Sorry in advance, but Neil has become a meme for all the wrong reasons...
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/12295329_1149105518451225_3265641725980756513_n.jpg?oh=b96dd836d7cf56bfe36bd18a9fb1cf87&oe=56F4CBF8
― Boz Scaggs was Adele back in 1976 (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 23 November 2015 02:23 (eight years ago) link
is that neil's new backing band? what an innovator!
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 23 November 2015 03:19 (eight years ago) link
woah, the anti-PONO lobby are in a mood
― please don't shampoo your eyes (stevie), Monday, 23 November 2015 10:06 (eight years ago) link
I really wish Neil had never gotten mixed up w that Bolas guy I think he is p mediocre 80s hack
― Amira, Queen of Creativity (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 23 November 2015 12:31 (eight years ago) link
helps explain how wired & intense it is
http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/11-23-2015/ASl-TA.gif
― niels, Monday, 23 November 2015 13:30 (eight years ago) link
Niko Bolas? Like a lot of guys of his era he recorded some superstar shit, but he's OK. Didn't he and Neil call themselves the Volume Dealers?
Ha, wiki:
Among his most notable production works are Neil Young's This Note's for You, Freedom and Living with War, Warren Zevon's Sentimental Hygiene and Melissa Etheridge debut self-titled album. Bolas' trademark technique is clear and loud recording of vocals. The same can be said of his talent at recording other musical instruments - in the early 80s, Bolas collaborated with legendary American hard rock band KISS, on their album Creatures of the Night, recording Eric Carr's drums.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 23 November 2015 16:07 (eight years ago) link
i dunno, maybe it's just that era. but shit like too far gone off freedom just pales in comparison to the version on the original chrome dreams bootleg
― Amira, Queen of Creativity (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 23 November 2015 16:17 (eight years ago) link
probably more the era than the producer, but it's probably worth noting that bolas and briggs had a mutual loathing society going on for a while.
― tylerw, Monday, 23 November 2015 16:52 (eight years ago) link
This was during the period when Neil thought the sun rose and set on digital. Only took him four or five albums to realize he didn't like it.
(Not that digital recording itself was the problem, but engineers new to digital would frequently crank the high frequencies into the painful range for "clarity" and "definition.")
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 23 November 2015 17:26 (eight years ago) link
wanna say Ragged Glory was digital
― Amira, Queen of Creativity (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 23 November 2015 19:17 (eight years ago) link
you are correct, DDD
― sleeve, Monday, 23 November 2015 19:18 (eight years ago) link
yeah, recorded at "Plywood Digital" which always sounds kinda hilarious to me.
― tylerw, Monday, 23 November 2015 19:19 (eight years ago) link
Was This Note's For You his first DDD recording? Or was it something earlier (Landing on Water sounds like it might be).
I know that, in addition to Eldorado, Freedom, and Ragged Glory, Arc-Weld and Harvest Moon were all-digital, all the time.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 23 November 2015 19:24 (eight years ago) link
really have zero problem with ragged glory's sound ... might have to pull out harvest moon to see if it seems less than perfect.
― tylerw, Monday, 23 November 2015 19:28 (eight years ago) link
Niko Bolas is responsible for putting together the band on that SNL clip and I think he also did the mix.
― Three Word Username, Monday, 23 November 2015 19:29 (eight years ago) link
yeah I don't think those records sound bad
otoh I like the Freedom take on "Too Far Gone" more than the Chrome Dreams take so don't trust me
― droit au butt (Euler), Monday, 23 November 2015 19:35 (eight years ago) link
really have zero problem with ragged glory's sound
It's one of my favorite albums of all time, and while I'm listening to it, it sounds fine.
But then I'll listen to Broken Arrow and think, wow, RG could've/should've sounded like this.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 23 November 2015 19:47 (eight years ago) link
Everybody's Rockin' was analog mix, digital recorded iirc (or if that makes sense).
― Boz Scaggs was Adele back in 1976 (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 23 November 2015 20:14 (eight years ago) link
just like they used to do at sun studio!
― tylerw, Monday, 23 November 2015 20:20 (eight years ago) link
"If Elvis had lived, all his '80s stuff would have been digital!"
― Boz Scaggs was Adele back in 1976 (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 23 November 2015 20:23 (eight years ago) link
which is probably true
― Οὖτις, Monday, 23 November 2015 20:26 (eight years ago) link
All of his 80s stuff would have been horrible...BUT:
I bet we would have gotten an ill-conceived Elvis Rap song which I am not legit mad doesn't exist.
I'm sorry what's this thread about?
Niko Bolas is a cool name though, admit that.
