DVDR #531

DVDR

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Disc 1:
1. Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing - Whittier High School, Los Angeles, 1966
2. Birds - Big Sur Folk Fest, Big Sur, Calif. 69-09-13
3. Cowgirl in the Sand - Fillmore East, New York 70-03-07
4. Tell Me Why (with CSN) - Fillmore East, New York 70-07-03
5. Only Love Can Break Your Heart (with CSN) - same as above
6. Everybody's Alone - KQED Rehearsals, December 1970
7. A Man Needs a Maid & Heart of Gold - Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford, Britain 71-01-22
8. Out on the Weekend - BBC TV Studios, London 71-02-23
9. Love in Mind - same as above
10. Dance Dance Dance - same as above
11. Cripple Creek Ferry - Carnegie Hall, New York 73-01-21
12. L.A. - same as above
13. Soldier - same as above
14. Harvest - JFK Center, Washington, D.C. 73-01-28
15. Sweet Joni - Civic Auditorium, Bakersfield, Calif. 73-01-20
16. Tonight's the Night - Golden Auditorium, NYC Queens College 73-11-15 (2nd show)
17. Tired Eyes - same as above

Disc 2:
1. Pardon My Heart - Bottom Line, New York 74-05-16
2. On the Beach - same as above
3. Traces - CSNY: The Coliseum, Seattle 74-07-09
4. Human Highway - same as above
5. Love Art Blues - same as above
6. Hawaiian Sunrise - CSNY: Roosevelt Raceway, Westbury, N.Y. 74-09-08
7. Like a Hurricane - Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan 76-03-05
8. Stringman - Hammersmith Odeon, London 76-03-31
9. Evening Coconut - Stills-Young Band: Civic Center, Springfield, Mass. 76-06-27
10. Long May You Run - Stills-Young Band: Civic Center, Providence, R.I. 76-07-07
11. Southern Man - same as above
12. Give Me Strength - The Auditorium, Chicago 76-11-15
13. Comes a Time - The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, Calif. 77-08-27
14. Sail Away - same as above
15. Lady Wingshot - Bicentennial Park, Miami 77-11-12
16. Shots - Boarding House, San Francisco 78-05-24
17. Come on Baby, Let's Go Downtown (Whitten-Young) - Civic Center, Providence, R.I. 78-09-25

Disc 3:
1. If You Got Love - Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden 82-10-08
2. Transformer Man - same as above
3. My Boy - Palmer Auditorium, Austin, Texas 83-01-14
4. Old Ways - Cal Expo Amphitheater, Sacramento, Calif. 83-07-26
5. Kinda Fonda Wanda - same as above
6. Gonna Rock Forever - The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, Calif. 84-02-07 2nd show
7. Touch the Night - same as above
8. Amber Jean - "Austin City Limits" TV show, Austin, Texas 84-09-25
9. Good Phone - same as above
10. Helpless - same as above
11. Down by the River - same as above
12. Interstate - proposed but unreleased Farm Aid EP; USA 1985
13. Grey Riders - same as above
14. Nothing Is Perfect - same as above
15. Southern Pacific - same as above

Disc 4:
1. Mideast Vacation - Tough on Toxic Benefit, Long Beach, Calif. 86-08-28
2. Road of Plenty (Eldorado) - Metropolitan Center, Minneapolis 86-10-17
3. Computer Age - Palatrussardi, Milan, Italy 87-05-05
4. Bad News - Poplar Creek Music Theater, Hoffman Estates, Ill. 88-08-16
5. Ordinary People - Jones Beach, Wantaugh, N.Y. 88-08-27
6. Rockin' in the Free World - "Saturday Night Live" TV show, New York 89-09-30
7. Winterlong - Ahoy Sportpaleis, Rotterdam, Netherlands 89-12-13
8. Silver and Gold - Civic Center, Santa Monica, Calif. 90-03-31
9. Campaigner - Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, N.Y. 91-03-16
10. Homefires - Orpheum Theatre, Boston 92-03-20
11. Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Children's Health Fund benefit, Los Angeles 93-03-01
12. Mr. Soul - Ahoy Sportpaleis, Rotterdam, Netherlands 93-07-05
13. Separate Ways - Torhout Festival, Belgium 93-07-03
14. Philadelphia - Academy Awards, Los Angeles 94-03-21

For a lenghy, track-by-track discussion of the music on "Rock 'n' Roll Cowboy," read the
book "Neil Young: Love to Burn: Thirty Years of Speaking Out, 1966-1996" by
Paul Williams. Hardcover and paperback publisher: Omnibus Press, October
1997. It's out of print, but used copies can still be found.

