The official Neil Young Archives countdown thread

disc 2 will be the entirety of my bloody valentine's next album

discs 3-5 will be acoustic guitar feedback

disc 6 will be the original version of "powderfinger," with the long-lost second, third, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth verses restored, finally revealing, as originally intended, what is going on

disc 7 will be the entirety of "chinese democracy"

discs 8-10 will be perpetually withheld from release because of a dispute over the digital remastering

fact checking cuz: you don't really not know what powderfinger is about, do you? That's a joke, right?

and yeah i've "heard" about this box set for at least 15 years.

these don't seem like important questions to me as far as songs go.

i know that powderfinger is about five and a half minutes long. what else am i missing?

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Winterlong
Down By The River
Wonderin'
Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown
Cowgirl In The Sand

My understanding is that there will be a 8cd/dvd archives vol 1 relese covering for 63-73 period released early next year. This will have a couple of Squires tracks, Buffalo Springfield and two live solo shows as well as unreleased and previosly released material.

Bring on the archives - no one is getting a Xmas present this year!!

sounds like the version on "tonight's the night" is an edit of this version. on "ttn" they removed the "turn you around" line...

har
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003603262

goddammit neil!!!

i know!

early 08 really fucks me up neil! big time xmas presents "hints" on the box set had been dropped to the missus! valentine's day budgetary outlays are not nearly the same dollarwise!

i know! (srsly, i had been doing the same thing with my wife). curse you, neil young. CURSE YOU.

oh jesus ...
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003702875

I am now officially pro-piracy.

I have no plan to invest in "archives" anyway. What I would want is proper remasters of classic albums such as "Harvest", "After The Goldrush" and "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere".

B-but, surely he knows that there will be 'rips' of these blu-ray discs all over the internet in, like, ten seconds, right?

i am glad that neil young has taken the decision of whether or not to invest in his archives out of my hands

I love how he's investing his crummy 'probably recorded on cassette' demo tapes onto this high spec facility.

wow, what a downer. I won't be buying this now, and I'd been looking forward to it for years and years. I don't want some silly "multimedia experience" with timelines and junk, circa 1994: just the tunes would be fine.

Argh. Fuck you Neil, seriously.

What's wrong with really great book of liner notes and essays? Hell, fanatics are the only folks who are going to buy Archives, and most of them know all that time line shit anyway.

However, I'm glad I read that article because I didn't now about the new documentary. That's exciting, at least. I hope it really digs into the making of Deja Vu and doesn't try to tone down all the allegedly dirty business surrounding the sessions. According to Hotel California, it was one fucked up time.

"What I would want is proper remasters of classic albums such as "Harvest", "After The Goldrush" and "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere"."

I agree with this, and it somewhat makes up for some of Geir's egregious posts on the 2112 thread.

http://www.news.com/8301-13953_3-9937142-80.html?tag=nefd.lede

So now he's not only embracing digital sound, but wants me to buy a blu-ray player to play this thing?!? For the luvva god, just put out a Bob Dylan Scrapbook deal for those interested in all those notes. Call me when the Goldrush/Tonight's The Night remasters come out...

wow that article is the most bullshit I've read in a long time

BAN NEIL YOUNG

and yeah i've "heard" about this box set for at least 15 years.

Me too, me too. Heard about Decade II back when I was in high school.

LOL

i kinda just want more of the "performance series". it's been a year since that last one. and both are awesome.

oh and i want them on CDs, Neil. CDs.

So now he's not only embracing digital sound,

he embraced it back in the late 80s, converting his studio to all-digital. since digital multitrack recording was in its relative infancy at the time, those records (particularly ragged glory) sound like ass. it took him at least 3-4 albums to realize digital recording had more than a few bugs to be worked out. quite the discerning ear, no?

and isn't the guy half-deaf from playing so loud for so long? how the fuck does he know what mp3s sound like on headphones?

wau

Besides music, Young is working with engineers and developers to create a car that doesn't require roadside refueling. He is working with a variety of developers and scientists to develop a large, American-style car that doesn't require fossil fuels. "I have trained myself to take this on," he said.

"America is full of big people; it's a huge country and the wind blows. I don't want to have cars blown off the road with high winds," Young said. "We work with aerodynamics, and there's the X Prize effort to get 100 miles per gallon." Scientists are working on interesting concepts such as cars running on compressed air with stackable motors on the wheels, he said. Other solutions are more fringe.

haha. if anyone can do it, it's neil young. right?

so would you be able to play these normally on your stereo w/o having to use TV menus and stuff like that?

you have to go to neil young's house to hear them.

Young was asked how music and technology go together. "There is a lot of math; it is emotional math," he replied.

This explains a lot.

wonder if he'll call his magical future car the TRANS-am

Vaporrust

Is Neil toast? This is the strangest thing I've ever read.

http://www.thrasherswheat.org/2008/03/toast-new-unreleased-crazy-horse-album.html

Ha ha, what a surprise...

http://www.nodepression.com/articles.aspx?id=3499

That Sugar Mountain thing looks promising.

There was a thing that ran over the summer, maybe in rolling stone, where Neil admitted that the box set would be out on plain cds/dvds as well as bluray. But, "I hope my fans go for the blueray."

Zounds!

That is way too much money for anything.

Yeah, and the standard DVD set isn't much cheaper. It's like $350 list.

Neil Young: Making Criterion look cheap since 2009.

june 2, 2009
http://blogs.suntimes.com/derogatis/2009/03/sxsw_2009_neil_youngs_archives_1.html

hee hee

TRACK LIST:

Disc 00 EARLY YEARS (1963-1965)

1. Aurora The Squires – from the 45 RPM single (mono)
2. The Sultan The Squires – from the 45 RPM single (mono)
3. I Wonder The Squires – previously unreleased song (mono)
4. Mustang The Squires – previously unreleased instrumental (mono)
5. I'll Love You Forever The Squires – previously unreleased song (mono)
6. (I'm A Man And) I Can't Cry The Squires – previously unreleased song (mono)
7. Hello Lonely Woman Neil Young & Comrie Smith** – previously unreleased version
8. Casting Me Away From You Neil Young & Comrie Smith – previously unreleased song
9. There Goes My Babe Neil Young & Comrie Smith – previously unreleased song
10. Sugar Mountain Neil Young – previously unreleased demo version (mono)
11. Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing Neil Young – previously unreleased demo version (mono)
12. Runaround Babe Neil Young – previously unreleased song (mono)
13. The Ballad Of Peggy Grover Neil Young – previously unreleased song (mono)
14. The Rent Is Always Due Neil Young – previously unreleased song (mono)
15. Extra, Extra Neil Young – previously unreleased song (mono)

**(And for those of you who are wondering who Comrie Smith is, see Uncut mag. Thanks Roel!)

Disc 01 EARLY YEARS (1966-1968)

1. Flying On The Ground Is Wrong Neil Young – from the Buffalo Springfield Box Set (mono)
2. Burned Buffalo Springfield – from the album Buffalo Springfield (mono)
3. Out Of My Mind Buffalo Springfield – from the album Buffalo Springfield (mono)
4. Down, Down, Down Neil Young – previously unreleased version (mono)
5. Kahuna Sunset Buffalo Springfield – from the Buffalo Springfield Box Set (mono)
6. Mr. Soul Buffalo Springfield – from the Buffalo Springfield Box Set (mono)
7. Sell Out Buffalo Springfield – previously unreleased song (mono)
8. Down To The Wire Neil Young – from the album Decade (mono)
9. Expecting To Fly Buffalo Springfield – from the album Buffalo Springfield
10. Slowly Burning Neil Young – previously unreleased instrumental
11. One More Sign Neil Young – from the Buffalo Springfield Box Set
12. Broken Arrow Buffalo Springfield – from the album Buffalo Springfield Again
13. I Am A Child Buffalo Springfield – from the album Last Time Around

Disc 02 TOPANGA 1 (1968-1969)

1. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere Neil Young – from the stereo promotional 45 RPM single-second pressing
2. The Loner Neil Young – from the album Neil Young
3. Birds Neil Young – previously unreleased version
4. What Did You Do To My Life? Neil Young – previously unreleased mix
5. The Last Trip To Tulsa Neil Young – from the album Neil Young
6. Here We Are In The Years Neil Young – from the album Neil Young–second version
7. I've Been Waiting For You Neil Young – previously unreleased mix
8. The Old Laughing Lady Neil Young – from the album Neil Young
9. I've Loved Her So Long Neil Young – from the album Neil Young
10. Sugar Mountain Neil Young – previously unreleased stereo master
11. Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
12. Down By The River Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
13. Cowgirl In The Sand Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
14. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

Disc 03 LIVE AT THE RIVERBOAT (TORONTO 1969)

1. Sugar Mountain Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
2. The Old Laughing Lady Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
3. Flying On The Ground Is Wrong Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
4. On The Way Home Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
5. I've Loved Her So Long Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
6. I Am A Child Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
7. 1956 Bubblegum Disaster Neil Young – previously unreleased song
8. The Last Trip To Tulsa Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
9. Broken Arrow Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
10. Whiskey Boot Hill Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
11. Expecting To Fly Neil Young – previously unreleased live version

Disc 04 TOPANGA 2 (1969-1970)

1. Cinnamon Girl Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
2. Running Dry (Requiem For The Rockets) Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
3. Round And Round (It Won't Be Long) Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
4. Oh Lonesome Me Neil Young with Crazy Horse – previously unreleased stereo mix
5. Birds Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the 45 RPM single (mono)
6. Everybody's Alone Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Previously unreleased song
7. I Believe In You Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the album After The Gold Rush
8. Sea Of Madness Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – from the original soundtrack album Woodstock
9. Dance Dance Dance Neil Young with Crazy Horse – previously unreleased version
10. Country Girl Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – from the album Déjà Vu
11. Helpless Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – previously unreleased mix
12. It Might Have Been Neil Young with Crazy Horse – previously unreleased live version

Disc 05 NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE–LIVE AT THE FILLMORE EAST (NEW YORK 1970)

1. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
2. Winterlong
3. Down By The River
4. Wonderin'
5. Come On Baby, Let's Go Downtown
6. Cowgirl In The Sand

all previously released live versions
Disc 06 TOPANGA 3 (1970)

1. Tell Me Why Neil Young – from the album After The Gold Rush
2. After The Gold Rush Neil Young – from the album After The Gold Rush
3. Only Love Can Break Your Heart Neil Young – from the album After The Gold Rush
4. Wonderin' Neil Young – previously unreleased version
5. Don't Let It Bring You Down Neil Young – from the album After The Gold Rush-first pressing
6. Cripple Creek Ferry Neil Young – from the album After The Gold Rush
7. Southern Man Neil Young – from the album After The Gold Rush
8. Till The Morning Comes Neil Young – from the album After The Gold Rush
9. When You Dance, I Can Really Love Neil Young with Crazy Horse – from the album After The Gold Rush-first pressing
10. Ohio Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – from the stereo 45 RPM single
11. Only Love Can Break Your Heart Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – previously unreleased live version
12. Tell Me Why Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – previously unreleased live version
13. Music Is Love David Crosby, Graham Nash & Neil Young – from the album If I Could Only Remember My Name
14. See The Sky About To Rain Neil Young – previously unreleased live version

Disc 07 LIVE AT MASSEY HALL (TORONTO 1971)

1. On The Way Home
2. Tell Me Why
3. Old Man
4. Journey Through The Past
5. Helpless
6. Love In Mind
7. A Man Needs A Maid/Heart Of Gold (Suite)
8. Cowgirl In The Sand
9. Don't Let It Bring You Down
10. There's A World
11. Bad Fog Of Loneliness
12. The Needle And The Damage Done
13. Ohio
14. See The Sky About To Rain
15. Down By The River
16. Dance Dance Dance
17. I Am A Child

all previously released live versions
Disc 08 NORTH COUNTRY (1971-1972)

1. Heart Of Gold Neil Young – previously unreleased live version
2. The Needle And The Damage Done Neil Young – from the album Harvest
3. Bad Fog Of Loneliness Neil Young with The Stray Gators – previously unreleased version
4. Old Man Neil Young with The Stray Gators – from the album Harvest
5. Heart Of Gold Neil Young with The Stray Gators – from the album Harvest
6. Dance Dance Dance Neil Young – previously unreleased version
7. A Man Needs A Maid Neil Young with the London Symphony Orchestra – previously unreleased mix
8. Harvest Neil Young with The Stray Gators – from the album Harvest
9. Journey Through The Past Neil Young with The Stray Gators – previously unreleased version
10. Are You Ready For The Country? Neil Young with The Stray Gators – from the album Harvest
11. Alabama Neil Young with The Stray Gators – from the album Harvest
12. Words (Between The Lines Of Age) Neil Young with The Stray Gators – from the original soundtrack album Journey Through The Past
13. Soldier Neil Young – previously unreleased mix
14. War Song Neil Young & Graham Nash with The Stray Gators – from the 45 RPM single (mono)

Disc 09 JOURNEY THROUGH THE PAST - A FILM BY NEIL YOUNG

* Available for the first time since its original theatrical release in 1973
* In 5.1 DTS© surround sound and stereo
* Includes rare performance and documentary footage of Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and scenes from the recording of the Harvest album featuring Neil Young with The Stray Gators

so stoked for this

Yeah, I'm buying this, but not sure if there's like a holy grail kind of unreleased track here that the Neil die-hard hasn't heard yet ... Maybe the Harvest "Bad Fog"? Think I've heard the Crazy Horse versions of "Birds" and "I Believe In You" ... Still, it'll all probably sound great -- just still annoying that the Fillmore and Massey Hall shows are included ... Already bought those, Neil.

"Everybody's Alone" with Crazy Horse could be cool .... I guess the Buffalo Springfield track "Sell Out" is sorta legendary ... It's either so awesome that Neil decided to save it for here, or he didn't think it was good enough to be on the BS box set.

Disc 3 is mouthwatering...no idea what live versions of "Broken Arrow" and "Expecting to Fly" would be like. Is that with a band or solo?

Think it's the same tour as the recently released Sugar Mountain live disc, so they'll probably be pretty similar to that -- solo, stripped down acoustic guitar ...

I guess you can actually buy the discs individually ... though it doesn't seem like that much of a deal if you add in the book ...

http://neilyoungarchives.warnerreprise.com/shop/vol1/shop-individual-items.html

I've always wondered how a guy as one-take/no overdubs/warts-and-all as Young is could be so Ahab-like obsessed with high fidelity. I mean, jeez, Crazy Horse is not Steely Dan.

