Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Deja Vu Live CD

Deja Vu Live songs Bob Dylan once famously remarked about hearing Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" on the radio that he knew his days as the man of the hour were numbered. Fact is, Young is the only guy who can even reasonably compete with Dylan for the title of rock's greatest songwriter, and while "Dylan in the '60s" has long been a cliched assessment of an undeniable rock hot streak, so too has become "Neil Young in the '70s." While Dylan has long culled material from his archive, Young has been reluctant to do the same. He's now joining the fray full force with LIVE AT MASSEY HALL 1971--the second live release in an ongoing series from Young's legendarily deep vaults. The performance comes between the release of AFTER THE GOLDRUSH and HARVEST and hot on the heels of DEJA VU, basically the last time Young's eminently enthralling man-child persona of "I Am A Child" and "Helpless" held sway over the obstinate, electric crank of TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT and RUST NEVER SLEEPS. The set is pure magic. Young still seems humble and shy, a guy who stumbled across an incredible gift for melody but possessed the worldliness to let his awkward talent breathe and warble as it was meant to. Familiar songs have drastically different readings: the subdued "A Man Needs A Maid" comes off here as more of a cry for help than the potentially chauvinistic enigma on HARVEST and seeps perfectly into "Heart of Gold;" while the normally heavy "Cowgirl in the Sand" and "Ohio" are remade as acoustic dirges. The true treasures, however, are the never-released gems "Bad Fog of Loneliness" and "Dance Dance Dance," a song--with its lyrics of love and rainbows--that foregrounds Young's latent whimsy and sets up "I Am A Child" as the perfect closer for this disc. A must for fans of Young, '70s singer-songwriters, and rock in general, LIVE AT MASSEY HALL 1971 perfectly captures the moment just before Dylan's prophecy came true and Young took over pop music. This legendary January 19, 1971 concert is released in high-resolution stereo in this CD/DVD pack. The acclaimed Toronto performance features classics, some of his most popular songs, and more obscure tunes. Authors: Victor Stanton; Jack Batten. Editor: Toshi Onuki. Photographers: Ben Johnson ; Wim Van Der Linden; Toshi Onuki; Joel Bernstein. Personnel: Neil Young (vocals, guitar, piano). Recording information: Massey Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (01/19/1971).

Deja Vu Live CD music Neil Young has never been one to avoid political commentary. Ever since "Ohio," his classic anthem of moral outrage about the Kent State student massacre in 1970, Young's music has pulled no punches about the injustices of American policy both foreign and domestic. 2006's LIVING WITH WAR continues that trend; in fact, the album is the most overtly political of Young's long, dazzling career. A collection of protest songs that takes the Bush administration directly to task for their actions in Iraq and elsewhere, LIVING WITH WAR boils with outrage and aches with pathos (the grungy, midtempo opener "After the Garden" is a fine example of the latter). "Let's Impeach the President" and "Lookin' for a Leader" leave little question as to Young's opinion of George W., while the crunching, electric-guitar-heavy feel of the album underscores Young's bitter aggression. The album draws on the artist's lineage to the socially conscious activism of the 1960s, yet it feels energized, angry, contemporary, and timely, further highlighting Young's status as one of rock's longest-running and most integrity-driven heroes. A Grammy and Juno Award-nominated studio album, the album's lyrics, titles, and conceptual style are highly critical of the policies of the George W. Bush administration. Personnel: Neil Young (vocals); Neil Young; Darrell Brown (vocals); Rick Rosas (bass instrument); Tommy Bray (trumpet); Chad Cromwell (drums). Arranger: Neil Young.

Deja Vu Live buy CD music In fact, the whole night seems designed by the infamously raw producer David Briggs: tracks are brisk, mistakes are kept, the sound is rough, and every song sounds like a first take. And what a string of first takes: "So Begins the Task"--later released on MANASSAS--anticipates the finger-picked bleakness of DEJA VU's "4 & 20"; "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" finds particular starkness as a solo song despite the jubilant open chords; and "The Doctor Will See You Now" holds its own against anything in Young's catalog. While his songwriting and guitar playing are stellar, Stills's voice is equally stunning, with its tender, affecting rasp making an AM weeper like "Helplessly Hoping" sound tough. A rough gem of a listen, but a must-have for any fans of Stills or of Crosby, Stills & Nash. Over the years since Neil Young's godlike status has grown, it is easy to forget about the jaw-dropping breadth of talent that was Crosby, Stills & Nash, his sometimes former bandmates. Crosby had the silken voice and Nash the impossibly high harmony, but, as the remarkable official bootleg JUST ROLL TAPE: April 26th 1968 proves, Stephen Stills was a complete talent as a singer, writer, and guitarist. Reportedly recorded in one long take after he bribed the engineer of a Judy Collins session on the title date to continue recording long into the night, JUST ROLL TAPE is what its title suggests: a roll of inspired performances of songs from Still's embryonic catalog just before Crosby and Nash's angelic voices stormed the pop charts with him. Personnel: Stephen Stills (dobro).

