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By Todd Sterling
On a cold January night in 1971 Neil Young took the stage for a solo performance at one of Canada’s most hallowed venues, Massey Hall in Toronto. The concert was a homecoming show for the Toronto native, who had left Canada five years earlier for America. At the time, Young’s producer David Briggs hoped the live recording would be the follow up to After The Gold Rush, Young’s best-selling album up to that point. The singer disagreed and released the brilliant Harvest instead.
36 years after the fact, Live At Massey Hall is finally seeing the light of day as part of the Neil Young Archive Performance Series. Hearing Young, accompanied by nothing but guitar or piano, is an auditory pleasure of the highest order. The audience hangs on every note played, every word sung. Massey Hall is as quiet as Pharaoh’s tomb while Young makes his way through seventeen tracks, including "On The Way Home" and "Love In Mind." An inspiring rendition of "Helpless" elicits thunderous applause from the appreciative crowd at the song’s conclusion.
Young performed a number of (then) new songs that later surfaced on Harvest. The jangly "Old Man," written about an aging foreman on the singer’s ranch, and the stinging "The Needle And The Damage Done," a commentary on heroin, are fully formed pieces, while "Heart Of Gold" is tacked onto the end of "A Man Needs A Maid." Young seems to stumble a bit through what would eventually become one of his most well-known compositions. Even its rawest form, "Heart Of Gold" stands out as something special.
It’s hard to believe that one musician can hold the attention of a packed venue for seventeen songs, but Young does just that. The singer keeps the audience hypnotized with his wavering voice and poetic songwriting. Rock tracks like "Down By The River" and "Cowgirl In The Sand," both originally recorded with Young’s (sometimes) side band Crazy Horse, are stripped down here to their barest forms. "Bad Fog Of Loneliness" is a simple number that showcases Young’s fine guitar work.
All of the songs on Live At Massey Hall have stood the test of time; you won’t find one track that sounds dated. 36 years after his monumental performance, Young agrees that the live disc should have followed After The Gold Rush. Fans will just be glad the recordings are finally being officially released to the public. Reprise Records is also making a special CD/DVD version available.
Todd Sterling is a music journalist and singer/songwriter from Canada.Article: © SongwriterPro.com Kelly Dunn - All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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