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A Brief History of Neil Young’s Unreleased Recordings
Can you imagine anyone other than Bruce Springsteen writing and recording a song called “Born to Run”?
Well, what if we told you that Neil Young not only wrote and recorded an original song with that very title—but that he did so after Springsteen’s 1975 classic with the same name had already been long committed to its iconic status in rock history?
“Born to Run”—and that would be Young’s original, rather than Springsteen’s—is in fact but one of a multitude of his unreleased recordings that exist in one form or another. Ranging from such curiosities as “Born to Run” to such legendarily mythical albums as Homegrown and Chrome Dreams, the pieces that make up Young’s “missing catalog” would form an impressive, stand-alone body of work even by themselves.
Because of the way that he tends to work—which, when it comes to recording, is essentially nonstop—it should come as no surprise that there are any number of such recordings by the artist floating around out there in bootleg land. It should likewise come as no shock that some of these (like Homegrown and Chrome Dreams) have also been elevated to near Holy Grail status amongst his more devoted fans.
The reasons many of these albums never came out vary wildly. In some cases, the ever-mercurial Young scrapped them himself, oftentimes doing so at the very last minute. In others—most notably during the infamous Geffen years during the eighties—the albums simply fell victim to being rejected by the record label because of things like a perceived “lack of commercial potential.” Imagine that, right?
Many of these unreleased recordings are far less known and celebrated than the likes of Homegrown, though. Did you know, for instance, that Young once recorded a New Age album? Or that he had planned to make an entire album consisting of original songs with titles made famous by other artists (including an original tune called, you guessed it, “Born to Run”)?
What follows here is a brief history of Neil Young’s most famous—and in some cases infamous—unreleased recordings.
It should be noted that I’ve left some gaps in this list, including a number of aborted projects with bands like Crosby, Stills, and Nash (which will be the subject of another chapter), as well as things like a scrapped Farm Aid E.P. with the International Harvesters. The scrapped solo version of Human Highway (an album that at one point was scheduled to come out in 1974, and eventually became a very strange documentary film in the eighties featuring everyone from Dennis Hopper to Devo) has likewise been omitted (due to a lack of verifiable information).
Track listings for these albums are provided in any case we were actually able to locate them.
Untitled Live Album—1971
Planned as a double album of mostly solo acoustic performances from New York’s Carnegie Hall and Washington D.C.’s Cellar Door, this also featured three performances with Crazy Horse from New York’s Fillmore East, which were eventually resurrected for the Archives series.
“This is the album that should have come out between After the Gold Rush and Harvest,” Young has been quoted as saying. “David Briggs, my producer, was adamant that this should be the record, but I was very excited about the takes we got on Harvest, and wanted Harvest out. David disagreed. As I listen to this today, I can see why.”
Track List
1. “Down by the River” (with Crazy Horse)
2. “Wonderin’” (with Crazy Horse)
3. “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” (with Crazy Horse)
4. “I Am a Child”
5. “Expecting to Fly”
6. “Flying on the Ground Is Wrong”
7. “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing”
8. “Cowgirl in the Sand”
9. “Ohio”
10. “Old Man”
11. “Dance Dance Dance”
12. “Sugar Mountain”
13. “See the Sky About to Rain”
14. “The Needle and the Damage Done”
15. “Bad Fog of Loneliness”
Homegrown—1975
Probably the most famous of Neil Young’s many unreleased projects over the years, Homegrown was a quieter folk-rock album in the vein of Harvest that he famously scrapped in favor of Tonight’s the Night after rediscovering the latter during a playback of the former that was on the same reel. Of the small group of friends present for the playback party, Rick Danko of the Band told Young that he’d be “fucking crazy” not to release the much rawer Tonight’s the Night. Although Warner Brothers gave Young complete artistic freedom over his work, label executives hoping for a return to the million-dollar sound of Harvest had to be more than a little unhappy when he ultimately opted to instead release the far less commercial Tonight’s the Night.
Explaining the choice, he says he went with Tonight’s the Night instead because of “its overall strength in performance and feeling” and because Homegrown “was just a very down album.” Like Tonight’s the Night isn’t, right?
Homegrown is also said to have been strongly influenced by Young’s failed relationship with Carrie Snodgress, and as a result included some of his most deeply felt personal lyrics. He has indicated in more than one interview since then that the songs simply hit a little too close to home at the time.