For that matter, I've always wondered who would trust the ears of a guy that's played as loud and for so long as Young to even know hi-fi when he heard it.

Plus - jeepers - so this is one of those everything-in-one boxes that breaks up the individual albums across multiple discs, like that lame Police box did? How annoying.

I'm a little disappointed by the content on this. I thought it was gonna be all unreleased material.

I think those 'released' items are ones just recently out.

Still, ...

Yeah, I've thought the same thing about Neil's sound quality obsession (xpost) ... I mean, I can't imagine the dude obsessed over mic placement whilst recording Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere ... There's a quote in Shakey where he says he's into audio verite or something. While I think this set looks like fun, I kind of wish that he was just doing a comprehensive reissue series, with each of his albums complemented by a bonus disc of unreleased material.

yeah this looks pretty dope and who am i kidding? i am a stan and am going to buy it...but yeah looks like only a handful of actually unreleased stuff...

still there's plenty on here i haven't heard and so far the live stuff has been amazing quality so i'm still down.

reissues of all the albums would be very welcome

Like, it's a little annoying that on EKTIN, all of the songs except "Losing End" are here, and on Harvest, all the songs except "Out On The Weekend" (!) are here. Makes me wonder if Neil is actually planning remastered editions of these albums anyway. Yow.

I think those 'released' items are ones just recently out.
Still, ...
Yeah, I realize that, but I don't need another version of Harvest or Everybody Knows this is Nowhere or After the Gold Rush, either. I thought he was sitting on piles of unreleased recordings. I mean, it's brought up over and over again in Shakey.

But yeah, nitpicking aside, like M@tt, I have no choice but to buy this ... NEIL YOUNG ARCHIVES for god's sake.

I did expect more alternate takes in place of the released album cuts -- like first take of Down By the River or something.

for some reason i have little knowledge of buffalo springfield outside of the greatest hits, so i'm excited for that disc

yeah, that seems like a pretty nice overview of Neil's BS period. The box set, despite some flaws, is worth having. Weird band!

There's an early version of "Mr. Soul" that was supposed to be on this, but it doesn't look like it's there. That's what I was most looking forward to, actually. I was also hoping for some live Buffalo, too.

imo the most interesting unreleased stuff is def. later in his career. but then again I'm thinking of the bootlegs that exist vs. what we don't know about.

Yeah, it seems like the "Homegrown" period (73-75) maybe has the best stuff that has yet to be released, either officially or via bootleg.

Disc 09 JOURNEY THROUGH THE PAST - A FILM BY NEIL YOUNG

* Available for the first time since its original theatrical release in 1973
* In 5.1 DTS© surround sound and stereo
* Includes rare performance and documentary footage of Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and scenes from the recording of the Harvest album featuring Neil Young with The Stray Gators

YES

I love dis dopey stoned movie

does anyone here do the blue ray thing? and would you shell out for this kind of thing? i don't have one and don't really plan on getting one in the near future ... but i'd like it if someone i knew bought the blue ray set and i could spend a day with it ...

wow, I'm kinda not as excited about this now. There's so much repetition from things I already have. I guess it'll depend on how cool the previously unreleased songs are, since it's hard for me to imagine "Down By The River" being more revelatory with better sound.

This should be re-titled DOES NOT CONTAIN NINE-MINUTE VERSION OF 'BLUEBIRD'

Still no Mynah Birds either.

i believe you can get the mynah birds on itunes on some motown singles comp

xpost, Neil does not like the nine-minute version of "Bluebird" -- also it wouldn't really make sense here since he didn't write it, right? Have you never heard it? I can sendspace it if you want ...

xpost cool thanks

xpost I know it's a Stills song, but it's frustrating every time something comes out with previously unreleased Springfield stuff on it minus "Bluebird." I have heard it, have it on that Springfield 2LP comp, but thanks for sendspace offer.

Given that he's been talking about this box since 1990 and there's so much previously released stuff on it...very frustrating.

i get the feeling the archives project began as a clearing house for Neil's unreleased backlog, but then over the years became this "musical autobiography" sort of thing. What diehards like myself would like is sort of an alternate history of Neil's career, but now the Archives seem to be like a big statement on who Neil Young is ...

Yeah, I'd way prefer this to be like Dylan's bootleg series, but I suppose Neil is so heavily bootlegged that we can get by without this being official. Still, a silly waste of an opportunity...but that's Neil.

started reading "Shakey"...so great, and definitely has me SUPER EXCITED for the first disc of this, as i've just read about all those songs.

Yeah, that first disc looks like the most interesting one.

I'm trying to decide whether to go with the cds, or selling my left nut and getting the DVDs, which I read come with a password to download mp3s of the songs.

i'm just sticking with CDs -- I'm definitely curious about all the video content, but I know that I really won't spend very much time watching it. And the price difference is substantial. But yeah, looking forward to that first disc! That should be fun.

Cd set is $72 at amazon, which isn't cheap, but isn't ridiculous either. DVD is $199. BluRay is i don't even want to know.

oh dip 72 is a great deal

yeah I can probably spring for the cds at this point, or hold out and hope I can spring for the dvds later. I guess I'll wait to see exactly how much video is on the dvds, or whether it's mostly just serving the songs with stills (no pun intended).

yeah $72 is nice -- and knowing Amazon, I wouldn't be surprised if it comes down a little bit more.

I'll be sticking with the CDs too. The idea of constantly updating Blu-Rays is really pretty awesome, but a) that's believing that Neil won't someday tire of the whole thing and move on to another project; b) I don't want to be tied to my Blu-Ray player whenever I want to listen to these; and c) jesus christ I'm not rich.

c) jesus christ I'm not rich
yeah, haha. i don't even know anyone with a bluray player ...

question: so basically my stereo CD player is a multi-disc thing that plays DVDs, SACDs, whatever...but it's not hooked up to a TV. Do you think that I could just use the DVDs like regular CDs when I didn't want to watch, only listen? or would there be all this menu stuff that would make it hard to just listen to the music tracks in sequence?

The only reason I own a Blu-Ray player is because I jokingly suggested that we register for a PS3 for our wedding last summer, my fiancee agreed and some friends pitched in and bought one for us!

it is funny that this archives set costs less than a ticket to go see Neil in Denver next week. Even the cheap seats.

yeah the menu thing is something I don't know about yet either. And yeah, the bluray thing is cool but I'm not even close to in the market for such a player, let alone the disks.

i think i've gone past my initial disappointment in the tracklist to being SUPER EXCITED. Neil Young!

review of the DVD set here: http://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/neil-young-archives-vol-1 Honestly, the multimedia stuff doesn't sound all that enticing.

reading shakey has made me pretty excited for the first two disc, esp curious about the mono mixes of the springfield stuff, which they keep saying in the book were the "real mixes" and way better

So I'm puzzled: this will have some, but not all, of the album tracks? It looks like it has very few of the debut's tracks; everything but "The Losing End" off Everybody Knows; much but not all of After the Gold Rush. Or am I missing something?

Also: has someone compiled a list of what are the new songs on this?

That's correct, I don't think its meant to be an "all things collected" type of set, more of a - this stuff best captures the era type of thing.

yeah, as i said above, would've preferred Neil just do a comprehensive reissue series of his albums with a bonus disc of well-chosen contemporaneous unreleased material, a la Elvis Costello's Rhino discs from a while back. I'm sure the album material is going to sound great in remastered form, so it's a little annoying that there are missing bits and pieces from that.

the inclusion of previously released album tracks seems really pointless imho

^ infuriating, in fact

yeah, I'm thinking this is typically half-assed Neil; I still might get this but would certainly have, and would have paid more, had it contained the complete first four albums as Tyler suggests.

know what you mean -- i'm just hoping the overall flow of the thing works well as a listening experience. Confounded by Neil's insistence on putting "Down By the River" and "Cowgirl In the Sand" side by side. He did that on that recent greatest hits, too!

as that old bootleg set proclaimed: "Archives Be Damned!"

(still buying this of course, it'll be great, wtf)

^^
this

But it is kinda infuriating. Like the stupid decision of Depeche Mode to put the b-side tracks only on the DVD bonus disc.

x-post Any multi-media DVD I have needs the TV to access the menu and the menu to easily access the content. Otherwise, it's not different from any other DVD. Sure, in theory you could press enough right buttons to get it to play, but you'd be flying blind.

Anyone who gets this on Blu-Ray is a sucker, and not just for having a Blu-ray player. Will any theoretical downloads be DRM-free? How transferable will they be? So many questions.

just posted my own version of the archives -- 80s style! -- on my blog. http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/

more info from no depression: http://community.nodepression.com/profiles/blogs/neil-youngs-archives-a-sneak

oh shit http://www.neilyoung.com/archives/northcountry/volume1disc8-demo.html

Harvest outtakes sounding SWEET.

nice to see some stuff from journey through the past on here, like "words" and "soldier"

the interactive stuff seems nice and well thought out, but it's not making me desperate for the dvd or blue ray versions ...

huh, I had the opposite reaction

I don't want to stare at a picture of neil and a spinning rec player gif while listening to music thx

I guess what I'm saying is "well thought out" would be just put it out on CD or HDCD or super VHS or whatever

also this is an act of cruelty

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y176/edwardiii/journey_thru_the_past.jpg

neil: "FYI, here's this stoner classic album of mine I'm not gonna put out"

"plz enjoy staring at pertinent details"

haha, yeah -- i guess what i'm saying is that all the stuff here (photos, handwritten lyrics, exhaustive recording details) is all good and interesting, it's just that, yeah, I'm not really interested in going through menu after menu for it. I'd rather have a book ... odd, since Neil seems like he's such a tactile guy, like he'd rather have a leather-bound volume than a bunch of discs you have to look at on your computer. still excited for the music though -- the Harvest versions of "Bad Fog" and "journey through the past" sound GREAT.

man neil was bonkers to leave this version of "bad fog of loneliness" off of harvest

while we've definitely discussed the fact that there's a lot more stuff off of the regular albums on here, esp. this disc...listening to this it occurs to me that maybe the purpose of this disc in particular is to create in neil's head the "perfect" version of harvest...like taking the best tracks from that album then pairing them with some outtakes and unreleased stuff to make an album that maybe represents that time period better than the actual album.

i mean, listening to this, if this had just been released as a proper album, it would flow great, and also be unquestionably - IMO - a better, stronger album than harvest.

yeah, that might be true -- but still, where the hell is "Out On The Weekend"?

haha there goes my theory!

that said, who knows what neil thinks! he's crazy!

He's a kook! I'm sure he thought: "The lead track off of my best-selling album? Nah, no need for that to be here. I will also not be including 'Tonight's The Night' on the next volume of the Archives. Just because."

I will also not be including 'Tonight's The Night' on the next volume of the Archives. Just because.

oh really? wtf? like no outtakes or even that "alternate version" that briggs felt like was the "true" tonight's the night in shakey?

oh no, i was just kidding ... i'm sure there will be a ton of TTN stuff. i think neil has said a live show from that period is forthcoming as well.

haha okay i was just about ready to get real mad....

as much as i'm excited for this version of archives, judging by shakey it's the NEXT box that's really going to be the treasure trove

btw, "War Song" is great! was that a single only or something?

yeah, it was a Nash/Young 7 inch or something. it is pretty good! and i agree, the next box (presumably covering the rest of the 70s?) will be pretty amazing. or at least it seems that way in my head. wonder if it will actually come out anytime soon -- now that the format is set, will they actually be released rapidly?

Man, this is so frustrating. I don't know which sooner-rather-than-later dead format to buy (excluding Blu-ray, which is DOA, as far as I'm concerned).

for all the fetishization of the "vinyl experience" present in the interactive elements here, i'm surprised there isn't an actual vinyl version of this.

Well if there was, it be like $1000 US.

yeah totally. it could come with microfilm of all the lyrics.

I bought the Live At Fillmore 1970 set on vinyl. It was nearly thirty bucks. It's only six songs! It has become my favorite Neil Young release, though, so I'm not complaining...much.

yeah that is a nutty price -- is it even a double album?

Nope, it's exactly the same as the cd release, about a half hour long. It's well done, though. Heavy duty cardboard sleeve, thick black vinyl (at least 180 gram). I'm guessing the other two live things that got a cd release probably got a vinyl release, too.

beats $60! for the sugar mountain vinyl!!!!

eeyowch. that is almost as much as buying the entire archives set on CD.

so pumped! just preordered this thing on cd, fuck a dvd (though I hope I can watch them someday....)

Dl'd the lofi WMV of Journey Through the Past and am watching it right now. Really good stuff! Really cool in a 70s film documentary kind of way. Lots of time devoted to shots of Neil Young smoking joints and David Crosby talking about revolution.

wait the end of this is pretty WTF

btw "There's a World" is basically half of "The Soft Bulletin"

i am looking forward to illegal downloading this box set

wait the end of this is pretty WTF

― Adam Bruneau, Monday, May 25, 2009 2:24 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

funny thing is the soundtrack is like that too, starts off as a kind of neil career overview, buffalo springfield, csny, etc, then it slowly starts to deteriorate into this blurry + wasted sound collage, I love it

there's stuff on the soundtrack not in the film, the most baffling absence being the coda of a blistering "ohio" which inexplicably gets cut off

ha @ janet maslin's 1973 review of journey through the past

Several nights before the movie was shown to the press there, a musician, who had apparently seen the picture at an earlier, private screening, said, "He's really gonna show it, huh? I guess that takes courage."

You guys living in the USA should feel lucky. The CD version on Amazon USA costs $72. The CD version on Amazon Germany costs €129, which currently equals $179. Bah.

ooh that is too bad. good luck germany. so what do you think the odds are that this will actually come out next week? it's looking pretty real, right? i wouldn't be surprised if it fails to materialize though!

I'll believe it when it ships. But the chances are looking excellent. It doesn't hurt that the package leaves room for a revision later, with all the tracks left off from the albums ("Out on the Weekend", grrr) to be put on later in Archives Vol. 1 Take 2; doesn't hurt in that Neil doesn't have to see this as final.

Wonder what happend to Toast?

Individual Titles available from Neil's store!

So if you can only swing for the CD set, you can still get JTTP (which, for Fuck's sake, should really be part of a CD+DVD set) on DVD for an additional $26. Oh, and you can get the full-on book (also absent from the cd box) for $40.

