may be an impossible poll for me. just pulled it out for a listen and i gotta be up in a few hours...
^^great stories btw - this is the perfect album to create memories with
― sknybrg, Thursday, 14 May 2009 07:20 (fourteen years ago) link
Revolution Blues and for that lyric - best thing he ever wrote.
― sonofstan, Thursday, 14 May 2009 08:37 (fourteen years ago) link
Ditto.
― Enemy Insects (NickB), Thursday, 14 May 2009 08:38 (fourteen years ago) link
Seems to be a bit overrated these days, this album, not that it isn't good... very good. "See the Sky About to Rain" is pretty. Has to be "Ambulance Blues" though.
― Dante ... Bruno . Vico .. Passantino (Tom D.), Thursday, 14 May 2009 08:47 (fourteen years ago) link
Favourite NY album, probably my 8 favourite NY songs. Hard to choose, but I'll go for On The Beach. This is also the only NY album my wife can bear to listen to.
― nate woolls, Thursday, 14 May 2009 08:47 (fourteen years ago) link
ambulance blues, "we're all just pissing in the wind"
― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 14 May 2009 09:25 (fourteen years ago) link
Not sure if I prefer Sky or Ambulance.
― the next grozart, Thursday, 14 May 2009 10:22 (fourteen years ago) link
This album... I mean, you'd think a '70s hippy album called "On The Beach" would be a sunny shiny affair, but it's just so RAINY. It's dreary, but beautifully so. It reminds me of a particularly miserable lunch time, sitting in the sandwich shop and staring out the window at the windscreen wipers on the cars working furiously as people's umbrellas shot up.
― ch4rlie fr4m3, Thursday, 14 May 2009 11:20 (fourteen years ago) link
OTB=RAINY=OTMThat's the detail I forgot in the story above. The first notes of Walk On always retrieve, more than anything, really vivid smells of rain while walking up Madison Ave.
― SQUIRREL WITH A PEOPLE FACE (╓abies), Thursday, 14 May 2009 11:30 (fourteen years ago) link
Before the 2003 CD release, did y'all just copy the vinyl version to a tape?
― Bud Huxtable (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 14 May 2009 11:31 (fourteen years ago) link
My vinyl version (well, my dad's vinyl version) has the parasol pattern inside the sleeve. Is this on every vinyl copy or am I sitting on a goldmine?
― nate woolls, Thursday, 14 May 2009 11:43 (fourteen years ago) link
what's neil young got against lepers?
― ch4rlie fr4m3, Thursday, 14 May 2009 11:45 (fourteen years ago) link
They're not all that popular in general, historically
― Dante ... Bruno . Vico .. Passantino (Tom D.), Thursday, 14 May 2009 11:46 (fourteen years ago) link
They remind him of David Crosby.
― Bud Huxtable (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 14 May 2009 11:47 (fourteen years ago) link
in some way, i think on the beach is Neil Young response to Nick Drake (only so much better)it is known that Ambulance is influenced by Bert Jansch's "Needle of Death", and i think Drake was influenced by Jansch as well.all those gentle, beautiful touches, like Rusty Kershaw fiddle in Ambulance (and the hand drums), or the banjo in Turnstiles,were never represented in any other Young record.even the rock songs here arent row and heavy like most of Young rock songs,and present a more creative aspects:the guitar has no distortion, and the playing is not the regular chords-solo-chords you usually get from Neil.same goes with the drums.i think only in Harvest he did something similiar but it wasnt as gentle,delicate and beautiful as On The Beach.
― Zeno, Thursday, 14 May 2009 11:50 (fourteen years ago) link
Definitely my favourite NY album. Revolution Blues for the surly, apocalyptic anti-LA vibe. It sounds so poisonous.
― Dorian (Dorianlynskey), Thursday, 14 May 2009 11:51 (fourteen years ago) link
in some way, i think on the beach is Neil Young response to Nick Drake (only so much better)
Be surprised if he'd heard him
even the rock songs here arent row and heavy like most of Young rock songs,and present a more creative aspects:the guitar has no distortion, and the playing is not the regular chords-solo-chords you usually get from Neil.same goes with the drums.
This is why they are not so good, in my opinion
― Dante ... Bruno . Vico .. Passantino (Tom D.), Thursday, 14 May 2009 11:56 (fourteen years ago) link
Ambulance Blues by a mile. best thing Neil ever done.
― Ludo, Thursday, 14 May 2009 12:08 (fourteen years ago) link
I love this album, and its great that he finally reissued it, but I'm a little tired of it. I've been listening to Time Fades Away a whole lot lately and I'd rather talk about that one and why in the hell its still out of print.
