as you can...you don't have to understand it all...instead, pull out the bits that are relevant to you and apply them to your process. That is what I do.
Existentialism, for me, boils down to this: live in the present, make choices and own the responsibility of the consequences (good or bad). Use the facticity of your life, combined with your personal values, to make these decisions and, if you act in good faith, enjoy the freedom that comes with being an individual. OK, that's enough of that here in this format. I love to talk about this stuff...but, it is best done over a few-four bottles of red, some good music and willing participants.
Back in 2007 when I was living in Sydney, Australia, I did a lot of reading about this subject. One of my fave things to do is to go to pubs, have a few beers and read. I find it to be so relaxing. Reading is a very solitary action, but it doesn't have to be a lonely one. I love the idea of sitting in a busy pub and being a character in the scene and reading: social and solitary in one go.
I take a lot of notes when I read. During my exploration into existentialism, I spent many a Saturday in pubs reading, leaning, building monuments, jotting down notes and putting back pints of my fave Aussie beer. I was reviewing those notes today. I thought I would share them here. These are the bits that mattered most to me at the time of my reading and research. Have a sift through them and find any nuggets that interest you...be they fool's gold or real deal Klondike truth.
If you have any thoughts, ideas or sparks you want to strike...leave them in the comment section below. In the last page, you can see the germ of something that I have been thinking about for a while: the "American Dream" and how Thomas Jefferson and Hunter S. Thompson are joined at this hip on this.
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Another aspect of "Juddlosophy" that is part of The 6149 is...the Individual or the Original. This subject itself is an entirely different post for a different day, but I'd like to touch on a few key things relative to what this blog is about. In the sidebar, I describe The 6149 to be about "making choices, being curious and challenging conventions (oh yeah...and a whole lotta music, too)". The title to this blog itself is a play on "choice". I am a blues man. I love the blues because of the music, but also because of the stories and legends that live within the music. There is no legend (whether you consider it timeless or worthless) more identified with the Blues than the legend of the Crossroads. The Crossroads: choice personified.
Here are three people who have helped me sing the song of The 6149: Neil Young, Hunter S. Thompson and Bob Dylan.
Have a look at the subtitle to this blog. It reads: 'I've got my own row to hoe". That is adapted from a line in a fave Neil Young song, "Thrasher". In the sidebar there are two quotes: one by Hunter S. Thompson and one by Bob Dylan. These two quotes, plus the line from the Neil song, mean the world to me:
"Got my own row left to hoe" - "Thrasher", Neil Young (full lyrics)
“To see life clearly, to live it like a champion, you have to develop your own set of rules.”- Hunter S. Thompson
“I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more...” - "Maggie's Farm", Bob Dylan (full lyrics)
I think about these three lines every morning when I pull my bones out of bed. I also think about the list of people on the "Honour Roll" (found in the sidebar to the right). These are the people that I admire most and who have made an impact on my life.
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Neil Young...he is my hero. The ultimate individual. "Thrasher" is one of my fave Neil Songs. When I hear it, I want to break molds and blaze trails.
In 2007, Hunter's window put out a book called, The Gonzo Way. This book is about Hunter's "wisdom". Have a read of a previous post about my thoughts on this book and how I came to make this video (below) and the reach it had (I got a tip of the hat from Hunter's widow for this on her blog and from the publishing company put it on their website to promote the book).
Maggie's Farm: have you ever really listened to the lyrics? Yes? Ok, then...you know where I am coming from. No...well then, listen again...(waiting)...Ok, you got it now? Excellent. Listen here to Maggie's Farm played by Bob and his "electric band" at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. The impact of the song and scene it was played cannot be understated.
The Klieg Light Club: When great artists go from "true to form" to "true to formula"
Recently I posted about keeping it simple in 2010. Let's chalk this one up as a sequel to that post. This time it's about keeping it real in 2010.
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Have you seen the movie Precious?
