A World of Constant Strangers: The Neil Young Results Thread

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Finally ready to go...Thanks again for the great response. There were 66 ballots in all, and 259 songs/covers drew votes. Four of us submitted a list of favourite album covers, so I’ll quickly do those first. Three were mentioned more than once: On the Beach (4 votes), Time Fades Away (4 votes), and After the Gold Rush (2 votes).

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Arc, Comes a Time, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Hawks & Doves, Journey Through the Past, Lucky Thirteen, Ragged Glory, Mirror Ball, Tonight’s the Night, Trans, Weld, and Zuma were all mentioned once.

omg is "SCENERY" #1????

Hyped

First poll I've voted in for a while...keen!

Predict "Old King" to win btw.

I'll count down from #75 to #51 today, with about three or four minutes between posts. There's been so much Neil talk on the voting and other Neil threads, hopefully people will still have stuff to say.

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I voted for it.

aw, decent song, but i'm guessing this means my favorite bluenotes track won't make the cut, as I can't imagine two bluenotes tracks making the cut

Most of the images I picked connect fairly obviously to the song; with some, like the one above, I just liked the picture.

Meant to say that I voted for two other album covers, but those are my three favourite for sure. They get the music inside so right.

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ha, i remember reading about ordinary people way back in the 90s before i heard it -- can't remember where now, but it was this ridiculous, over the top praise, like "neil young has written the greatest song of the 1980s"! and then it was impossible to find. think i finally heard it on the "archives be damned" bootleg thing.
i'm actually excited about the prospect of a bluenotes live archives release.

Voted for Ordinary People. Lyrically the sum of the parts exceeds the whole but I like its torrential relentlessness. Would have had more impact in the 80s, given the arc of his career, Reagan, Iacocca, etc.

"Don't Cry" may feature his best OTT feedback.

"Neil knows NOTHING about 'Ordinary People'!"--David Briggs

am so bummed that i forgot to vote for American Stars N Bars as my fav album cover

Three things that made my head spin a bit: keeping track of 1) "Hey Hey, My My"/"My My, Hey Hey" votes, 2)"Drive Back"/"Drive By" votes, and 3) "Don't Cry No Tears"/"Don't Cry" votes.

don't cry is explosive. one of the scarier songs he's ever done.

"Hey Hey, My My"/"My My, Hey Hey" were counted as one song, right?

The 12:36 black and white 1988 "Ordinary People" on Youtube is pretty great.

No. People were very specific--sometimes voting for both--and to me, they're so different that wouldn't make sense. (Unlike the two "Tonight's the Night"s.)

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A+ photo.

ah. wish i'd taken the time to think about which i was voting for and make a note, then -- it's all the same song to me, just like lots of other songs on my ballot have good acoustic and electric versions. (xpost)

"Don't Cry" is a really cool song. Didn't vote for it, but it was close. Like his vocals a lot on that song.

xp When I voted it looked like the consensus was to group them together, later on clemenza clarified he was splitting them but I didn't bother rethinking my ballot.

Yeah, the live takes of "Ordinary People" from the late 80s were great, but by the time it made Chrome Dreams II I felt like it had passed him by a bit. Didn't vote for it, or for "Don't Cry" though both were on my shortlist.

"Cocaine Eyes" was #26 on my ballot. Worth the price of Eldorado on Japanese import CD right there.

I hadn't heard "Cocaine Eyes" till this poll. Maybe it'll grow on me, but one time through I didn't care for it that much.

That and "Heavy Love" usually run neck-and-neck for me, but I ended up putting "Cocaine Eyes" a few places higher.

In Shakey, Neil said he got the inspiration for the Eldorado EP after watching The Kids Are Alright on cable. "I wanna do something like that!"

That's Halston in the photo, right? He looks like Phil Hartman there.

Still waiting for Neil's Nash diss track...

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I wanted to do every image in purple words on a grey background, but it wasn't meant to be.

idle Neil thought - is there any other rock n roll artist who has both written and elicited so many "response" songs? (Circle Game, Sweet Home Alabama, Hey Hey My My is kinda a response to the Pistols, This Note's For You is a response to Clapton's ads etc)

like Ordinary People but agree didn't much like the chrome dreams version

chubby checker xpost

Sample and Hold was my #1! Such a great song.

yaaaaaaaaaay, i voted for Sample And Hold. so good.

I would like to confess that I am the owner of the "Sample and Hold" 12" with the "Dance Remixes" of it and "Mr. Soul" and yet it still didn't make my ballot.

Did I goof on "Ordinary People"--was it on another album prior to Chrome Dreams II?

xp ooh, I have never heard these "Dance Remixes", worth checking out (even if only as curios)?

nope, it was unreleased but heavily bootlegged until CDII

I wish there'd been a dance remix of "Words (Between the Lines of Age)."

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ah, here's the first one i voted for! this song is ridiculously beautiful.

In the mid-90s I saw a band do a trip-hoppy version of "Pocahontas". It was different.

I'd say if you really love the song and the Trans stuff in general then yes, absolutely worth checking out the Sample and Hold remixes. The single mix is different than the LP version too... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH1Ivbe4wFU

I love the version of "Transformer Man" from unplugged but the original never did much for me.

Yes! "Transformer Man" was one of my last minute cuts; so glad it placed!

Gee, I wish Ordinary People finished higher. Such a great song.

If you're primarily a dreamer-of-pictures and run-in-the-night type (like me), please don't hit the panic button.

Another Trans track I voted for (and saved from >75 obscurity)!

anyone who thinks a bunch of synthed-out tracks and blue notes numbers tare going to score higher than Ordinary People, Transformer Man and Sample And Hold has probably already eaten the panic button

I am so happy this poll exists because I only really know the Canadian radio/campfire jams but never heard anything like Sample and Hold, for instance. This is so great! Thanks, Clemenza.

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"Words" was a late cut. Glad to see it.

Glad you were able to get a ballot in today, FFM--this poll was woefully short of Canadians and females. (Breaking news: obsessive list-making favored by males.)

and by non-Canadians?

I love the version of "Transformer Man" from unplugged but the original never did much for me.

― EZ Snappin, Monday, July 9, 2012 1:15 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark

ha i voted for it purely off the Unplugged version, have never heard Trans

^ "Words" a late cut for me as well, I love the last couple minutes of that song.

never been crazy about "words", i always expect it to be better than it is.

xp Hah! Well the Neil Young I do know, I love - and thankfully years of Q107 and summers in the Kawarthas with my parents' friends ensured that I had a decent 20 song ballot. Also now that I am youtubing I am discovering that there's more I knew, but didn't know the titles of. Thanks for slipping my songs into the mix! I felt like such a shit when I realized yesterday was the deadline.

I'm with tylerw re: Words. One of my most skipped songs ever.

A rambling mess, but I've always loved it as an indecipherable mood piece (though not quite enough for my ballot). Can't remember who, but someone made a point of giving it zero points!

I love ILX!

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Never make it to those last two minutes of "Words", find it as a letdown for some reason as well and always skip it. I like his solos on it alright, but hate the chorus/vocals for some reason.

Oof. Words is so clearly the best thing on Harvest to me, a little horrified to see it so low.

Words was a late cut for me too, yay for it placing! I don't think Neil does many songs with such eccentric time signatures, so that was way cool to hear

in fact I think Words was one of my '0 pts' teary-eyed votes

old laughing lady is wonderful in all its incarnations -- really got excited about the og studio version thanks to the archives. such a weird arrangement, kind of makes me think of nick drake ("river man" in partic). and then those insane backgrund voices. nothing else really like it in neil's catalog.