Young has called Homegrown “the missing link between Harvest, Comes a Time, Old Ways, and Harvest Moon.” Not surprisingly, several of the album’s original songs have since shown up on subsequent albums such as Zuma (“Pardon My Heart”), American Stars and Bars (“Star of Bethlehem”), Decade (“Love Is a Rose” and “Deep Forbidden Lake”), and Hawks and Doves (“Little Wing” and “The Old Homestead”). A cover version of “Barefoot Floors” also made its way to Nicolette Larson’s album Sleep, Baby, Sleep.
Although such things are always subject to change—particularly with Neil Young—fans who have waited decades for an official release of Homegrown may finally soon get their wish. Young has indicated the album may be included as part of the second volume of the Archives series.
Track List
1. “Homegrown”
2. “Vacancy”
3. “Homefires”
4. “Try”
5. “Star of Bethlehem”
6. “Little Wing”
7. “The Old Homestead”
8. “Hawaiian Sunrise”
9. “Pardon My Heart”
10. “Love Art Blues”
11. “Human Highway”
12. “Separate Ways”
13. “Deep Forbidden Lake”
14. “Love Is a Rose”
15. “Daughters”
16. “We Don’t Smoke It No More”
17. “White Line”
18. “Give Me Strength”
19. “Long May You Run”
20. “Tie Plate Yodel” #3
Odeon/Budokan Live—1976
In 1976, Neil Young played a series of shows in Europe, Japan, and finally America with a newly revamped Crazy Horse lineup that introduced fans to new guitarist Frank “Poncho” Sampedro. In Japan, fans greeted Neil Young and Crazy Horse like rock royalty, but by most accounts the band themselves played the shows zonked clean out of their minds.
In Jimmy McDonough’s Shakey, Sampedro recalls that both he and Billy Talbot had taken acid before the March 11 show at Nippon Budokan Hall, which was also recorded and filmed for a possible live album and documentary project. Although Crazy Horse played both sloppy and stoned according to some (and Sampedro in particular was still finding his way in the new lineup), it’s also been said that Young himself played some of his most incendiary guitar solos to date during the shows in Japan.
The live Odeon/Budokan album was never released, but now appears to be a likely candidate for inclusion as part of the second volume of the ongoing Archives series of retrospective boxed sets, tentatively scheduled for release sometime in 2012. A track listing doesn’t exist (at least as far we know), but versions of songs like “Cowgirl in the Sand,” “Drive Back,” and “The Losing End” (all featuring cranked-up solos from Young and Old Black) are likely to be included.
Oceanside, Countryside—1977
Young’s 1977 album Comes a Time proved to be his biggest commercial hit since Harvest at the time of its release. But what many people don’t know is that it was originally intended to be a solo acoustic album. Recorded at Florida’s Triad Studios, the acoustic version of the album consisted of two sides, one titled “Oceanside” and the other “Countryside.”
When Young played the original Oceanside, Countryside version of the album for Warner executives including Mo Ostin and Lenny Waronker, Mo indicated that he liked the record, but suggested Young try adding more musicians, and a rhythm section in particular.
Not normally one for letting the label dictate his artistic direction, Young surprisingly agreed and finished the album with a crew including Ben Keith, Tim Drummond, Karl Himmel, Spooner Oldham, and Rufus Thibodeaux. Nicolette Larson, who was also Young’s girlfriend at the time, contributes backup vocals on the album, including a lovely duet with Young on Ian and Sylvia Tyson’s “Four Strong Winds.” Larson also had her biggest hit as a solo artist with a cover of “Lotta Love” (which also appears on the Comes a Time album in a version with Crazy Horse).
The original acoustic sessions have since come to be known as Oceanside, Countryside—making for yet another of the many “lost” Neil Young albums. It has also been mentioned as a likely candidate for inclusion on the next volume of the Archives series.
Chrome Dreams—1977
Chrome Dreams is another of the more legendary unreleased titles in the Neil Young canon, as evidenced by the amazingly strong track listing below. Scrapped in typical Young fashion in favor of American Stars and Bars, it has also been one of his more widely bootlegged unofficial his releases over the years, with copies of an original acetate of the recording in fairly wide circulation among collectors.