Yes? [collective exhaling, wide-eyed looks and shaking of the heads]
No? Well then, you must see this movie. It is a harrowing story about the human will and the extreme, extremely extreme, challenges it can endure. The movie has been much talked about in the media and on blogs. In a flick filled with shocking moments, one of the most shocking is the performance of Mariah Carey.
Everyone knows who Mariah Carey is, right? Yes, of course we do. She is known as a self-indulgent, high-maintenance, look-at-me, glamour-puss. In Precious she played a run-of-the-mill social worker. For the role, Carey stripped off her Diva persona and played the ugly duckling. In her own words:
"I had to lose all vanity," Carey said. "I had to change my demeanor, my inside, layers of who I am, to become that woman."
Oh my, Mariah. Oh, my. Where to start...? Let's start with the "layers of who I am" part of that statement. How crazy is this shit? She really believes she has these "layers". Is this a bad case of the stardom flu or is she serious. My guess is that she thinks she is serious. My guess is that she thinks that people don't understand that she is a real person underneath it all. My guess is that she thinks that moonbeams and winged unicorns shoot from her ass every-time she farts.
The ironic thing here is that Mariah thinks that she is acting in this movie when, in actuality, it may be her most real performance yet. As I sat in the theatre watching this, I thought to myself, "damn, she seems normal...why doesn't she come off this way all the time"? Forget the no make-up haggard appearance, it was her likability that got me. Why does she chose (yes, choose) to come off so damn self-important and narcissistic in the press?
She is caught in the crossfire of the klieg lights. She was a earnest singer with pipes that dominated the charts. Now she is a indulgent Diva with performances that overwhelm the gossip rags. Just like so many artists, be they actors or musicians, Mariah lost her essence.
How many others has this happened to? Countless. Here is one that comes to mind:
Rod Stewart: Wow. Rod used to be a rocker. He had swagger. He had rough edges. He had the last laugh. Now he is a laughingstock. Has there ever been a career that has experienced such a downward spiral. Seriously. He started out with Long John Baldry, fronted the Jeff Beck Group (brilliantly), led the almighty Faces, absolutely nailed five out of his first six solo albums (Smiler being the lone dud), and then... what the fuck happened? He became a star, that's what happened. Klieg lights...everywhere.
After "A Night on the Town" he started to fall apart. All of his rough edges became polished and glossy and he fell into the glits and glam of the '70's slipstream. He went pop chart and disco with "Footloose & Fancy Free" and "Blondes Have More Fun". He became fodder for urban legends involving blow-jobs and stomach pumping. He limped into the '80's with infrequent blips on the charts with songs hearkening back to days of yore. He rekindled old flames with live albums of old hits. And now...now he sells albums of covers songs to baby boomers, who, like Rod, think that almost is good enough. Yuck.
The Good (the very good)
The Bad
The Ugly
I feel dirty after that last video. I need to go play "Gasoline Alley" front to back right now to restore my faith in the gravel-throated goodness that once was Rod Stewart.
Who else belongs in the Klieg Lights Club?
- Elton John (the earliest stuff was so damn earnest)
- Robbie Robertson (stop with the Indian albums and the movie producing and put out the classic you know you have in you..please!)
- Stephen Stills (so much talent + so much meandering = coulda, shoulda, woulda)
- Mick Jagger (solo stuff specifically)
- Aerosmith (Dude looks like a train-wreck...)
- Gregg Allman (he lost his way when he lost Duane...Allman and Woman? Check out that link...WTF is that album cover all about!?! Come on?! That never would have happened it Duane was still alive).
On the flip-side, there are those who have stayed true to the course. A sampling of the many that are in the Real Deal club:
- John Fogerty
- Tom Petty
- Levon Helm
- Bruce Springsteen
- Tom Waits
- Roger McGuinn
- Keith Richards (solo albums and guest-star appearances seal the deal)
- Neil Young (They King of Them All Y'All...in fact, he may deserve his own club)
What do you think about those lists. Agree? You have any additions to either one?