Of course, I should also mention CSN's counterprogramming

Oh Neil, so much to answer for.

hmm, those individually priced things seem way overpriced ... why are the CD version $22.95? also, did this thing just get bumped back a week? Amazon is telling me "Shipping estimate for these items: June 8, 2009" ... haha, it's totally not coming out.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-neilyoung31-2009may31,0,5375352,full.story

^^^^interview with Neil/overview of the set

i like the suggestion that neil SOLD OUT by not dying of his brain tumour:

To some extent, Young's need to deliver something exceptional became more urgent after he successfully underwent surgery four years ago to treat a brain aneurysm.

"There's no way to for me to say how that affected me," said the rocker who famously sang "It's better to burn out than to fade away.

hahaha

First copies of the CD set arrived this morning, so it does exist.

http://paulkucera.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/holy-shit-awesome-2.jpg

(not that i received it, just excited!)

Unless I see the shipping order and put my finger where the cds go, and put my hand into its case, I will not believe it.

i'll believe it when Neil hand-delivers it to my door

Well, it does exist--I'm halfway through disc nine of a review copy, with Journey still to go. I've got the regular DVD version. I haven't written anything yet. I think one's reaction will have a lot to do with whether you paid for it or not. I didn't--getting to keep it is my payment for the review--so the perversity of watching record players spin and tape machines go round and round, and the surprising amount of stuff taken right from the core LPs, isn't that big a deal; there's enough that's new to keep me happy. I'd be surprised if anyone who laid down $250 were to be so forgiving.

you're bringing me down on this! I'm only going for the cds though.

Don't let it bring you down.

wow, that really confirmed that I do NOT want the dvd version and blu-ray is not possible

Think I'll pick up the CD version on sale today for 70 bones. Really can't justify spending more than that, especially given clemenza's post.

yeah i bought the CD version for $69 through Amazon. Which would be a good deal ... if I hadn't already bought the Fillmore and Massey Hall discs! Doh! Still kinda a good deal. But omg it DID ship yesterday! Wow. Neil Young Archives!

yeah mine shipped too from amazon; no going back on this bad boy now

i have a suspicion i'm going to enjoy listening to this ...

Mine hasn't shipped yet :-(

Neil decided you didn't want it bad enough.

Ours are going to be fakes, never fear.

Could someone explain to me how to use this download card for the MP3s? I go to the Archives homepage, and there's nowhere that I can find to type my code.

well? can i hear some more reviews of the archives? worth getting the dvd?

didn't come to my house today ... this guy says it's the best box set of all time http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ragogna/emhuffpost-reviewem-neil_b_209589.html but what does he know. new yorker slightly less excited http://www.newyorker.com/arts/reviews/recordings/2009/06/08/090608gore_GOAT_recordings_greenman EW not terribly excited http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20281034,00.html

so I am a huge neil young fan and have tons and tons of bootlegs and yet I'm not too excited for some reason / stopped paying attention years ago. are there any specific gems in this set that haven't been bootlegged before?

Bad Fog of Loneliness and Journey Through the Past have never been bootlegged to my knowledge. "Sell Out" ... A lot of the very early stuff ... That whole Riverboat show has never been bootlegged. The studio "Wonderin'" and "Everybody's Alone" with Crazy Horse are new ... Those should all be awesome. But whether that's worth the price tag for you ... it was for me, but I'm a sucker, what can I say.

thanks, tylerw, for the links, but I am lookin forward to hearing what the people who post here think of it before I plunk down...

what! 'bad fog of loneliness' is very easily found

nah, not this one -- the outtake that made it onto bootlegs is from the Tonight's the Night sessions

o rly. is it better?

it's different!

hmmm, hearing rumors that a "Neil Young Original Album Series" is in the works.

hmmm, hearing rumors that a "Neil Young Original Album Series" is in the works.
― tylerw, Thursday, 4 June 2009 17:53 (2 hours ago) Bookmark

Sounds interesting. Any more info on what this would contain?

I've decided not to buy Archives (yet). It simply contains too much stuff that I've already paid good money for, including the original albums, Fillmore and Massey Hall. Maybe in a couple of years it'll be going cheap and I'll pick it up.
*And* (as I complained already up-thread) the CD version is selling in stores here for €179, which equals $250 at today's exchange rate. Madness.

Sounds like they've got his first four albums remastered and lined up for reissue on vinyl -- and maybe CD? Don't know whether than angers me or pleases me. Both, I guess.

Vinyl and Blue-Ray disc, more like! I might be tempted into re-buying a couple of my LPs (especially if remastered well) -- most of mine are in pretty scratchy condition.

yeah i actually don't own a lot of his catalog on CD, since he was always so down on the way it sounded. but those remasters of the "missing" albums from a few years back (On The Beach, et al) sound great ...

but those remasters of the "missing" albums from a few years back (On The Beach, et al) sound great ...

Very true.

I'm the same -- I stuck to buying NY on vinyl up until very recently (Chrome Dreams II)

I mean I bought Chrome Dreams II on CD.

yeah, there's been some griping on this thread (me included) about the dearth of super awesome unreleased material on the Archives, but I'm just looking forward to hearing nicely remastered versions of a lot of the previously released stuff. From a review I read this morning: "the audio quality ... is already a marked improvement from every previous pressing of Young’s studio material. The songs from Crazy Horse’s 1969 debut Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, in particular, burst out of the speakers with a three-dimensional attack and stunning clarity. I wouldn’t say it’s like listening to vinyl; more like listening to half-inch tape. This really does have the feeling of throwing the original masters on for a playback ..."

You can buy the individual tracks on Amazon mp3 for 98c. Might actually try one of them to get an idea of the sound.

Neil decided you didn't want it bad enough.

Yup, cause I was so wishy-washy on ordering it in the first place (already had the Springfeild box, Fillmore & Massey Hall). I literally went to amazon once or twice a day for a week w/plans to place an order, but didn't follow through. But all's well, as my appeal has been heard and my cd set shipped last night.

Wait, "On the Beach" (et al.) weren't remastered, were they? At least, not technically, since they were making their mastered for CD (and DVD-Audio!) debut, right? Meaning I have nothing to compare my "On the Beach" CD to other than the vinyl. Could anyone here confirm that the remastered studio stuff on here sounds better than previously released CD versions?

And screw the Archives - when will Neil Young re-release "Time Fades Away?" When "Archives II" comes out in 20 years?

On the Beach was never on CD until 2003 ... afaik, that's the only CD version. Sounds way better than the Neil Young CDs from the 80s (as do the other recs he reissued at the time, American Stars n Bars and Hawks and Doves)

We talked about Time Fades Away in the On The Beach poll thread. It was all set and ready to go and he pulled it at the last minute due to "sound issues."
http://www.sidestreetrecords.com/articles/OddsSods/images/cd_2151Test1995x300.png

I should just make a time fades away thread, I always end up talking about it in random young threads all over the place

the original round of Neil Young CDs from the 80s are pretty much what set him on his mad search for decent digital sound/transfers ... They do not sound good. I mean, compare Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere on CD with it on vinyl and you've got a textbook case of "vinyl sounds better than CDs"

I have that CD. it is sad.

fuck I hope this box arrives today, I've never heard any Neil vinyl but the cd On the Beach sounds so good, I'm thinking this box is going to be great.

yeah, the Everybody Knows CD -- goddam, I'm not a vinyl fascist/audiophile by any means, but that shit is a crime. on the other end of the spectrum -- yeah, the On The Beach CD is marvelous.

I believe on the beach was mastered for DVD back in 2003 but downsampled for the CD release, not sure if they reused these tracks for archives but it would make sense if they did... I can't imagine an improvement on the 2003 remastering, the HDCD version is incredible sounding.

I've never heard any Neil vinyl

!!! I am old.

awww, I didn't mean it like that. I'm in my mid 30s and when I was a kid, vinyl was around, but by the time I got into Neil in the late 80s, cds were the big thing. It's funny, I've probably listened to Everybody Knows more than any other record save maybe something by the Beatles or Michael Jackson, and I've never heard it as bad. I'm looking to be enlightened!

oh shit mailman just rang the doorbell

it's here

i actually just ordered a copy of the Everybody Knows cd. hrm.

I wonder what song Euler is jammin' right now.

"The Loner", holy shit, it's just the album version but it's like a totally different song! The strings, the bass, the click of the drums...it's like what was once a soupy mess...isn't!

eeee, sounds like it arrived at my house today! :D

It was all set and ready to go and he pulled it at the last minute due to "sound issues."

Hasn't Neil been playing extremely loudly for decades? Is it even physically possible that his hearing is still intact? Do we really want to defer to his judgment on sound issues?

so i popped the first CD in this morning annnnnnnd ... it skips! oh man.

yeah my first cd has a crack in it, and two of the others have paper stuck to them, so they're smudged. I'm going to have send this fucker back.

http://katemckinnon.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/neil-young.jpg

0-for-2 ain't good...

amazingly they all ripped, so it's not absolutely horrible, but still I guess I am hoping for replacement.

man, the tracks from the debut record sound soooo good on this, like new songs as I said about "The Loner" yesterday. I didn't find the tracks from Everybody Knows to be as much of a leap, though they still sounded great.

So most of you went for the CD? I guess if Neil had gone for a straight-forward CD, then a seperate companion DVD and coffee table book, he wouldn't be Neil Young, would he?

If you go to the archives site they have an 800 number specifically for dealing w/ damaged disks or packaging....

ah good to know -- my first disc is def. messed up ... "Broke Arrow" skips all over the place. 2nd disc seems fine ...
Euler, was just coming to post about how this release should rescue the self-titled debut from obscurity -- it really does sound amazing, and really unique to his catalog ... Really wonderful sounds there.

yeah, disk 2 is really really great, totally ear-opening. I've had the debut for years and aside from a few songs (lol I love the instrumentals plus "The Old Laughing Lady") I've never thought much of it. Wow, that's changed now.

A pity about your disk 1, tylerw: "Expecting To Fly" sounds absolutely huge: there are lots of tracks of vocals and they swirl around each other, I can now hear: it's still totally woozy but now cathedral woozy.

i was actually able to get most of disk 1 to play -- mainly just Broken Arrow that seems all messed up. but yes, that first album, i always thought sounded kinda rinky dink, like they were going for this epic, lush sound but not getting it. here, it really does have that epic, lush sound.

need to got get this tomorrow i wonder if it will be on sale at best buy?

Best Buy has it on CD for around $70, which is just a hair over list.

woah the different version of "everybody knows this is nowhere" and "birds" are eye opening

ditto on being surprised by the first album stuff...

also i never heard the buffalo springfield box so all that stuff sounds great to me. wow, "mr. soul"

interesting to hear bits of "don't cry no tears" pop up on a squires song way back then!

The early "Birds" is great, the early "Everybody Knows" less so but still cool to hear. "The Ballad Of Peggy Grover" is the one with "Don't Cry No Tears" pieces, and it's cool but I'm glad he kept working on it.

The instrumental "Slowly Burning" near the end of disk 1 is really awesome too.

also getting a sneaking suspicion that the answer to "why are there so many songs from his proper albums on this?" is....to show us how shitty the current CDs sound and get us primed for reissues of the whole back catalog...

dick move? maybe...but god help me stuff off of "everybody knows" just sounds like a different record

I wonder how they sound next to the LPs-- all my Neil is on vinyl.

yeah i was gonna a/b some "everybody knows" but my vinyl copy is pretty hashed up

have been burning through this while working on built-ins in the basement. an arduous task made more pleasant! super cheap boom box down there, so I can't comment too much on the sound quality ... but the Gold Rush-era outtakes are sweet -- esp. "Everybody's Alone" ... Pretty fascinating to see just how busy the dude was -- a bunch of Gold Rush sessions taking place less than a week after that Crazy Horse Fillmore show.

Got mine in the mail Friday--right before heading off to the first day of shooting on a local indie film (I'm a PA amongst other things). Haven't had any real time to listen to it other than the studio "Cowgirl"--remastered so well I can hear Neil's Whammy bar click. Didn't know about the damaged discs, gonna have to check the other discs ASAP.

At this point I'm willing to shell out for reissues of the back catalog; I still can't believe how good the debut sounds. I haven't even made it to the last disk yet, b/c I keep getting absorbed by disk 2.

emailed amazon about the various issues with these CDs -- we'll see what happens. Annoying though. Lots of scratches on the discs, plus some kind of adhesive sticking to a few of them as well. A good deal of it is playable, but there are a few songs on each disc that skip around in a maddening way. URGH. Hopefully it all gets sorted!

also thinking about putting together a comp from this era of unreleased stuff that REMAINS unreleased, haha.

yeah i'd like to see the rest of the stuff from the comrie smith sessions that don't make this

yes! The "There Goes My Babe" from those sessions is great; love that song on the Springfield box too, where it says he wrote it for Sonny and Cher.

dunno if that stuff is out and circulating on bootleg ... there are a few things though -- CSNY studio outtakes of "everybody's alone," "sea of madness" and "cinnamon girl" ... nothing mindblowing, but cool. some alt. mixes of "everbody knows" songs ...

man, the CSNY live version of "Tell Me Why" is gorgeous...could do without the comedy routine at the beginning though

i just fucking love neil so much right now....

Riverboat gig is awesome, nearly as good as Massey Hall IMO.

the two Canterbury songs are great and make me want to shell out for that ridic priced vinyl...annoying that wasn't included in full

yeah i was surprised at how different the Riverboat and Canterbury shows are, even though they're solo acoustic only a few months apart, similar setlists, etc. At first I thought it seemed kind of redundant to have both of them out in the world, but the Canterbury show is so relaxed and the Riverboat is kinda ... edgy.

did they release canterbury on CD?

yeah! last fall.

ah man...neil's got me stuck.

plus i can't wait for the rarities disc of stuff that was left off haha

man the harvest outtakes are good

yeah, that "journey through the past" isn't as majestic as the live solo piano version, but it's pretty cool! and "bad fog" is awesome ...

I must be in a curmudgeonly mood, because except for the radically improved sound quality, I'm not real excited about this set. The best bits have all been previously released, either on the original studio albums or on the Massey & Fillmore shows. If this was the first - and only - way to get those two shows I think I'd be head over heels. However, I think I'm going to sell this to a friend and hope the actual albums get the remastering the included songs did.