― Trip Maker, Thursday, 14 May 2009 14:01 (fourteen years ago) link
wait till you get tired of time fades away and get hooked on journey through the past
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Thursday, 14 May 2009 14:04 (fourteen years ago) link
^ serious talk
― Dante ... Bruno . Vico .. Passantino (Tom D.), Thursday, 14 May 2009 14:06 (fourteen years ago) link
time fades away is out of print because neil is a fidelity nut and the master tapes are all 2 track tape that you can't really remix
he prepared an SACD version that sounded fantastic but then declined to release it
I have a leaked copy that I think I've leonardo'd in the past?
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Thursday, 14 May 2009 14:06 (fourteen years ago) link
I'd like to hear it.
― Trip Maker, Thursday, 14 May 2009 14:09 (fourteen years ago) link
i thought it was because Neil didn't like the album?
― ch4rlie fr4m3, Thursday, 14 May 2009 14:11 (fourteen years ago) link
xp I'll see if I can dig it out
from http://www.thrasherswheat.org/tnfy/timefadesaway_album.htm
The problem with "Time Fades Away" is even worse, as it naivély stated on LP labels: "This Recording Was Mastered 16-Track/Direct To Disc (acetate) by Computer"; the multi-track master tape was recorded/mixed LIVE, leaving little room for remixing the "warts & all" tape hiss, bad notes & crowd noise.
To reassemble the album, someone would need to sort through fifty or so ¼" and/or 2" multi-track reels & "a few" cassettes. Finding the right version by date would be easy enough, but at what stage would the mix be at? Raw recording? Truck monitor mix? Mono PA monitor recording? And what about necessary over-dubs ("L.A.", "Last Dance")? Where are Crosby's vocals? How'd they layer the voices like that? ...impossible.
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Thursday, 14 May 2009 14:20 (fourteen years ago) link
Mine has this. assumed they all did? I got mine about a dozen years ago for .50 ... great copy, too!
― Plunge Protection Team, Thursday, 14 May 2009 14:28 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah, time fades away clearly isn't neil's favorite album but he went so far as to get it ready for HDCD rerelease along with the rest of the "missing 6" in 2004 (on the beach, journey through the past, time fades away, american stars & bars, hawks & doves, reactor)
the only two that didn't get a final release were time fades away and journey through the past, even though they were given a catalog number, had copies pressed, etc. and from what I understand it was due to unhappiness w/ the final sound quality.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y176/edwardiii/timefadesaway.png
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y176/edwardiii/jttp.png
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Thursday, 14 May 2009 14:30 (fourteen years ago) link
frankly I'm shocked that he's gonna release journey through the past (the film) on DVD as part of the archives
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Thursday, 14 May 2009 14:32 (fourteen years ago) link
Doing what you least expect him to do is his thing really
― Dante ... Bruno . Vico .. Passantino (Tom D.), Thursday, 14 May 2009 14:33 (fourteen years ago) link
Re: Time Fades Away, some of the songs are on YouTube if anyone is curious about them.
― SQUIRREL WITH A PEOPLE FACE (╓abies), Thursday, 14 May 2009 14:33 (fourteen years ago) link
is there a two-disc version of Landing on Water in the works?
― Bud Huxtable (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 14 May 2009 14:34 (fourteen years ago) link
according to the great bio shakey neil won't release time fades away because the associated memories of that tour (last one with danny? first one after danny? something like that) are too raw for him still. could be complete bullshit though. neil's wily. could be saving that last ace up his sleeve for some master exit strategy
― kamerad, Thursday, 14 May 2009 14:44 (fourteen years ago) link
first one after danny, like a month or two later.
also from wikipedia:
Along with the soundtrack to Journey Through the Past, Time Fades Away remains the only officially released Neil Young album unavailable on CD. Many Young aficionados like to believe that this is due to bad memories of the tour that spawned the record, though the problem may be due to more of a technical nature than anything else. Time Fades Away was recorded directly from the soundboard to final 2-track masters using the Quad-8 CompuMix, the first and utterly unreliable digital mixing soundboard--against the wishes of producer David Briggs, who referred to it as the "Compufuck" but was forced to yield to the desires of Young. This resulted in a murky-sounding release; because the final mixes were those rough cuts, the album cannot be remixed.
