Neil Young and The Santa Monica Flyers

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Somewhere Under the Rainbow, No. 2 in Neil Young's Original Bootleg Series, was recorded live at London's Rainbow Theatre on November 5, 1973. Young was joined by The Santa Monica Flyers, a.k.a. Nils Lofgren (lead and rhythm guitar, piano, accordion, vocals), Ben Keith (pedal steel guitar, vocals), Billy Talbot (bass, vocals), and Ralph Molina (drums, vocals). (Talbot and Molina, of course, have been the only two consistent members of Crazy Horse since the band's inception; Lofgren played in the band in 1970-1971, 1973, and from 2018 to the present day.  Ben Keith first worked with Young on 1971's Harvest, beginning a 40-year collaboration.)  The Flyers all played on the sessions for Young's Tonight's the Night album, much of which was played at the Rainbow.  They were in a particularly improvisational frame of mind that night, leading to some of the most spontaneous, intense, and charged performances of the artist's career.  It arrives on two CDs or two LPs.