Neil Young Live at Massey Hall 1971
(originally appeared in culturecloud)

It seems unlikely that Neil Young sits up at night fretting about the chart positions of his albums, but if he cares, his latest release (which happened to be recorded 36 years ago. Yes, 36.) debuted at number six this week, his highest ever for a non-collaboration with Pearl Jam. Neil has long been a favorite of mine, but I'll admit I was a little surprised; for starters, you would have thought the 1976 Fillmore East concert he released a couple of years ago would have soaked up a lot of the pent-up demand for archival recordings of the indestructible Canadian rocker, or folk-rocker, or Godfather of Grunge, or whatever he's considered.

I have ample Neil (though I could always use more) and I'm making a belated effort to keep pace with the music the kids these days are making, so the Massey Hall record was hardly a priority for me; I noted its release with a "Good for Neil," but never thought to pick it up. And then I did. And within 30 seconds, including 10 of tuning up, I was shaking my head thinking, "Thank God for Neil Young." Whether he's crooning wistfully about dusty Canadian towns or raging against the forces of commercialism and aggression, picking out delicate melodies on an upright piano or whaling away at one-note solos amid a hurricane of noise, there's just no one alive who does what he does.

Recorded in January 1971, the Massey Hall show brings us Neil just a few years into one of the great careers in rock history. He'd already set the pattern of eclecticism that would become his hallmark with the psychedelic folk-rock of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby Stills Nash & Young before ditching both bands for better things. He'd formed Crazy Horse, the on-and-off backing band for his most blistering electric work in the decades to come. With "After the Gold Rush" the previous year, he'd established himself as an unmatched solo artist, and would soon take this reputation to new heights with "Harvest" later in 1971.

This being acoustic Neil — just Neil all by himself, in fact — in a concert hall setting, the sound quality is great; you feel like you're on the piano bench next to him. Especially when he introduces the songs, many of which people in the audience are hearing for the first time — "Heart of Gold," "Old Man," "A Man Needs a Maid" — not to mention haunting new versions of "Cowgirl in the Sand" and "Down By the River" with Crazy Horse nowhere in sight.

In a way, the intimacy of the recording is reminiscent of Johnny Cash's unaccompanied work with Rick Rubin — though instead of being the valediction of a dying legend, this one captures a legend at the very beginning. Already, though, all the elements are in place: the high, clear, quavering pitch; the uncanny instinct for making a single acoustic guitar serve as an entire backing band; the confident delivery that leaves you no choice but to follow him through often cryptic tales of love, loneliness, murder, and hope. A notoriously tough taskmaster, Neil demands to be taken on his own terms, and you'd be a fool to have it any other way.

Over the years I've seen Neil solo as on this record (including a couple of times where he did the Trans stuff for a few songs); with Crazy Horse, the International Harvesters, the Shocking Pinks, and the Blue Notes; and backed by Pearl Jam, REM, and Booker T. and the MGs. I've never seen anything but an amazing show — the guy just delivers.

Neil Young Live at Massey Hall 1971 delivers, too. Visit your local CD shop — yeah, right. Drop by iTunes and you can be listening to it in a matter of seconds.