I never really cared for "The Old Laughing Lady" until I found a couple of excellent covers of it. Made me rehear the song...though I don't think I've gone back and listened to the original since finding them.

Okay, I misinterpreted LLB--I thought you were saying that those were your three least favourite Neil songs.

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Sad song--my favourite from Time Fades Away, along with another that didn't place.

these are some pretty fucking random results!

voted for Transformer Man, love both the Trans and especially the Unplugged versions

I've been jamming Love In Mind over & over today. I'd never noticed it's only 1:40 'til I realised how often I had to keep skipping back.

They are random, and maybe for most people the most interesting stretch. Past today, things fall into place.

Love In Mind was another late cut. So glad others liked it enough to get it to place.

I adore "Love In Mind" -- featured it on a (long ago) mix tape for the wife. Placed it at #30 (out of 50).

aawwww, my #2 - #68 (?!?)
absolutely adore
maybe people consider it slight 'cuz it's so short?

xp ha, i put love in mind on a mixtape for my wife many years - and she hated it.

yet you still married her

It reminds me, of all things, of the Guess Who's "Sour Suite."

The lyrics grate on me some (the "Churches long preach sex is wrong" verse specifically).

xp He played Words at Glastonbury. I was like, really Neil? You're blowing a chunk of a headlining set on this?

Neil already broke up two marriages on the voting thread.

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Neil helped make my marriage happen.

"Love In Mind" and "The Old Laughing Lady" were very late cuts for me. Woulda made it into my top 50 for sure.

xp to clem: lol no those were the songs that I just couldn't manage to find room on my ballot for

Was just gonna say that Neil has probably helped/saved as many marriages as come close to ruining them. He has range.

Anyone know who that is?

Who am I to talk? I took my now-missus to see Neil in 2001 and she had to leave to sit down midway through.

believe it or not, my wife is fairly indifferent to neil young. somehow we've made it work.

Hey, my wife loved "Love In Mind" and is (probably) coming to her first NY gig with me in October!

I remember watching the Oscars broadcast when NY played his "Philadelphia" and Springsteen played his and having that AWFUL feeling in the pit of my stomach that Springsteen would win despite Neil writing a 110% more devastating and emotionally charged theme song. Not that Bruce's is bad (it's actually really good), but Neil's is bona fide tear inducing.

Had it at #27.

Pic looks like a young Ken Griffey Sr to me, but I don't think it is...

The movie is manipulative as hell at this point, but when that song plays over the fake home movie footage at the end of the movie ... waterworks.

hmm can't believe i forgot to vote for philly. maybe his best piano ballad?

my wife is a big fan of neil's contemporaries and yet can't stand neil's voice, one of the few folks who are verboten from living room play when she's home. if i'm dying to hear his stuff, I have to settle for the first Crazy Horse album.

Love in Mind, Transformer Man, Cocaine Eyes all on my ballot.

I remember that broadcast too, and they definitely gave the award to the wrong song.

The picture is of Glenn Burke. I just finished Dan Epstein's book on baseball in the '70s, and there's a bit in there on Burke--more here, if anyone's interested.

"Love In Mind" and "Words" are the only songs so far that definitely wouldn't have a shot at my personal top 75, though "Cocaine Eyes" I think I've only heard on youtube like twice so I can't speak to that one either way.

if I ever end a relationship in a way disastrous for myself I will blast "Don't Cry."

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My favourite why-do-I-keep-fuckin'-up? scene ever.

The first one I voted for! Only threw it 5 points but I love what a glorious mess it often became live.

"Fuckin' Up" was one of my last cuts, along with "Piece of Crap." I'd love to see them both on here!

Love "Fuckin' Up"! Love that image too!

yeah i cut fuckin up too, but it is a monster, so worthy of its title.

The version from Weld gets me doing a shitkicker stomp.

Totally voted for "Fucking Up," and had I ranked my ballot I would have ranked it high.

ha yeah my first to make it as well

What is that screencap from?

I think if we had decided to count different versions, I would have voted one of those shambolic live takes of it, but the studio cut just sounds tame in comparison to me now.

lol @ "Fuckin' Up" image

I restricted myself to one Ragged Glory tune and while that one is great, ultimately it wasn't what I chose

my top fifteen is on cue to make the bottom third of this poll.

(clemenza - remember to put the names & points on the thread somewhere so the thread still makes sense if the images die. I assume people from the future will still hold a candle for Neil)

It's from Fargo, boxall, the scene where Macy flips out in the parking lot.

I stored all the images on my own homepage index, so they should be good for as long as Tripod and/or I stay in business.

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Seems low. "Classic rock" radio fatigue?

glad to see this so low.

I think I've heard "Philadelphia" once. Anyone wanna sell me on it?

Stuff I never knew: they were making George Wallace comic books in the early '60s.

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I'm probably more tired of "Southern Man" than anything else on Gold Rush--fine on the album (it breaks up side one effectively), but I usually switch off when it comes on the radio.

xpost It's beautiful?

xp it's pretty? beautiful, heartfelt lyrics that i can only imagine neil young pulling off? the pet shop boys do it?

sold!

There's a number of blistering live takes on "Southern Man" that are great, and I love the treatment that Neil puts on his voice for that last verse, but it still missed my ballot -- didn't even make the shortlist. It is just too heavy handed for me, along with "Alabama."

I think "Southern Man" is a hamfisted snooze.

"Cocaine Eyes" I only discovered about 18 months ago. I'm a sucker for the late eighties Niko Bolas sound.

Alfred, I'm surprised you didn't stan for Philadelphia -- it's such a fantastic weepy ballad. Just listen to it and put Tom Hanks out of your mind.

i'm a big fan of the insane southern mans on the crazy horse 1976 tour -- the band seems barely able to figure out the tempo changes, neil is skronking up a storm, and the whole thing just lurches.

"Southern Man" is exactly what kept me away from Young for years. I've held my nose so long that I think I'm ready for another shot.

tom hanks never left my mind

I was a little too young, but I think "Southern Man" probably benefited from the immediacy of the moment.

I think "Southern Man" is a hamfisted snooze.

Have you heard "Alabama"?

seriously "Southern Man" is so much better than "Southern Man II"

I agree. I really think "Ohio" is the only one of his Big Statements on the United States Wrongdoing songs that still holds up, but then again, I live here, have walked on that hill at Kent State, etc. so I'm massively biased.

the studio southern man is pretty interesting -- that scratchy vocal effect on the "crosses" verse, the oompah piano, the ultra minimalist guitar solo. as 70s guitar jamz go, it's kind of weird.

^^ the pi-anner is the best part

I hope Neil Young will remember

actually, "hamfisted snooze" sums up my thoughts on SM p neatly (though it's kind of like all of Kansas' career in pre=prog embryo tbh).

iirc I left off all of the first side of Gold Rush except for one song; the second side was an awesome surprise after first hearing it, and I still prefer it

"Southern Man" is Walking Tall, an effective cartoon you can appreciate the agit-prop craft of if you're not too turned off by the message. "Alabama" is Walking Tall Part II with Bo Svenson replacing Joe Don Baker.

Wow, that is a perfect metaphor, actually. Nice.

"Alabama" placed 76th; because it's played so less frequently on the hard-rock station here, I prefer it right now (but realize Neil's going over ground he already covered). Suddenly, I want to defend both songs...