Glad I kept my Massey & Fillmore discs instead of selling them back in anticipation. Just doesn't seem worth it for a handful of solid outtakes and a whole lot of "historical interest" filler.

i know what you mean -- i'm a little disappointed overall too, esp. with all the previously released stuff, even though it seems, for the most part, well-chosen and well sequenced. great sound and i loved listening to it, but as i've said before, i just wish Neil had just reissued the albums along w/ a bonus disc of live/outtake material.

one awesome thing is the sequence of "expecting to fly" into the instrumental "slowly burning," (which I'd never heard before, I don't think) -- Neil at his most orchestral and gorgeous, w/ the Pet Sounds/Wrecking Crew backing band! Yow!

I guess the deal was supposed to be "buy the DVD and get videos too", so we're not really talking about the real archive when we focus just on the songs (though that's really what I care about most). I didn't buy the Massey or Fillmore sets before so I'm not disappointed by this (and I expected to be).

yeah "Slowly Burning" is fantastic!

That's it! I would have gladly ponied up for that, even if it cost me more overall. As nice an experience as this is, it seems like it tries to be comprehensive but leaves out stuff people have been listening too for nearly 40 years. Really odd, but, sadly, kind of par for the course.

x-posts to Tyler, obv.

xpost

no EZ i hear you...

i def think tyler's solution would have been the best.

that said, all the discs are real listenable, like they flow well from end to end and i can just throw them in and listen to them and enjoy

yeah the flow is really good overall. i think the only time i was like uhhhh, was the aforementioned CSNY onstage tomfoolery. those guys were not that funny.

Sad part is, despite my frustration, I'm so there for volume 2.

I think I would have been better off skipping the first disc. Felt like a pretty massive slog. Not as bad as the first disc of the Velvet's Peel Slowly And See, but rough.

huh see i really liked the first disc, like i said up thread made me sorta reevaluate springfield...also had always wanted to heard "kahuna sunset" which is real pretty IMO

i think the only time i was like uhhhh, was the aforementioned CSNY onstage tomfoolery. those guys were not that funny.

yeah it's grating...but man this is the first time i sorta "got" what neil saw in them, the four of them really harmonized well together...i think w/neil in there he mitigates the sorta saccharine quality because his voice just won't quite be perfect no matter what

yeah those live cuts with CSNY do sound purty. and you gotta get the buffalo springfield box set. frustrating packaging and some questionable track choices aside, it is a sweet set.

I've never warmed to Buffalo Springfield, and this context didn't help me. I have a very, very low Stills tolerance.

have you read shakey? lots of good material if you want stills schadenfreunde! he's a sad lil' man in that book

I've always been lukewarm on Buffalo Springfield too, which sucks because if I could get into them more I'd have all of this extra early Neil-related stuff to enjoy.

I don't love Stills either but the Springfield box is great, with early Neil demos that really ought to be on the archive instead.

I posted this somewhere else, but the best solution would have been a deluxe three-disc boxed set for each album. One disc the remastered album, one disc of contemporaneous outtakes, live takes and alt takes, and the third a DVD with footage and ephemera. He then could have charged the happy hardcore extra for these editions, even as he released stand-alone remastered albums for anyone that wanted them. Don't see why he couldn't have done this, though it's pretty obvious why he did things the way he did (to make it hard to pirate).

Wonder what recompense he's offer in a year or two when Blu-ray fades away (better to burn out?), and the promise of more material fades with it. Those discs will be about as frustrating as the virtually impossible to listen to these days as the David Briggs mix version of "Arc Weld" (only ever released on laserdisc).

yeah, stills is at his most tolerable in the Springfield, imo. xpost

i will be curious to see how many of the dvd/blu rays neil actually sells. obviously it's getting mostly good press, but they are both still super-expensive and with the blu ray, not many people actually have the technology. at least no one i know. though i guess the PS2 plays em, right?

I need to read Shakey one of these days. No excuse not to.

I think it might be best for me to skip the Springfield box since I don't care for the first disc of Archives.

I can play the blu-ray if someone wants to bring it over!

yeah, see that's how i feel -- i wouldn't mind spending a day trawling through all the stuff on the blu-ray or DVD, but that would be it, it's not something I would play all the time. maybe my public library will get it. probably not.

wow the version of "Words" on disk 8 is totally epic! It's usually a low point for me on Harvest but this is great.

I'm kinda disappointed that the only song from the PERRO sessions that made it onto here is the album version of "Music Is Love". The boots I have of those sessions are incredible, and my impression is that there is more material out there from those sessions that's not been bootlegged yet. The Crosby box a few years ago just scratched the surface.

is there stuff featuring Neil on those bootlegs or the Crosby box set? i haven't heard either ...

yeah that reminded me i need to get that CD reissue of if i could only remember my name

yeah Neil's on a bunch of the songs, I think...I can't find exact session data b/c lol drugs I figure.

not my drugs, to be sure: I think there weren't any drugs left in Norcal for a few years after those sessions.

i have a crosby bootleg from 1970 w/ the Grateful Dead backing him up, which I can't find becuz of lol drugs ...

yeah I've got that boot too, sweet set...

david and the dorks, haha

btw, amazon is dispatching a replacement copy of this for me -- hope it works better than the first one! Maybe those cardboard sleeves aren't the best way to package CDs?

another small beef: why on earth is the mynah birds 45 not on this? (thinking maybe motown/rick james estate problems?)

i know it was released on one of those year-by-year motown singles comps, it's available on itunes.

mighta been motown rights issues or something. but yeah, it's available -- and it's pretty good, too!

perhaps i'll include those songs on the "missing from the archives" comp ... shhhhhh, don't tell motown.

i for one would be ultra-psyched to peruse a "missing from the archives" comp. need to grab your 80's selections as well.

i'm diggin' my cd copy of "Archives", but can't say that i also wasn't slightly disappointed that it didn't have more in the way of rarities and unreleased goodness. still, my neil obsession is new enough that even this set is hitting the spot and i'm having a hard time imagining caring about much else music-wise this summer!

also lol at the ridiculously sparse liners that come with the CD version. total "fuck you for not buying the DVD/blu-ray" from uncle neil

What is with the absolutely abysmal (sonically speaking) version of Mr. Soul on disc 1? This is attributed to the BS box ...but I don't recall it sounding this crappy on that set. It sounds like the worst needledrop you ever heard...as if done from a scratchy LP and dirty needle. Weird.

Is it an acetate?

It's a little louder on the new set, from what I can tell, and so the pops and crackles are louder than on the Springfield box. But they're there on the earlier set.

it sounds better on the archives than on the BS box set, that's for sure. i don't think it sounds too bad here -- this is the version Neil thinks is the "definitive" version ... but it is weird to have one of his more famous songs represented by an obviously weathered acetate source ...

Ahh...thanks for the clear up. I'm curious to A/B the Springfield box with this on the hi fi. Just struck me as odd on headphones this afternoon.

Gotta love the irony of folks shelling out hundreds of bucks for ultra high res 24bit masterings of...beat up acetate sourced material. ha. (Of course, I must admit that the vast majority of this set sounds glorious to these ears...even in "cruddy" 16bit.)

NP: "Slowly Burning"...lovely stuff...like Neil doing Curt Boettcher!

What is with the absolutely abysmal (sonically speaking) version of Mr. Soul on disc 1? This is attributed to the BS box ...but I don't recall it sounding this crappy on that set. It sounds like the worst needledrop you ever heard...as if done from a scratchy LP and dirty needle. Weird.

― xtianDC, Monday, June 8, 2009 10:07 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

neil makes a big deal about that particular take in Shakey, he went back after springfield recorded it and overdubbed a bunch of his own stuff -- that was the version that was eventually released -- he regretted it and even called still years later to apologize...basically that acetate is the only version of the "real" version (in neil's eye's available)

like neil sounded like that take/mix was real big in his mind

Absolutely flabbergasted that Neil doesn't consider the version on Trans to be the definitive Mr. Soul... ;)

i actually really like that version : )

also the version on unplugged is good too

"slowly burning" is so goddamn gorgeous!

yeah it's pretty swoontastic -- perfect right next to Expecting To Fly

well, don't let me badmouth Amazon's customer service -- I wrote to them on Sunday night about the problems i was having with this set and I received a new copy of it this morning ... Seems to be working now! :D

going through the first disc now -- "Love You Forever" is a standout, for sure, I can imagine Roy Orbison singing it. The slog is really the Elektra demos -- just kinda boring, I can see why Elektra didn't sign him up immediately as a solo folkie dude.

yeah those performances are pretty dead, which is weird that they were included given that there are amazing performances of stuff like clancey elsewhere (sometimes more than one)

the Clancy on the Riverboat disc is intense -- i think it's singled out in Shakey, and it lives up to the praise. Weird song though.

^yeah great take

damn I'm confused, is there a Clancy on the Riverboat disk? There's a Clancy on disk 2 but I don't have the booklet handy, is that the take from the Riverboat you're talking about?

oh wait, i think I meant the Sugar Mountain/Canterbury version -- it's also on the Topanga 1 disc ...

ok yeah I just listened to the one on the Topanga 1 disc (and I have the Canterbury disk too); great take but yeah, weird song. I think I still prefer the Springfield version (love the backing vocals on that one).

I'm finally listening to the Riverboat set; could do without the between-song chatter (HE PUT HIS HAND RIGHT INSIDE ME) b/c it's not really funny but he's trying to be. But the performances are intense, kinda drony guitar, dark takes.

haha, yeah, it's sort of an uncomfortable performance overall. crazy that the dude was playing Woodstock six months later.

I've often thought that if neil were just a little less talented with pop songs he would've ended up a musical footnote of the era like nick drake

crazy self-confidence probably had something to do with it, too. but yeah, some of the early acoustic stuff, it's like he could've been Michael Hurley - a psych-folkie beloved by a few people.

I've often thought that if neil were just a little less talented with pop songs he would've ended up a musical footnote of the era like nick drake

― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Tuesday, June 9, 2009 6:59 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

nick drake never found his crazy horse either

on the Wiki page for the Archives, a bunch of "hidden songs" are listed. Are these on the cds, or are they on the dvd or blu-ray only?

weird....yeah they are not on the CD...gah

yeah that sucks, I'd love to have them too...still doesn't include "The Losing End", prob. my fav on Everybody Knows

sonofa ... they don't seem to be on the CDs ... unless they're hidden in some way other than at the end ... what is the point of doing this exactly?

even if you rip them on your computer, there's no hidden content? i feel like maybe the canterbury thing had something hidden too, but it wouldn't play on my laptop ...

nobody puts easter eggs on CDs, fellas

"Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" - Neil Young – from the stereo promotional 45 RPM single-second pressing

can I just say I love love love this, it's better than the album version

It just makes it more of a pain to get them, it doesn't mean we won't get them. Lame.

and yeah, that "Everybody Knows" is nice; I miss the "la-la-la"s but the riff that replaces it is a worthy hook in its own right.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_Mountain_-_Live_At_Canterbury_House_1968
yeah itunes-only track and a hidden mp3 bonus track ... where are these tracks hidden anyway?

this pic should probably be posted again
http://katemckinnon.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/neil-young.jpg

ok the other "rap" I could do without; I'm cringing at the ones on the Riverboat disk, where Neil keeps starting pretty dumb stories ("dis-ease" man don't you get it?) and then trailing off, saying "you guys don't care about this anyway". It's like listening to a depressed Harry Carey from a late-season Cubs game in 1987.

i like this one

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5O6WbyZDz5c/SiaVCImVe7I/AAAAAAAABfo/zHVbj7AHEJs/s1600-h/dz0068761.jpg

One word about lame Neil rants: "Request."

yeah that's the one I was just listening to, with the "dis-ease" bit next.

The solo Neil rants are only acceptable in the light of the extra horrible CSNY ones.

noted above how great the first album sounds, but it bears repeating! "Old Laughing Lady" sounds so haunting and spacious. Funny how that song is totally different now when he plays it (like on Unplugged) -- more country and rollicking, don't even think the chords are the same.

it was weird that the author seemed to diss "unplugged" in shakey cuz i really love that albums....lots of interesting choices - transformer man acoustic, the phantom of the opera version of hurricane, etc - i am of the opinion that if it were some long lost bootleg instead of a some dumb MTV show it would have been prized by collectors like this stuff

yeah, I'm kinda shocked at how the real gold for me in this box is on that second disk. "The Old Laughing Lady" has always been my favorite from that album, and it just sounds even more gothic here; the take on the Riverboat disk is great too, the drone on the guitar is at the forefront.

I love Unplugged; the "Look Out For My Love" is definitive.

oh hell yeah, unplugged is wonderful. in shakey, i kind of start taking the author's opinions with a grain of salt when he gets to the 90s. there's a weird vibe there, where the the author has spent several hundred pages talking about the various crazy dudes Neil surrounded himself with -- and then the author BECOMES one of the crazy dudes.

and yeah the moment when the backup singers come in on "laughing lady" -- whoa!

oh shit, the piano on "I Believe In You" is so clear now, and it's breaking my heart; what a strange, deep song.

"Unplugged" has the great pipe organ "Hurricane," too, so there's that.

nobody puts easter eggs on CDs, fellas

"The X-Files" inspired-by disc features a bonus track before track one. You have to rewind to get it.

Anyway, Young from the beginning never designed this thing for CD, which if you remember was only offered as a last minute afterthought. Even then, Young has more or less maligned CDs for decades, and clearly stated that the DVDs and Blu-ray are the definitive version of this thing. I mean, CDs don't get much in the way of a book, either, do they? Anyway, my buddy observed that a lot of grumbling would have been silenced had he stuck to his original plan of DVD and Blu-ray only, batshit though it was. They still let you download the songs, but they also stress that "Archives" is sort of not your usual CD boxed set, nor meant to be. Regardless, it's also why I currently own none of the three versions, and keep encountering fellow on-the-fences on sure of whether any of this nonsense is worth the investment. Though it would be brilliantly perverse if Young started to insist his studio albums go out of print.

Yeah, that's all pretty true. But i still like listening to CDs, I don't really listen to music through my computer very much. I'm crazy, I know. And I'd argue that this thing DOES work pretty well as a standard CD box set, the only thing missing is a better booklet -- which comes with the DVD/BluRay I guess.