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Thursday, 14 May 2009 15:27 (fourteen years ago) link
at the end of the day it's bullshit tho cause the HDCD of time fades away sounds fantastic
oh wait this is an on the beach thread
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Thursday, 14 May 2009 15:29 (fourteen years ago) link
jeez way to go Neil
― ^ Z S on the internet here (Z S), Thursday, 14 May 2009 15:29 (fourteen years ago) link
I know, so odd for him to make a bad self-destructive decision
they don't call it the ditch trilogy for nothin'
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Thursday, 14 May 2009 15:30 (fourteen years ago) link
LOL
― Dante ... Bruno . Vico .. Passantino (Tom D.), Thursday, 14 May 2009 15:32 (fourteen years ago) link
Thanks for humoring me re: Time Fades Away talk.I voted On The Beach in this poll. When I saw Neil play solo in 99 (maybe? 98?) he played Ambulance Blues and it was awesome.
― Trip Maker, Thursday, 14 May 2009 15:32 (fourteen years ago) link
he was doing it on the 2007 tour too
― Plunge Protection Team, Thursday, 14 May 2009 15:57 (fourteen years ago) link
Thanks for humoring me re: Time Fades Away talk.
It's a curious album!
― SQUIRREL WITH A PEOPLE FACE (╓abies), Thursday, 14 May 2009 15:58 (fourteen years ago) link
time fades away is pretty easy to find on vinyl. also: not nearly as good as on the beach.
― Domm P))) (M@tt He1ges0n), Thursday, 14 May 2009 16:26 (fourteen years ago) link
Taking Ambulance Blues, but everything works.
I've always felt some of Will Oldham's stuff -- mostly the Palace stuff around Viva Last Blues -- and especially Jason Molina of Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co.'s stuff really attempts to get the same loose two-chord vibe. It can get a bit wearing in huge doses, but I would think in terms of RIYL sort of thinking, On the Beach fans would feel a kinship to that stuff?
Any one else hear this? Or am I losing it?
― OCONDOR (Pt.1), Thursday, 14 May 2009 16:35 (fourteen years ago) link
No, there's a connection. It's weird though, I don't really like Oldham/Molina and their soundalikes that much, but I do love Ambulance Blues. It's probably my favorite NY song. It's the breezy little harmonica sections that break up the song that elevate it beyond the "loose two-chord vibe" imitations. It sounds so effortlessly perfect.
― ^ Z S on the internet here (Z S), Thursday, 14 May 2009 16:39 (fourteen years ago) link
I had a beautiful taxi ride after a gig feeling very exhausted and traveling all the way across Rome very late at night and the cabdriver was listening to this album and hearing "on the beach" while watching the rain in a dark city was perfect.
― Neotropical pygmy squirrel, Thursday, 14 May 2009 16:46 (fourteen years ago) link
Revolution Blues or the title track for me. Ambulance Blues and generally held in much awe -- I think it's a great track, but it's not my fave on this album. He played Ambulance throughout the 2007 tour.
― Duke, Thursday, 14 May 2009 16:50 (fourteen years ago) link
erm and is
― Duke, Thursday, 14 May 2009 16:51 (fourteen years ago) link
if you're bummed out enough and playing an acoustic there's a 75% chance you sound like on the beach
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Thursday, 14 May 2009 17:01 (fourteen years ago) link
also keep those otb stories coming especially ones involving rain and rome
<<if you're bummed out enough and playing an acoustic there's a 75% chance you sound like on the beach>>
very true.
I like Oldham and Molina, but I can see why others would grow restless since it's only one facet of Young's attack and is nearly the entire approach from these other guys, especially Molina. That said, it's like a color I prefer, so I'm a sucker for it. For anyone looking to sample, I'd suggest Didn't It Rain or Ghost Tropic from Songs:Ohia. That's the stuff I like best. But it's definitely not for everyone.
― OCONDOR (Pt.1), Thursday, 14 May 2009 17:09 (fourteen years ago) link
there's also a 75% chance you sound like pink moon
venndiagram.jpg
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Thursday, 14 May 2009 17:21 (fourteen years ago) link
Zuma's my favorite Neil Young album.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 27 April 2021 13:14 (two years ago) link
― Authoritarian Steaks (Tom D.), Tuesday, 27 April 2021 13:23 (two years ago) link
I would go for this order next, but they are all terrific and worth hearing in whatever order ends up working for you:
ZumaTonight's the NightTime Fades AwayHomegrown
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 27 April 2021 13:57 (two years ago) link
As far as The Band, I don't think you're going to find anything with that kind of angry drive to it (i.e. ala Revolution Blues). I like the Band but there's sometimes a bit of an earnest, wholesome family entertainment vibe to them that puts me off. Def not writing songs about hating celebrities on dune buggies and shooting dogs out of spite.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 27 April 2021 14:05 (two years ago) link
The other LP I was trying to remember, with credits printed inside the sleeve, was No New York.
