Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps (1979)

Neil Young is a prolific Canadian singer-songwriter who has been releasing records since the 60s.

In 1978 Neil Young started touring again, first with a 10-date solo tour that introduced lots of new songs, and then for a bigger US tour with his backing band Crazy Horse. Several of the new songs he debuted with Crazy Horse had an even more distorted sound than what they had done before, perhaps in response to punk rock. The gigs themselves featured bizarre theatrics, with stage props including giant microphones and amps, and roadies dressed as Jawas.

The tour was highly successful, and three products came from it, the first being a concert film called Rust Never Sleeps. An album of the same name also came out in 1979, mostly made up of live recordings with overdubs, and introducing new classics to the record-buyers such as "Powderfinger", "Welfare Mothers", "Sedan Delivery", and a song which appeared in both acoustic and electric forms as "My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)" and "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)" - it has since become one of his best-known and best-loved compositions. Two of the songs weren't from the '78 tour - "Sail Away" came from the earlier Comes A Time sessions (featuring bassist Joe Osborn, drummer Karl Himmel and singer Nicolette Larson), and "Pocahontas" was a live recording from back in 1975 (embellished with various subtle overdubs). Though the album's recording details suggest something of an erratic and unfocused collection, the truth was it came together wonderfully into an instant classic, one which is still today seen as among his best.

The third product from the tour was the soundtrack from the film, released at the same time as Live Rust. It featured many of the same tunes as on the Rust Never Sleeps LP, but in a raw live form without overdubs, and interpersed by lots of older songs (many sounding re-invented in their new solo or Crazy Horse arrangements). The opening song "Sugar Mountain" he had actually been performing steadily since the start of his solo career in 1968, but it had never made it onto an album (though it had been used as a b-side many times), so its belated debut here was truly welcome.

I have put both Rust Never Sleeps and Live Rust together here in the same download.

Comes A Time (1978) <|> Hawks & Doves (1980)
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