It was my understanding that the original intent of Archives was a "warts and all" collection of everything he's ever recorded and/or released. Sort of taking the "Decade" concept forward and then some. Granted, that's kind of impossibly lofty, but the point is that the concept of an "Archives" itself is waaay older than Blu-ray or even DVD. Somewhere along the way, this "warts and all" concept seems to have been watered down and taken over by the whole technological/new medium breakthrough. So I kinda call BS on Neil for that!

The upcoming reissues of the first four albums will appear on cd and vinyl, apparrently. And a rep for Neil has stated that the vinyl issues will represent the finest fidelity available for these recordings...the closest to source that has ever been available. Should be INNARESTING.

Kinda surprised there is no vinyl Archives. Yeah, it'd be pricey...but isn't the BR set nearly $400 itself? Yikes.

BTW, PBS recently ran an edition of American Masters devoted to Neil called Don't Be Denied. Probably nothing new for the longtime fans, but for new folks like me, it was pretty great. Includes a hilarious scene from the 80's where Neil espouses his affinity for Flock of Seagulls and the Human League.

lol, i'm totally going to buy those reissues. oh man, i am a sucker.

i'm with you! i've got the bug bad, man. ha. i've never owned that first album, so that will be the perfect excuse for that. i agree with you those songs are a big revelation on the Archives set. i wasn't sure what to expect, but the orchestrations sounds so amazing...perfectly and tastefully woven into the fabric of the songs. unlike something like "a man needs a maid" where it just seems kinda, i dunno, *tacked* on. i've always kinda bought into conventional wisdow that Neil's solo career really "starts" with Crazy Horse and EKTIN. that seems kinda fool-hardy now!

yeah totally. listening to the riverboat disc again -- agree about the banter, pretty lame. but the "old laughing lady" here is great ... and the chronology of this whole thing is fascinating -- 2-3 weeks before the riverboat shows, he was recording "Down By The River" and "Cowgirl in the Sand" with Crazy Horse.

huh on the chronology: maybe that's why he sounds so distracted on the set, like he's already moved past the folkie days. I read somewhere that he played Everybody Knows songs during that stint at the Riverboat; a pity that we don't get them here (although there are acoustic versions on the Massey Hall set). I love the Riverboat set though, aside from the raps whch are conveniently separate tracks on the cd (for programming out as I'll soon be doing).

are the live Sugar Mountain and Clancy on disc 2 the same versions that appeared on the Canterbury House set. (btw, that was another eff you to cd buyers: the br/dvd sets apparently included a copy of that disc as a bonus. one wonders if there is anyone on the planet neil-crazy enough to buy Archives but who *didn't* already purchase Massey Hall, Fillmore East and Canterbury??!)

I didn't buy the Massey Hall or Fillmore sets b/c I'd heard they were coming in the Archive by the time I got around to buying them.

i bought those motherfuckers the day the came out ... oh well, i can give my extra copies to my brother

it was weird that the author seemed to diss "unplugged" in shakey cuz i really love that albums....lots of interesting choices - transformer man acoustic, the phantom of the opera version of hurricane, etc - i am of the opinion that if it were some long lost bootleg instead of a some dumb MTV show it would have been prized by collectors like this stuff

I remember being floored by this when it aired - can't believe it gets so much hate.

I lost my CD copy a long time ago, unfortunately.

man those dumb MTV shows were great! I would love love love them to release the REM set from 1991.

i shall be plundering my local used shops for a copy of unplugged then! any other non-obvious later day albums to recommend? Sleeps With Angels was a pleasant surprise. Change Your Mind!

I really like Silver and Gold, no idea if that's a consensus pick.

i have a soft spot for Silver & Gold ... pretty low key, but some great stuff. ha, xpost

another vote for Unplugged.

Silver & Gold is pretty nice. heck, I even liked Broken Arrow. I thought that one got too much criticism.

so, wait, Canterbury *is* in the DVD set? as a "bonus"? Meaning, what, you unwrap the package and there is an extra disc floating around inside? because none of the tracklistings or reviews that I have seen mention that show

I thought Broken Arrow was dull at the time but I'm in a new place with Neil now and I'll be revisiting it again soon.

Harvest Moon is like 1/2 a great album (and a bunch of that material's on the unplugged set)

I haven't heard anything between Sleeps With Angels and Greendale tho

yeah i think i wasn't that excited by Broken Arrow when it came out (after loving everything he put out in the 90s immediately), but I listened to it recently and loved it. The neanderthal one-chord jams that close out the first couple songs -- i just wasn't ready for them at the time. Now they sound glorious.

and uhhh mirror ball is pretty sweet too

The high points of Mirror Ball are really high ("Downtown", "I'm the Ocean"); some of the dirgier bits like "Throw Your Hatred Down" aren't so great but it's still a fun listen and worth it (esp. now, I bet you can buy it used for like a penny).

yeah, it's probably true -- a lot of Neil's albums from the past decade and a half might've been a lot better as EPs.

man i wish i hadn't sold sleeps with angels back in the day, need to buy that back sometime...

watch out dudes pretty soon archives is gonna get us so crunk we'll be saying that the greendale movie is ripe for a critical reappraisal!

there is some really good material in Greendale but the movie is wall-to-wall "I'm not even trying" lolz

speaking of which, i'm glad that all the chumps who bought the dvd/blue ray are now "enjoying" Journey Through The Past in super hi-def. hee hee.

I haven't seen the movie but I kinda dug the album Greendale; crunk on Neil is totally right, Matt!

love the toy piano sounds on Sleeps With Angels, like on the opening and closing songs; I love when he pulls that "first and last song parallel each other" business, like on Rust Never Sleeps and Freedom.

yes, I love Sleeps With Angels -- his best album of the 90s! FIVE STARS.

NO. dude never did better than Ragged Glory, his last truly great album.

yeah, maybe

the greendale movie is just...man i dunno. it's like some 7th graders got a camera and decided to make a movie, except that 7th grader is a crazy old man named neil young

haha. i still haven't seen it ... i have seen Human Highway though.

Between that description of Greendale and Neil's viral vids for the last album, I want crazy ol' Uncle Neil to do a weekly video podcast.

I'm kinda down on crazy rock star movies; I've seen Eat the Document and Cocksucker Blues and both are just kinda...boring? Still I'd love to see Journey Through the Past, Human Highway, Greendale; and Masked and Anonymous for that matter.

back to the archives -- oh man, that previously unreleased/un-bootlegged "Everybody's Alone" kicks assssssss.

Greendale is basically a community theater production trying hard to be "relevant" about current issues but by far, BY FAR the weirdest thing about it is that all of the "dialogue" is in the form of the actors lip-syncing to Neil's songs.

Eat the Document and Cocksucker Blues and both are just kinda...boring? Still I'd love to see Journey Through the Past, Human Highway, Greendale; and Masked and Anonymous

haven't seen Masked and Anonymous but otherwise I'd safely rate Human Highway the best of all of these. There's some good stuff in Eat the Document and Cocksucker Blues but apart from one or two scenes they mostly fail as films.

yes on "Everybody's Alone", I've listened to it like three times since yesterday. Who's the band on it? I don't have the notes here, but it sounds like the Horse (with the clodding drums).

yeah it's crazy horse. nuts it hadn't been released until now, since studio recordings of NY and the original Horse are scarce ... "Dance Dance Dance" is them too. Fun, but not as good.

though i like how the dumbass earthiness of Dance Dance Dance leads directly into the bombast of CSNY's "Country Girl"

I love the "yee-haw" at the end of (one of the) "Dance, Dance, Dance": like I guess it has a country vibe but it's so clunky and doesn't swing at all, so it's not like much other country I know. Just funny to think of the guys thinking of it as country. And in any case it rocks.

The guitar turnaround in 'Everybody's Alone' is awesome. Those are real Neil chords.

x-post I came back to "Sleeps With Angels" hard when I first saw Claire Denis' "Beau Travail," which makes hypnotic use of "Safeway Cart."

BTW, PBS recently ran an edition of American Masters devoted to Neil called Don't Be Denied. Probably nothing new for the longtime fans, but for new folks like me, it was pretty great. Includes a hilarious scene from the 80's where Neil espouses his affinity for Flock of Seagulls and the Human League.

I thought it hadn't been played yet? The PBS website says it premieres nationally on Wednesday, June 10 at 9PM EST. I'll be watching for sure. I've got Neil fever this year, big time.

There's some good stuff in Eat the Document and Cocksucker Blues but apart from one or two scenes they mostly fail as films.

cocksucker blues is like a masterpiece
such a beautiful tapestry of film, spliced together vignettes

agreed about cs blues, directed by robert frank. great, if you can get into its supremely druggy vibe

some dude who is even more obsessed than me has put together a "fantasy track listing" for the next volume of the archives. seems pretty plausible actually:
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/rust/message/230212
DISC ONE
1. Lookout Joe – 12/72 (from Tonight's the Night)
2. Journey Through the Past – 2/11/73, Public Hall, Cleveland, OH (from Time
Fades Away)
3. The Last Trip to Tulsa – 2/18/72, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
(Time Fades Away b-side)
4. Time Fades Away – 3/1/73, The Myriad, Oklahoma City, OK (from Time Fades
Away)
5. L.A. - 3/1/73, The Myriad, Oklahoma City, OK (from Time Fades Away)
6. Sweet Joni – 3/11/73, Civic Auditorium, Bakersfield, CA (previously
unreleased song)
7. Yonder Stands the Sinner – 3/17/73, Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle WA (from
Time Fades Away)
8. Don't Be Denied – 3/28/73, Memorial Auditorium, Phoenix, AZ (from Time Fades
Away)
9. Last Dance – 3/29/73, Sports Arena, San Diego, CA (from Time Fades Away)
10. The Bridge – 4/1/73, Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, CA (from Time Fades
Away)
11. Borrowed Tune – 12/73 (from Tonight's the Night)
12. Come Along and Say You Will – any version from the Time Fades Away tour or
demo from tour rehearsals, if applicable (previously unreleased song)
13. Last Dance (previously unreleased demo) – 12/72 [Hidden Track] ("Shaky"
describes this as sounding "almost optimistic")
14. New Mama – any electric version from the Time Fades Away Tour (previously
unreleased live version) [Hidden Track]

DISC TWO
1. Tonight's the Night – 8/26/73 (from Tonight's the Night)
2. Tired Eyes – 8/26/73 (from Tonight's the Night)
3. Mellow My Mind – 8/26/73 (from Tonight's the Night)
4. Speakin' Out – 8/26/73 (from Tonight's the Night)
5. World on a String – 8/26/73 (from Tonight's the Night)
6. Roll Another Number (for the Road) – 8/73 (from Tonight's the Night)
7. Albuquerque – 8/73 (from Tonight's the Night)
8. New Mama – 8/73 (from Tonight's the Night)
9. Tonight's the Night, Pt. 2 (from Tonight's the Night)
10. Wonderin' – 8/73 (previously unreleased version) (from the S.I.R. sessions,
mentioned in "Shaky")
11. Everybody's Alone – 8/73 (previously unreleased version) (from the S.I.R.
sessions, mentioned in "Shaky")
12. Walk On – 2-3/74 (from On the Beach)
13. Traces – 2-3/74 (previously unreleased song) (from TTN acetate)
14. Winterlong – 2-3/74 (from Decade)
15. Bad Fog of Loneliness – 2-3/74 (previously unreleased version) (from TTN
acetate)
16. One More Sign – 8/73 (previously unreleased version) (from the S.I.R.
sessions, mentioned in "Shaky") [Hidden Track]
17. Tonight's the Night – 2-3/74 (previously unreleased version) (with Greg
Reeves on bass) [Hidden Track]

DISC THREE – LIVE AT THE RAINBOW, 11/5/73
1. Tonight's the Night
2. Mellow My Mind
3. World on a String
4. Speakin' Out
5. Albuquerque
6. New Mama
7. Roll Another Number (for the Road)
8. Tired Eyes
9. Tonight's the Night
10. Flying on the Ground is Wrong
11. Human Highway
12. Helpless
(all selections previously unreleased)

DISC FOUR
1. For the Turnstiles – 3/8/74 (from On the Beach)
2. Greensleeves – 3/8/74 (previously unreleased version, mentioned in "Shaky")
3. See the Sky About to Rain – 3-4/73 (from On the Beach)
4. Revolution Blues – 3-4/74 (from On the Beach)
5. On the Beach – 3-4/74 (from On the Beach)
6. Motion Pictures (for Carrie) – 3-4/74 (from On the Beach)
7. Ambulance Blues – 3-4/74 (from On the Beach)
8. Pardon My Heart – third week of June, 1974 (from Zuma)
9. Through My Sails – third week of June, 1974 (from Zuma)
10. Pushed it Over the End – 8/22/74 (previously unreleased song) (Elliot Mazer
mix)
11. On the Beach – 8/22/74 (previously unreleased live version, described in
"Shaky" as having "tough Stills blues guitar work")
12. White Line – 9/74 (with Robbie Robertson, a few days before Wembley show)
(highlighted in "Shaky")
13. Frozen Man – 11/74 (previously unreleased song)
14. Star of Bethlehem – 11/74 (from American Stars `N' Bars)
15. Video on timeline/song folders from 9/14/74 show: Love Art Blues, Pushed it
Over the End, Traces, Hawaiian Sunrise)
16. Pardon My Heart – 5/16/74 (previously unreleased live version, from The
Bottom Line) [Hidden Track] (includes "honey slides" banter in audio log)

DISC FIVE
1. Separate Ways - 12/2/74 (previously unreleased song) (highlighted in "Shaky")
2. Give Me Strength – 12/16/74 (previously unreleased song) (highlighted in
"Shaky")
3. Love Art Blues – 12/74 – 1/75 (previously unreleased song) (highlighted in
"Shaky")
4. Homefires – 12/74 – 1/75 (previously unreleased song) (highlighted in
"Shaky")
5. The Old Homestead – 12/74 – 1/75 (from Hawks and Doves)
6. Homegrown – 12/74 – 1/75 (previously unreleased alternate version)
(highlighted in "Shaky")
7. We Don't Smoke It – 12/74 – 1/75 (previously unreleased song) (highlighted in
"Shaky")
8. Vacancy – 12/74 – 1/75 (previously unreleased song) (highlighted in "Shaky")
9. Try – 12/74 – 1/75 (previously unreleased song) (highlighted in "Shaky")
10. Daughters – 12/74 – 1/75 (previously unreleased song)
11. Little Wing – 12/74 – 1/75 (from Hawks and Doves)
12. Love is a Rose – 12/74 – 1/75 (from Decade)
13. Deep Forbidden Lake – 12/74 – 1/75 (from Decade)
14. Kansas – 1/75 (previously unreleased song) (highlighted in "Shaky")
15. Mexico – 1/75 (previously unreleased song) (highlighted in "Shaky")
16. Born to Run – Echo Park, Spring '75 (previously unreleased song) (from tape
mentioned in "Shaky")
17. Powderfinger – Echo Park, Spring '75 (previously unreleased version) (from
tape mentioned in "Shaky")
18. Florida – 1/75 (previously unreleased song) [Hidden Track] (highlighted in
"Shaky")

