Neil Young/ Live At The Cellar Door (Reprise, 2013)
This
release is part of the Neil Young Archives Performance Series,
being labeled Disc 2.5. This was recorded seven weeks before one of
the other Archives series releases, Live At Massey Hall
1971, over six shows in late November and early December,
1970. Like that live album, this is an excellent performance and a
high quality recording. This being an earlier page of the same
chapter as Massey Hall, this is the After The Gold Rush
solo tour with an intimate vibe. No backing band, only Neil singing
in a druggy haze, playing guitar or piano, depending on his mood.
Fans who were lucky enough to be at these shows were hearing the
first ever public performances of Old Man and See The Sky
About To Rain. Fans would not be able to buy those on album until
1972 and 1974, respectively.
The
set bounces between the After The Gold Rush album,
then-unreleased songs, and a few tunes from his days in Buffalo
Springfield. His between song banter is low key, sometimes coming off
as lost or despondent. My favorite banter comes before Flying On
The Ground Is Wrong, where Neil says “It’s about what happens
when you start getting high, and you find out that people you thought
you knew, you don’t know anymore, because they don’t get high and
you do.” I am sure that the smell of herb was prevalent in the
crowd that night and many of the long hairs in the audience were
nodding in agreement. I wonder where those people are now.
The
most powerful moment on the album is the piano version of Expecting
To Fly. He stated how he was playing on a nine foot Steinway,
with it being in his contract because he thought that it would be
eccentric. The thing that I love about Neil Young, aside from his
songs, of course, is his blunt honesty. He does whatever he
wants to, whenever he wants to, with little regard to the personal or
financial consequences of his whims. The “smart” thing for him to
do in this era would have been to stay with the cash cow Crosby,
Stills, Nash & Young. Instead he cut the downbeat After The
Gold Rush and played clubs and small auditoriums. He wears his
heart on his sleeve, coming off as either vulnerable or lashing out,
both being equally convincing. He also does it without coming off as
being manipulative or a pussy, which is what most artists who emulate
his template come off as. This album is a must have if you are a Neil
Young fan or a fan of honest music in general.
Now
if we can get another Archives box set or a reissue of Time
Fades Away...
Junk
Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.
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