The practice began to gain steam around 10 years ago, as early recordings by Bob Dylan, Motown Records, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and others reached the half-century mark, but because the material wasn’t previously considered strong enough for official release even as an archival item, the artists usually bury them in limited-edition CD collections or brief streaming availability.
In recent years, the labels have seen the error of their ways and have emptied the vaults of not just Dylan but also such much-bootlegged artists such as the Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, Prince, Bruce Springsteen and Van Morrison. This music from these artists’ prime often eclipses the quality of their later work, and most fans prefer the best stuff to the latest.
Few artists have been as active as Neil Young in filling in the gaps of his discography. Young long had a habit of recording albums that he refused to release. Just last August, for example, he finally released Chrome Dreams, which was ready to be put out in 1977. Containing six of his best songs (“Powderfinger,” “Like a Hurricane,” “Pocohontas,” “Star of Bethlehem,” “Look Out for My Love” and “Sedan Delivery”), it would have been a high peak in the mountain ridge of his discography, as Paste Magazine reports below.
Instead of letting it go, however, he took “Like a Hurricane,” “Star of Bethlehem” and three lesser songs, added four newer tracks and released them later that same year as American Stars ‘n Bars, a good but not great album. The six leftover songs dribbled out in the coming years. “Look Out for My Love” was on 1978’s Comes a Time and “Captain Kennedy” on 1980’s Hawks & Doves. A new studio version of “Pocohontas” and live versions of “Powderfinger” and “Sedan Delivery” appeared on the monumental Rust Never Sleeps in 1979. Five of the original tracks were never released before 2017.
During this seemingly lost decade, Young and Crazy Horse would often do pop-up shows at small bars on the California coast. The bootleg tapes of these shows are extraordinary, bursting with a sonic thunder and emotional abandon that the decade’s too-polite studio albums never touched.
A sample of these shows was finally released in 2021 as Way Down in the Rust Bucket, taken from a 1990 warm-up for the next studio album, Ragged Glory. Nonetheless, the bar gigs with Crazy Horse are under-documented, a crucial missing link in Young’s development that could reshape our notion of the 1980.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse announce new album 'FU##IN’ UP and US Tour 2024
Featuring re-recordings of songs from their 1990 classic, Ragged Glory
Kicking off with two stops in San Diego, Neil Young and Crazy Horse will visit Arizona, Georgia, New York, Toronto and more, where they will finish the tour in Chicago. Tour Dates Below.
The nine-track LP will initially be available for Record Store Day 2024 on April 20th, before receiving a wide release on April 26th.
FU##IN’ UP was recorded in 2023 by Young, Billy Talbot (bass, vocal), Ralph Molina (drums, vocal), Micah Nelson (guitar, vocal, piano), and Nils Lofgren (guitar, vocal, piano). It finds the band revisiting and re-recording material featured on their acclaimed 1990 album, Ragged Glory. With the exception of “Farmer John,” Young retitled all of the songs featured on FU##IN’ UP.
The band also revealed their upcoming album ‘FU##IN’ UP’, which will contain songs from the band’s 50 year career, freshly recorded for 2024. The album will have its initial release on Record Store Day (April 20); it will arrive in all formats on April 26.
Young said of the new album: “In the spirit it’s offered…made this for the Horse lovers. I can’t stop it. The horse is runnin’. What a ride we have. I don’t want to mess with the vibe. I am so happy to have this to share.”