DISC SIX
1. Don't Cry No Tears – 8/75 (from "Zuma")
2. Danger Bird – 8/75 (from "Zuma")
3. Barstool Blues – 8/75 (from "Zuma")
4. Stupid Girl – 8/75 (from "Zuma")
5. Drive Back – 8/75 (from "Zuma")
6. Cortez the Killer – 8/75 (from "Zuma")
7. Ride My Llama – 8/75 (previously unreleased version) (electric version
mentioned in "Shaky")
8. Pocahontas – 9/75 (from "Rust Never Sleeps")
9. Captain Kennedy – 9/75 (from "Hawks and Doves")
10. Powderfinger – 9/75 (previously unreleased version) (from Chrome Dreams
acetate)
11. River of Pride/White Line – 11/27/75 (previously unreleased version)
12. Sedan Delivery – 11/75 (previously unreleased version) (from Chrome Dreams
acetate)
13. Like a Hurricane – 11/75 (from American Stars `N' Bars)
14. Lotta Love – 11/75 (from Comes a Time)
15. Look Out for My Love (from Comes a Time)
16. Lookin' for a Love – 8/75 (from "Zuma") [Hidden Track]
17. Homegrown – 11/75 (from "American Stars `N' Bars") [Hidden Track]

DISC SEVEN – CRAZY HORSE LIVE 1976 (compilation of the 76 Odeon/Budakon shows as
mentioned in Shaky)
1. Country Home
2. Don't Cry No Tears
3. Down By the River
4. The Losing End (highlighted in "Shaky")
5. Like a Hurricane
6. Drive Back (highlighted in "Shaky")
7. Southern Man
8. Cortez the Killer
9. Cinnamon Girl
10. Cowgirl in the Sand
(all tracks previously unreleased)
(all songs accompanied by the respected video from the tour film, ala the Massey
Hall DVD)

DISC EIGHT
1. Stringman – 3/31/76 (previously unreleased version) (from the Chrome Dreams
acetate)
2. Sad Movies – 3/28/76 (or any version from tour) (previously unreleased song)
3. Long May You Run – 4/76 (from Decade, CSNY vocal version)
4. Ocean Girl – 4/76 (previously unreleased mix, with CSNY vocals)
5. Human Highway – 4/76 (previously unreleased version with CSNY)
6. Will to Love – 5/1976 (from American Stars `N' Bars)
7. The Loner – 7/7/1976 (previously unreleased live version) (mentioned in
"Shaky")
8. Evening Coconut – 7/1976 (previously unreleased song) (any version from the
Stills/Young tour)
9. Like an Inca (Hitchhiker) – 8/1/1976 (previously unreleased song)
(highlighted in "Shaky")
10. Campaigner – summer 1976 (from Decade)
11. No One Seems to Know – 11/7/76 (previously unreleased song) (from the
Bernstein Tapes)
12. Too Far Gone – 11/76 (previously unreleased version) (from Chrome Dreams
acetate)
13. Mellow My Mind – 11/20/76, The Palladium, NYC, New York (previously
unreleased live version) (from The Bernstein Tapes) (highlighted in "Shaky")
14. The Old Laughing Lady – 11/24/76, Fox Theater, Atlanta, GA (previously
unreleased live version) (from The Bernstein Tapes) (highlighted in "Shaky")
15. Let it Shine – 4/76 (from Long May You Run) [Hidden Track]
16. Hold Back the Tears – 11/76 (previously unreleased version) (from the Chrome
Dreams acetate) [Hidden Track]

DISC NINE
1. Bite the Bullet – 4/77 (from American Stars `N' Bars)
2. Field of Opportunity – 5/3/77 (from Comes a Time)
3. It Might Have Been – 5/3/77 (previously unreleased version)
4. Goin' Back – 10/77 (from Comes a Time)
5. Human Highway – 10/77 (from Comes a Time)
6. Sail Away – 10 or 11/77 (from Rust Never Sleeps)
7. Comes a Time – 11/77 (from Comes a Time)
8. Piece of Mind – 11/77 (from Comes a Time)
9. Already One – 11/77 (from Comes a Time)
10. Lady Wingshot – 11/77 (previously unreleased song) (highlighted in Shaky)
11. My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) – 5/26/78, The Boarding House, San
Francisco, CA (from Rust Never Sleeps)
12. Welfare Mothers – 10/15/78, Civic Center Arena, St. Paul, MN (from Rust
Never Sleeps)
13. Sedan Delivery – 10/15/78, Civic Center Arena, St. Paul, MN (from Rust Never
Sleeps)
14. Powderfinger – 10/19/78, McNicholl's Arena, Denver, CO (from Rust Never
Sleeps)
15. Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) – 10/22/78, Cow Palace, Daly City, CA (from
Rust Never Sleeps)
16. Saddle Up the Palomino – 4/77 (from American Stars `N' Bars) [Hidden Track]
17. Thrasher – 5/26/78 (from Rust Never Sleeps) [Hidden Track]

DISC TEN – LIVE AT THE BOARDING HOUSE, 5/78 (tracklisting is from the early 5/24
show, though versions can definitely differ)
1. Pocahontas
2. Human Highway
3. Already One
4. Comes a Time
5. Birds (gotta have the Stephen Stills rap though)
6. My My, Hey Hey (Into the Black)
7. Shots
8. Cowgirl in the Sand
9. After the Gold Rush
10. Thrasher
11. The Ways of Love
12. I Believe in You
13. Ride My Llama
14. Sugar Mountain
15. Sail Away
All tracks previously unreleased

holy shit

haha isn't that just catnip wow

yeah, would be pretty sweet

fuck that would SMOKE

i think Neil has specifically mentioned putting out that Tonight's The Night Rainbow show, so that is probably right on ...

man I've been listening to "Last Trip to Tulsa" a lot more than I ever have, and actually starting to dig it! that's how you know this is becoming kinda nuts.

t/s: "Last Trip to Tulsa" vs. "Motorpsycho Nightmare"

haha i like how the guy designates stuff as hidden tracks lol

haha, yeah, i think he's trying to be as realistic as possible. btw, the whole Crazy Horse Live 1976 thing would pretty much instantly top anyone's favorite NY&CH list ... those shows are sooooo good.

at some point, i'm going to do a Neil Young Live 76 series of blog posts ... going from the highs of the Crazy Horse Japan tour to the lows of the Stills Young US tour ...

ws

Thank god for these really obsessed dudes, amirite?

interesting to hear bits of "don't cry no tears" pop up on a squires song way back then!

― i would never want a book's autograph (M@tt He1ges0n), Sunday, June 7, 2009 6:00 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

The early "Birds" is great, the early "Everybody Knows" less so but still cool to hear. "The Ballad Of Peggy Grover" is the one with "Don't Cry No Tears" pieces, and it's cool but I'm glad he kept working on it.

The instrumental "Slowly Burning" near the end of disk 1 is really awesome too.

― Euler, Sunday, June 7, 2009 6:35 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark

"don't cry no tears" shows up both in the squires' "I wonder" and the demo "the ballad of peggy grover", funny how that song followed him around for years

because you all obviously need more Neil Young, I've put up my "missing from the archives" comp over at http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com it's got the Mynah Birds, some Springfield, some CSNY, some Crazy Horse, etc.

tyler, LOVING your blog (fuck rock and roll esp) and this archives set in particular... bluebird is mind-blowing.

Tyler THANK YOU — this is great. Will provide me 24-48 hrs of Archives lust reprieve.

Can you provide some dates 'n stuff for the live tracks & outtakes?

Yr welcome, dudes. Let's see, that live Mr. Soul is from Hollywood, CA, 11-Aug-1967, the CSNY outtakes are Deja Vu sessions, I think. I actually am doubtful that Neil is even on that instrumental Cinnamon Girl, but I kinda like it anyway. The Crazy Horse "Loner" is from Cincinnati 1970, the CH Cinnamon Girl is From NYC 1970. Out On The Weekend is London, England, 23-Feb-1971 ...

thanking u sir

Nice, thx Tyler

i think maybe there's video of that live Mr. Soul on the Archives DVD/BluRay? it's a pretty intense version.

the tv performance of "mr. soul" that's in journey from the past brings the lulz, neil definitely woke up that morning with an indian in the corner trying on his clothes... then again stills is dressed like a cowboy so maybe it's just some foreshadowing in effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEqLh4-Ouck

(version on youtube has no sound but this is just for visual demonstration anyway)

fairly otm pitchfork review http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13164-the-archives-vol-1-1963-1972/

I came here to gush about the box set and found tylerw's link, so I'll gush about that instead. You rule, whoever you are.

More gushing about box set pls

Any surprises yet?

the live solo "see the sky about to rain" at the end of the Topanga 3 disc is lovely -- maybe better than the similar one on the Massey Hall disc. love that song. HOWEVER, in Shakey, the author mentions a solo demo of this song from around this time ... where is it? or maybe the author was confused (you could probably mistake the live recording for a studio recording). wonder if the Cellar Door shows (or the UCLA shows) that are excerpted will be made available in full via this mysterious BD-Live thing? I don't really understand it.

oh and thanks for the kind words, kenan. glad you like the missing archives comp ...

According to Amazon, the first 4 remastered CDs are coming out next Tuesday. $11.98 list. No bonus tracks.

Harvest back cover with new Archives branding:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41%2BNDcLOhML._SS400_.jpg

Now can he compile all the album tracks that weren't on the box set into a CD EP and call it "Archives Vol. 1 Supplement" or something? Can you, Neil? Please?

Still wonderin' what happened to Toast?

speaking of which, i'm glad that all the chumps who bought the dvd/blue ray are now "enjoying" Journey Through The Past in super hi-def. hee hee.

― tylerw, Tuesday, June 9, 2009 5:37 PM (4 weeks ago) Bookmark

Does that mean it still looks like crap? I dl'd a torrent of a 'crappy VHS-rip' and was waitin' and hopin' for a new rip to show up online. Guess that won't happen if it looks like shit anyways.

oh i'm sure it looks better than the bootleg vhs transfers that have floated around, but it was not a particularly well-made film to begin with....

and lol that he's putting out those albums so soon ... think i will hold off buying them for now, but because i'm a chump, i probably will buy them sooner or later.

I think I might pick up the debut and Harvest cuz I've never owned 'em (Yeah I know). I wonder if the the stray album cuts absent from the box will be made available (at a price) to the BluRay owners via the live timeline?

btw what's THIS???

Mystery Train by Neil Young (Audio CD - 2009) - Import
Buy new: $12.99

Available for Pre-order. This item will be released on Jul 28, 2009.
Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping.
2.5 out of 5 stars (2)

think that's a weird euro comp of the 80s years -- AMG: Mystery Train draws tracks from Neil Young's Geffen years, including selections from Trans (1983), Everybody's Rockin' (1983), Old Ways (1985), and the late rarities CD that uses lost tracks from this time period, Lucky Thirteen (1993). This, of course, was the era in which Geffen sued Young for not putting out albums that sounded enough like Neil Young, a rather ridiculous premise given Young's oft-noted tendency to change stylistic directions at the drop of a guitar pick, sometimes even in mid-tour. What is immediately apparent upon listening to this amazingly cohesive compilation is how much it sounds like vintage Neil Young from start to finish, and all these years later it is a little hard to understand what all the fuss was about. True, the above albums were a bit inconsistent (but this is Neil Young, remember, and being consistent and doing what is expected have never exactly been his M.O.), so casual listeners may want to seek out this anthology in order to get a single-disc overview of his really not so controversial (at least in retrospect) mid-'80s work. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide

hehe aka ARCHIVES VOL.3

The first four remasters hit today - picked up Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere and After The Gold Rush for a tenner a piece. Glad to have the whole damn album instead of just Neil's picks. As expected, they sound just as good as the tracks that were on Archives.

Everybody, obviously.

anyone tracked down mp3s of the "bonus tracks" that are supposedly on the DVD/BluRay versions? Supposed to be a medley or something of Buffalo Springfield live and some other stuff?

hmm...i have lucky thirteen and its my recollection that it's not a rarities comp, but just a comp of the geffen weirdo years, mostly album tracks

fair amount of Lucky 13 was unreleased stuff -- different mixes of the Trans stuff, some live recordings, etc.

is "Depression Blues" on any other albums? not that it's life-changing but it's on Lucky Thirteen and I don't know where else to find it.

huh okay...weird i'll try to dig it up at home and put it up on YSI for y'all

yeah i don't think that's anywhere else ... same with that great version of "Don't Take Your Love"

it's not all rarities though -- i think some of the stuff is just album trax

Lucky 13 track list (4 new songs, 1 alternate version, 1 live version, 7 album cuts):

Sample and Hold (Alternate version)
Transformer Man (From "Trans")
Depression Blues (New song)
Get Gone (New song, from the live video "Solo Trans")
Don't Take Your Love Away From Me (New song, from the live video "Solo Trans")
Once An Angel (From "Old Ways")
Where Is The Highway Tonight? (From "Old Ways")
Hippie Dream (From "Landing on Water")
Pressure (From "Landing on Water")
Around The World (From "Life")
Mideast Vacation (From "Life")
Ain't It The Truth (New song, live with the Bluenotes)
This Note's For You (Live with the Bluenotes)

so it's basically a dry run for the way the Archives set turned out -- rarities mixed in w/ album cuts. Guess that's the way Decade is too.

was the "live video Solo Trans" actually released? anyway, i think Lucky Thirteen is a good gauge for how deep into Neil Young you're going to get. If you love this stuff, you're in for a lifelong obsession.

huh weird...i've listened to that sample and hold a ton of times and never really realized it was different than the one on my vinyl copy of trans....

i think it's just a bit longer, doesn't sound ridiculously different.