― chr1sb3singer, Monday, 23 November 2015 20:36 (eight years ago) link
the elvis rick rubin album might've been pretty good.
and/or elvis' run of 3 of 4 james bond movies.
― fact checking cuz, Monday, 23 November 2015 21:12 (eight years ago) link
All Tom Petty on the bass, all Rubin trying to make Elvis do Nick Cave songs.
"Got dammit, this "Tupelo" shit ain't make no sense"
― chr1sb3singer, Monday, 23 November 2015 21:14 (eight years ago) link
It's a damn shame we got cheated out of the silliness that would likely have been 80s Elvis
― brimstead, Monday, 23 November 2015 22:02 (eight years ago) link
i wonder his "Living in America" would have been?
― Amira, Queen of Creativity (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 24 November 2015 02:24 (eight years ago) link
Sounds like something a smoker would cough up.
― Hideous Lump, Tuesday, 24 November 2015 04:58 (eight years ago) link
def sounds like your drug connect
― Amira, Queen of Creativity (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 24 November 2015 14:15 (eight years ago) link
Niko Bolas sounds like a bad guy in an '80s action movies. Either the actor or the character.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 24 November 2015 14:29 (eight years ago) link
was that the name of Alfred Molina's character in Boogie Nights who's cranking Sister Christian and snorting coke and lighting off firecrackers?
― Amira, Queen of Creativity (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 24 November 2015 15:02 (eight years ago) link
Bass on Don't Take Your Love Away From Me = Kraftwerk's The Model
Loving this.
― Duke, Tuesday, 24 November 2015 21:10 (eight years ago) link
So I was checking the booklet of the Lucky 13 comp to see if the live versions of "Ain't It the Truth" and "This Note's for You" are the same ones on the new Blue Note Cafe album (they are) and I fell into a Neil Young-obsessive rabbit hole.
---
The then-unreleased tracks on Lucky 13 (released in 1993) are listed as "From Reprise Records Neil Young Archives":
Sample and Hold (extended version)Depression BluesGet Gone (live)Don't Take Your Love Away from Me (live)Ain't It the Truth (live)This Note's for You (live)
The last two also say "original Blue Note Cafe recordings," which seems to imply that the Blue Note Cafe album was already planned 22 years ago.
The Lucky 13 booklet artwork features a random list of what are apparently all the songs recorded during the Geffen era, including 27 titles which had not been released as of 1993. 10 or 11 (*) of them have since been released in some form:
Amber Jean*Beautiful Bluebird*Big PearlDaughtersFarmer's SongFingersGrey Riders*Hillbilly BandIf You Got LoveInterstate*Island in the SunIt Might Have Been*Johnny (same as "Johnny Magic" from Fork in the Road?)*Leavin’ the Top 40 BehindLove HotelNothing Is Perfect*One of These Days*Rainin’ In ParadiseRazor Love*Rock Rock RockSilver and Gold*So TiredSoul Of A Woman*That's Alright MamaTime Off For Good BehaviorWinter Winds / TurbineYour Love Again
(The Old Ways track "My Boy" is listed as "Mr. Boy," which sounds more like something from the Devo session.)
The publicity for Blue Note Cafe says that it features seven unreleased songs, which isn't strictly true:
Soul of a Woman (on "A Treasure")Bad News Comes to TownAin't it the Truth (on "Lucky 13"--it's the same recording)I'm Goin' (b-side of 1988 "Ten Men Working" single)Crime of the HeartDoghouseFool for Your Love (on "Road Rock")
Meanwhile, they didn't mention "Welcome to the Big Room," which is otherwise unreleased as far as I can tell.
It's all one song.
― Hideous Lump, Monday, 30 November 2015 03:16 (eight years ago) link
yeah, always interesting that the first officially released music from the Archives came out on Geffen! really, Lucky 13 could easily be an 80s disc in Archives, Vol. 4 or whatever. don't think I've ever heardBig PearlDaughtersHillbilly BandIsland in the SunLove HotelWinter Winds / Turbine
― tylerw, Tuesday, 1 December 2015 20:23 (eight years ago) link
and in Shakey it says the original "Razor Love" is the best Trans-style tune Neil ever did.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 1 December 2015 20:24 (eight years ago) link
oh shit you mean that razor love from silver & gold was synth originally? damn i could just hear that in my head
i'm totally getting into this bluenotes thing
i remember being kinda underwhelmed by "ordinary people" when chrome dreams II came out because it was so hyped (whereas "hitchhiker" off le noise totally lived up to the hype), anyway i thought it was kinda a cod-dylan epic as played by the saturday night live band but now I guess i think it's kind of genius even though that description holds true.