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^^ a good song I always forget about

They're both pretty lame. "Crime int he City" is really cool, though. The bass on that is buried but nuts.

maybe the only successful song with non-trad Neil instrumental flourishes in his catalog.

WOAH! Guess I was wrong about "Ordinary People" being the preferred Blue Notes jam. Voted for this, totally didn't expect it to place.

too low! (even tho I coudnt afford it many points)

"Crime in the City" is one of the very few instances where I prefer the non-Crazy Horse version to the Crazy Horse version. And I looove the Crazy Horse version.

voted for that crime in the city. love the freedom version, love the weld version, but the best version is the 20-minute live version.

Great song, yet another that I just couldn't find room for. Agreed that the epic live take is the best too.

yeah I think I specified on my ballot that I was voting for one of the bootleg versions, and all my boots have come courtesy of doomandgloom

I immediately gravitated to the two ballads I love on Freedom, so except for the hit and "On Broadway," the truth is that I don't remember much else.

is it too late to add "Wish I never put the hose down...wish I never got POLLED" to the thread title?

I voted both Southern Man and Alabama highly - they rock imo. The intro riff on Alabama especially. I don't get the hate, but then I ain't from round these parts.

1. A++ for the images, clemenza

2. Hey, I made a difference: voted for 75, 74 and 73 (and three others so far)

3. Countdown's going by real fast. I think I'll come back tomorrow and do the comments thing then.

yeah the images are great, very neil

Thanks. I initially read that as "Hey, I made a difference: voted in 75, 74, and 73"...I thought you were re-living the Nixon meltdown.

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That's somebody who lives just down the road from Neil's Broken Arrow ranch. I don't know, I've just never been a big fan of this song...very arty.

My very last cut. Surpised it is this low, but I think we'll see more BS to come...

it's kind of hilarious he ended a bunch of shows with "A Day in The Life" when he had this in his bag

Meant in a good way, of course. (xpost)

xp it's pretty? beautiful, heartfelt lyrics that i can only imagine neil young pulling off? the pet shop boys do it?

I'd really love that to have happened. Could imagine that slotting nicely at the end of 'Behaviour'.

i love "Broken Arrow" - def arty as hell but beautiful and the non-song parts move pretty quickly

It really did happen--the PSB have done an excellent cover of "Philadelphia."

xp! the pet shop boys do it, for real

I have no use for Buffalo Springfield. Try and try and try and yuck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbamhAYwyJ4

woah way too low! Thought this would be more of a crowd-pleaser...

"Broken Arrow" is my first to place so far. Have always loved the cut-up nature. And its beauty.

xxpost
Why didn't I know about this until now!

Listening to 'Philadelphia' now, never even knew it existed before today (haven't seen the film either). It's lovely.

broken arrow is flawed, has some nice moments, but not the masterpiece it wants to be. funny to think if it had been a big hit or something, and neil had spent the rest of his career doing five minute orchestral song suites.

That PSB version of Phildelphia is excellent.

wow I thought the PSB thing was a joke!

No one's asked, but I meant to mention that I haven't bothered posting first-place votes because so many ballots--half or more, I would guess--were unranked. I'll try to do that at the end, when I post the full list.

Something tells me that no matter what, Neil was always going to NOT spend the rest of his career doing anything with any consistency or regularity, hit or no hit. Into the ditch...

I will say that I like "Broken Arrow" more than Stills' even longer "Bluebird"--it's been a while, but a lot more, I think.

It's funny how Neil juvenalia is full of ornate Sgt. Pepperisms before he heads off to the garage at the ranch to mature

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If I was going with Ornate Neil, I'd pick about half of the solo debut and "Expecting To Fly" over "Broken Arrow." It's an endearing failure, but I feel like he's done more with those ideas in other songs.

Aaaaaaand I just realized I missed a couple of the most obvious songs. Oh, Lex.

I'm referring to the really long "Bluebird" on the early-'70s anthology--seems the original was just over four minutes.

"Harvest" = my #17.

If I was going with Ornate Neil, I'd pick about half of the solo debut and "Expecting To Fly" over "Broken Arrow." It's an endearing failure, but I feel like he's done more with those ideas in other songs.

yeah i'd agree with this (well maybe not HALF of the solo debut), though everything from the '60s on Decade is gorgeous IMO.

my biggest problem with CSNY and Buffalo is that Decade cherry-picked the Neil stuff so well that the other guys are at a serious disadvantage. decent countryish number followed by GENIUS GODHEAD I'VE KNOWN SINCE MIDDLE SCHOOL followed by some little hippie thing...

La Lechera left me her ballot so I would like to note she voted for "Harvest"

Well, I think the other guys were at a serious disadvantage anyway just by virtue of not being Neil Young, but yeah, that definitely factors in.

Didn't realize Harvest was the biggest-selling LP of '72. I knew it'd be up there, but I would have thought Exile, Paul Simon, a Carpenters LP, Carole King's Music, something else. Like the title song a whole lot.

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From La Lechera:

"Lotta Love (Neil's version, not Nicolette's, this song is perfect)"

Nice! Thought vote splitting would keep that one from making it.

Nicolette Larson's cover did get one vote--something that sounded much better to me years and years after the fact.

my biggest problem with CSNY and Buffalo is that Decade cherry-picked the Neil stuff so well that the other guys are at a serious disadvantage

I do think that Stills' best Springfield stuff is the equal of, and sometimes greater, than Neil's.

Yeah, I still prefer Neil's version, but Nicolette's has grown on me in the last few years. When I was a kid and heard that come on the radio, I practically ran to change the dial.

Sad and surprised to find out that she died many years ago.

Love the images on the last two.

I really like the cover of 'Lotta Love' (I actually think I heard it first) but I stuck with an all-Neil ballot (and voted for the original anyway).

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Aww, cute kids, but this song has never done much for me. I do think of it every time I mess up my kids' hair though...

You're going to hear me gush and gush on Tuesday and Wednesday, but another one I've always been indifferent to--I like Richie Furay's "A Child's Claim to Fame" so much more.

Third one from my ballot! (others were Expecting to Fly and Words)

yeah i kind of re-evaluated the first album stuff around the time the remasters and archives came out and at the time thought i had underrated it...now i'm coming around to my first view is that that era is not my favorite of his.

was really bummed to have to cut "burned" by BS off archives from my list.

Oh man I hope Burned makes it. That's probably my favorite BS song.

Also love "Sell Out" from around that time. Really fun, great groove.

yeah i cut burned, too, but it's one of my fave neil BS songs. kind of a perfect little 60s pop number.

and I Am A Child has never been a big fave. Nice, but not great.

Had "Lotta Love" and "Harvest", both rhytmically really pleasing for me for some reason, of all things to be into in those songs.

I remember a Neil interview when he was asked about some of his lyrics and he said (I'm paraphrasing, but he specifically referenced this line), "I don't know what my stuff means. 'What is the color when black is burned'? What is that? Like dark grey or something?"

"It's hard to know the meaning of this song..."

that's awesome

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Hah, great picture!

Thumbs up for the pic, not so much for the song (one of my least favorites on TTN).

decent countryish number followed by GENIUS GODHEAD I'VE KNOWN SINCE MIDDLE SCHOOL followed by some little hippie thing...

Ha ha. OTM.

Separated by a matter of weeks: Tonight's the Night came out on June 20, 1975, the "Thrilla in Manila" was October, 1, '75.

