Let's take a trip down memory lane, to April 22, 2017, a.k.a. Record Store Day. In my local record store, I found the "RSD" vinyl releases I was looking for: Art Pepper's 'The Art Pepper Quartet' and Dexter Gordon's 'Walk The Blues'. As I was waiting to pay for the records, on the shelf behind the counter, I spotted a limited edition, remastered reissue of Uncle Neil's 'Decade' on 3 180-gram vinyl LPs. When it was my turn to pay, I asked for a copy of 'Decade', and paid for the records. As I was halfway out the door, I heard "HEY LADY!". Turning around, expecting to see Jerry Lewis standing there, it was the cashier who was waving me back into the store and said, "I forgot to tell you, inside the album is a card with a code to get a 24-96-bit digital version of 'Decade', for free. Just go to the website on the card, and enter the code". When I got home, I searched for the card inside the album, but it was nowhere to be found.
This past Friday, I woke up with Neil's 'Like a Hurricane' stuck in my head. Now, when I get a song stuck in my head, a.k.a. “Earworm”, the only way I can exorcise it from my brain is to play the song a few times. So later on Friday afternoon, I pulled out the "RSD" version of 'Decade'. As I was taking the record out of its sleeve, the card that I could not find and had completely forgotten about came tumbling out. After several hits of my current favorite sativa strain, “Jack One” a.k.a. "J1" and listening to 'Like a Hurricane', I was intrigued by the card and wondered if it would work seven years later. So I went to the website, entered the code, and much to my surprise, it worked.
So here's the 24bit-96kHz digital version. It sounds ridiculously sweet, and will make a very nice upgrade (you won't be sorry).
Here's the thing about Neil to me (and don't get me wrong, I love Neil): He's not the greatest singer, guitarist, or songwriter, yet there's a certain "Je ne sais quoi" about Neil that I can't put my finger on. The overall vibe and his point of view are the best descriptions I can come up with.
So for the freeload, tell us, in your opinion, what makes Uncle Neil so great.
He trusts his gut.
ReplyDeleteHe writes with his heart. Have to try me some of that "J1"!
ReplyDeleteNeil feels sad enough for both of us. Frees me up for alot of other things.
ReplyDeleteHe knows which side his bread is buttered on but he chooses the other side anyway.
ReplyDeleteBecause he wrote "On The Way Home," one of my top three favorite songs, possibly even my #1 of all time.
ReplyDeleteBecause he's a fellow Canadian and he wrote "Cowgirl In The Sand", still perhaps my favourite Neil Young song.
ReplyDeleteBrian
Persistence. And monumental talent. That sort of thing.
ReplyDeleteIMHO, He's down to Earth, while his head is in the clouds. He's a no bull s*!+, warts and all kind of guy. He knows what he likes & admires and he's not afraid to speak up about it. He's also likely to rail on and clearly speak about things he dislikes and he, (as Alice Reno's mom said to me once), "Don't eat no dirt." Thanks Babs
ReplyDeleteAs a criticism...well, more of an observation, really, I was listening to Los Lobos Budweiser commercial last night and thinking, "Jeez, this is a really great piece of commercial artwork." And I thought Neil really should have done that Budweiser commercial. Hey, he likes dogs. Coulda done a duet with Spuds McKenzie...
ReplyDeleteHe is not a great songriter? Well define a great songwriter... he definitely is one of the greatest to me...
ReplyDeletein rock music, I mean.
DeleteShirts
ReplyDeleteI remember watching an acoustic Neil concert film, his voice broke early in one number and he persevered right to the end. Not sure what made it such a powerful performance, but that's what he does. Alternately, Crazy Horse?
ReplyDeleteHe can make falsetto singing bearable, even agreeable at times...
ReplyDeleteMy mother, upon hearing 'The Last Trip to Tulsa', likened his singing to a cat in heat. Mom didn't like rock music...
DeleteMy mom's take on Neil was "That guy needs some iron". She did like rock, albeit finally getting it when she was in her mid-40s, favoring the Allmans, T Rex and Alice Cooper. She wasn't big on Neil, tho.
DeleteC in California
Link One
ReplyDeletehttps://workupload.com/file/4FYKNCfGvmM
Link Two
https://workupload.com/file/dceMK9C6jvx
Anybody know whatever happened to that big-old gas guzzler car that he was converting to electric/"green"? Used to be a website where you could watch them work on it...
ReplyDeleteIt burned up in a fire in 2010. Here's an article about it: https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Neil-Young-s-warehouse-fire-started-in-hybrid-car-3165485.php
DeleteMany Thanx for the info...I kinda figured it might have ended as such...no good deed goes unpunished.
DeleteNeil has somehow managed to raise sludgy guitar rock with adenoidal, lovelorn lyrics to an art form.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, Babs, sadly, the 11th track "down by the river" don't work. I download it two times but it's the same problem. Please, can you check it and perhaps post it again? I would be very happy. Kindly regards, Mike
ReplyDeleteHi Babs - I have the same problem - I've replaced it by a standard version, but if you have a working version of your track, that would be great. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteOn The Beach.
ReplyDeleteHello Babs, I have the same problem with track 11, "Down By The River". It contains "Zero KB". Could you fix it somehow? I would very much appreciate it. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteBrian