A World of Constant Strangers: The Neil Young Results Thread

I saw the Buffalo Springfield reunion show at Bonnaroo last year, it was fine but the volume was too low. It was sort of poignant to be in a field full of 20-somethings shouting "TURN IT UP" at the 60-somethings on stage.

"Don't Be Denied" was my #1. I know (from Shakey) that song was written on the day of Whitten's death.

h8 "Old Man". Hope "Heart of Gold" places tho.

I had "Don't Be Denied" next to "Hitchhiker" on my ballot. The latter is like Part II: The Drug Years.

12/30 so far.

I can think of 20 obvious songs that are sure to place. Which leaves a few good mystery songs.

h8 Old Man too. My most cringey moment ever was being treated by a drunken colleague to an acapella version, complete with air guitar and teary eulogy to his dad, with colleagues in the bar at my first-ever work Christmas night out. I'd wager I was the only other person there who knew the song.

The guy in question is now a mid-ranking partner with the same firm and boasts a ftse100 company as his big client.

wow, that sounds awkward.
i voted for old man, tho, i like when the drums come in and ben keith's pedal steel. let's hear it for ben keith. piano on it is nice too, kind of buried, but blends nicely w/ neil's guitar.

Ben Keith is welcome whenever he pops up on a Neil song.

yeah he's a perfect fit for neil in the 70s. kind of wish there was some unreleased solo pedal steel album from 1974 in the archives.

I believe I'm 11 out of 40 so far

Shakey is good on the circumstances around "Old Man," but the lyric has always kind of ruined that one for me.

I'm 10/40, but my ballot was heavy on the canon, so I expect the percentage will go up in the last third.

http://www.thecoolgroove.com/ben.html

Just learned that Ben Keith recorded a solo album in 1984 and apparently has unreleased solo material from 1997.

And a Christmas album.

I'm 10/40, but my ballot was heavy on the canon, so I expect the percentage will go up in the last third.

ditto, though i'm wondering if any post-rust could crack the top 25 at this point. i remember clemenza spoiling early on nothing was past 30 or so, and i could see the ragged glory hits all canceling each other out, but "rockin' in the free world" has yet to show up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX2zTw7Krs0

Up to 12/30 now (I think) and about another 10 should make it...will be kind of bummed if "Natural Beauty" and "Journey Through the Past" don't place though.

I thought "Razor Love" would be a shoe-in, guess not?

'Danger Bird' and 'Out on the Weekend' were both in my top 10, great to see them here.

I heard Decade long before On The Beach so it was weird hearing 'Walk On' as a taste of what I'd heard was such a downer of an album.

I can really hear the 'Winterlong'/Big Star comparisons, it's in the guitar sound.

compositionally it bears a lot of resemblances to Big Star as well, imho - the chiming, ascending guitar line, complimented by the descending "come back now, come back now, whoah" vocal melody at the end of the phrase - Chilton totally used that trick.

I heard Decade long before On The Beach so it was weird hearing 'Walk On' as a taste of what I'd heard was such a downer of an album.

yeah i doubt it really was an "a&r wants a single" situation but that's how it feels on OTB after knowing it far longer from decade

i know you guys are all really interested my prairie wind liveblog

but this album is pretty damn slight

it's all a dream is nice

i'll revisit Prairie Wind before Silver & Gold and Are You Passionate but I'm not in a rush

yeah prairie wind has a nice sound, but there's something lacking in the songwriting.

Haven't seen Hawks & Doves mentioned...how is it generally regarded among Neilophiles?

has its fans, but i don't think there's a consensus fave track (if there is I know it's not the one i voted for)

i voted for little wing, almost voted for lost in space.

I like Hawks & Doves quite a bit, - picked it as one of my fave album covers and voted for "Little Wing." "Union Man" is pretty great too. "The gentleman said ... bumper stickers should be issued!"

i've had the theory that had neil taken the first side of hawks n doves and the best tracks from reactor, he'd have a rust-like masterpiece. maybe?

I've been listening to H&D a lot the last few days. "This Old Homestead" is a weird lyric set to "For The Turnstiles"-OTB chords.

*The

that first side is such a hodgepodge, though. said it on the voting thread but I think the album's sort of American Stars'n'Bars II - one side country, one side a '70s grab-bag, just without a "Like A Hurricane." I voted for the title track, as I've got a soft spot for psycho patriot Neil.

I only heard H&D once or twice 20 years ago before listening to it again the other day. The slight songs are kinda fun, but otm re: best of H&D + best of Re Ac Tor = More Rust.

that sorta ploy would probably strike neil as too obvious, but it'd work!

I think around 5/30.

I'm at, I should say.

I always knew Neil from classic rock stations and thought he was alright but the first time I was like "whoah this guy is rad" was in college, when a friend of mine was giving a slide show. he had recently returned from a p legit mountaineering trip to Nepal and played "walk on" as sort of an outro over a series of pictures and it was so different from old man and other MOR ny stuff that it twigged something for me. I was already a huge fan of the built to spill cover of Cortez but had never really put two and two together.

thank you based neil

also kinda tempted to go to cheapo and buy all of the ny vinyl they have, I'm missing so much

and not that anyone cares but my current attending physician (basically my boss) has turned out to be a massive neil fan. we were on the way to d0rothy d4y (for u MNans) and he str8 blasted cinnamon girl the whole time, it was a ~moment~

hutlock must be on diaper duty today.

Has anyone started a Spotify list yet? If so, how are we dealing with TFA songs -- are there any bad covers or live versions elsewhere?

crazy low ranking for danger bird! a man needs a maid beating it out by 11 spots, wtf

cool list so far though. makes me want to really dig into the post-rust stuff that i'm less familiar with.

i made a spotify playlist of my ballot and had to say goodbye to anything from TFA, Trans or LOW

bummed lucky thirteen wasn't on there either

is lucky 13 out of print or something? that's too bad it's not even avail. on spotify. great comp, really made a case for the 80s neil when i was a kid.

My experience with Young and album rock radio matches gbx's. I had no idea of the depth of his fantastic, weird catalog from hearing "Old Man" and "Southern Man" over and over (har). I had to read the SPIN Alternative Guide's essay and dream of the money to find an album that was the aural equivalent of watching on screen a cow entering the water and leaving.

yeah i never got around to getting lucky 13, only song from the era that feels strikingly absent is "Prisoners"

I found Lucky Thirteen used for cheap a couple years ago, it definitely made me more open to the idea of exploring his 80s.

The two Old Ways inclusions did not convince though.

Dunno why it's been hard for Neil to cut straight country records; Comes A Time is closer to a folk-country amalgam, I guess (with a little mellotron thrown in). Like Jagger he can't quite do it without smirking, although I'll take "Dead Flowers" over "Where is the Highway Tonight."

xp yeah those are still pretty dire. the stuff on a treasure is the best place for that era. lucky 13 really is decade II though, just, you know, a different kind of decade.

I voted for this song, with this version specifically in mind, I gather it was supposed to be on Old Ways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65wWCXProCI

I can't exactly endorse the video, ha. What a screenshot.