― Amira, Queen of Creativity (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 3 December 2015 03:58 (eight years ago) link
yeah, i don't know if ordinary people is a masterpiece, but it's entertaining for sure"some are saints and some are JERKS!" always makes me laugh.
― tylerw, Thursday, 3 December 2015 15:15 (eight years ago) link
i was actually listening at the bus stop today to get to my downtown job and the way this ends is the best
"Downtown peopletryin' to make their way to worksome are saints and some are jerkseveryday peoplestoppin' for a drink on their way to work"
then he just exclaims:
"ALCOHOLIC PEOPLE!"
*guitar solo*
i dunno it's great like he's cheering on alcoholics keep up the good work
― Amira, Queen of Creativity (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 3 December 2015 16:06 (eight years ago) link
also after making such a big deal about not taking endorsements in "This Note's For You" he gives Michelob free product placement in the lyrics
― Amira, Queen of Creativity (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 3 December 2015 16:07 (eight years ago) link
haha, yeah -- "the michelob night," there's a phrase that could only have been written in 1987-88.
― tylerw, Thursday, 3 December 2015 16:24 (eight years ago) link
Maybe also thinking of Michelob Jazz Night or Nights, a great late 80s jazz-meets-rock TV series (L. Cohen with Sonny Rollins, awes; Nick Cave showing his ass via pompous "The Mercy Seat," but Charlie Haden had no prob & looked amused; Al Green playing disgusted cowbell at Sun Ra & Arkestra while Syd Straw laughs wildly: nevertheless, sounded great on my audio tape, sorry Al; Miles Davis! But don't think Neil was ever on there, alas).
― dow, Thursday, 3 December 2015 16:56 (eight years ago) link
"the michelob night," there's a phrase that could only have been written in 1987-88.
LOL, so true
― sleeve, Thursday, 3 December 2015 17:02 (eight years ago) link
On one hand it is totally a cod-Dylan epic, on other, there is literally only one person in the world who could have written it.
It is an amazing bit of world building where he's mixing tiny details "the bartender poured herself another drink, while two drunks were watchin the fight" with these macro descriptions of homeless factory workers living in their old closed down plant and big rich business men selling "guns to the underground".
It isn't a masterpiece but it is SO Neil, it is amazing.
"Gonna take it one day/ one day at TIMMMMEEE!!"
― chr1sb3singer, Thursday, 3 December 2015 17:18 (eight years ago) link
yeah, i think of "ordinary people," "crime in the city" and "eldorado" as all being of a piece, kinda surreal strings of vignettes adding up to ... what exactly I'm not sure, but they're always interesting. they've all got great turns of phrase, odd details, ambiguous ideas.
― tylerw, Thursday, 3 December 2015 17:23 (eight years ago) link
feel like 'Ramada Inn" fits in there as well
― sleeve, Thursday, 3 December 2015 17:35 (eight years ago) link
"Freedom" was the first Neil record (tape) I ever owned cuz I loved "Rockin' in the Free World" and while I didn't love everything else on the that record I was obsessed with "Crime in the City" it still might be my absolute favorite Neil tune.
When I saw him with on the "Weld" tour and they did that I was ecstatic
― chr1sb3singer, Thursday, 3 December 2015 17:37 (eight years ago) link
And yeah "Ramada Inn" is totally in this vein, ha that must be the reason I love that song
― chr1sb3singer, Thursday, 3 December 2015 17:41 (eight years ago) link
i guess rockin in the free world might fit in if he had added eight more versesit's funny i first heard crime in the city on weld, so i was kinda shocked at the mellow rendition on freedom. love any version of the song though, really a weirdly powerful tune.
― tylerw, Thursday, 3 December 2015 17:44 (eight years ago) link
I love the vers on "Bluenote Cafe" but the rough draft lyrics aren't as good as the "Freedom" vers, esp that second verse which is basically perfection
"Send me a songwriterWho's drifted far from homeAnd make sure that he's hungryMake sure he's aloneSend me a cheeseburgerAnd a new Rolling Stone."
― chr1sb3singer, Thursday, 3 December 2015 17:48 (eight years ago) link
yes! that verse is amazing -- "what we have got here is a perfect track"
― tylerw, Thursday, 3 December 2015 18:05 (eight years ago) link
He was dealing antiquesin a hardware store,But he sure had a lot to hide.He had a backroom fullof the guns of war,And a ton of ammunition besides.Well, he walked with a cane,Kept a bolt on the doorwith five pit bulls inside.Just a warning to the people,Who might try to break in at night.Protection from the people,Selling safetyin the darkest night.Tryin' to help the people.Get the drugsto the street all right.Ordinary people.
― Amira, Queen of Creativity (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 3 December 2015 19:45 (eight years ago) link