ARCHIVE
42 • uNCuT• juLY 2019
N
eilYoungis an
artistwhoprizes
passionoverpolish,
rawpowerover
perfecttechnique.
Butthere’ssomething
about1973’sTime
FadesAwaythathasalwayscuttooclose
totheboneevenforhim.“ithinkit’s
theworstrecordi evermade,”hetold
DaveFerrinin1987.Recordedlivein
Americaduringearly’73(butmadeupof
entirelynewsongs),thealbumshould’ve
beena triumphforneil;it cameonthe
heelsofthesongwriter’schart-topping
blockbusterHarvest. With“Heartof
gold”and“oldMan”breezingacross
theairwaves,Youngwassuddenlyableto fill huge stadiums and arenas on his
own, without the help of C, S or n. But the
sudden death in november 1972 of Crazy
Horse guitarist Danny Whitten looms
over Time Fades Away (and, of course,
the grief-stricken Tonight’s The Night,
which was recorded later in ’73) and
as a consequence, it seemed as though
Young would rather let Time Fades Away
just fade away.
So that’s why Tuscaloosa, the 11th
release in the songwriter’s ongoing
archival Performance Series, comes as a
bit of a surprise. uncovered by engineer
John Hanlon late last year, the rich,
crystal-clear recording captures neil
with the Stray gators down in Alabama
early on during the
Time Fades Away
tour. So impressed
was Young with
Hanlon’s find that
he apparently
postponed the
release of Odeon-
Budokan – a prized
Crazy Horse-era
live set from 1976- in favour of this.
it’s certainly a
revelatory listen,
giving us a fuller
picture of what Young was up to onstage
at this crucial turning point in his career.
it’s a fan-friendly set, with faithful
renditions of “Heart of gold”, “After The
gold Rush”, “out on The Weekend” and
other favourites complementing the
fresher material. And though audience
tapes from the tour sometimes show
Young in a cranky, confrontational mood,
he’s easygoing and wry here, cracking
jokes between songs and making light of
his newfound commercial success (neil
introduces “Heart of gold” as “Burger of
gold”). Think of Tuscaloosa as Time Fades
Away’s kinder, gentler cousin. But don’t
worry – it’s still got plenty of bite.
And speaking of bite – Tuscaloosa is a
sparkling showcase for the Stray gators,
who appear on all but the first two tracks,
solo acoustic numbers. Made up of pedal
steel/slide guitar maestro Ben Keith,
pianist Jack nitzsche, drummer Kenny
Buttrey and bassist Tim Drummond,
the group was one of Young’s subtlest,
most sensitive combos, blending session-
player expertise with a deliciously
stoney looseness.
Tuscaloosa is further distinguished
from Time Fades Away since it features
Buttrey – Young replaced him with the
harder-hitting Johnny Barbata later
in the tour. Whatever his boss’sNEIL YouNG +
s T R AY GATo R s
Tuscaloosa
REPRIsE8/10
LivecompanionpiecetoShakey’s “least
favourite”album.B yTyl er W il c oxMIcHAEL
OcHS
ARcHIvES/GETTY
IMAGES
Young and the stray
Gators, The Forum,
Inglewood, CA,
April 1, 1973