A hip drag queen and
A side-walkin' street wheeler,
Comin' down the avenue.
They're all your friends,
You'll come to love 'em
There's a load of 'em
Waitin' for you.

didn't vote for this, but i love it. kind of like neil's version of walk on the wild side? glory hallelujah!

Like I said on the other thread, just perfect in the context of the album, hard for me to detach it otherwise.

My first song to place. Chose it partly as a stand-in for TTN as a whole, but it's definitely one of my favorites. Livens up the second side of the record.

yeah it's that awesome sleazoid tonight's the night vibe -- although it was recorded on the TFA tour.

"lookout joe" is definitely one of the lessers on that album for me

Back in high school, we thought Tonight's the Night was extremely lively--but a weird kind of lively, yes.

love lookout joe!

"Havin' a ball ... rollin' to the bottom!" Love that verse.

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Wow, another awesome pic!

Such an unusual song on Comes a Time...spooky; one of the best.

another great one that didn't make my ballot, glad it got some love. the distant, scary distorted guitar that lurks in the background is a cool touch.

xp I actually didn't vote for a single Tonight's the Night track. Love the album but none of the songs really worked in isolation when I was putting my ballot together. Guess I should have chosen a stand-in but I couldn't settle on one.

cut Lookout Joe but thought hard about it

voted Don't cry super high, love the rolling bass riff & Neils screams

Back-to-back Lookouts is fun, btw.

The vocal harmonies really make this one for me, but it missed my final ballot.

Love the album but none of the songs really worked in isolation when I was putting my ballot together
yeah i voted for less TtN tracks than i would've thought for the same reason. it's kinda one big song!

I think that's valid. I once made a list of my ten favourite Rolling Stones songs for something I was doing, and I called the entirety of Exile a "phantom 11th pick." (xxxpost)

Yeah, it's weird how the two look-out songs ended up side-by-side.

lookout mama

I voted for this one as well. The weird solo on the bridge. "I know things are going to change but I can't say bad or good" is a line that pops into my head sometimes.

anybody else vote specifically for, or at least had in mind, the MTV Unplugged version of "Look Out For My Love"?

Isn't it acoustic to begin with? Maybe it's very muted electric guitar, I don't know.

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Re: TTN - I think I only wound up with one song from it on my ballot, but if I were ranking NY albums, it would be top 5, easy.

Isn't it acoustic to begin with? Maybe it's very muted electric guitar, I don't know.

The instrumentation is less eccentric in the MTV version, goes on a little longer, etc. Love both versions but they're distinct in my mind, probably cuz I heard the MTV one first.

anybody else vote specifically for, or at least had in mind, the MTV Unplugged version of "Look Out For My Love"?

― da croupier, Monday, July 9, 2012 3:23 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

yup -- Unplugged was kind of my introduction to NY and i voted for more than half the songs on it, often with those versions in mind

Kind of surprised to see "Unknown Legend" on here at all - good tune, but I don't think I even thought twice about it.

"Unknown Legend" is such a lovely little song. 2nd of mine to place.

Don't know who that is, but she reminds me of Theresa Russell circa Straight Time.

I don't have Harvest Moon--please don't ostracize me--but I played this a couple of times and really, really liked it.

Way too low for "Unknown Legend"!

Harvest Moon > Harvest

Corny but sweet.

I like Unknown Legend but the way Demme wedged it into Rachel Getting Married was a turn-off

haha, yeah, that was an odd choice.

Of all the Neil songs he coulda snuck in there too

really don't like unknown legend. ilx loves the corn.

Thought it was fine in the movie, but it made me spend more time with the original and I totally fell in love with it all over again.

Demme's got great musical tastes but shit like that or a Soft Boys reunion track showing up in The Truth About Charlie is just fucking distracting, the downside of auteurism

I saw Rachel Getting Married and have no recollection of Neil whatsoever.

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil56.jpg

tv on the radio dude chooses to sing the opening track of Harvest Moon as his marriage vow xpost

"downtown" is great but picking a whitten song was too slippery slope for me

Photo goes out to Finefinemusic!

I saw Rachel Getting Married and have no recollection of Neil whatsoever.

The TV on the Radio dude sang it at the wedding.

(xpost)

I didn't pick anything from HM -- my least favorite of the comeback records.

Neil co-wrote "Downtown"--I did check that to make sure it was eligible.

yeah, didn't vote for downtown because i think of it more as whitten, but so great. what a cool riff -- should be played on classic rock radio all the time.

i think neil has said his contrib to "downtown" was the "sure enough they'll be sellin stuff" line.

(Although I guess it would have been eligible anyway, according to my murky guidelines...)

yeah i mean it's on TTN, totally valid

"Downtown" was way high on my ballot. After "Borrowed Tune" it's like, hey look, a herd of elephants running towards us!

It's as bright and power-poppy as almost anything Neil's ever done, for me (though again, just missed my ballot).

yeah, love the way it crashes in. once i found out it was a 1970 Crazy Horse live recording, I was like pleaaaaaase put out the full show! Only had to wait about 15 years.

For a long time I heard the line "Snake eyes, french fries" as "Steak house french fries." Great song.

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil55.jpg

This one, I love. So weird that Neil handed over the lead vocal to Richie Furay.

I've never heard this album. Is it any good?

think i prefer Furay singing this one? maybe. i like CSNY doing this one too.

for me "Look Out For My Love" has to be the original album version; and yeah, it's that weird sustained electric guitar that does it....I love the Neil Young who is aggressive and acoustic at once (aggressively acoustic? acoustic aggression?)

Voted for this but mainly for the Massey Hall version.

xp yeah he does that occasionally -- the distant overdubbed distorto guitar on an otherwise mellow song. "pardon my heart" kinda has it too.

The album is not very good, no, mostly an odds and ends thing, but this song is fantastic. I MUCH prefer the solo acoustic versions and also voted for it with that in mind. He opened with it when I saw him on the solo acoustic tour back in 1999 and it was just perfect.

I've had the same two-record anthology of theirs since the mid-'70s. I bought Last Time Around years later, but never played it like I used to play the anthology. But it's got some great songs: besides "On the Way Home," there's "Four Days Gone," "Special Care," "Questions," "Uno Mundo" (all Stills'), and Furay's "Kind Woman."

My vote was very much for the Massey Hall version, I can't really stand the BS version, that version of "on the way home" is probably my most favorite single thing from the archives

Odds and ends, yes--it was assembled after they'd broken up.

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil54.jpg

Love these pictures clemenza.

Thanks. Be thankful I didn't post 75 Nixon-related images--not that you couldn't make a case for doing so.

yeah, images are great.
"birds" is one of my fave neil young breakup anthems. the harmonies on the chorus are incredible.

yeah, love the way it crashes in. once i found out it was a 1970 Crazy Horse live recording, I was like pleaaaaaase put out the full show! Only had to wait about 15 years.

― tylerw, Monday, July 9, 2012 3:43 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I was confuseder than fuck when I first heard it unedited on the Fillmore East disc. But that's a brilliant show, even though they had to share the bill with that sorry-ass non-playing motherfucker Steve Miller.

When I was gathering stuff for that covers piece, it was a real eye-opener as to how many people had covered "Birds."

Birds is in at 33 on my list. Fantastic song. I spent a REALLY long time trying to find the alternate band version that appeared on a single flipside back in the day (on Only Love Can Break... IIRC) and never found it. I DID get a copy of the 45 on eBay, but it had the regular album version.