Deja Vu Live album for sale His stage fright quickly gives way to a hilarious persona--sort of a stoner Buddy Hackett--who rambles about popping pills at his old bookstore job, out-of-tune Buffalo Springfield gigs, and his lack of "happy songs." These goofball but charming "raps" (six in total, each given their own track) counterbalance the hypnotically emotive performances they bookend. With just an acoustic guitar and his crystalline alto sharp as a lathe, the singer reinvents Buffalo Springfield deep cuts such as "Out of My Mind," "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing," and "Expecting to Fly" and offers a glimpse of future releases like "The Loner" before they were buried in overdubs on NEIL YOUNG. An essential purchase for both fans and newcomers, SUGAR MOUNTAIN provides a deepened portrait of the songwriter as his mercurial but prodigious talent ripened. This set is another singular installment in the continuing Neil Young Archives Performance Series. On this CD+DVD set, recorded in Ann Arbor, MI, November 9-10, just days before the release of Young's self-titled solo debut, one of the greatest singer-songwriters in rock history is heard solo and acoustic at the height of one of the most tumultuous and creative periods ever experienced in both music and culture. Along with the music--restored and transferred from analog to digital--the packaging is a treasure, including the front cover photo taken in 1967 by Linda McCartney and reproductions of artifacts surrounding the Canterbury House concerts. This third release in Neil Young's Archives Performance series presents the entire 1968 Ann Arbor show legendary among Young-o-philes for including the version of "Sugar Mountain" previously released on 1979's DECADE. The revelatory set captures the Canadian troubadour finding his footing as a solo artist after the break-up of Buffalo Springfield and on the eve of his debut. Petrified about not having enough material, Young had to be rallied from his hotel by the club's manager to perform in front of the unexpected capacity crowd. [Also includes a DVD of the performance] Personnel: Neil Young (vocals, guitar).

Deja Vu Live CD music Neil Young/Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Neil Young; Billy Talbot (bass guitar); Danny Whitten, Jack Nitzsche, Ralph Molina. Neil Young's in-concert guitar prowess with Crazy Horse is well documented. LIVE AT THE FILLMORE EAST, recorded at a 1970 performance, nevertheless, fills a major hole in the Young legacy, containing the only live recordings of Young's legendary guitar interplay with original Crazy Horse member Danny Whitten, who died the following year. Performing songs from their most recent release, EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE, the band simultaneously digs in with a visceral, gritty gestalt, and expands outward with Young and Whitten's exploratory six-string journeys. Of added interest to hardcore Young fans are performances of three songs that wouldn't be recorded until years later--the countrified "Come on Baby Let's Go Downtown," the elegiac "Winterlong," and the lovelorn shuffle "Wonderin'." Augmenting the basic quartet of Young, Whitten, and the stalwart rhythm section of Ralph Molina and Billy Talbot is Young's once-and-future producer Jack Nitzsche on electric piano. Together the five create a thick, sprawling sonic beast that unfolds itself with undeniable gravitas over the course of this priceless set. This set is the first released from Young's long awaited Archive Performance series. In 1970, Young toured with CSN&Y and released his platinum album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, after which he performed a series of shows at New York's then-new Fillmore East with his band Crazy Horse. That concert finally makes its official debut in the annals of rock history with this set, and the circle is unbroken for one of rock's greatest singer-songwriters. The DVD includes high-resolution audio of the entire album and a photo montage. Personnel: Neil Young (vocals, guitar); Danny Whitten (vocals, guitar); Ralph Molina (vocals, drums); Jack Nitzsche (electric piano). Audio Mixers: Neil Young; John Nowland; Peter K. Siegel. Recording information: The Fillmore East (03/06/1970/03/07/1973). .

Deja Vu Live buy CD music Intended by Neil Young as a follow-up to his near-mythic unreleased 1977 recording CHROME DREAMS, the 2007 album CHROME DREAMS II features the same basic band and approach. Unlike many of Young's more conceptual albums, it contains songs written over different periods of time in different stylistic modes. Some of the tunes here have been waiting around since the '80s, including the 18-minute epic "Ordinary People," a slow-burner in the classic Young tradition that he audaciously positioned as the album's single. Arranged around that sprawling centerpiece are some humbly poignant folk-rock gems, including the pretty, acoustic-based ballad "Beautiful Bluebird" and the shimmering, waltz-time love song "Shining Light." On the harder side, there's the trademark Crazy Horse-style crunch and quirk of the chugging rocker "Dirty Old Man" and the "Down By The River"-esque workout "No Hidden Path." Ironically, by attempting to follow no single sonic template on CHROME DREAMS II, Young turned out perhaps his most consistent effort of the decade. Enjoying one of the most prolific periods of his phenomenally prolific career, Neil Young (sans Crazy Horse) delivers Chrome Dreams II. Hard but shiny, acoustic but also electric, Chrome Dreams II continues the new millennium resurgence in popularity for one of the greatest singer-songwriters in rock history. DVD Features super-saturated DVD-Stereo mixes for the highest quality audio available on DVD. DVD Includes: Super-Saturated DVD Stereo Mixes. Contains Additional Video. Personnel: Neil Young (vocals, guitar); Ben Keith (pedal steel guitar); Rick Rosas (bass instrument); Ralph Molina (drums).