I first reported in mid-January of this year that Neil Young’s next album would consist of all covers and that he was “collaborating” with Jack White.
I speculated that songs on the album would likely include Phil Ochs’ “Changes,” Bert Jansch’s “Needle of Death,” Gordon Lightfoot’s “Early Morning Rain,” Ivory Joe Hunter’s “Since I Met You Baby” and Tim Hardin’s “Reason To Believe.”
Today the album, A Letter Home, was released with none of the usual pre-release hoopla, and it includes all of those songs, plus Bob Dylan’s “Girl From the North Country,” Bruce Springsteen’s “My Hometown,” a second song by Gordon Lightfoot, “If You Could Only Read My Mind,” plus songs by the Everly Brothers and Willie Nelson.
Jack White not only recorded the album on his 1947 Voice-o-Graph vinyl record recording booth at Third Man Records in Nashville, but he’s released the album on Third Man Records, is credited along with Young as the album’s co-producer (actually it says on the back cover “Reproduced by Jack White and Neil Young) and plays on two tracks.
“[It’s] a phone booth,” Young told Spin. “It’s all acoustic with a harmonica inside a closed space, with one mic to vinyl … It’s a funky old machine, it sounds like Jimmy Rogers or something.”
For Record Store Day tomorrow, the album will be available on vinyl in limited quantities at select record stores around the country.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Changes” (Phil Ochs)
02 “Girl From The North Country” (Bob Dylan)
03 “Needle of Death” (Bert Jansch)
04 “Early Morning Rain” (Gordon Lightfoot)
05 “Reason To Believe” (Tim Hardin)
06 “On The Road Again” (Willie Nelson)
07 “If You Could Only Read My Mind” (Gordon Lightfoot)
08 “Since I Met You Baby” (Ivory Joe Hunter)
09 “My Hometown” (Bruce Springsteen)
10 “I Wonder If I Care As Much” (Everly Brothers)
Here are live performances of some of the songs.
“Reason To Believe” at Farm Aid 2013:
“Changes” at Carnegie Hall 2014:
“Early Morning Rain” at Farm Aid 2013:
“Since I Met You Baby” at Farm Aid 2013:
“Needle of Death” at Carnegie Hall 2014:
“If You Could Read My Mind” at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, 2014:
-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-
For Record Store Day this Saturday April 19, 2014 Bruce Springsteen is releasing a four-song record, American Beauty EP.
The EP includes three unreleased tracks recorded during the High Hopes sessions — “American Beauty,” “Mary Mary” and “Hey Blue Eyes” — plus the single, “Hurry Up Sundown.”
Springsteen played all instruments on “Hurry Up Sundown” except drums, which are handled by Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle, Devo, Nine Inch Nails).
Listen to “Hurry Up Sundown” right now right here.
-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –
Bruce Springsteen in Australia, 2014, via his Facebook page. Photo by Jo Lopez.
Here’s a full show from Bruce Springsteen, live at the Bellville Velodrome in Cape Town, South Africa, January 29, 2014.
Setlist
1. We Take Care Of Our Own
2. Night
3. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
4. High Hopes
5. Adam Raised A Cain
6. Something In The Night
7. Wrecking Ball
8. Death To My Hometown
9. Hungry Heart
10. Tougher Than The Rest
11. Jack Of All trades
12. Heaven´s Wall
13. This Is Your Sword (World Premiére)
14. Because The Night
15. She’s The One
16. Working On The Highway
17. Shackled & Drawn
18. Waitin’ On A Suny Day
19. The Rising
20. The Ghost Of Tom Joad
21. Badlands
22. Sun City (World Premiére)
23. Rocky Ground
24. BTR
25. Glory Days
26. Seven NIghts To Rock
27. Dancing In The Dark
28. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
29. Twist & Shout
30. Thunder Road (solo acoustic)
