Search and destroy: Neil Young

Just heard "On the Beach" for the first time last week, after about a week of tour, on a hot summer night driving through Virginia. I found it in a thrift store on cassette, a needledrop backed with "Re*ac*tor" which also blew my mind. Damn damn damn amazing. "Ambulance Blues" and "Motion Pictures" are sooooooo beautiful.

I think the turntable it was dubbed from runs slow, because I listened to it on youtube and it sounds a little faster. The slow tape burn really fits that last half of "On the Beach" though....

The second side of "Reactor" is really great. The guitar noise on "Shots" is just killer!

Also that one-note solo in "Motor City" (I think). And the cool stuttering in "Rapid Transit".

This looks like a case of NEIL YOUNG FEVER!

On the Beach kinda kicked off an obsession a few years ago with me. I eventually worked my way through most of his stuff, and there's a tonyo love, but I think On the Beach will always be my favorite.

Re: the speed of the turntable, here's some information on this issue (copied from this site)

And we can finally settle another issue that has been dogging collectors of this album on vinyl: This is bad news for UK and some German/EU fans of the vinyl - ALL UK copies regardless of vintage were mastered using a faulty cutting tape that played at the WRONG speed. The resulting LP played too fast. It really makes a difference to the sound of the songs so I suggest all UK pressing owners frame the damn thing and put it on the wall and listen to the CD. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
This also applies to later EU and German pressings that carry the 'strawberry' mastering stamp. Original 1st press copies from Germany are OK as are most other nationality pressings to my knowledge - but if it says K54014 or 'Strawberry' in the dead wax run-out area, it plays incorrect. ALL UK pressings are affected.
All US copies are OK.

I found a vinyl copy about a year or two before the cd-reissue was released and upon getting the cd I noticed the speed difference right away, checked the runout wax and yep, there was a "K54014". I quite like the slightly faster "Walk On" though...

The second side of "Reactor" is really great

1st side has "Opera Star" and "T-Bone", so it's none too shabby

from some kind of new jonathan demme doc?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtM87hxp2FM&feature=player_embedded

goof whitney?

This marks the second time solo Neil has maintained more or less the exact same setlist night to night just for (I assume) the sake of a Demme film. Did this one ever get released?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpltKhz8fVM&feature=player_embedded

i guess not? i haven't seen it. would watch.

um, i saw it.

it's awesome.

yeah it looks good -- that tour was really strong, excellent band.

way better than Heart of Gold imo but i'd rather see bitter rocking neil anyway. it's on netflix i think.

is it? i thought i hadn't come out on dvd.
netflix sez
Availability: DVD availability date unknown
also sez
This movie is: Gritty

ok i'm an idiot. it played here for about a week last year. that was when i saw it. guess it hasn't been released after that. i looked on netflix for like 2 seconds and i don't even have it (netflix), lol.

it is kind of gritty tbh!

I just scored a copy of Stills-Young cheap. Any thoughts on this least lamented of Neil's oop '70s work?

"Ocean Girl" is one of my 10 favourite Neil songs--love it as much as almost anything. For me, the rest of his half is tepid--the title song's somewhat better than that, but still pretty ordinary, I think.

yeah "ocean girl" is good. i like midnight on the bay. prefer long may you run on bootlegs / live albums.
stills' songs are pretty bad.

that's funny, i just bought stills-young the other day as well. still haven't had time to listen to it, but it was only a few bucks. looking forward to hearing "ocean rain", though...i assumed that only "long may you run" was any good!

"ocean girl", sorry. been listening to way too much echo recently

Two guys within a matter of days--Stills is on the phone to Neil as we speak. "Ocean Girl" always felt like a Zuma song to me; don't know if it was ever slated for that originally. I wonder if Neil has enough girl songs for a compilation: "Ocean Girl," "Cinnamon Girl," "Country Girl," "Stupid Girl"...

ok, "make love to you" may be the single worst song that I've ever heard

Stills brings the goods always

Actually enjoyed this a bit. I bet Warners wished at the time Neil could have delivered an album full of the the material he put out here--perhaps the closest he came to mellow El Lay studio rock. "Let It Shine" sounds like a Zuma outtake with industrial polish applied.

As for the Stills stuff, umm, at least they aren't as bad as that singles bar song song from CSN the next year, with the lines about "she's looking at your crotch". Really didn't need to know about Stills' late-70s sex life. Musically, the last song ("Guardian Angel") remended me alot of Steely Dan.

The Neil stuff makes for a nice EP. I wonder what if any of this material will make the cut for Archives II: Ditch Boogaloo. Meanwhile, I need to dig up my copies of the tour boots i got from Tyler's blog.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gHR6lDM75Y

yes it's gonna take all night

"...to get my flabby coke dick semi-erect."

hee hee.
kind of coming around on A Treasure -- a fun listen for sure. The real "treasures" are "Southern Pacific" and "Grey Riders". Excellent band sound, great guitar from Neil. I also think the Toyota song is worth a chuckle or two -- second verse begins with the lines "Another thing that's buggin' me!" Haha. Old Man Neil writes a letter to the editor.

I wonder if Neil has enough girl songs for a compilation: "Ocean Girl," "Cinnamon Girl," "Country Girl," "Stupid Girl"...

Do Inca/Aztec songs on the side 2

I wonder if Neil has enough girl songs for a compilation: "Ocean Girl," "Cinnamon Girl," "Country Girl," "Stupid Girl"...

Do Inca/Aztec songs on the side 2

that makes a lot of sense actually

I have that Stills/Young album on vinyl and let me just say it's one of the few times when I wish I had it digitally instead, Still's songs are so execrable

it's like him and Neil's songs are from different planets

yeah, one dude hitting career peaks (maybe not w/ the songs here, but just in general) and the other bottoming out. though i guess stills had plenty more bottoming out to do.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l7b58sBvr11qzsoufo1_250.jpg

OH MY GOD

is that stills?!

$100 if anyone can find a live video of modern day stills performing "Make Love To You"

yes that is steven stills

http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/100929/hr-pufnstuf_320.jpg

he kinda makes me think of an aged sasquatch

http://scaryredhair.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/harry-of-the-hendersons_2.jpg

I can't think of a single Stills song that's better than okay.

yikes that "make love to you" song is awful

"Black Coral" has a good Stills piano part but, wow, I have no idea what he's trying to do with his vocal melody -- or if he's got one!

I can't think of a single Stills song that's better than okay.

^^^

Nash has the Hollies stuff, Crosby has the Byrds + "If I Could Only Remember My Name", Neil's obviously got tons of great songs... Stills has nothing

i like about half of manassas a lot

stills has a decent run going from springfield/csny/manassas.
he's got this too, which is pretty sweet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWkMMXgQohc

that's a cover!

as I'm sure you know

I've never heard the Manassas record

Appropriately, it's named after one of the bloodiest of Civil War battles.