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FROM OLD GREY CAT:

Rock 'n' Roll Cowboy - (Great Dane 9407/ABCD)

disc one: Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing, Birds, Cowgirl in the Sand, Tell
Me Why, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Everybody's Alone, A Man Needs a
Maid/Heart of Gold, Out on the Weekend, Love In Mind, Dance Dance Dance,
Cripple Creek Ferry, L.A., Soldier, Harvest, Sweet Joni, Tonight's the Night

disc two: Pardon My Heart, On the Beach, Traces, Human Highway, Love Art
Blues, Hawaiian Sunrise, Like a Hurricane, Stringman, Evening Coconut, Long
May You Run, Southern Man, Give Me Strength, Comes a Time, Sail Away, Lady
Wingshot, Shots, Downtown

disc three: If You Got Love, Transformer Man, My Boy, Old Ways, Kinda Fonda
Wanda, Gonna Rock Forever, Touch the Night, Amber Jean, Let Your Fingers Do
the Talking, Helpless, Down by the River, Interstate, Grey Riders, Nothing
Is Perfect, Southern Pacific


disc four: Mideast Vacation, Road of Plenty (El Dorado), Computer Age, Bad
News, Ordinary People, Rockin' in the Free World, Winterlong, Silver and
Gold, Campaigner, Homefires, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Mr. Soul,
Separate Ways, Philadelphia

A friend recently read through these reviews and chuckled. "You make me want
to own all of these," she commented. "You're so enthusiastic!" Which is
true; I am nothing if not enthusiastic when it comes to music in general and
Neil Young's music in specific.

With that in mind, Rock 'n' Roll Cowboy is a rich, if frustrating, listening
experience. Released by the Italian Great Dane record label a few years
back, it's a four-disc set that collects various Neil live performances,
spanning from his Springfield days to his Grammy Award show performance of
"Philadelphia" in 1994. Among the many treats: "Sweet Joni," a 1973
piano-based paean to Joni Mitchell apparently only performed once. It's a
fragile song with fragile lyrics, perhaps in keeping with its subject. Other
highlights include several Stills-Young Band run-throughs, especially
"Southern Man" which features some scintillating guitar solos from both
Stills and Young. Say what you will about Stills' songwriting abilities, but
there's no denying his prowess with a six-string. He's one of the best
around--always was, always will be. Other highlights include the unreleased
songs "Everybody's Alone," "Traces," "Love Art Blues," "Give Me Strength,"
"Lady Wingshot," "If You Got Love," "Gonna Rock Forever," "Amber Jean," "Let
Your Fingers Do the Talking," "Grey Riders," "Nothing is Perfect," "Ordinary
People," "Silver and Gold," "Homefires" and "Separate Ways." Add in several
reworked versions of known quantities, such as the Saturday Night Live debut
of "Rockin' in the Free World," "Shots" (performed acoustically from San
Francisco's Boarding House) and "Helpless" (a stunning take from Neil & the
International Harvester's Austin City Limits appearance in 1984) and
"Stringman," recorded in London in 1976, and you have enough for a two-album
set--a great one at that, especially if 20-bit remastering and/or HDCD
technology is employed to clean up the sound.

"To clean up the sound." Hmmm. Therein lies the rub, folks. Thanks to this
collection's breadth--in total, 63 songs taken from upwards of 40
concerts--the sound quality ranges from the near-atrocious to excellent. A
good example of this are the trio of songs ("Traces," "Human Highway," and
"Human Highway") taken from CSNY's 1974 performance at the Coliseum in
Seattle. It sounds like the audio equivalent of sludge--except, of course,
for the harmonies which do come through. Thus, as I said at the outset, this
is a rich, if frustrating, experience. Let's hope that many of its treasured
are found in better form on the Archives when/if that multi-CD set is
released.