― Halfway there but for you, Tuesday, 27 April 2021 14:07 (two years ago) link
Steely Dan has several misanthropic blues in the spirit of "Revolution Blues", maybe try "Black Friday".
― o. nate, Tuesday, 27 April 2021 17:07 (two years ago) link
A great song, but of course Steely Dan doesn't have Neil's ramshackle feel, if that is part of the attraction.
― Halfway there but for you, Tuesday, 27 April 2021 17:19 (two years ago) link
the Band dont have a lot of songs that sound like revolution blues in terms of dark edgy feel, but just in terms of dankos lunatic basslines they have plenty where he goes off in a similar style
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Tuesday, 27 April 2021 17:26 (two years ago) link
"w.s. walcott's medicine show" has a similar ramshackle groove with a fun danko bassline. obv the mood is more old-timey fun than strung-out desparation
― the mai tai quinn (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 27 April 2021 17:32 (two years ago) link
It's true; in the context of "Revolution Blues", the bass and drums communicate a very different feeling than they do on Robertson's songs, although the actual playing is not that different.
― Halfway there but for you, Tuesday, 27 April 2021 17:40 (two years ago) link
Al Schmitt, who produced side two of OTB, just died.
― blue whales on ambient (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 27 April 2021 20:57 (two years ago) link
see this thread about to rain
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 27 April 2021 21:02 (two years ago) link
He also worked a lot with the Jefferson Airplane.
― Halfway there but for you, Tuesday, 27 April 2021 21:03 (two years ago) link
how many more nights can i get whisky soaked to this record? cos it's literally all i seem to do anymore
― maelin, Wednesday, 28 April 2021 20:22 (two years ago) link
what, no honey slides?
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 28 April 2021 20:22 (two years ago) link
whoa that water has tequila in it!
― brimstead, Wednesday, 28 April 2021 20:34 (two years ago) link
haha, and two industrial boxes of fritos and cigarettes put out in the carpet, according to the shakey biography
― maelin, Wednesday, 28 April 2021 20:34 (two years ago) link
As far as The Band, Def not writing songs about ... shooting dogs out of spite.
Indeed, my interpretation has always been that they wrote (a) song (partially) about balking at shooting a dog!
(Wait a minute Chester, you know I'm a peaceful man)
― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Wednesday, 28 April 2021 21:27 (two years ago) link
As far as The Band, I don't think you're going to find anything with that kind of angry drive to it (i.e. ala Revolution Blues).
Think this is about as close as you're gonna get — recorded just a couple months before On The Beach. Pretty vicious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLP85S1PRC0
― tylerw, Wednesday, 5 May 2021 14:24 (two years ago) link
I wish Neil Young had covered "On the Beach":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yXVufG5oV0
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 5 May 2021 14:26 (two years ago) link
the boz scaggs on the beach cover from a couple years ago was surprisingly pretty great
― the mai tai quinn (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 5 May 2021 15:00 (two years ago) link
Chris Rea or Neil's?
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 5 May 2021 15:13 (two years ago) link
Neil's, from Boz's Out of the Blues album.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 5 May 2021 15:16 (two years ago) link
the definitive reading of neil’s on the beach is, of course, mick hucknall’shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDbctjmjvXg
― you are like a scampicane, there's calm in your fries (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 5 May 2021 16:32 (two years ago) link
If the implication is that Simply Red is capable of neutering that song, they're not, it still slays. You just can't keep that song down.
(not stop sure about the guitar solo though -- it kinda makes a good case, by way of contrast, for the genius of neil's soloing on the original)
― enochroot, Thursday, 6 May 2021 01:36 (two years ago) link
xp idk abt that
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wNO1b8UOuY
― "Gaspar? No way." (sleeve), Thursday, 6 May 2021 01:37 (two years ago) link
I don't see it mentioned above but if you are curious about Rusty Kershaw, the Cocaine & Rhinestones country music podcast did a very entertaining episode about Rusty and his brother Doug. Later in the episode about 20 minutes are devoted to a Rusty-centric view of the making of On the Beach. https://cocaineandrhinestones.com/rusty-doug-kershaw-cajun-way
― that's not my post, Wednesday, 1 December 2021 00:37 (two years ago) link
Thanks! for those who want some rumblin' Danko, over on the The Band Thread, we were talking about "Small Town Talk," usually a poignant ballad, co-written w Bobby Charles---his version here is something elseDanko's version! Louder, faster than expected. hey fuck that small town talk!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hxOI1M5bpk
― dow, Wednesday, 1 December 2021 03:17 (two years ago) link
^ great bounce on that one
― calstars, Wednesday, 1 December 2021 03:53 (two years ago) link