13 Days of Neil
RustWorks, Vol. 7
Let it Shine
I recently acquired Chris Davis’ fantastic Jerry Garcia compilation, “8 Days of Jerome” and thought that somebody should do the same for Neil Young. Well, taking my own advice I embarked on this little project in May 2011 and, hoping others will enjoy it, decided to share. The title, “13 Days of Neil” is an obvious rip-off from Chris and Neil (Lucky 13), but feel free to call it whatever you want. Neil’s birthday is on 11/12 and this set contains 14 volumes. Yeah, it makes no sense.
Vol. 7: Let it Shine I’m fascinated by how artists use the pop song as an art form to explore emotions related to love, loss, spirituality, death, intimacy, and peace. Heavy subjects, indeed, but Neil’s tackled them all. Vol. 7 combines acoustic and electric, solo and band songs heard both often and not so often. Let it Shine and Midnight are both from the Stills-Young period but never get played live anymore. The masterpiece Give Me Strength is the oft heard 1976 Chicago performance but it’s still amazing whenever I hear it. This particular Tell Me Why has the signature descending guitar riff during the “solo,” and the 4 part harmony reminds us why CSNY were so incredible when they were on. A Man Needs a Maid is a bit of a train wreck, but even those can be a fun listen. Two Old Friends…what a great little song. Even Neil Young’s got soul. The electric Change Your Mind is another great NYCH workout followed by gorgeous renditions of Helpless and LMYR. We close with an urgent, biting Pushed it Over the End with CSN that stands in stark relief to the solo Citizen Kane Jr. Blues we heard at the Bottom Line earlier that same year (see Vol. 4).
Let it Shine (Osaka, 1976-03-06)
Midnight on the Bay (London, 1976-03-29)
Give Me Strength (Chicago, 1976-11-15l)
Tell Me Why (CSNY, New York, 1970-06-04)
A Man Needs a Maid (Spokane, 2007-10-20)
No One Seems to Knows (Washington, DC, 2007-11-15)
Two Old Friends (Booker T, Eifel, 2002-05-18)
Change Your Mind (Crazy Horse, Sedona, 1994-10-22)
Helpless (CSNY, New York, 1969-12-xx)
Long May You Run (Milan, 2003-05-03)
Pushed it Over the End (CSNY, London, 1974-09-14)
The selection process for this compilation was quite simple. I attempted to pace the songs in a loose chronological order, creating counterpoint with slow and uptempo tunes, and above all include versions of songs that I can enjoy over and over. In that sense, this is more of a retrospective than a greatest hits or best of compilation. Basically, it’s just a bunch of songs that just seem to go well together. Of course, the fact that Neil is so prolific made this project fairly mind-boggling simply in terms of available material. Clearly, I avoided any officially released material, or any that was likely to be released in the foreseeable future.
This collection is also a showcase for the great people and bands with whom Neil has played over the years: Danny, Bert, Nicolette, all those Nashville players, Crazy Horse, the Stray Gators and Santa Monica Flyers, the Springfield, CSN, Pegi. Listen closely and you’ll hear all of them at one point or another. This goes out to Long Grain in particular. If not for Ben Keith, I fear there would be no Neil Young as we’ve come to know, and love, him.
A word about compilations: I compiled these performances for my personal listening pleasure, and share them for the same reason. There are many Neil Young compilations available out there: “Archives be Damned 2000” (and 2006), “Acoustic Masterpieces,” “A Perfect Echo.” Of course, the one must-have compilation is the officially released “Archives.” Nothing beats the original tracks themselves. This compilation is not meant to replace any of the aforementioned. It, simply, is what it is.
I urge you to seek out the original performances (they’re all available somewhere). Thank you so much to the original tapers and uploaders and all who share this great music (what we do here at DIME is a rare and precious thing). And, of course, thanks, Neil.
Enjoy,
1chucho
November 2011
Lineage: All recordings obtained from various torrent sites (DIME, Trader’s Den, HungerCity, TapeCity, Zomb): FLAC > WAV > CD-R > FLAC (8) > DIME
Notes on Sound Quality: All Audience Recordings except as noted, the SQ is Excellent to Excellent+ throughout except*
*SQ is Fair to good
Convert to lossy for personal use only
NOT FOR SALE-SHARE FREELY
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