One other comment: The accompanying booklet to Rock 'n' Roll Cowboy is
excellent, far surpassing many liner notes to legitimate boxed sets,
featuring a well-written overview of Neil's career as well as a
track-by-track commentary AND complete tour schedule from Neil's 1968/69
solo tour through to his 1993 jaunt with Booker T. & the MGs. While it
doesn't tip the scale as far as the set's rating, it does much of what the
set itself does, collecting many of Neil's comments and observations on many
of his songs.

Despite its sound lapses, until the Archives are released--and possibly even
then--this is a true "essential." (A+)


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I stumbled upon a brand spanking new copy of "Rock 'n Roll Cowboy" in
about 1995. I was perusing the local Music Trader, which in the day
was about the only place to come across "bootleg" material, and found
what was undoubtedly the answer to all of my prayers. Listed at $90,
it was a 4-disc career retrospective of my rock 'n roll hero, Neil
Young.

I would have paid anything for it, but still negotiated the price
down to $80 (out the door!). As a student, it was lavish but did not
warrant (or receive) a second thought. Anyone who knew me knew that
4 discs of live Neil Young -- and a career retrospective at that! --
meant more than whatever it cost.

What a smorgasboard! At the time, I was in my infancy as far as
collecting Neil Young was concerned, and the breadth of the
collection was mind-blowing.

The travesty with Neil is that radio has its favorite 6-8 songs that
are "playable," but he is so prolific and his canon so expansive that
it is possible to have every single studio album he has ever released
and to still not truly understand Neil Young, musician. Not to
disparage the radio songs, without which Neil would not sell the
number of albums to garner the artistic freedom which gives breath to
his soul, but you can only hear "Heart of Gold" and "Old Man" so many
times.

"Rock 'n Roll Cowboy" picks up where radio, and studio recording for
that matter, leaves off. In fact, in the liner notes the RNR Cowboy
creator indicates that played out songs and/or versions were
purposely omitted. The highlights of RNR Cowboy, in my eyes,
are "Ordinary People," an acoustic "Shots," and an early Farm Aid-
era "Interstate." For the true collectors, these versions are
available elsewhere and their mere presence is no longer mind-
blowing. For the rest of us...

Well, for the rest of us, we are the "Ordinary People," an unreleased
Neil epic that chronicles the mid-80s. Replete with corporate
slogans and evening news cliches, its a slice-of-life piece played
here with the Blue Notes that highlights Neil the narrator. It's a
lustrous 13 minutes, emotionally charged, typically brilliant. And
for some unknown reason, it still hasn't been released. No song has
ever left me so curious as to what Neil's vaults will reveal long
after he's gone.

"Shots" was originally released on "RE*AC*TOR," a Crazy Horse record
widely panned for its over-the-top volume and overt meaninglessness.
Within the context of the record, "Shots" is another loud, mediocre
cut with a little too many special effect shots. Acoustically, the
song is stripped of the studio pretension, and what you get is a
tender, meaningful, sentimental piece. "I promise you, whatever we
do, that I will always...be true." The line sneaks up on you as you
listen to the song, and then you have to replay it just to hear how
the line is set up. I still can't get past that song without hearing
it 2-3 times. Just for that line.

"Interstate" isn't as spectacular as "Ordinary People" or "Shots,"
but it's another one that sneaks up on you. It's a mood, and it's
another window into Neil's heart. It's Neil the Wanderer -- in one
place, but never for very long. I've always thought Pearl Jam's "Off
He Goes" was about Neil, and at its core one could view "Interstate"
as a precursor to "Off He Goes."

At the end of the day, they're all windows into Neil's heart or head -
- or more accurately, his soul. The recording quality of RNR Cowboy
could have been better, but the effort (especially considering the
date of release) is unsurpassed. RNR Cowboy is widely hailed --
rightly so -- as the premier Neil Young retrospective.

D.J. Harmeling
hh@hh4law.com

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I had somewhat mixed feelings about this box - A+ for content but often a C
for sound quality. Nevertheless, where it shines it brightens the entire
block. Personal faves include the "band version" of New Mama from the TFA
tour & the acoustic Shots from Boarding House 78. While a nice overview,
and certainly worth something for packaging alone, I think this is out-done
on all fronts by the Rustie comps ABD 2000, Rarities and A Perfect Echo.

bobbly

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DVDR #531

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