The ever-prolific Neil Young is following up his latest studio album The Monsanto Years with another dip into his fabled Archives. Bluenote Café is the title of his Archives Performance Series Volume 11, due in 2-CD and 4-LP editions from Reprise Records on November 13.
Bluenote Café takes its name from the horn-powered band which backed Neil on his 1987-1988 tour before and after the April '88 release of the studio album This Note's for You (originally credited to Neil Young and the Bluenotes, to the ire of soul great Harold Melvin). Familiar Young collaborators and Crazy Horse veterans filled the band, with the lineup consisting of Rick Rosas (bass), Chad Cromwell (drums), Frank Sampedro (keyboards), Steve Lawrence (lead tenor saxophone), Ben Keith (alto saxophone), Larry Cragg (baritone saxophone), Claude Cailliet (trombone), Tom Bray (trumpet), John Fumo (trumpet), Billy Talbot (bass) and Ralph Molina (drums).
This Archives volume has been sequenced in the manner of a complete show, drawn from numerous tour stops including Toronto, San Francisco, Hollywood, New York and Cleveland. It features three songs previously unreleased by Young on record - "Bad News Comes to Town," "Crime of the Heart" and "Doghouse," plus live renditions of other rarities like the B-side "I'm Goin'," "Ain't It the Truth" (first heard on compilation Lucky Thirteen), "Fool for Your Love" (resurrected in a 2000 performance for Road Rock Vol. 1) and an epic, almost-20-minute-long take on "Tonight's the Night." Another lesser-known song, "Soul of a Woman," first appeared on Archives Vol. 9, A Treasure, in a country-flecked version with the International Harvesters. (Note that Archives Vol. 10, along with Vols. 4-8, has yet to be revealed or released.) Bluenote Café stretches as far back as Young's Buffalo Springfield days with "On the Way Home."
The eleventh volume of Neil Young's Archives Performance Series, Bluenote Café is due from Reprise on CD, vinyl and DD (including on Pono, of course) on November 13!
Neil Young, Archives Performance Series Vol. 11: Bluenote Café (Reprise, 2015)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
CD 1
- Welcome to the Big Room
- Don't Take Your Love Away From Me
- This Note's For You
- Ten Men Workin'
- Life In The City
- Hello Lonely Woman
- Soul of a Woman
- Married Man
- Bad News Comes to Town
- Ain't It the Truth
- One Thing
- Twilight
CD 2:
- I'm Goin'
- Ordinary People
- Crime In The City
- Crime Of The Heart
- Welcome Rap
- Doghouse
- Fool For Your Love
- Encore Rap
- On The Way Home
- Sunny Inside
- Tonight's The Night
All tracks previously unreleased.
CD 1, Track 1 from Mt. View Theater, Mt. View, CA - 11/7/87
CD 1, Track 2 from The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA - 11/12/87
CD 1, Track 3 from The Palace, Hollywood, CA - 4/13/88
CD 1, Tracks 4-7 from The World, New York, NY - 4/18/88
CD 1, Track 8 from The World, NY, NY - 4/21/88
CD 1, Tracks 9-12 from Agoura Ballroom, Cleveland, OH - 4/23/88
CD 2, Track 1 from CNE, Toronto, Canada - 8/18/88
CD 2, Track 2 from Lake Compounce, Bristol, CT - 8/23/88
CD 2, Track 3 from Jones Beach Theatre, Wantagh, NY - 8/27/88
CD 2, Track 4-8, 10-11 from Pier 84, NY, NY - 8/30/88
CD 2, Track 9 from Poplar Creek Music Theatre, Hoffman Estates, IL - 8/16/88
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Glad to see that this covers the entire history of the band, not just the 1988 group that toured widely. The 1987 shows featured Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina as the rhythm section, so the Blue Notes were actually Crazy Horse plus horns, although they played no Crazy Horse material. A bit of the Blue Notes repertoire had premiered at summer 1987 Crazy Horse shows with a much smaller horn section of just Ben Keith. The 1987 version of the band played only small venues for the most part, including a number of clubs throughout the Bay Area. The 1988 group played bigger venues especially after the album was released; by that time they were billed as "10 Men Working" due to Harold Melvin's Bluenotes complaint.
It should also be added that at least two of the Blue Notes have passed away: Steve Lawrence and Ben Keith
Also, happy to see there's a track from a Blue Notes show I attended, although "Mt. View" is actually Mountain View. It was at the Mountain View Theater on Castro, which is now a bar or restaurant of some sort. Weirdly, although the show was a single admission rather than Early / Late seatings, it consisted of two nearly identical sets, which would be the case for a number of Blue Notes show from that period.
Mr. Young likes furthering his musical history but unfortunately has little respect for those of us who haven't shelled out for his Pono device. I don't expect to see this album streaming or available for MP3 download.
"Bluenote Cafe" is already available for pre-order on Amazon MP3 and I believe on iTunes, as well.