Now that Archives Vol 1 is out, I don't have to look for it any more, thankfully.

Don't think I've ever heard a cover of Birds! Who has done it?

xp Neil had Nixon and Wallace covered. Factor in War Song and you've got McGovern too. He had the 72 election nailed.

Kathryn Williams does a beautiful version of Birds - she does great covers of I Started a Joke, Candy Says, Hallelujah and Thirteen on the same album.

bette midler does birds -- it's great! [i think i heard it via clemenza actually]

Linda Ronstadt did a cover of "Birds", too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t82DqhAsos

And seriously, what kind of motherfucker writes 53 songs that are better than fucking "Birds"?

I found seven at the time:

Aubriton Meek, Jr. (Be the Rain, 2006)
Bette Midler (Live at Last, 1977)
Claudine Longet (Let’s Spend the Night Together, 1972)
Field Mice (undated)
Jann Arden (Borrowed Tunes: A Tribute to Neil Young, 1994)
Paul Weller (Studio 150, 2004)
Suede (undated)

I guess that's not all that many, but I'd always thought of it as one of Gold Rush's least known songs.

As with so many '70s artists, I think of Nixon as (sorry for the cliche) Neil's great white whale.

How did I miss Ronstadt? I'll have to track that down.

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil53.jpg

Clemenza - that is, no joke, one of my favourite photos of Toronto. I wish A&A (and Sam for that matter!) were still there - I don't think I ever saw it - but my husband and I are A&As with a love of vintage Toronto photographs/maps/etc. He's got that one saved for some eventual photo printing.

The Doom Trilogy!

xpost It's on her 3rd album (the self-titled).

oh man motion pictures. if i had ranked my songs, that might've been #1. super classic song to play on guitar while sitting around enjoying honey slides with your friends.

Some people listed this as "Motion Pictures (For Carrie)." But I checked the album, and the "For Carrie" seems to be a dedication-only on the paper sleeve--it's just "Motion Pictures" on the cover and on the record itself.

I worked just across the street at Sunrise for years--used to bank at that CIBC (which lasted till the late '80s; the photo's from '70 or so).

"Years ago," rather--it was all of two years.

Huh - yeah, just looked on Wikipedia and it seems like A&A was there til the mid90s! I remember when Future Shop came in but for the life of me can't remember A&A. But, I was pretty young. Pity. At least I got to log a few years in the gigantic Sam's!

my #1! would've barely cracked the list without me, it seems, so good thing I got the ballot in.

the way his voice gets creaky on that descending "start all over again" just fucking slays me, every single time. couldn't say why.

I've got Kingsmen albums from their 99-cent atrium, and I think I once held a fluorescent-skull White Light/White Heat in my hands there...don't get me started on record stores. (xpost)

Thanks for posting that "Birds" covers list... I actually own that Weller version and totally forgot about it!

Re: "Motion Pictures" -- didn't make my list, but if this finished this high, can we basically expect the entire On The Beach album to chart now? I can see "Vampire Blues" missing the cut though, I guess.

Where's the Suede version from, clemenza?

when they finally issued OTB on CD, they added "(for Carrie)" to the song title, no? it's on the CD track listing in my itunes...

need to spend more time with the second side of ATGR.

Somehow I bumped "Motion Pictures" lower on my ballot, but really 16-34 were all kinda interchangeable, I just had to list them all in some kind of order. On the right day though this is all time great for me. Super song to play on guitar, the chord sequence could just go on forever and be all right with me.

Cannot imagine "Vampire Blues" placing higher than this, would be really surprised.

Maybe they did append the parenthetical later on--it's not there on the album, though, just the sleeve. The Suede cover is just something I found on Soulseek.

xp oh I just looked up this Suede cover of Birds but are you confusing it with their song To The Birds?

I'll have to check that, I've got it on my hard drive.

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil52.jpg

No, it's an NY cover - I just found it on youtube. To The Birds is something else.

dammn

xp oh but if you listened to it, there's a good chance I'm wrong! I don't know that Neil song but used to have a LOT of Suede so I wanted to see if I'd heard it through them. We won't talk about beloved record stores of yore. But as I just got a record player you can give me suggestions as to where I can dig now. ;)

I really do love these pictures - great stuff!

Nice song, grew tired of it over time.

Ah cool IK! I will have to look it up. I just googled and every hit seemed to be TTB.

Whenever I hear "Long May You Run," I think of "Eat a Peach - Love, Neil"

Ha! Gotta love that guy.

We've entered the section of the results full of songs I did not vote for. Though I think I almost voted "Long May You Run."

beach boys verse in long may you run is perfect. the beach boys should cover it, for god's sake!

I admire Eric H's restraint in holding back his own opinions during his horror-film poll. I can't do that--though if I say I don't like something (or that I'm tired of it), it's not meant to antagonize anyone who voted for it.

Yeah, the BB verse comes out of nowhere just perfectly--like Joe DiMaggio in "Mrs. Robinson."

LMYR just missed my ballot

I'll do one more for today. #50-26 will be tomorrow, the rest on Wednesday.

neil is good at evoking the beach -- not in the typical sunny fashion, but more the bleary, misty hungover mornings (as so righteously depicted on the On The Beach album cover). as someone who grew up in southern california, i appreciate this.

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil51.jpg

Regret not voting for "Birds", though it too was a late cut, but "Long May You Run" was always a pleasant but minor song for me.

OK. I'm not sure what to do when Will To Love places higher than Lookout Joe.

Another one I'm sort of surprised to see here. I do love this recording, if not the actual song all that much.

Threw me way back when, but it came up on another Neil thread, and when I went back for another listen it sounded strange and good.

I might just be remembering it wrong, but can't you just make out a campfire crackling on the recording?

Will To Love is amazing, one of my favorites. Such a cool recording. He's never played it live, right?
Yeah, there's a campfire in the background. Love all the odd instrumental overdubs.

"Will to Love" is one of those that I've found both a masterpiece and a bore....in the end I think I'd love it unreservedly if it were half as long.

OK. I'm not sure what to do when Will To Love places higher than Lookout Joe.

smoke pot by a fireplace, obv

Christgau's dismissal (which I wouldn't have read till two or three years after the record came out, but I think it implanted itself in my brain): "The second (side) is a journey through the past that perhaps should have stayed in the outtake can. On one tune, Neil turns into a salmon while masturbating in front of the fireplace..."

ha i almost wrote "jerk off in front of a fireplace" for that reason but i like the song too much

You know, I really wish the guy would put out a "Decade II."

Yeah, there's a campfire in the background.

I had a used vinyl copy of ASnB, and thought whoever owned it before me must've really liked "Will To Love"; it had so many more cracks and pops than the other songs.

So far:

75. “Ordinary People” (7 votes/68 points)
74. “Don’t Cry” (7/71)
73. “Cocaine Eyes” (8/71)
72. “Sample and Hold” (8/77)
71. “Transformer Man” (7/78)
70. “Words (Between the Lines of Age)” (9/78)
69. “The Old Laughing Lady” (8/84)
68. “Love in Mind” (11/89)
67. “Philadelphia” (9/93)
66. “Fuckin’ Up” (12/93)
65. “Southern Man” (10/95)
64. “Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero Part I)” (10/96)
63. “Broken Arrow” (11/96)
62. “Harvest” (11/97)
61. “Lotta Love” (13/97)
60. “I Am a Child” (12/99)
59. “Lookout Joe” (11/104)
58. “Look Out for My Love” (12/104)
57. “Unknown Legend” (11/108)
56. “Come on Baby Let’s Go Downtown” (11/110)
55. “On the Way Home” (9/115)
54. “Birds” (12/117)
53. “Motion Pictures” (13/126)
52. “Long May You Run” (13/129)
51. “Will to Love” (13/132)

Fresh air, food, etc.

i like all of these songs! neil young rules!

so most of my ballot made the bottom third then, I see

Just getting around to looking at this -- awesome pix, nice selection of stuff (including lots of things I felt bad about leaving off, like "Sample and Hold," "Philadelphia," "Fuckin Up").