"Sample and Hold" is really great. I love the tone on that riff because it sounds like the tape is dissolving.

I would have loved Neil to cover "2000 Man" in the Trans style.

The Springfield's last show: http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=251 Not a wonderful recording, but interesting!

black bird is amazing... wish a better recording existed...

i mean, 'bluebird', though its called black bird on my copy...

yeah, i'm going to assume that Neil has done some serious digging to find a decent live recording of BS and not come up with much ... too bad! the best quality Springfield live thing I've heard is part of their set at Monterey Pop -- which of course has Crosby subbing for Neil.

was the "live video Solo Trans" actually released?

I just looked it up, and it was only ever released on laserdisc--which I own!

Also laserdisc only: David Briggs mix of "Arc-Weld," or at least "Arc."

huh! "Solo Trans" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solo_Trans Typically, it features no songs from Trans (unless he did the Trans version of Mr. Soul). This is more of a solo/Shocking Pinks show, I think. When the time comes for the 80s edition of the Archives, the video stuff is gonna get weeeeeeird.

Yeah, the "Neil Young in Berlin" video is the one with the "Trans" songs--and it's a little more widely available: it was released as a Scopitone, a CED, and on Super 8 from Blackhawk Films.

"Solo Trans" leans in a "Human Highway" direction--weird characters and a sort of storyline between songs (Will the legendary Shocking Pinks show up in time?!), but it's still mostly live performances. Very Bernard Shakey.

lol sounds awesome -- gotta see this. will u burn me a laserdisc?

I just picked up the stand-alone "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere" and "After the Gold Rush," both of which reaffirm the general wrong-headedness of the Archives, since I can't imagine why I would ever reach for the box when I can listen to the albums. Granted, Neil Young is a big unpredictable kook, but if ever albums deserved the simple double-disc album/rarities split, it's his.

For the suckers with the DVDs and Blu-ray versions, has he indeed been offering substantive supplementary downloads? 'Cause if not, y'all got hosed.

This crazy fucker Neil got me to crack open my wallet again yesterday. Had a $20 gift certificate for B@rnes & N0ble and they had all four of the reissues, so I ended up grabbin' 'em all. I said I wouldn't, but here we are. Neil has this effect on me. Helped that Harvest and Everybody Knows... were on sale for a tenner and the other two were only 2 bucks more each.

this is funny, Neil in an interview with Guitar World or something:

"I think we'll see Volume 2 in about two or three years, tops."

"One thing I'll tell you about the next volume of Archives is that Time Fades Away II is in there...It's a completely different thing, with completely different songs. So that's interesting."

haha

That's great news. I'll believe when I see it. I would love to have Time Fades Away I too (lately I've been in love with its cover of all things, esp. the way the guy making the peace sign looks, like a mutant).

Archive I still seems totally great to me; it's reshaped my entire music listening this year (which was welcome; I'm trying to be more deep and less broad this year in terms of the art I appreciate, and Neil's been a big part of that).

Supposedly this Time Fades Away II thing will be from the first half of the tour, before Kenny Buttrey was replaced by Johnny Barbata.

Don't know what he means by "completely different songs" though - he played 'Sweet Joni and 'Come Along and Say You Will' on that tour, but I think all the other new songs came out on the original release. Could mean he's thinking of putting a full concert from the tour on Archives II, but who knows.

he was also doing "Lookout Joe" and "Borrowed Tune" on the Time Fades Away tour, which later showed up on Tonight's The Night. It's funny, the bootlegs I've heard from the TFA period actually sound pleasant/professional and pretty nice! The way he talks about it, you'd think every night was some kind of trainwreck. Maybe I just haven't heard the right shows.

"New Mama" too; it's on the Norfolk Scope Arena, Virginia, Jan 29, 1973 boot that I am rocking right now.

oh yeah, "New Mama"! That is such a good song. I've got that Norfolk show, too. Seems like a good time, right? The way people write about that tour, you'd think he was playing nothing but new songs, but he does the hits too.

This show is almost all hits; 6 songs off Harvest. The sound is pretty bad on my boot (static, goofy modulation) but Neil sounds pretty railed up. I'd like a better mix to hear how the pedal steel works on the big rockers like "Southern Man"; as it is I can hear it but barely.

http://infinitefool.blogspot.com/2009/01/merry-new-year.html Maple Leaf Toronto show here is pretty solid, sound-wise ...

oooh, pulling it down

so here's a Neil Young mystery to puzzle over, which my brother and I were nerdily discussing this week. The insert that came with the After The Gold Rush LP has an alternate tracklisting:
1) Oh Lonesome Me
2) Wondering
3) Everybody's Alone
4) Sugar Mountain
5) Sea Of Madness
6) Big Waves
7) Dance Dance Dance
8) Birds
9) I Need Her Love To Get By

The big question here is: what is "Big Waves"? My brother is convinced it's an early version of "Powderfinger", which I guess would make sense (he sings "big waves" in that song). That and "I Need Her Love To Get By" are missing from the archives ... FASCINATING STUFF, I know.

man I've pondered that for years, seriously; no idea. I kinda doubt that "Powderfinger" in any form we'd recognize exists in 1970, though; it doesn't sound like anything he's doing at that point---the imagery is too down-to-earth for the most part (I always picture it like a scene from "The Mosquito Coast").

yeah, it does seem a little ridiculous that he would've written "powderfinger" so early on and never played it live or anything. But my brother makes a convincing case! Neil is known for sitting on songs for long periods of time, after all. There's a bit in "Shakey" when Neil claims to have written "Cortez The Killer" in high school!

damn I forgot about that! And the Archives have several early "Don't Cry No Tears" as we talked about upthread. I'd like to hear your brother's case, because it doesn't sound lyrically or musically much like what's Neil's doing in 1970. But that being said, "Powderfinger" pretty folk-y in structure, telling an (obscure) story without a 4 minute guitar solo or anything. So it could precede Everybody Knows even. This is deep shit, man.

oh his case is basically what I said before, that "big waves" are in "Powderfinger"'s lyrics and that Neil lets some songs marinate for decades. if you're drinking a bunch of beer with him, it starts to sound like the truth. judging from this, it's not a totally unique theory: http://www.human-highway.org/pages/album/unreleased.html

I'm gonna have to stew on this "Powderfinger" thing but it's pretty interesting.

The acoustic tracks on this Norfolk 1973 show are really great, even with shitty sound; the "Out on the Weekend" sounds great with the scratchy nervous voice, as does "Harvest". And the "glory hallelujah"s on "Lookout Joe" sound gorgeously desperate.

The stage banter is pretty bad, though, with some half-hearted "it's really great to be here"s. Though he sounds pretty evil when laughing about how he couldn't write a song about his new kid's birth (while playing a nasty chord simultaneously) and then going into "New Mama". It'd be fun to hear a compilation of the stage banter from this tour, kinda like Having Fun With Elvis On Stage except probably less fun.

huh! this is unexpected ... http://www.thrasherswheat.org/2009/08/new-neil-young-album-dreamin-man.html

PSA Collection
0 Canterbury 1968
1 Riverboat 1969
2 Fillmore 1970
3 Massey Hall 1971
4 Time Fades Away II 1973
5 Rainbow 1973
6 Doom Tour 1974
7 Hammersmith/Budokan 1976
8 Boarding House 1978
9 Trans Tour 1982
10 Int Harv/Grey Riders 1985
11 Bluenotes 1988
12 Dreamin Man 1992

OMG yes

haha omg

although ... no Still Young Band?!! boooo. (not really) interesting that there's something from the CSNY "Doom Tour" ... I guess it'll just be the songs Neil played? Some interesting stuff there -- CSNY versions of On the Beach tracks.

what is the "doom tour"???

trans tour = i am psyched!

Doom Tour is the CSNY reunion tour, if i recall correctly. Big stadiums.

of course is this going to be the same deal where he releases these separately and then includes them on the Archives box sets? grrr.

Rainbow 1973 and Hammersmith/Budokan are going to blow minds btw

Holy shit! I'm psyched, as I've been dl'ing boots of lots of these tours. I don't know the Rainbow I don't think?

Rainbow is from the Tonight's the Night tour w/ the Santa Monica Flyers. Available on bootleg, but an audience recording, I think.

I've been pulling down all the Santa Monica Flyers shows I can find, so maybe I have it; but sbd would be even better.

So....vinyl remasters 180gs of the first four albums!

goddamn i'm getting kinda pissed i bought archives.

Are they like $30 a pop? More?

i saw some of those in the store for $50 a pop wtf

jeez louise. yeah, part of me is thinking I shoulda just downloaded the unreleased stuff from the archives via itunes and then bought the CD or LP reissues. Not like the packaging of the CD box set was spectacular.

musicdirect has the first three at 22.990 then harvest is inexplicably 34.99

it's not a double either so i guess just cuz its the most popular or something?

actually that one is 1,600g vinyl. it's as heavy as a chair.

Neil hand-carved it out of a redwood tree from his ranch.

this fucking guy imo

oh btw, looks like that Dreamin' Man performance series has been pushed back to next month. Surprise! Wouldn't be an NY Archives thang w/o a delay, now would it?

this new "let's not announce the vinyl reissues are coming until after the CD reissues are out" is the new label dickmove dejour....beatles same thing, apple corp just said they are working on vinyl remasters

at this point we can just assume that major reissues will include a late vinyl rollout.

this fucking guy imo

yeah. i remember keeping the fanboy flame burnin' when i found out it cost something crazy to go see him, thinking it was some promoter bullshit. but fuck expensive music.

ps if u need a free neil young fanboy fix: http://infinitefool.blogspot.com/2009/11/last-month-i-promised-another-show-from.html

and this http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/167843967/the-return-of-bad-news-the-godfather-of-crunk

at this point we can just assume that major reissues will include a late vinyl rollout.

― amateurist, Thursday, November 5, 2009 12:01 AM (38 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah...i'm such a sucker...plus i've been jacked up for archives box for more than a decade, i just couldn't stop myself...

tyler neil should hire you to do the next edition of archives IMO

My prediction last week was that "Dreamin' Man" would get canceled and he'd release another shitty studio album instead. There's still time!

My guess is he's hard at work figuring out a way to make his infamous and especially erratic/uneven '80s output palatable enough to justify an archive box.

Fremer on the vinyl reissues:

http://www.musicangle.com/album.php?id=794

Short version: He really, really likes the box set of the first four albums. They're on heavier vinyl in the box than if you get them separately.

inspired by the other, current Neil thread:

how have the extras that you get off the blu-ray version been? Does anyone here have access to that/those?

here's someone's list of the "bd-live" things:
http://home.roadrunner.com/~thrasherpass/NYArchives/bdlive.htm
nothing terribly exciting ... though I wouldn't mind hearing the Hollywood Bowl "Mr. Soul".

only six songs so far? wow.

Wasn't the plan for Neil to release everything from that era on the Archives? I wondered if maybe he'd release it all via blu-ray download, which would suck but at least be true to the original (bullshit) vision. Alas.

yeah, i thought it'd be Neil releasing entire shows, or sessions or something, which would be cool. But this is sort of like, why bother?

So, any Blu-Ray buyers feeling a little bit ... suckered?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiXl-UiIufE

With every day that passes I feel better and better about having gone for the cheaper option.

Well you doubters have obviously yet to wrap your ears and eyes around the "'Shakey Fanfare' sheet music and downloadable ringtone".

his finest work imo

but yeah, no regrets about not getting the blu ray. not that i even considered it, i don't have a blu-ray player. but i will say, i was listening to this last week, and it is very nicely sequenced. really a nice listening experience all the way through. still looking forward to future installments!

so, you wanna hear something weird? around the time the archives set was released, I noticed that journey through the past was being released as a standalone DVD. I'm a weird bird in that I really dig that soundtrack and movie. so yeah, I noticed.

shortly after the archives were released, I actually stood in a borders store, holding a DVD copy of journey through the past in my hand, available for a measly $15. for whatever reason, probably recession blues, I sighed and put it back on the shelf. I'll pick it up later. right?

well now the f'kn thing appears to have never existed! every online search produces no evidence of a standalone DVD release of journey through the past. did this thing sell so poorly that all copies were recalled and now share landfill space with ET for the atari 2600? I wouldn't be so weirded out if I hadn't held a copy in my damn hand....

hmm don't think it was released as a standalone ... i could be wrong, but I was under the impression the only way to get it was to buy the archives on DVD or Blu Ray. Maybe it was a bootleg? Weird that it'd be in Borders though.

