UPDATE: The December record is unfortunately delayed due to UPS literally running over the boxes of records. We’re trying to get replacements as soon as possible but the label is telling us it could be February before the replacements ship out. We’ll keep you updated.
Club members will get a copy of the latest Neil Young archival release–a sprawling double album full of solo, acoustic tracks from Neil’s infamous 1976 tour.
Sign up today so you won’t miss out on this month’s record!
With a ridiculous amount of gigantic classic rock boxed sets hitting us this holiday season (Dylan, Beatles, Kinks, etc), it’s almost a relief that Neil Young’s latest archival dig clocks in at a relatively tidy 80 minutes. And it’s even familiar stuff, too! These solo acoustic performances from late 1976 have been bootlegged for decades, usually under the title The Bernstein Tapes (named after Joel Bernstein, Neil’s archivist/roadie/photographer, who compiled the collection with journalist/filmmaker Cameron Crowe).
But even if some fans know this stuff backward and forward, Songs For Judy is still an essential addition to the official canon, all cleaned up for the masses. It captures Young in brilliantly loose form, rambling but righteous. There are inspired renditions of the hits (“Heart of Gold,” “Tell Me Why,” “After the Gold Rush”) and startlingly vivid deeper cuts (“Too Far Gone,” “Give Me Strength” and the gorgeous, unreleased-until-now “No One Seems To Know”). All in all, Songs For Judy makes a fine companion to Neil’s other recent solo acoustic ’76 vault release, Hitchhiker. An artist at his peak. Or at least one of his peaks, anyway.
The only problem is that it’s only part of the story. The Judy tapes come from the first half of the ’76 shows; afterward, Young was joined by Crazy Horse for some of the most electrifying and raggedly glorious jams of his career. So we’re going to need a sequel … soon. – words by T. Wilcox over at Aquarium Drunkard
Songs for Judy Track List (all dates are from 1976)
“Songs For Judy Intro” – Atlanta, GA – Nov 24 (late show)
“Too Far Gone” – Boulder, Colorado – Nov 06
“No One Seems To Know” – Boulder, Colorado – Nov 07
“Heart Of Gold” – Fort Worth, Texas – Nov 10
“White Line” – Fort Worth, Texas – Nov 10
“Love Is A Rose” – Houston – Nov 11
“After The Gold Rush” – Houston – Nov 11
“Human Highway” – Madison, Wisconsin – Nov 14
“Tell Me Why” – Chicago – Nov 15 (late show)
“Mr. Soul” – New York – Nov 20 (early show)
“Mellow My Mind” – New York – Nov 20 (early show)
“Give Me Strength” – New York – Nov 20 (late show)
“A Man Needs A Maid” – New York – Nov 20 (late show)
“Roll Another Number” – Boston – Nov 22 (late show)
“Journey Through The Past” – Boston – Nov 22 (late show)
“Harvest” – Boston – Nov 22 (late show)
“Campaigner” – Boston – Nov 22 (late show)
“Old Laughing Lady” – Atlanta – Nov 24 (early show)
“The Losing End” – Atlanta – Nov 24 (late show)
“Here We Are In The Years” – Atlanta – Nov 24 (late show)
“The Needle And The Damage Done” – Atlanta – Nov 24 (early show)
“Pocahontas” – Atlanta – Nov 24 (late show)
“Sugar Mountain” – Atlanta – Nov 24 (late show)