In defense of "Southern Man," I would just like to say that I had every intention of leaving it off my ballot -- for most of the thematic reasons noted above -- until I actually listened to the thing again and remembered what a jam it is. It could be called "Fryin' Pan" or "Cowboy Stan" and it still would've made my ballot.

"Fryin' Pan" prolly would have been awesome, a la "T-Bone" from RE AC TOR!

So far just 6 i voted for, but an equal number i strongly considered but didn't vote for.

okay well, a quarter of my ballot has posted so far:

Transformer Man
Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero Part I)
Lookout Joe
Long May You Run
Look Out for My Love

Only four of mine have placed so far (Downtown, Cocaine Eyes, Don't Cry, Crime). I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume that neither "Arc" nor anything from Dead Man will place.

here are the ones that i voted for so far

The Old Laughing Lady
Birds
Motion Pictures
Crime In The City
Transformer Man
Cocaine Eyes
Will To Love

worried that "surfer joe and moe the sleaze" is not going to place!!!!

Three songs for me: "Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown," "Philadelphia" and "I Am a Child." Tho I suspect my love of Live Rust will end up skewing results more toward the obvious.

I'm drawing a complete blank on Suede, nobody seems to know where that's come from. They did a couple of excellent covers for charity records in the early 90s (Shipbuilding and Brass In Pocket) but I've got no idea if this was similar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As1cNwlby-8

But my research did lead me to this marvellous footage of Neil busking in Glasgow in 1976, which I'd seen once years ago but had never been able to find again. It's kind of grim, but I think very charming. Full backstory here, featuring a stoned, then fireraising, and finally contrite, entourage.

only 4 from my top 40 but a bunch would have made my top 75, plus there's two rarities i should know better and some album tracks i've heard a million times but never considered as spotlight tracks. awesome poll so far!

Enjoying the rollout! I think 6 of my 30 have shown up so far. Good image choices.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume that neither "Arc" nor anything from Dead Man will place.

I voted for a Dead Man track

I did as well, and I think they might be grouped together for tallying purposes too?

want to make a jpg of Game-era Freddie Mercury for a whaaaa? fake top 10 placing for "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" but I'll describe it instead to keep myself from being That Guy later on.

A Dead Man track was my final cut -- ALMOST snuck in at #30.

"Motion Pictures" crept up on me as one of his greats; if you've ever felt "I'm deep inside myself, but I'll get out somehow" then you've felt one deep core of Neil's animus.

the two Trans tracks to place so far are great (voted for "Sample & Hold" but love both) & I reckon that's all that'll place; but Sonic Youth's take on "Computer Love" is tres epic & what helped me "get" Sonic Youth.

I did as well, and I think they might be grouped together for tallying purposes too?

"organ solo" ftw

Only three songs for me ("Ordinary People", "Unknown Legend", and "Fuckin' Up").

"Will to Love" was tied with 2 other songs for my #1. Such an amazing song. the part where he sings "I'm like a singer on the stage - With the golden lights - and liquid rage" and the other instruments briefly fade in and then out, swinging, gives me chills every time.

Placed six so far, a bunch that made my first cut but not my last one. Really pleased with the list so far.

funny, "Organ Solo" was my pick too.

3/30 for me (Sample and Hold, Transformer Man, Broken Arrow). I assume everyone's hit rate will improve as the results continue.

Seconding Sonic Youth's take on "Computer Age" as well as Neil's fairly rockin' take of it on the Live In Berlin video.

did someone already post this? crazy horse version of "computer age" from 87
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfzZYLQM_lI

6/40 thus far (Don't Cry, Love In Mind, OTWH, Fuckin' Up, Will To Love, Lookout Joe) Kind of worried about the epics from Ragged Glory not placing--they were my most pleasant rediscoveries.

Ok I hiked for 7.5 hours and pried like two dozen gnats out of my eyes but I'm finally reading this! Nice work so far!
Some thoughts:
1) lotta love was my #2 and I'm so glad it placed! So beautiful.
2) is it possible to include the song in text as well as the image? I can figure it out from comments/wait for rundown but I'm in the woods and on my phone and surely I'm not the only NY fan in this situation.
3) I'm genuinely glad NY love songs have encouraged more love in the universe. That's what they're there for. If I had to guess, my husband tolerates Neil Young because he likes me, fwiw. He's def not a fan (of Neil -- of me, yes)
4) Cortez is obvs winner, no?!?!?

Powderfinger?

Also I LOVE "downtown" but didn't vote for it because I had already voted for so many songs from that album. I love the "aw huh huh huh they don't tell no lies" part so much.

thought motion pictures and long may you run would be top 25 at least

yeah i did kinda think that the second side of OTB was a lock for top 25

everytime someone itt refers to "Downtown" i have to remind myself that they're not speaking glowingly of the mediocre Mirror Ball single

and its glowing slap bass part

yeah i did kinda think that the second side of OTB was a lock for top 25

lol 2nd side is the side I skip

get outta town. think [you should] get outta town.

happy I'm the ocean hasn't placed yet, rooting for top 25

Just to add to the list of "Birds" covers upthread: The Meters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1_o79K2KTE

everytime someone itt refers to "Downtown" i have to remind myself that they're not speaking glowingly of the mediocre Mirror Ball single

AND A NOTE FROM PAGE!

actually never occurred to me until now that neil has two songs about going downtown. did he forget?

"Downtown" was also followed a year later by what may really be his most insipid single of the '90s, "This Town"

lol 2nd side is the side I skip

There are no words. I am baffled.

I had an old second hand vinyl copy of On The Beach - side 1 was fine, but side 2 was unplayable. I grabbed a CD version when it came out, but as a result I'm way more familiar with side 1 than side 2. Side 1 is great too - I'll be upset if Walk On, See The Sky About To Rain, and Revolution Blues don't all place.

damn, i used my itunes & last.fm to compile my ballot but forgot to look under buffalo springfield which is why expecting to fly didn't make my ballot, probably in my top 10 or 12

Poll/thread/screencaps totally deliver! Only two of mine have placed so far, Fuckin' Up and Will To Love. The rest of my ballot is gonna be top 25 or already toast.

looks like only one of mine has placed so far ("motion pictures"). expecting a whole bunch of my other choices to come flooding in though -- my ballot didn't show too much imagination in the end.

4 of 30 in so far: The Old Laughing Lady, Birds, On the Way Home, and Long May You Run.

Two so far: Ordinary People and Will to Love.

I love these countdowns for the way they force me to focus on one artist I know well but not top-to-bottom. I don't care that much about what places where - I just like the discovery process.

Same with me. I didn't think anything could get me listening to rough guitar rock again, but doing this has been an absolute joy.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who voted for "Don't Cry". Though I fear I'm the only one who put "Opera Star" as high as I did!

8/30 so far.

I think this is the week I finally get 'round to buying Trans.

5/40: Fuckin Up, Crime in the City, Lookout Joe, Harvest, Birds

I'm at 3/40, and three more I almost voted for. Several I never would have voted for, which is what makes this exciting.

Though I fear I'm the only one who put "Opera Star" as high as I did!

I voted for "Opera Star"!

4/30: Ordinary People, Lookout Joe, Look Out For My Love, Come On Baby, Let's Go Downtown

I'm waiting for a call to pick up my car, so I'm going to start a little earlier today--#50-26.

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil50.jpg

The very essence of '70s mellow, Kris K.--to paraphrase Woody Allen, he achieved total mellowosity.

I just realized with horror that nothing from TTN made my ballot.

That might have been true of a very small number of voters...I'd have to check.

I had this one, good way to start the day. Think it was my only TTN song, but would have to check.

To answer something posted since yesterday, any Dead Man votes were counted separately--voters were very specific about which track. But there were only two or three.

Oops.

I need some moderator help--when I try to re-post with the proper tags, it won't let me. Maybe delete the untagged post? Sorry.

Game delayed on account of fuckin' up.

Cool, I voted for Mellow My Mind and Harvest Moon!

Was holding off on commenting until it was "official", but I woulda though HM would be much higher than this. Then you remember all of the other great songs still to come. Maybe the craziest rollout of any of these polls, should be really interesting.

Harvest Moon kinda annoyed me when I saw it on MTV at the time. It was this rather lame sweet folky ballad, so chances are I wouldn't've wanted it anyway, but the look was so obviously of-the-moment (iirc it even had a Smells Like Teen Spirit janitor) that it seemed more like old man jumping on bandwagon than a king returning to his throne. A typical Neil perverse move might've provoked more respect.

Obviously now all that couldn't matter less.

Yes--right now, #49 is only a rumour, wrapped in some gossip, inside an untagged URL.

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil49.jpg

There we go.

Thanks!...I'm indulging myself one family picture: that's my mom and dad in 1956. Not sure where they are.

La Lechera and I both voted for "Mellow My Mind". It's awesome. La Lechera also voted for "Harvest Moon", which I agree is awesome but it was a very late cut for me.

Pretty sure I didn't vote for anything off of "Tonight's the Night." Good record but overrated. May have voted for two off of "Harvest Moon," but neither of the singles.

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil48.jpg

I love LA.

I heard "Harest Moon" in a store last week maybe--I was a bit tipsy, but it sounded way more pretty and touching than it ever had before

I wish I'd been there...if you blow the photo up 10,000 times, I think you can spot Rodney Bingenheimer.

Hey, L.A.! My first vote of the day to show

Harvest Moon kinda annoyed me when I saw it on MTV at the time. It was this rather lame sweet folky ballad, so chances are I wouldn't've wanted it anyway, but the look was so obviously of-the-moment (iirc it even had a Smells Like Teen Spirit janitor) that it seemed more like old man jumping on bandwagon than a king returning to his throne. A typical Neil perverse move might've provoked more respect.

Obviously now all that couldn't matter less.

― Ismael Klata, Tuesday, July 10, 2012 10:09 AM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark

as a grunge kid watching MTV at the time and just becoming familiar with NY this is a hilarious notion to me -- the "Harvest Moon" video seemed like this anachronistic thing that belonged on a country video countdown, and i wouldn't have dreamed of the guy sweeping a broom as a musical instrument being a nod to "Teen Spirit." of course, within a year he was onstage with Pearl Jam at the VMAs and i was like ok i guess this guy is cool.

I'm trying to remember my first exposure to Neil Young. Obv a lot of it had to do with the big orange book, but I seem to remember it was that I was reading about Dino Jr./J Mascis, without having heard them much if at all, and the constant comparison to Neil's guitar style is what made me steal my stepdad's cassette copy of Everybody Knows. Even then, I was still perplexed, and Harvest (which I hated) didn't help. Things didnt fall into place for me until I bought a copy of Rust, which blew me away immediately...

What is "the big orange book"? Is this some secret Neil document I don't know about?

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil47.jpg

"The Loner" took a while to get going--almost no votes initially, then they started to come in midway. Putting aside Buffalo Springfield for a second, I view it like Scorsese's Who's That Knocking at My Door?: an early indication that this guy was unique and major.

I'd also include it with Husker Du's "Diane" and "Riders on the Storm" as one of the spookiest serial-killer songs, even though Neil only hints that that might be what it's about.

The Loner is great. I kind of wish I had voted for it.

big orange book = this. It's how I got into non-mainstream music for lack of a better term. one of those things that defined my adolescence

surprised that the last two placed so high -- like 'em, didn't think they were favorites. probably prefer the "live rust" loner to the s/t. those twin guitar lines are sweet.

That's funny--being older, for me it's the big red book and the big white book.

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil46.jpg

I also had nothing from TTN, but thought I'd be the only one. Of his canonical albums, it's the one I came to last and it has never quite sunk its hooks into me -- probably just need to listen to it more.

xpost: ah, "See the Sky." Love it. Bumped a few Big Classics to sneak it onto the bottom of my ballot.

Nothing to say about this one myself, other than surprise that it finished so high.

yeah today's list has all been "songs off great albums i never would have thought of voting for"

actually can't even say great albums for s/t and harvest moon

I think "The Loner" has outlasted its album, though--still gets played on the radio, at least up here.

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil45.jpg

yaaaaay faith restored, though i thought this'd be higher!

read somewhere that rick rubin once had to pull off the road when this song came on to cry, where's their collabo

Another surprise to me, although Gold Rush is so brilliant, it was maybe inevitable that what I consider its weakest song would draw support.

love how this song has such an affirmative/positive title, but the lyrics are anything but

"See The Sky" has one of my favorite electric piano lines in all rock.

I thought about voting for "Loner" for sure, and "LA" is amazing; I think a lot of the prettier melodies on Time Fades Away probably could go toe to toe with stuff on Gold Rush; it's just that that particular live album is like the worst possible context for them--"Love in Mind" and "The Bridge" almost sound like interludes (same with "Sweet Joni" now that I think about it; he seemed to have a real almost fragmentary, or even haiku-like, approach to the ballad at that time) and "L.A." which is probably as good as "Don't Let It Bring You Down" comes off as way more sketchy and abrasive (which actually enhances its gripe-litany lyrics)

"I Believe in You" is my first top ten track to place. Incredible

If I could've brought myself to rank my ballot, "I Believe in You" would've been my #1 I think.

Rick Rubin otm

Wow--just not hearing what the rest of you hear.

"A blissful feeling came over me, and I had to actually pull over my car onto the side of the road because I couldn't drive while experiencing this. Just from the effect the music had on me--it was somehow related to the sensation of dying. It felt like my heart stopped. It wasn't a bad feeling. I don't know if it was going out of my body, but I didn't feel myself leaving my body. I don't how to explain it other than a real feeling of bliss. It was really a great magical feeling. I don't know why I'm somehow relating it to death, but it had some kind of death overtone in it. It was a really positive feeling."

weird, this song dropped out of my itunes library at some point so i forgot about it but totally would have it top 20

a gift:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k--EF7cZmw

she butchers the best hook though imo

Rick Rubin? (xxpost) That's like Greil Marcus pulling over to the side of the road when he heard "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" for the first time.

Songs Famous People Claim To Have Needed To Pull Their Car To The Side Of The Road After Hearing

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil44.jpg

I don't know why but of all the harmonies on ATGR, it's the chorus of "I Believe in You" I find the most affecting - I think it might be the really simple piano line.

Old photo--don't go looking for that gas station.

Wow, did not expect "Sedan Delivery" at this point.

sedan delivery, so great. i sort of imagine neil having written this song after someone described the concept of punk rock to him. i doubt neil really listened to a great deal punk rock, but he understood.
also
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5akaznulK8

I voted for "Sedan Delivery" - was thinking especially of the version off Live Rust.

yeah I was hoping for higher. This song just missed my top 10 iirc

Used to love it. In 1979, I tried to convince my punk-loving friend Peter that it sounded exactly like punk rock. I had no idea what I was talking about.

The words of "I Believe In You" are so direct and moving, especially when compared to something like "Tell Me Why" off the same album. Not that I don't love TMW, but I seem to recall a quote from NY to the effect that he stopped playing it live, cos he didn't know what the lyrics were supposed

I voted for "Sedan Delivery" and La Lechera voted for "See The Sky Is About To Rain". Happy to say neither of us voted for "I Believe In You". Too treacly for my taste.

Pretty sure I didn't vote for anything off of "Tonight's the Night." Good record but overrated.

Harvest Moon kinda annoyed me when I saw it on MTV at the time. It was this rather lame sweet folky ballad, so chances are I wouldn't've wanted it anyway, but the look was so obviously of-the-moment (iirc it even had a Smells Like Teen Spirit janitor) that it seemed more like old man jumping on bandwagon than a king returning to his throne. A typical Neil perverse move might've provoked more respect.

I voted for it entirely because of this solo performance Neil did on SNL:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbj6fl_neil-young-harvest-moon-live-snl-ne_music

"See The Sky" has one of my favorite electric piano lines in all rock.

Likewise, the Massey (or is it Fillmore?) take referenced in the other thread convinced me to put this one here. Neil solo live seems to up the intimacy level for me.

I didn't vote for "The Loner" -- but the Live Rust take is killer.

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Yes, the electric version comes later, at which point I'll post what they would have gotten combined.

while i restrained myself from loading my ballot with Rust, it's the one album where I won't be like "christ, did you guys vote for EVERYTHING on it?" cuz I probably could've too.

I'd rather listen to "My My, Hey Hey" these days--the electric is overplayed on the local station, and I always like the guy who screams out "wooooo!" at Johnny Rotten's name.

Wow, never would have voted for "I Believe In You." Always makes me think of "Killing Me Softly." "Sedan Delivery" ... I love nuts Neil, but I wanted to save room for other stuff.

Sedan and On the Beach were tied with the most songs on my ballot

not Sedan, Rust Never Sleeps

Like "Rockin'," love the acoustic and electric versions equally. Also love the notion of bookending an album with acoustic and live versions of the same song.

I wish the Stooges had done that with "Down in the Street."

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First Zuma song to place, I think...great opener.

more of my votes appearing in the lower echelons here - LA ("City in the smog! City in the smog! Don't you wish that you could be here too" = lol), "I Believe in You", "Harvest Moon", "Don't Cry No Tears"

From La Lechera: "Don't Cry No Tears"  - true love ain't too hard to see

Yes! "Don't Cry No Tears" --> "Danger Bird" = one of the best one-two punches in his catalog.

wish the Stooges had done that with "Down in the Street."

goggling at this. how would that work?

This was easily one of the first songs on my ballot. Great riff, and I find the lyrics or the way Neil sings them really unnerving, almost scary.

yeah, the guitar sound on Zuma. the best guitar sound ever. love the super early version of this that showed up on the archives, too.

Kidding about the Stooges. (Is goggling like googling?)

"There's nothing I can say / To make him go away" - seriously makes me shudder whenever I'm thinking about a failed relationship.

goggling is like this -> o_0

Forgot about the rough sketch on Archives--was amazed hearing that for the first time. What's it called again, Tyler?

"I Wonder"

Can't remember if I picked "Don't Cry No Tears," but I know I almost did! It's like the perfect bar-band no rehearsal cover song choice.

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Oh man.

Love this song so, so much.

I'm beginning to think either virtually all of my songs will place, or only half of them. So far, only three or four have shown up.

I've mentioned seeing that Toronto show in 1978. Something I didn't realize: not only would the Rust Never Sleeps songs that he played be new to me, so would anything from Comes a Time. The show was Oct. 1, Comes a Time was released Oct. 2.

Was hoping to find a clip of "I Wonder," but no luck.

yeah, doesn't seem to be on youtube! lame-o.
it is crazy that the Rust tour was essentially in support of Comes A Time... surprise!

Try this--again, amazing:

http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/I+Wonder/2zgZGQ?src=5

ha, there it is, yeah, so nice. awesome that 10 years later he was like, hmm, yeah *that* song.

"Comes a Time" is a great song. I just heard that album for the first time within the last week. That song is my favorite; there's something about the way that chorus ends

Love imagining "Don't Cry No Tears" being played by guys who look like this:

http://www.ucheritagemuseum.com/images/content/the%20shadows%20james%20murphy,%20nicky%20hall%201960s%20new%20albany.jpg

(Not the Squires.)

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love comes a time (though i may not have voted for it). amazing that 10+ years into his career, neil wrote a song like that, which is like the archetypal neil young song. don't think any of his peers were capable of that.

Checking in late. Love See the Sky - placed it very high. Just after filing my ballot at the weekend I walked into a book shop to get out of the rain and they were playing the Massey Hall album and this track had just started. It was such weird, beautiful timing.

Also love Comes a Time - a friend wanted it at his wedding but his wife vetoed it. Boo.

Re: first becoming aware of NY, another friend said his first encounter was seeing Computer Age on a British TV show and assuming he was "Depeche Mode's grandad or something".

"Out On The Weekend" is such a great opener. Neil did a great job sequencing those 70s albums.

love the bell-like pedal steel from ben keith on this track.

"Think I'll pack it in and buy a pick-up/Take it down to L.A."--love that line.

Had something similar happen on the weekend. The record kiosk at the flea market I always go to had Harvest on. (Almost solicited a list from the clerk.) "Alabama" was playing when I got there, but the power went wonky and the CD re-started from the beginning.

I know I hinted at this yesterday with "Birds", but is anyone else having a really hard time grasping the fact that we are still so low in this countdown and are being actively bombarded with all time classic shit that would be in pretty much any other artist's top 3? Who knows, maybe I just love this dude way too much...

Glad to say we had two Bens and one Bruce vote in this poll. Also one of the Pet Shop Boys.

The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin polls were similar. (xpost)

"Bell-like" is a great description for that sound, it's gorgeous. Didn't vote for anything from Harvest but would've picked this or Are You Ready for the Country.

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Very high on my own ballot, thought it would be higher overall. Such a brilliant song.

Is Neil Young the only act of his vintage who would surprise no one by dropping a total masterpiece next week? (Besides Dylan, that is?)

Both La Lechera and I tipped points toward "Barstool Blues". I can't think of a higher compliment than that it puts me in the mood to listen to it whenever it comes on. Not a lot of songs work that way for me.

For me, Neil might release a masterpiece next week, Dylan can't--not unless he goes back to singing like he did in 1966 (or at least in 1974). But I know hardly anyone agrees, and a separate thread anyway.

nah I agree with you, Dylan's voice is shot.

otoh I consider his Xmas album a masterpiece sooooo

Dylan's voice is shot, but he's released a couple of classic shot-voice records already.