Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Neil Young - Time Fades Away


Anyone that knows is aware of my fascination/obsession/wonder of Neil Young. A few years back my brother-in-law and I sat down and watched "Live Rust," the best concert movie ever (in my eyes). At that point in time my CD player either had the latest Eminem or Slipknot album and I was preaching to anybody that would listen that they were "it." This evening changed all of that. Watching this guy I had never heard of before sitting on top of a huge Fender amp stage prop looking like he just got done painting a basement did me in man. Neil plays his beautiful acoustic songs, strumming his twelve string (that Joni Mitchell gave him) and making it sound like there are two, sometimes three guitars playing at once, and then picking up Old Black (his famous black Gibson) and raging through Like a Hurricane, his solos sound like a lightning bolt stuck in a cage. ANYWAYS, since that night Neil Young has been a constant in my life and I "celebrate his whole collection." Well sort of, I cannot find every album, but most. In the early to mid 70's Neil came out with what is referred to as The Ditch Trilogy; 73's Time Fades Away, 74's On the Beach and 75's Tonight's the Night. All of this stuff is dark and dirty and considering it came out after other "commercial" sounding-for-that-era releases (masterpieces none the less) such as After the Gold Rush and Harvest, it was clear that Mr. Young was in a different place. On the Beach and Tonight's the Night have seen the light of CD releases but Time Fades Away has been largely hidden the past 30 years. I do not remember where I got this recording but I am glad I did because it is a great live record. The whole recording gives off an uneasy vibe, even the artwork is depressing. Regardless, it is good fucking music. I do not know if it is still active but there is a petition for the album to be released on CD here. Listen to the opener, Time Fades Away and listen the saloon like piano trudging along in the background, only Neil. The album is posted on RapidShare for your listening pleasure, enjoy this forgotten gem.

MP3 - Neil Young - Time Fades Away

"Fourteen junkies
too weak to work
One sells diamonds
for what they're worth
Down on pain street,
disappointment lurks
Son, don't be home too late.
Try to get back by eight
Son, don't wait
till the break of day
'Cause you know
how time fades away.
Time fades away
You know how time fades away.
"

5 comments:

tjb said...

lightning bolt stuck in a cage...now thats f'in beautiful

Anonymous said...

Mr. Young is the MAN!
pEaCe!
Eric.

Anonymous said...

if you can't get enough of the live stuff on "Time Fades Away", there is a live track from this same tour that didn't make it onto the album, but was released on the b-side of a single (can't remember the A-side right now) around the time this album came out.. the live b-side is "Last Trip To Tulsa" - it can be found on a bootleg that goes by various names such as "Jewel Box 6", "Hard To Find" and "Rarities" (it was originally a Westwood One radio promo disc).

O.B. Dan said...

Eminem and Slipknot are not "it." They never were "it." Asclose as they come is, they're shit - especially Eminem.

Jason said...

I agree, keep in mind I was 15.