A World of Constant Strangers: The Neil Young Results Thread

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

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil62.jpg

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.

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil61.jpg

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).

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil60.jpg

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

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil59.jpg

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.

http://phildellio.tripod.com/neil58.jpg

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