Several of the stronger songs included have since shown up on albums ranging from American Stars and Bars (“Will to Love,” “Like a Hurricane”) to Rust Never Sleeps (“Pocahontas,” “Sedan Delivery,” “Powderfinger”) to Freedom (‘Too Far Gone”), although in many cases the bootlegged versions found on Chrome Dreams are radically different. “Powderfinger,” for instance, is an amazing acoustic demo, while “Hold Back the Tears” features additional lyrics.
Perhaps to pay homage to the revered status of the album among hardcore fans, Young eventually released an official “sequel” to the unreleased record with 2007’s Chrome Dreams II. As is the case with Homegrown, he has indicated that the original Chrome Dreams album is likely to be included as part of the second round of his ongoing Archives project.
Track List
1. “Pocahontas”
2. “Will to Love”
3. “Star of Bethlehem”
4. “Like a Hurricane”
5. “Too Far Gone”
6. “Hold Back the Tears”
7. “Homegrown”
8. “Captain Kennedy”
9. “Stringman”
10. “Sedan Delivery”
11. “Powderfinger”
12. “Look Out for My Love”
Island in the Sun—1982
Not only was Island in the Sun supposed to be Neil Young’s very first album for Geffen Records—his new label in the eighties—it was also the first to be subsequently turned down by the label. Much to his unending frustration in the years that followed, it wouldn’t be the last. Far from it.
Often described by those who have heard it as his “water album,” Island in the Sun was explained by Young himself as “a tropical thing all about sailing, ancient civilizations, islands and water” in an interview he did for Mojo magazine in 1995. Some of the songs from Island in the Sun, such as “Like an Inca,” “Little Thing Called Love,” and “Hold On to Your Love” eventually showed up on Trans, the infamous vocoder-heavy, mostly electronic album that Geffen released instead—officially setting in motion the series of bizarre genre experiments that would lead to the eighties becoming known as Young’s “lost decade.”
Old Ways—1983
An earlier, and said to be rawer, version of Young’s mid-eighties country album that was (rather strangely) rejected at the time by Geffen in favor of Everybody’s Rockin’, the rockabilly album with the Shocking Pinks that followed Trans.
Track List
1. “Old Ways”
2. “Depression Blues”
3. “That’s Alright Mama”
4. “Cry Cry Cry”
5. “Mystery Train”
6. “Wonderin’”
7. “California Sunset”
8. “My Boy”
9. “Are There Any More Real Cowboys”
10. “Silver and Gold”
Treasure—1985
It was in an interview with Young and Le Noise producer Daniel Lanois conducted by writer Jaan Uhelszki and first published online by American Songwriter in December 2010 that Young first made brief mention of yet “another album I’ve been listening to that I have in the can.”
Of this mysterious, previously unheard of album titled Treasure, he doesn’t reveal much in the way of details, except to say that it is “a great record” and that “I hope to release it one day.” As it turns out, Young was most likely referring to an album of unreleased performances from the Old Ways period with his country band the International Harvesters, made during 1984-1985.
Six months after the American Songwriter interview, an album of these performances finally saw the light of day. Released as part of the Archives Performance Series on June 14, 2010, the album A Treasure (named for the late Ben Keith once referring to it as “a treasure”) contains both previously unreleased songs like “Grey Riders” and “Amber Jean” (a song written for Young’s daughter), as well as countrified reworkings of previously released Neil Young songs ranging from “Southern Pacific” to “Flying on the Ground Is Wrong.”
The prerelease ramp up to A Treasure is also notable for a hilarious fourteen-minute promotional video that made the rounds at Neil Young sites like Thrasher’s Wheat. In the video, Young rambles his way through a series of half-completed video clips in his inimitable drawl, drawing as much attention to the flaws in the album as he does to the highlights. An off-screen voiceover that ominously pops into the mix whenever he references the “Blu-ray” release of A Treasure adds to the overall goofiness.
