In a recent post to his Neil Young Archives website, the singer teased an upcoming release of “Official Bootlegs” from his live archives, one of the multiple projects Young has in the works over the coming months.
Now, Neil Young has revealed that the first release from this series will be his 1970 concert at New York City’s Carnegie Hall. It’s one of two shows Young performed at the legendary venue that week – but he says that bootleggers only were able to record the second, and this release will be from the first show.
Young is yet to announce a release date but has delivered the news with a short retrospective about why the show – just a few weeks after the release of After the Gold Rush – represents such a pivotal moment in his career.
“Change happens fast. As I have gone through these early bootlegs, Carnegie Hall, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and others, they show a change, something you can hear … an evolution. My first time playing harmonica … Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, is heard as well as what the harmonica replaced … heard on earlier shows.”
“That was interesting to me because I don’t remember exactly when I started playing harp until I heard that,” he said. “At Carnegie Hall, I hear myself doing a new song, one about my ranch I had just moved to … ‘Old Man.’ Time flies.”
“There was one at 8:00 pm and one at midnight [the next night]. No one got that first one … the first time I walked onstage at Carnegie Hall, blowing my own 25-year-old mind,” he wrote in the blog post.
But, he says, “This one … Carnegie Hall, December 4th, 1970, is very special to me.”
Later this month, Young is releasing an EP called The Times. The politically-charged, career-spanning collection includes iconic protest songs like “Ohio” and “Southern Man,” plus the recently updated single, “Lookin’ For A Leader 2020.” The EP also features Young’s Homegrown original “Little Wing” and Dylan cover, “The Times They Are A-Changin’” recorded during the “Porch Episode” of his lockdown Fireside Sessions. The Times is due out September 18th – Pre-order here.
Young says he’s chosen to release the EP via Amazon Music because “no one delivers better sound to the masses.” Listen to the first two singles from The Times on Amazon:
