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Neil Young is heading back to his archive for a new box set--one that puts an in-demand album on CD for the first time after a near 45-year wait.
Official Release Series Discs 5-8 continues the packaging of Young's classic Reprise albums as part of his own personal archival series. (These four albums were collected on vinyl in 2014; Official Release Series Discs 1-4, covering 1968's self-titled album through 1972's Harvest, bowed in 2009 while Official Release Series 8.5-12, spanning The Stills-Young Band's Long May You Run (1976) to 1979's Live Rust, was released to vinyl last year.) This box will feature high-resolution remasters of live album Time Fades Away (1973), On the Beach (1974), Tonight's the Night (1975) and Zuma (1975), with Time Fades Away making its first appearance on the format.
The CD debut of Time Fades Away allows fans to revisit a bumpy chapter in Young's career, known as the "Ditch Trilogy." It began with a 1973 solo tour with Harvest-era backing band The Stray Gators, a trek beset by problems from start to finish. Crazy Horse guitarist and friend Danny Whitten had passed away at the end of the previous year (he was in fact turned away in rehearsals by young when it became apparent his substance abuse was preventing him from keeping up with the band), and alcohol flowed freely among the rest of the group. Though fans praised the newly-electric album, which consisted of eight original songs otherwise unavailable on LP, Young has frequently dismissed it, calling it "the worst record I ever made" in 1987 and cancelling a last-minute HDCD reissue in 1995. (Young even went as far to tease an alternate version of the album, Time Fades Away II, in his long-delayed Archives Vol. 2 box set, which would feature more tracks with Johnny Barbata, who replaced Kenny Buttrey mid-tour and is heard on three Time Fades Away cuts.)
From there, Young took to the studio to work through his grief and despair, having lost not only Whitten but friend and roadie Bruce Berry mere months later (turned onto drugs by Whitten). His first set of sessions, cut mostly in a single day with Crazy Horse's bassist Billy Talbot and drummer Ralph Molina plus guitarist Nils Lofgren and pedal steel player Ben Keith (collectively known as The Santa Monica Flyers), addressed this loss head-on, name-checking Berry in "Tonight's the Night" and including "Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown," a live track from 1970 prominently featuring Whitten. But it was the second set of sessions in early 1974 that was released first, a haphazard collection of still-grieving songs with minimal arrangements and production, plus contributions from members of Crazy Horse, The Band, Ben Keith, David Crosby and Graham Nash. On the Beach was a shocking studio follow-up to Harvest, deemed "one of the most despairing albums of the decade" by Rolling Stone, but both it and Tonight's the Night are regarded by critics and fans alike as masterpieces. (Rarity has elevated at least one of these albums, too; On the Beach did not make it to CD until 2003.)
After reuniting with Crosby, Stills & Nash for a "doomed" 1974 tour, Young regrouped Crazy Horse (now featuring Talbot, Molina and guitarist Frank Sampedro--a lineup that's stuck ever since) for a more traditional, "return to form" album. Zuma featured more straightfoward guitar heroics on tunes like "Cortez The Killer" (one of his best-known songs), "Don't Cry No Tears" and "Danger Bird," and set the tone for Young's subgenre-hopping ways over the next few years.
Official Release Series Discs 5-8 is available May 12. Pre-order it below!
Official Release Series Discs 5-8 (Reprise, 2017)
Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K. (TBD)
Disc 1: Time Fades Away (originally released as Reprise MS 2151, 1973 - previously unreleased on CD)
- Time Fades Away (Live @ The Myriad, Oklahoma City - 3/1/1973)
- Journey Thru the Past (Live @ The Public Hall, Cleveland - 2/11/1973)
- Yonder Stands the Sinner (Live @ The Seattle Center Coliseum - 3/17/1973)
- L.A. (Live @ The Myriad, Oklahoma City - 3/1/1973)
- Love In Mind (Live @ Royce Hall, UCLA - 1/30/1971)
- Don't Be Denied (Live @ The Phoenix Coliseum - 3/28/1973)
- The Bridge (Live @ The Sacramento Memorial Auditorium - 4/1/1973)
- Last Dance (Live @ The San Diego Sports Arena - 3/29/1973)
Disc 2: On the Beach (originally released as Reprise R 2180, 1974)
- Walk On
- See the Sky About to Rain
- Revolution Blues
- For the Turnstiles
- Vampire Blues
- On the Beach
- Motion Pictures
- Ambulance Blues
Disc 3: Tonight's The Night (originally released as Reprise MS 2221, 1975)
- Tonight's the Night
- Speakin' Out
- World On a String
- Borrowed Tune
- Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown (Live)
- Mellow My Mind
- Roll Another Number (For the Road)
- Albuquerque
- New Mama
- Lookout Joe
- Tired Eyes
- Tonight's the Night (Part II)
Disc 4: Neil Young with Crazy Horse, Zuma (originally released as Reprise MS 2242, 1975)
- Don't Cry No Tears
- Danger Bird
- Pardon My Heart
- Lookin' for a Love
- Barstool Blues
- Stupid Girl
- Drive Back
- Cortez The Killer
- Through My Sails
Release Round-Up: Week of March 31
Don't Be Denied: Neil Young Adds Two Titles to Original Bootleg Series
Release Round-Up: Week of December 2
Release Round-Up: Week of November 18
Here's hoping at some point, he releases Time Fades Away on its own. I have the other three albums on CD and do not care to re-buy.
I'm sure they will be at some point. The previous grouping were (as have been the vinyl reissues of these four albums - I picked up Time Fades Away on vinyl when it appeared on its own).
On The Beach might require some comparative listening beforehand, but the first four albums in the 'official release series' were a sonic step up from the older CDs, so if the price is right it's probably worthwhile.
Are we ever going to see an official cd or hi-res download of the Journey Through The Past Soundtrack? That's been the hardest one to find (other than needle drops).
Probably not I'm guessing. Neil has said that it would be difficult to re-compile JTTP because of the many different sources of the album's tracks, (mono TV audio, film audio, etc.) There was supposed to be an official CD released in 1995 with Time Fades Away, On The Beach, American Stars 'n' Bars, Hawks and Doves, and Re-ac-tor, but he pulled them at the last minute. There is a test CD of JTTP, but nobody's really heard it. Side 3 of the album which is just the song Words was re-issued on Vol. 1 of the Archives box in 2009. It would be great, but I'm definitely not holding my breath...
I forgot...Soldier has also been issued twice...on Decade, (but edited,) and on Archives too...
He was never better than this.
Funny how history re writes it self .....i still have an old yellowed clipping from a Philadelphia Inquirer review quoting rolling stone saying time fades away was voted worst album of the year that year......in retrospect it along with a few others from just before and just after have become indisputably considered Neil's greatest works.
Amazon just sent me an email today saying these are delayed until mid-September.
Just got the two new sets and I was surprised to see the CD in digipacks rather than jewel cases. The packs are also bigger than standard CDs.
So, here' my question: Was the first set 1-4 ever issued that way. I have the first set and its jewel case format. I'd love for all the sets to look the same so if 1-4 was issued in this bigger mini-LP format, I wonder where I could buy it....
If anybody knows...please reply
Funny how history re writes it self .....i still have an old yellowed clipping from a Philadelphia Inquirer review quoting rolling stone saying time fades away was voted worst album of the year that year......in retrospect it along with a few others from just before and just after have become indisputably considered Neil's greatest works.