Track List
1. “Amber Jean” (9-20-1984, previously unreleased)
2. “Are You Ready for the Country?” (9-21-1984)
3. “It Might Have Been” (9-25-1984)
4. “Bound for Glory” (9-29-1984)
5. “Let Your Fingers Do the Walking” (10-22-1984, previously unreleased)
6. “Flying on the Ground Is Wrong” (10-26-1984)
7. “Motor City” (10-26-1984)
8. “Soul of a Woman” (10-26-1984, previously unreleased)
9. “Get Back to the Country” (10-26-1984)
10. “Southern Pacific” (9-1-1985)
11. “Nothing Is Perfect” (9-1-1985, previously unreleased)
12. “Grey Riders” (9-10-1985, previously unreleased)
Meadow Dusk—1987
Not much is known about this album, other than that its sole purpose may have been to piss off the folks at Geffen Records. By this time, Young’s nearly ten-year-long, often difficult association with Geffen was nearing an end, and there had been no love lost between artist and label during the often contentious relationship
Described in Jimmy McDonough’s Shakey by Frank “Poncho” Sampredo as the “sounds of crickets farting,” Meadow Dusk has also been referred to as Young’s unreleased “New Age” album.
The description found in Shakey goes on to describe a record that featured synthesizers and descriptive song titles that would be either repeated or whispered over a musical backdrop of “sound concepts and industrial noise.” The same description of the album recounted in Shakey also says that it resembled a softer version of the feedback sounds found on the Arc disc of the three-disc version of Arc-Weld. To the best of our knowledge, a track list for Meadow Dusk no longer exists, if in fact such a thing ever did.
1988—This Note’s for You Too (a.k.a. This Shit Don’t Sell)—
Buoyed by his return to Reprise Records and the mild commercial success of This Note’s for You (which won Young an MTV Video of the Year Award, despite its none-too-veiled indictment of the crass commercialism of the music video network), he planned, and then just as quickly scrapped, a two-disc live album with the Bluenotes.
Although a track listing has never surfaced, one has to figure the album would have included such live standouts from the period as the eighteen-minute epic “Ordinary People” (which eventually surfaced two decades later on 2007’s Chrome Dreams II album), and “60 to 0,” a constantly evolving song that would often stretch to twenty minutes when played in concert, and later provided the template for the much shorter Freedom track “Crime in the City.”
The unreleased Bluenotes live album was said to have been called This Note’s for You Too, but in the Shakey book, it is also referred to by the title This Shit Don’t Sell.
Times Square—1989
Recorded during sessions at New York’s Hit Factory in 1988, Times Square is recognized by fans as the bridge between the Bluenotes period and the more complete return to artistic and commercial form that would manifest itself on 1989’s “comeback” album Freedom. It is also generally agreed by just about everyone who has heard it (here again, the acetate was widely bootlegged) that the Times Square sessions represent some of the loudest shit Neil Young has ever put down on tape.
Although the album was pulled from release by Young himself because of what he felt was the lack of anything radio could play, many FM rock stations had already received their copies—something that may have played a role in the limited release of five songs from it on the Japanese import E.P. Eldorado.
Backed by drummer Chad Cromwell and bassist Rick Rosas (who later toured the songs with Young as a band calling themselves Young and the Restless), this is without a doubt Neil Young with Old Black cranked to eleven at his loudest, fiercest, and finest. Some of the songs from Times Square would eventually see release on Freedom, but as the available bootlegs out there and the Eldorado E.P. both attest, they are in nowhere near the same raw and relentlessly hard-rocking form heard here.
“Cocaine Eyes” and “Heavy Love” didn’t make it to Freedom at all, but do show up on Eldorado. “Box Car” remains officially unreleased.
Track List
1. “Eldorado”
2. “Someday”
3. “Sixty to Zero (Crime in the City)”
4. “Box Car”
5. “Don’t Cry”
6. “Heavy Love”
7. “Wrecking Ball”
8. “Cocaine Eyes”
9. “On Broadway”
Toast—2000
Toast1 is an unreleased album recorded with Crazy Horse that as recently as 2008 was scheduled to be released as part of the Archives series, but has since quietly disappeared from the radar screen (even as rumors of a release continue to persist). This album, named for a defunct recording studio, is said to include reworked Crazy Horse versions of a number of songs Neil Young originally recorded with Booker T. and the MGs in the nineties. Of the songs believed to have come from these sessions, “Goin’ Home,” can be heard on the album Are You Passionate?
* In July 2010, Young announced via his official website that the albums Homegrown, Chrome Dreams, Odeon-Budokan Oceanside-Countryside, and Toast will all be released in revamped versions as part of something called the Archives Special Release series.