Neil Young

Live at Massey Hall, 1971

2007-05-24

In 1971, Neil Young was four years out of Buffalo Springfield after having quit on the eve of the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and was on his way out of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young after waxing Déjà Vu and 4 Way Street. He was also three discs into a solo career that included his 1970 masterpiece After the Gold Rush. This acoustic solo show catches him dipping into his catalog with "Helpless" and "Ohio" from CSN &Y, "I am a Child" from Buffalo Springfield and ample doses of his solo classics. Importantly, it also catches him running through songs that would soon be released on Harvest and Journey Through the Past including "Needle and the Damage Done", "Old Man" and "Heart of Gold". Not yet reduced to obligatory performances as greatest hits the songs resonate with discovery and benefit from Young’s spoken introductions putting them into context. Imagine "Heart of Gold" kicking into gear without a single hint of recognition from the audience and you’ll have some sense of just how new this material was. Great stuff then. Great stuff now. Smitty