Neil Young song draft

[Erik]

34. Silver and Gold (Silver and Gold, 2000; written in 1981; first performed in 1984)
I love this song so much that it was the first dance at our wedding. I didn't make many requests as far as wedding planning went, aside from asking for this as the first dance. I couldn't use Harvest Moon because it was my father and stepmother's song. I couldn't use Heart of Gold because been there, done that.
I was drawn to this when I first heard it on a bootleg in the '90s. It's one of Neil's few straightforward love songs, written for his wife Pegi, and is arguably his most heartfelt one. It has always pulled my emotional heartstrings.
Neil felt so strongly about this song that it took 19 years for him to record a version that he was happy enough with to release officially. It was originally penned in 1981 for Island in the Sun, a laid-back folk-rock album that Geffen rejected (a few of its songs ended up on Trans; can you imagine this on Trans?). It made its live debut in International Harvesters sets in 1984; one of these versions was what I first heard. It returned on the 1992 acoustic tour that preceded Harvest Moon. For those sessions, Neil worked up a version with Crosby and Nash on harmony vocals but still wasn't satisfied with it.
Sometime in between 1992 and 2000, Neil recorded a version at his barn that he loved -- but the engineer was new and not familiar with Neil's rule that the tape must always be rolling. When informed that the performance went unrecorded, Neil bellowed "Are you kidding me? I've been trying to get that one right for years!"
The song returned to the live rotation on Neil's 1999 solo acoustic tour, and later that year when he went to record a new album, he finally got a version he liked well enough to release. And I'm glad he did because it would have been awkward playing a bootleg recording for a spotlight dance.

[Erik]

33. Expecting to Fly (Buffalo Springfield Again, 1967)
I'm generally not a fan of Neil-with-strings, but this is the exception. Neil and Jack Nitzsche created a lush, dreamy soundscape that plays tricks on your mind. Like "Birds," this is a breakup song, but one that wallows more in the narrator's own feelings, as befits the head-trip of the arrangement. The stark live versions are equally gorgeous in their own way.
Speaking of breaking up, by 1967 Neil was already growing estranged from the Springfield. Depending on which source you believe, no other members played on this track, or only Richie Furay appears, singing harmony. There are a ton of voices mixed together, so who can really tell.

[chancellor]

Yeah, I wouldn't have even top 100'd Expecting to Fly. But that's why this is fun to read. Great job.

[Erik]

Yeah, I wouldn't have even top 100'd Expecting to Fly. But that's why this is fun to read. Great job.

Thanks. It wasn't in my top 100 until I played BSA a few months ago and was like

[Erik]

32. Sedan Delivery (Rust Never Sleeps, 1979; written in 1976-ish)
Another from the fabled side 2 of Rust Never Sleeps. I have no idea what the hell is going on in the lyrics, but Neil and Crazy Horse bash with such fury that it doesn't matter. Widely considered to be one of Neil's responses to punk rock, the song actually predates the rise of the American punk movement. A slower, thinner-sounding, more staccato version was recorded for the abandoned 1976 album Chrome Dreams. Neil also offered it to Lynyrd Skynyrd before their plane crash.

[Erik]

Chrome Dreams version:

[chancellor]

32. Sedan Delivery (Rust Never Sleeps, 1979; written in 1976-ish)
Another from the fabled side 2 of Rust Never Sleeps. I have no idea what the hell is going on in the lyrics, but Neil and Crazy Horse bash with such fury that it doesn't matter. Widely considered to be one of Neil's responses to punk rock, the song actually predates the rise of the American punk movement. A slower, thinner-sounding, more staccato version was recorded for the abandoned 1976 album Chrome Dreams. Neil also offered it to Lynyrd Skynyrd before their plane crash.

I've always wondered how this one would have sounded if Lynyrd Skynyrd had done it.

[Erik]

I've always wondered how this one would have sounded if Lynyrd Skynyrd had done it.

It doesn't make sense when you hear the RNS version. But it DOES make sense when you hear the Chrome Dreams version.

[Erik]

31. Love to Burn (Ragged Glory, 1990)
The other long barnburner from Ragged Glory that starts with "Love", this one is ranked slightly higher because Neil does a fantastic job of making his guitar part of the conversation, and the chorus is better. But we are dealing with some very marginal differences at this level.
The positive message and swirling guitar parts were so compelling that Reprise actually edited this down to about 5 minutes and sent it to radio stations. But no need to hear that when you can experience the whole thing.

[Erik]

Yeah, I wouldn't have even top 100'd Expecting to Fly.

