In a new live album/concert film – dubbed Young Shakespeare – Neil Young will highlight his Jan. 22, 1971 performance at The Shakespeare Theater in Stratford, Conn.
Fans will be thrilled to hear that Young Shakespeare features early takes of future favorites like “Old Man,” “The Needle and the Damage Done,” “A Man Needs a Maid,” and “Heart Of Gold,” years before their release.
Archivists also estimate that this new release offers the “earliest live footage of Young known to exist.”
As Young himself explains, this 1971 outing was “a more calm performance, without the celebratory atmosphere of Massey Hall, captured live on 16mm. Young Shakespeare is a very special event. To my fans, I say this is the best ever…one of the most pure-sounding acoustic performances we have in the Archive.”
Young Shakespeare will be released on March 26.
Check out a preview and the show’s version of “Tell Me Why” below:
7 Comments comments associated with this post
zally
February 19, 2021 at 10:02 amthe vocals at the woodstock show were re recorded in the studio, this guys ego is so huge that he thinks it all bout him.besides mccartney never has a artist put out so much bland material as neil.
Eat Me
February 12, 2021 at 3:56 pmHe didn’t appear at Woodstock, 1969? Sounds like he was filmed, although reluctantly. I guess we can make anything up for money….
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
David Crosby – guitar, vocals
Stephen Stills – guitar, vocals
Graham Nash – guitar, vocals
Neil Young – guitar, keyboards, vocals
Greg Reeves – bass
Dallas Taylor – drums
3:00 a.m. – 4:00 a.m., with separate acoustic and electric sets.
Acoustic Set
“Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”
“Blackbird” (The Beatles cover)
“Helplessly Hoping”
“Guinnevere”
“Marrakesh Express”
“4 + 20”
“Mr. Soul”
“Wonderin'”[12]
“You Don’t Have to Cry”
Electric Set
“Pre-Road Downs”
“Long Time Gone”
“Bluebird Revisited”
“Sea of Madness”
“Wooden Ships”
Acoustic Encores
“Find the Cost of Freedom”
“49 Bye-Byes”
This was just the band’s second performance together.[13] Neil Young skipped most of the acoustic set (the exceptions being his compositions “Mr. Soul” and “Wonderin'”) and joined Crosby, Stills and Nash during the electric set, but refused to be filmed. Young felt the filming was distracting both performers and audience from the music. As a result, Young’s name was dropped in the concert film and on its soundtrack (though his name is included in Chip Monck’s introduction of the band in the film).[14] Despite Young’s refusal, footage does exist of him performing “Mr. Soul” and “Long Time Gone”. The “Mr. Soul” performance can be found as an Easter egg on his The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972 box set,[15] but because of Young’s resistance to being filmed, during much of the performance the camera remains focused on Stills. The version of Young’s “Sea of Madness” on the Woodstock soundtrack album was actually recorded at a Fillmore East concert, one month after the festival. According to legend, Stephen Stills demanded the replacement because the Woodstock version was substandard.[13] The original recording was restored on the six-CD box set Woodstock 40 Years On: Back To Yasgur’s Farm.[12]
Beth Wright
February 12, 2021 at 4:59 pmI would assume he’s talking about performances without David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash.
Albert Dente
February 12, 2021 at 3:54 pmGenius performer/performance
“Tell me lies later, come and see me,
I’ll be around for a while….
I am lonely, but you can free me,
all in the way that you smile.”
Pretty good pick-up line.
Humble and Modest Neil Shakespeare
February 12, 2021 at 2:58 pmThis guy, comparing himself to Shakespeare. There is definitely footage of Neil Young prior to 1971. Theres a couple of clips I know of on youtube alone.
Beth Wright
February 12, 2021 at 5:03 pmKindly share some links so the rest of us can see those clips.
HUMBLE AND MODEST NEIL SHAKESPEARE
February 13, 2021 at 12:46 pmThey won’t let someone post links, so you’ll have to type it into the youtube search engine.