Neil Young will treat fans to the previously unreleased footage from the 1971 performance, which is the earliest known concert recording of Neil, from his set at The Shakespeare Theater in Stratford, Connecticut, on March 26.
Originally intended for a presentation on German TV later that year, the recordings will now be made public for the very first time.
The analogue tapes have been dusted off and restored and include acoustic recordings of two ‘After the Gold Rush’ tracks and the likes of ‘Ohio’, ‘Cowgirl in the Sand’, ‘Helpless’, ‘Down by the River’ and ‘Sugar Mountain’, plus tracks from 1972’s seminal LP ‘Harvest’.
On his Neil Young Archives (NYA) site, Neil explained that ‘Young Shakespeare’ is “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.”
The live album will be available on vinyl and CD, while the concert film will be released as a standalone DVD, and all formats will come with a Deluxe Box Set Edition.
Meanwhile, Neil is also set to release the lost album ‘Johnny’s Island’.
The ‘Cinnamon Girl’ hitmaker recorded the tracks at Honolulu’s Commercial Recorders studio in Hawaii, during the same sessions for his 1982 LP ‘Trans’ .
The collection was previously called ‘Island In The Sun’ and some of the songs made at the time, such as ‘Like An Inca’, ‘Hold On To Your Love’, and ‘Little Thing Called Love’, ended up on ‘Trans’.
The record will now be released in all its glory via the Neil Young Archives “soon”.
Neil previously announced on his website for the project: “‘Johnny’s Island’ a complete album now being prepared for release at NYA, includes a majority of unreleased tracks including ‘Big Pearl,’ ‘Island In The Sun,’ and ‘Love Hotel,’ plus others you may have heard before. It’s a beautiful record coming to you soon.”
The ‘Young Shakespeare’ track-listing is:
1. ‘Tell Me Why’
2. ‘Old Man’
3. ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’
4. ‘Ohio’
5. ‘Dance Dance Dance’
6. ‘Cowgirl in the Sand’
7. ‘A Man Needs a Maid / Heart Of Gold’
8. ‘Journey Through the Past’
9. ‘Don’t Let It Bring You Down’
10. ‘Helpless’
11. ‘Down by the River’
12. ‘Sugar Mountain’
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