Neil Young song draft

[Lucky's wife]

Y'all are taking all my favorites...

[Mithrandir]

3.02 Love and Only Love, Ragged Glory, 1990

I had not really listened to Neil that much in the late 80's so when i read a review of this album in Rolling Stone I was very excited to read that Neil was back on the Horse..with some 10 minute scorchers to boot. I was not disappointed, as Ragged Glory is still my favorite album from Young. Love and Only Love is an epic jam!!

[Erik]

I played the hell out of Ragged Glory in college. The CD shows it -- its jewel case is held together by Scotch tape.

Needless to say, since I wanted Neil to rock, I was EXTREMELY happy when Ragged Glory came out.

[johnnya24]

3.03 Only Love Can Break Your Heart After the Gold Rush, 1970

[Mithrandir]

I played the hell out of Ragged Glory in college. The CD shows it -- its jewel case is held together by Scotch tape.

Needless to say, since I wanted Neil to rock, I was EXTREMELY happy when Ragged Glory came out.

i played the hell out of my cassette

[Erik]

My very first exposure to Neil was my parents' cassette of CSNY's compilation So Far, which they played all the time. So this song made a hell of an impression on me at a very young age, and was perhaps the very first step to where I am today with Neil.

3.04 Ohio (CSNY non-album single, 1970)

Rock and roll doesn't get much more passionate than this. The anguish over the Kent State tragedy can be felt directly in the vocals and guitars. The genesis of this song is well known. Neil was informed about the Kent State shootings by David Crosby, and he immediately sat down and bashed this song out in 15 minutes. The band and record company were so overwhelmed with what he had come up with that they rush-recorded it (Crosby's cries of "Why?" and "How many more?" at the end were unrehearsed) and rush-released it as a single. Even if you don't know or don't care about the Kent State incident, you can't help but be overwhelmed by the emotion on this song. He has adapted it to other settings over the years -- as an acoustic lament for the Tianammen Square victims on the 1989 solo tour, and as a companion to the Living with War songs (introduced with "Thank God there's no draft!") on the 2006 CSNY tour.

[overkill94]

Well, since the "other Neil bands" barrier has been broken, I think I'll take the plunge as well:

3.05 - "Broken Arrow" (Buffalo Springfield Again, 1967)



I love the random interludes in the middle of the song - a snippet of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", a random drum roll, some lounge jazz noodling - always coming back to that driving piano riff and melancholy lyrics. "Did you see them in the river? / They were there to wave to you / Could you tell that the empty quivered / brown-skinned indian on the banks / that were crowded and narrow / held a broken arrow?"

[Cobain's Ghost]

3.06 - helpless

[overkill94]

3.03 Only Love Can Break Your Heart After the Gold Rush, 1970

Awesome song. I also highly recommend the cover done by Everlast that was on the Big Daddy soundtrack. No, seriously, it's really good.

[Lucky]

I hate this draft. It's like seeing loved one after loved one being sucked up into the vortex of a massive tornado.

Each of you have to promise that you'll take great care with each and every one of the songs you have selected. Visitation would be appreciated.

And, whenever you can, play them straight from the vinyl.

[overkill94]

Vinyl? Like the stuff my car seat's made of?

[Lucky]

Vinyl? Like the stuff my car seat's made of?

Exactly. I remember when the industry went digital that Neil wasn't having any of it. He was a strong proponent of the warmth which is captured by vinyl and lost on CD.

Now, I understand, he is a strong promoter of DVD format over CD since the artist has so much input into how the music is programmed and because so much more information can be transmitted.

[Erik]

Exactly. I remember when the industry went digital that Neil wasn't having any of it. He was a strong proponent of the warmth which is captured by vinyl and lost on CD.

Now, I understand, he is a strong promoter of DVD format over CD since the artist has so much input into how the music is programmed and because so much more information can be transmitted.

This is correct. It is why On the Beach and some of his other albums weren't on CD for the longest time. Reprise started pressing them in order of sales -- so Harvest was first, etc. (Tonight's the Night was also done early because it's Neil's favorite). They got about 2/3 of them done before Neil got around to listening to them and hated them, and stopped the remaining ones from being transferred. Neil finally authorized the remaining ones (except for Journey Through the Past, which was released against his will, and Time Fades Away, which he hates because he has bad memories of that tour) a few years ago in exchange for Reprise also putting everything on DVD-A.

[ManCalledFoot]

3.07 Tell Me Why (After The Gold Rush, 1970)

Another summer memory, this one back to 1976... I'm 14, my cousin Randy is fresh out of law school and newly married to the lovely Sue Ellen, and they invite me to spend a week with them up at their secluded house in the woods in NW Connecticut. At some point I go through their LP collection and give 'After the Gold Rush' a try. Sue Ellen comes running in from the kitchen as 'Tell Me Why' begins, and gushes how much she loves this song, how it's been so long since she heard it, and proceeds to sing along with it like an angel.

To this day I can't hear this song without thinking about her... a beautiful, red-headed hippie-chick with freckles, straight out of Neil Young central casting. She and Randy eventually got divorced (of course), and I haven't seen her in 25 years. They're both in their 60s now, sigh.

[Erik]

I remember reading an interview with Neil where one exchange went something like this.

Q: Is it hard to make arrangements with yourself when you're old enough to repay and young enough to sell?

A: What the hell was I saying there? I stopped playing that one live for a while because I couldn't sing that ridiculous lyric anymore.