Lunch Break Lacquer: The search for Neil Young's "Ditch Trilogy" is now complete
I just got back from a jaunt over to one of Soho's (London) vinyl graveyards. I use my lunch break to seek out old records that need new life breathed into them. Today I feel like a regular Dr. Fronkensteen (not Frankenstein!).
I just picked up the last album I needed to complete Neil Young's so called, "Ditch Trilogy". Not familiar with the Ditch Trilogy? Well, this trilogy has nothing to do with Lost Arcs or Ewoks (not that we wouldn't expect Ol' Neil to pull that kinda stuff on us). No, this trilogy deals with something far more brooding and intoxicating: honey-slides, lost albums and pissing in the wind.
Here, listen to what friends at Thrasher's Wheat have to say about it:
Neil Young's three consecutive early 1970's albums "Time Fades Away", "On The Beach" and Tonight's The Night are considered by many fans the Rosetta Stone to understanding his entire body of work. Because of their dark, haunting brilliance, the albums are known as "The Ditch Trilogy".
In the often quoted hand written liner notes of Decade, Neil writes: " 'Heart of Gold' put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch." Hence, the origin of the "Ditch" term -- which is sometimes also referred to as the "Doom" period or "The Wilderness Years".
Lots more where that came from: dig here for a deeper Ditch download.
When I got to London in September I found a copy of "Times Fades Away". A few months later, on another one of my Lunch Break Lacquer hunts, I found "Tonight's the Night". Today I found the last jewe in this dented crown: "On the Beach".
All three albums were original pressings. "Tonight's the Night" came with all the original goodies (see pic). "On the Beach" was served up the same way, complete with note from Rusty Kershaw and the orange-y yellow wallpaper on the inside of the gate fold (see pic).
Tonight will definitely be the night...I plan on playing these back-to-front and back-to-back-to-back in all their doom and gloom brilliance. Before I head home there is one more thing I need to make this chariot swing low...
"Tonight's the night; yes it is..."
- Posted from Camden Town, United Kingdom
The (record) Needle and the Damage Done: Neil Young's Vinyl Reissues have ruined my ears (for good)
"The sound.THE SOUND! The sound on this new Neil Young vinyl box set feels like someone dumped oxygen all over these songs. Now I understand".
That was my tweet 20 minutes into listening to the new Neil Young vinyl reissue box set. The sound on off this vinyl was completely overwhelming. There was depth in "Words" I never experienced before. I almost wrote "heard" intend of "experience", but that just would not do.
I played each one in its entirety front to back using my Sennheisser headphones. Those headphones plus this 180 gram super vinyl was a surreal experience. I don't think I could have enjoyed it more if I listened to it through my third friggin' eye...If I had one.
You are going to think I sound like a complete punter, but that first run through of these albums was like an ear-rebirth. The sound was so up in my head that it felt like Neil was in my face and was singing through it.
The depth in the music felt like aural topography. "Words" was another experience altogether. I have listened to that a couple dozen times since last Thursday. It is INTENSE. Has anyone else heard this out there? Am I wrong? Tell me otherwise.
Whew. I wish I could share it via this blog, but shit video won't do. In fact, nothing is good enough. I am spoiled rotten now.
Neil Young put out 17+ albums (including these reissues on vinyl) this year and I bought EVERYTHING. I even bought the BluRay Archives. I think this tops it for pure, I feel like I am falling through space and time, maybe I just died, someone pour me another drink, king-of-all sound listening experiences.
Thank you Neil's sound team. Thank you Neil's Muses. Thanks, Ol' Neil. These grooves rip.
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Here are some vids I pulled off of Thrasher's Wheat. The first is an actual pressing of the records and a second is a walk through of the packaging of the Neil V-Box Set (I'm #1,186/3,000)
- Posted from Kensington, United Kingdom