I remember seeing the amazon.com pre-release page for it too, though

I held the dodo bird in my hand, briefly

regrets

You could buy all of the discs (cds, dvds & blus) individually from Neil's online store. They were muy expensive tho.

ohh right, forgot about that option. $25.99 for the DVD, which I guess is sold out: http://neilyoungarchives.warnerreprise.com/shop/vol1/shop-individual-items.html
it is bizarre that they're charging $22.99 per CD there, too ...

http://neilyoungarchives.warnerreprise.com/shop/vol1/images-individual-items/btn_dvd_10.jpg

;_;

gonna have to spring for that blu-ray lol

BD-Live Downloads
"I Wonder" - The Squires – previously unreleased basement rehearsal (Made available around May 1, 2009) (24-bit/192 kHz audio)
Neil Young - Guitar, vocal; Doug Campbell - Guitar; Ken Koblun - Bass; Randy Peterson - Drums
"Here We Are in the Years" - Neil Young – unreleased 2009 remix (Made available around July 26, 2009) (24-bit/192 kHz audio)
Neil Young - Guitar, piano, organ, harpsichord, vocal; Jim Messina - Bass; George Granthan - Drums; Also - strings
"Cinnamon Girl" - Neil Young & Crazy Horse - live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970 (track left off the Fillmore East NYAPS release) (Made available on or very shortly before Sep. 15, 2009) (24-bit/192 kHz audio)
Neil Young - Guitar, vocals; Danny Whitten - Guitar, vocals; Jack Nitzsche - Electric piano; Billy Talbot - Bass; Ralph Molina - Drums, vocals
"Mr. Soul" - Buffalo Springfield - live at the KHJ Appreciation Concert, Apr. 29, 1967 (Made available on Oct. 5, 2009) (24-bit/96 kHz audio)
Neil Young - Guitar, vocals; Stephen Stills - Guitar; Richie Furay - Guitar; Jim Fielder - Bass; Dewey Martin - Drums
"The Rent Is Always Due" - Neil Young - demo from the Buffalo Springfield box set (Made available on Nov. 2, 2009) (24-bit/192 kHz audio)
Neil Young - Guitar, vocals
"Shakey Pictures Fanfare" - Jack Nitzsche - opening fanfare for all Shakey Pictures productions, along with instructions for a ringtone download (Made available on Nov. 18, 2009) (24-bit/48 kHz audio)
Jack Nitzsche - Composer
"It's My Time" - The Mynah Birds - single A-side that went unreleased until 2006's The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 6 box set (Made available on Feb. 26, 2010) (16-bit/96 kHz audio)
Rick Matthews - Vocals; Neil Young - Guitar, backing vocals; Bruce Palmer - Bass; Jim Yachemac - Guitar; Rick Mason - Drums; The Temptations - Backing vocals; The Four Tops - Backing vocals
"Go On and Cry" - The Mynah Birds - single B-side that went unreleased until 2006's The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 6 box set (Made available on Feb. 26, 2010) (16-bit/96 kHz audio)
Rick Matthews - Vocals; Neil Young - Guitar, backing vocals; Bruce Palmer - Bass; Jim Yachemac - Guitar; Rick Mason - Drums; The Temptations - Backing vocals; The Four Tops - Backing vocals
"I Ain't Got the Blues" - Neil Young - unreleased demo (Made available on Mar. 26, 2010) (24-bit/192 kHz audio)
Neil Young - Guitar, vocals
"Mustang" - The Squires – same version as on Disc 0, was used so Neil could include text about the song[8] (Made available on Apr. 28, 2010) (24-bit/192 kHz audio)
Neil Young - Guitar, vocal; Doug Campbell - Guitar; Ken Koblun - Bass; Randy Peterson - Drums

what a piece of crap, basically

you get a 2009 remix of "Here We Are In The Years" (Aeroplane?)

something already on the Buffalo Springfield box set

a song left off the Live at the Fillmore East cd---a 43 minute cd

the very exciting "Shakey Pictures Fanfare"

the Mynah Birds songs which admittedly would be nice to have w/o buying the Motown box

a song already released on the first disk "so Neil could include text about the song" which I don't really understood

Neil is doing such a poor job of administrating his back catalogue/archives.

the Mynah Birds songs which admittedly would be nice to have w/o buying the Motown box
you can just buy those tracks via the itunes store, too

true! so it's even sillier!

yeah. probably said it on this thread, or other neil threads, but what he really should be doing is just a "dick's picks" kind of live series. i guess that's what the "performance series" is in theory, but ... i dunno, even if it was just download, it'd be the kind of thing die hards would eat up.

of course after all this moaning, this still sounds exciting to me:
http://neilyoungnews.thrasherswheat.org/2010/07/archives-volume-2-update-nya-special.html
The NYA team, headed by Will Mitchell and Hannah Johnson, is digging through material supplied by numerous sources, including newspapers, writers, fans, bootleg audio collectors and photographers (special thanks to photographer/collector Joel Bernstein). Much work has been done and there is much left to do. Using the template designed by the late Larry Johnson, the whole team is pushing forward.

Special thanks to audio engineers John Nowland, Tim Mulligan and the team at Redwood Digital for the unbelievable amount of work that has been accomplished so far. Volume 2 promises even more content than Volume 1, with many unreleased tracks.

Four unreleased albums from this period are being rebuilt and will be available in the NYA Special Release Series. Chrome Dreams, Homegrown and Oceanside-Countryside are the three unreleased studio albums. Also from this period is the unreleased Odeon-Budokan live recording produced by David Briggs and Tim Mulligan.

These albums initially will be released in vinyl from analog masters as they originally were created for that format. So now is the time to get your new phonograph player. The new players, built with today's technology, are exceptionally good.

I've never heard of this "Oceanside-Countryside" album... any idea what the track list is for it?

Yeah!

oh hell yes vol 2 sounds exciting! I'm just grousing about the blu-ray crap, since that delayed the release of this (allegedly) & the d/l's seem so dumb.

Chrome Dreams!

Homegrown!

I don't know what Oceanside-Countryside is, but wow, this sounds great!

Oceanside-Countryside = the original Comes A Time, which I think is just Neil solo (maybe with overdubs). If I recall correctly, it's where a lot of the first side of Hawks & Doves comes from?

and the 1976 crazy horse live album will be killer. i'm in the midst of prepping a bunch of 76 shows for the blog, so stay tuned. my fave period for Neil's guitar playing.

cool! I have two 1976 shows in the queue: Paris, 3/23, and Chicago, 11/16.

The songs from 76 on the Bernstein Tapes are majorly great.

yeah, those are great shows -- but the Japanese shows might be the best of all

are those readily available now? I guess I should check!

i dunno, i don't see those shows around too much ... but i'm going to get going with posting them some time this week, hopefully.

Have no fear, they'll find a way to fuck this up, too.

i dunno, i don't see those shows around too much ... but i'm going to get going with posting them some time this week, hopefully.
--tylerw

AWESOME NEWS!!!

I wonder how much real gold 'plundered my soul'-type songs are gonna be released vs. how much of this is gonna be stuff that's already been bootlegged

are those readily available now? I guess I should check!

There's a few Japan '76 shows on Dime, primarily Nagoya 3.3.76 which sounds amazing.

I wonder how much real gold 'plundered my soul'-type songs are gonna be released vs. how much of this is gonna be stuff that's already been bootlegged
dunno, there are a lot of studio recordings described in Shakey that have never appeared on bootlegs, esp. the homegrown stuff.

"separate ways" is a dope song, hope there's an amazing version about to be released

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LatorN4P9aA

man never heard of oceanside countryside

also i realize now i don't think i've heard hawks & doves, or maybe just once at a friends house...is that worth it?

Excited at the prospect of owning Homegrown on lp.

yeah hawks and doves is killer, you want it. first side is pretty classic neil in folk-stoner mode, second side is slightly corny country rock, but pretty sweet nonetheless.

yeah I'd say it's not essential but by no means a bad album

cool, yeah i figure i'm probably way past any "essential" stuff now...i've never owned hawks & doves...maybe that and "life" are the only ones i don't really know

though i only heard broken arrow like once i think

Yeah, Hawks and Doves is worth getting.

I would count myself as a pretty solid NY fan. I've been listening to his core oeuvre for close to 20 years now (i've never had the stamina for boots). But, strangely, I've never owned his debut album -- for some reason I was always put off by it. Must pick it up soon.

last year's remaster of the s/t record is pretty breathtaking, actually -- maybe the most revelatory thing that's come out of the whole archives project for me. really lush and big-sounding now, whereas before it always sounded kinda rinky dink.

We had a good discussion about H&D last week here:

Dukin' it Out: Post 1980 Neil Young -vs- Post 1980 Lou Reed

last year's remaster of the s/t record is pretty breathtaking, actually -- maybe the most revelatory thing that's come out of the whole archives project for me. really lush and big-sounding now, whereas before it always sounded kinda rinky dink.

yeah I had the 80s CD reissue of this and never dug it - sold it back before I even got out of college. sometimes I wonder if that was a foolish move, but otoh fuck 80s CDs

yeah, it sounded terrible on the CD i had bought originally, and honestly, the vinyl didn't sound all that much better. but this new disc really does the production justice.

still not a huge fan of "last trip to tulsa" tho.

last year's remaster of the s/t record is pretty breathtaking, actually -- maybe the most revelatory thing that's come out of the whole archives project for me. really lush and big-sounding now, whereas before it always sounded kinda rinky dink

Well, that's an encouragement, cheers. I will get it soon. A friend of mine has just discovered Neil Young (she heard Harvest in a bar and loved it!), which has led to me listening to him again more frequently/intently than I had been in previous months. I've turned her on to 'After The Gold Rush', and am deliberating next move!

(Sorry if I'm derailing thread).

next move = Greendale!

j/k

Man, I was figuring Everybody's Rockin'

Greendale is good!

all I will say is that he has worse albums

in a fit of nerdiness inspired by the "unreleased albums" that will be reportedly on vol. 2 of the archives, I've put together a playlist of the songs that could've made up neil/crazy horse's follow up to everybody knows this is nowhere:
1. When You Dance I Can Really Love
2. Wonderin'(live)
3. I Believe In You
4. Everybody's Alone
5. Oh Lonesome Me
6. Winterlong (live)
7. Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown (live)
8. Birds
9. It Might Have Been (live)

I don't think I've heard 'it might have been'

it's a cover of some old country weeper kinda song. don't think there's a studio version, but there's a live version on the archives

Does "dance dance dance" fit too?

oh yeah!
i should add that, too.

one of the bummers of the archives is that crazy horse apparently never recorded Winterlong in the studio ...

oh I do have that actually

(it might have been...not winterlong :( )

ha, yeah. not that the filmore live version isn't great (and the later Decade version is nice, too), but I would've liked to hear a nice, slick studio rendition of Winterlong.

i might throw on the whitten song "look at all the things" too just cuz that song is so amazing

ooh, bummer, just heard that Neil's longtime pedal steel player Ben Keith just died. big part of the sound of harvest/time fades away/tonight's the night + many other albums. RIP.

Aw man that sucks.

RIP, I was just listening to side one of Time Fades Away this morning before work.

I will definitely play one (or more) for Ben Keith on the radio show this week.
So many tributes lately. Have more great musicians been kicking off or was I just not paying as much attention before?

Wow, I just looked up the Stray Gators on wiki, and now only Neil and Tim Drummond are left from the original line-up.

yeah, makes me think he needs to do at least one more crazy horse record/tour before one of them passes on! selfish, i know, but ...

also love ben keith's backing vocals on stuff like "for the turnstiles" and "new mama" ...

Was going to post something about Ben Keith's death, but I see you guys have already taken care of it. I was trying to remember some little oddity having to do with Keith this morning, and it's the inside sleeve for On the Beach: in the bottom left-hand corner of the Rusty Kershaw letter, it says "Cause Ben is My Friend."

listened to on the beach last night and damn keith basically makes that record

Was going to post something about Ben Keith's death,

.. say what?!?!?!?

Who? When? Where? Why?

RIP Bennett Keith Schaeufele. Died while staying at Neil's ranch :(

... played pedal steel on "I Fall to Pieces"!

also just crazy that the night neil and ben recorded "old man" and "heart of gold" was the night they *met*. definitely some dudes who were in tune musically.
didn't know until now he produced Jewel's first album. hope he made some serious $$$ off of that.

so many epic ben keith moments, "l.a." from time fades away, "albuquerque" on tonight's the night

RIP

or that big note he hits on "out on the weekend" ...

His pedal steel is always a main attraction to any song it features on.
Last night I peppered "world on a string" "time fades away" "harvest" and "see the sky about to rain" through the first hour of my radio show.
The show before me was playing nothing but Patsy Cline and Billie Holiday (not sure why, exactly) but I noted the Ben Keith connection to the hosts.

Trip Maker -- Mind if I ask where you do your show? I'm on CKLN in Toronto, once every two weeks.

KOPN Columbia MO every wednesday night ten to midnight. My favorite two hours of the week, every week.

I actually got a phone call during "See the Sky," a soft spoken woman just wanted to let me know I was playing wonderful music.
Kinda makes life worth living.

Sweet

Thanks. I found the live stream but couldn't access it, possibly because I'm in Canada. I'll try again Wednesday.

I have an archive, too, will probably get this show added to it on the weekend.

tyler - cuz you are the man w/r/t neil boots....i hope you are keeping an eye out for recordings of the current bert jansch/neil young tour :)

gotchu covered http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=497

neil set is great -- it's a solo show, but for a bunch of the songs he's playing LOUD electric. if you dl one thing, make it "Hitchhiker" ...

here's neil's obit for ben keith:
BEN KEITH
On the full moon, the Thunder moon, the world lost one of the greatest musicians of all time. Ben was 73 years old the night he died on Broken Arrow Ranch in California, his happy home for the last years of his life. Ben played with Patsy Cline, Faron Young, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Ian Tyson and many other music greats. A great American, the quiet giant, he moved gently through the world, with kindness and grace.
My wife Pegi was lucky to share his last performance a few weeks back in San Francisco, where Ben was playing in her band, supporting her and lending his spirit to her every word as she sang her songs for us.
Of course, in Nashville Ben Keith is legendary, one of the last of the original country greats, the man behind the song. No one will ever fill his shoes. He has countless friends and admirers. They all miss him as much as I do. I will miss him every time I look to my side, remembering him, my brother and fellow traveler.
Thankfully, Ben's masterful playing can be seen and heard in two Johnathon Demme pictures: "Heart of Gold" and "Trunk Show," as well as countless great recordings over the last 50 years. We are so fortunate to have these as memories and lasting documents of his greatness and grace. He started out on a homemade steel guitar he fashioned himself from a piece of wood and left over parts. He loved his music and his life and cherished his many friends and soul mates.
He leaves behind his wonderful daughter Heidi, and his grandchildren who he loved so much, DJ, Rachel, James, Meredith, Aubrey, Fletcher and Caroline.
May he rest in Peace.
Neil Young

just watched a performance of hitchhiker on youtube

WOW

how long has that been floating around?

what's this "peaceful valley" song? damn it's great

Last tour I saw with Ben Keith, he spent half the time on electric but played it with this curious look on his face, like he barely knew what he was holding. Only other time I've seen such a strange approach was when I saw the reunited Wire. It was almost as if someone had turned his pedal steel into this ... thing and he was wondering what to do with it.

bunch of new songs (incl. peaceful valley) on this tour. they're from the Lanois-produced record coming out this fall, I think. xpost

yeah excited for the new record, despite my reservations about lanois "reverb soup" production style...though something tells me neil will do it how he wants it no matter what

yeah, that's sort of what I think too -- i'm sure that Lanois' trademarks will be in evidence to some extent, but Neil is definitely bigger than any producer. he's never really worked with a "name" producer tho, has he?

Jack Nitzsche?

Which obv is almost as far back as you can go tho

Which obv is almost as far back as you can go tho

Which obv is almost as far back as you can go tho

and yeah this "hitchhiker" thing just got my hopes up a bit

sorry for the triple post there