NEIL YOUNG - Live At The Fillmore East Review

The term "solo artist" is the most common misnomer in rock history, an insult to the oppressed and silent majority behind each legend's curtain. I'm talking about the sidemen, the backing bands, the producers, whose names are known only to the most ardent of sleeve-note scholars and biographers, and whose importance is recognized all too rarely. Elvis Presley had Scotty Moore and Sam Phillips, Bob Dylan had Al Kooper and Bob Johnston, David Bowie had Brian Eno and Mick Ronson, all integral parts of the sound that made each one famous, but doomed to never grace the marquee alongside the featured star....full text Even by Neil Young's standards, two albums in seven months is a touch over-generous. This is the first in his vault-clearing Archive Performance series. It's a cracker, too, featuring Young and Crazy Horse on a 1970 showcase of material mostly drawn from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, the album that established him as a serious solo contender and lead guitar stylist. The two keystones, accordingly, are versions of "Down by the River" and "Cowgirl in the Sand" stretching to 12 and 16 minutes respectively, characteristically questing bouts of tectonic guitar extemporisation hewn into jagged emotional blocks by Young's tense, stabbing lead lines. ...full text For Neil Young, 1970 proved to be a particularly busy year. In addition to touring the world as a solo acoustic act and with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, as well as recording two pivotal albums (After the Gold Rush and Deja Vu), he managed to squeeze in a few gigs with Crazy Horse. Six of the best takes from two torrid shows at the Fillmore East on March 6th and 7th are available on this CD, which is the first-ever archival release from Young's bulging vault....full text