song of the day: april 29/2011

Neil Young - Old Man (live)
Album: Live at Massey Hall 1971 [2007]

the second volume of neil young's long-promised, suddenly thriving archives series is "live at massey hall", preserving a 1971 acoustic show at the toronto venue. where the first volume captured a portion of neil's past that wasn't particularly well documented on record - namely, the rampaging original crazy horse lineup in its 1970 prime - this second installment may seem to cover familiar ground, at least to the outside observer who may assume that any solo acoustic young must sound the same. that, of course, is not the case with an artist as mercurial and willful as young, who was inarguably on a roll in 1971, coming off successes with crazy horse, crosby, stills & nash, and his second solo record, 1970's "after the gold rush". the concert chronicled finds young dipping into these recent successes for material, as he also airs material that would shortly find a home on 1972's "harvest" in addition to playing songs that wouldn't surface until later in the decade. this is a remarkably rich set of songs, touching on nearly every aspect of young's personality, whether it's his sweetness, his sensitivity, his loneliness, or even his often-neglected sense of fun. even if "down by the river" and "cowgirl in the sand" retain their intense sense of menace when stripped of the winding guitar workouts of crazy horse. this concert isn't dominated by melancholy: it's a warm, giving affair, built upon lovely readings of "helpless," "tell me why," "old man," and an early incarnation of "a man needs a maid" (here played as a medley with "heart of gold") that removes the bombast of the harvest arrangement, revealing the fragile, sweet song that lies underneath. it the show captures the essence of neil young at his artistic peak as a singer/songwriter. that's the reason why this concert has been a legendary bootleg for nearly four decades and why its release 36 years after its recording is so special: it may not add an additional narrative to neil young's history, but it adds detail, color, and texture to a familiar chapter of his career, rendering it fresh once more. it's no wonder producer david briggs wanted to release this concert as an album between after the gold rush and harvest: it not only holds its own against those classics, it enhances them.

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