NEIL YOUNG’S BOTTOM LINE (WITHOUT HONEYSLIDES!)

Carnegie Hall 1970
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion 1971
Royce Hall 1971
Citizen Kane Jr. Blues

The Ry Cooder show had ended at New York City’s Bottom Line club and some of the crowd stuck around for a rumored impromptu after hours performance. At 2:30 am on May 16, 1974, Neil Young quietly took the stage and performed an hour-long set largely consisting of new unreleased material. The relaxed atmosphere even coaxed Young into providing a recipe for cannabis-infused “honeyslides” and relating the circumstances behind the recent Oakland, California, show when he threw down his guitar and stormed off stage. An audience cassette recording of this special evening became one of the most highly regarded bootlegs among fans. Now Young himself has officially released it, along with three other vintage solo concerts, as part of his Bootleg Series albums.

Young has issued a number of live archival releases over the years, but these latest installments mimic the illegitimate bootleg LPs so coveted by savvy collectors in the 1970s, down to the cheap looking cover graphics. But audio-wise, Young has used the best available tapes. Three of the four releases are professionally recorded, while the Bottom Line show is sourced from the original cassette, which only adds to its charm and hazy late night vibe. The lone caveat that I have with these releases is that three of the four have been edited to fit on a single LP. This is especially egregious with the Bottom Line disc since most of the between song banter has been excised. No honeyslides! These raps are part of what make the show legendary. The complete recordings are available for streaming on Neil’s Archives site, but at the very least these could have easily fit on the CD releases as well. It seems like a bit of a missed opportunity.

The Bottom Line remains my favorite, but perhaps the best of the series is the December 4, 1970 Carnegie Hall concert. The sound quality is stellar, the setlist sublime and includes a few surprises compared to the other two later 1971 performances. The two disc recording is also unedited. A few selections from Young’s self-titled debut and Buffalo Springfield songs make appearances. Young accompanies himself on acoustic guitar or piano on tunes such as “Cinnamon Girl,” “Expecting to Fly,” “The Loner,” “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing” and “Flying on the Ground is Wrong.” He throws in a few unreleased rarities like “Wonderin’,” “Bad Fog of Loneliness” and a rousing “Dance Dance Dance,” too.

Almost two months later at the January 30, 1971 date at Royce Hall in Los Angeles, most of these titles are replaced by material from the upcoming Harvest album. Early versions of “Old Man,” “A Man Needs a Maid,” “The Needle and the Damage Done” and a pre-hit rendition of “Heart of Gold” that is unselfconsciously charming and complete with its harmonica debut, are all featured. Two piano ballads, “Journey Through the Past” and “Love in Mind,” predate their inclusion on the post-Harvest live album Time Fades Away by two years. The final date of the solo tour also took place in Los Angeles, but at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on February 1, 1971. The 15-song setlist drops “Down by the River” from the previous LA performance. All three of these early 1970s concerts clearly display a relaxed intimacy not always heard on some of Neil Young’s later live outings. They are also a portrait of a growing artist on the cusp of superstardom and on his way to the height of creativity.

Which brings us to Citizen Kane Jr. Blues, the title given to the Bottom Line disc and the alternate title that Neil uses to introduce the first live airing of “Pushed It Over the Edge.” All three of the songs that would make up the dark, moody suite of the On the Beach album (“Ambulance Blues,” “Motion Pictures” and the title track) are premiered, as well as “Revolution Blues.” On the Beach was still two months away from release, but young unveils three more songs that became a part of even later albums, the title tune to Long May You Run, “Roll Another Number” from Tonight’s the Night and Zuma‘s “Pardon My Heart.” The audience may have only been familiar with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young‘s “Helpless,” the stomping live favorite “Dance Dance Dance” and Neil’s lovely take of “Greensleeves,” which he seems to pull out on the spur of the moment. For an almost fifty-year-old audience recording, the sound is still very, very good. Young’s guitar and vocals are clearly heard over the crowd noises that aren’t excessively intrusive. It’s amazing this classic set was captured at all and that these four official bootlegs are now time capsules available for every fan to enjoy.

MAY 8, 2022