Wait til you see where Rolling Stone ranked it.

[chancellor]

Wait til you see where Rolling Stone ranked it.

That you're doing a much better job is beyond a doubt. I seem to remember it was top 20 in the Rolling Stone list.

[Erik]

That you're doing a much better job is beyond a doubt. I seem to remember it was top 20 in the Rolling Stone list.

Yep. I was reviewing their list again last night, and there are quite a few WTF picks in there that wouldn't even make my top 200.

[Erik]

30. Words (Between the Lines of Age) (Harvest, 1972)
This was already a favorite for being an extended electric workout at the end of Neil's most popular album, known for its acoustic and country-rock songs. The keening interplay between Neil's guitar and Ben Keith's steel guitar, with Jack Nitzche's piano moving everything forward, is quite the journey. It became an even bigger favorite when I was fortunate enough to witness its third-ever known live performance.
Wait, how is that even possible?
That's right, Neil played this song once in 1973 and then not again until his 2000 tour with the Music in Head/Friends and Relatives band, featuring Keith, Duck Dunn, Jim Keltner, Spooner Oldham, his wife Pegi and his sister Astrid. I was at the second show of the tour in Camden. There are so many possibilities for jamming in this song that it's unfathomable he waited 28 years to play it regularly onstage. At least he has realized the error of his ways, and has played it 134 times in the past 20 years -- though never with Crazy Horse.

[Erik]

Live at Red Rocks 2000 version. This is more or less what I heard on that night in Camden:

[Erik]

Update on my rankings vs. Rolling Stone's. Chance, here's what I was talking about.

101. Lookout Joe (RS unranked)
100. Ramada Inn (RS #47)
99. Look Out for My Love (RS #55)
98. Get Back to the Country (RS unranked)
97. Homefires (RS unranked)
96. This Old Guitar (RS unranked)
95. Slip Away (RS #86)
94. This Note's for You (RS #42)
93. Mansion on the Hill (RS unranked)
92. Grey Riders (RS unranked)
91. Motion Pictures (for Carrie) (RS unranked)
90. Downtown (RS unranked)
89. White Line (RS unranked)
88. Ride My Llama (RS unranked)
87. Windward Passage (RS unranked)
86. Albuquerque (RS #39)
85. Everybody's Alone (RS unranked)
84. I've Been Waiting for You (RS unranked)
83. Winterlong (RS #45)
82. Sail Away (RS unranked)
81. Vacancy (RS unranked)
80. When You Dance I Can Really Love (RS #83)
79. Lotta Love (RS unranked)
78. I Believe in You (RS unranked)
77. Through My Sails (RS unranked)
76. LA (RS #74)
75. Goin' Back (RS unranked)
74. Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero) (RS #82)
73. From Hank to Hendrix (RS #20)
72. Drive Back (RS #76)
71. World on a String (RS #65)
70. Sea of Madness (RS unranked)
69. Razor Love (RS #60)
68. On the Way Home (RS #46)
67. Long May You Run (RS #32)
66. Like an Inca (RS unranked)
65. Interstate (RS unranked)
64. Days That Used to Be (RS unranked)
63. New Mama (RS unranked)
62. Wrecking Ball (RS unranked)
61. Shots (RS unranked)
60. Scenery (RS unranked)
59. Live to Ride (RS unranked)
58. Prisoners of Rock 'N' Roll (RS #87)
57. Come on Baby Let's Go Downtown (RS unranked)
56. Too Far Gone (RS #48)
55. Natural Beauty (RS unranked)
54. Unknown Legend (RS unranked)
53. Comes a Time (RS #51)
52. Broken Arrow (RS #23)
51. No Hidden Path (RS unranked)
50. Heart of Gold (RS #2)
49. Roll Another Number (for the Road) (RS #54)
48. Last Dance (RS unranked)
47. Welfare Mothers (RS unranked)
46. Pushed It Over the End (RS #61)
45. Harvest Moon (RS #37)
44. Don't Be Denied (RS #38)
43. Pardon My Heart (RS unranked)
42. Time Fades Away (RS unranked)
41. Change Your Mind (RS #40)
40. Love and Only Love (RS unranked)
39. Don't Cry No Tears (RS #21)
38. Mr. Soul (RS #35)
37. Tell Me Why (RS #75)
36. The Needle and the Damage Done (RS #13)
35. Birds (RS unranked)
34. Silver and Gold (RS #78)
33. Expecting to Fly (RS #15)
32. Sedan Delivery (RS #30)
31. Love to Burn (RS #91)
30. Words (Between the Lines of Age) (RS #64)