A BREAKDOWN OF THE ARTIST/S :-

Born 12 November 1945, Toronto, Canada. Although Young maintains he had a happy childhood he contracted polio when he was 6 and throughout his teenage years he suffered the disintegration of his parents' marriage. Young's father is Scott Young, a hugely prolific sports writer and novelist. Having moved to Winnipeg as a child, Young began his enigmatic career as a member of several high-school bands, including the Jades and Classics. He later formed the Squires with Ken Koblun, whose indebtedness to the UK instrumental combo the Shadows was captured on Young's composition "Aurora'/'The Sultan". In 1965, he embarked on a folk-based musical direction, with appearances in Toronto's bohemian Yorkville enclave. A demonstration tape from this era contains early versions of "Sugar Mountain", a paean to lost childhood later placed on 10 different single releases, and "Don't Pity Me", revived a decade later as "Don't Cry No Tears". Young then joined the Mynah Birds, a pop-soul attraction that also featured Rick James, but this act folded prematurely upon the latter's arrest for draft evasion. Group bass player Bruce Palmer accompanied Young on a subsequent journey to Los Angeles in Young's hearse (Mort 2) where they sought out and found Stephen Stills and Richie Furay to form the Buffalo Springfield.

Young's tenure in this seminal "west coast" act was tempered by several "sabbaticals", but two luxurious, atmospheric compositions, "Broken Arrow" and the Jack Nitzsche-arranged "Expecting To Fly', established the highly sculptured, orchestral-tinged sound prevalent on his debut solo record, 1969"s Neil Young. Although originally blighted by a selfless mix that buried the artist's vocals, the album contained several excellent compositions, notably "The Loner", "The Old Laughing Lady", "I've Been Waiting For You" and "Here We Are In The Years". The set also featured two highly effective instrumentals, Young's evocative "The Emperor Of Wyoming" and "String Quartet From Whiskey Boot Hill", a sublime arrangement and composition by Nitzsche. The closing track, "The Last Trip To Tulsa", was unique in Young's canon, an overlong, surreal narrative whose performance betrayed the strong influence of Bob Dylan.

Following his first album, Young was joined by Danny Whitten (Born 8 May 1943, Columbus, Georgia, USA, d. 18 November 1972; guitar/vocals), Billy Talbot (Born 23 October 1943, New York City, New York, USA; bass) and Ralph Molina (Born 22 June 1943, Puerto Rico; drums) - three former members of the Rockets - in a new backing group dubbed Crazy Horse. The now-classic Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere captured a performer liberated from a previous self-consciousness with the extended "Down By The River" and "Cowgirl In The Sand", allowing space for his stutteringly simple, yet enthralling, guitar style. While the epic guitar pieces dominated the set, there were other highlights, including the zestful "Cinnamon Girl" and the haunting "Running Dry (Requiem For The Rockets)", a mournful song featuring Bobby Notkoff on violin. The album underlined the intense relationship between Young and Crazy Horse. An attendant tour confirmed the strength of this new found partnership, while Young also secured acclaim as a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young. His relationship with Crazy Horse soured as Whitten grew increasingly dependent on heroin and the group was dropped following the recording of After The Goldrush. The set provided a commercial breakthrough and included several of Young's best-known compositions, including the haunting title track, "Only Love Can Break Your Heart", a US Top 40 hit, and the fiery "Southern Man". The highly commercial Harvest confirmed this new found ascendancy and spawned a US chart-topper in "Heart Of Gold"; it remains his best-selling album. This commercial peak ended abruptly with Journey Through The Past, a highly indulgent soundtrack to a rarely screened autobiographical film. A disastrous tour with new backing group, the Stray Gators, exacerbated the gap between the artist and his potential audience, although Time Fades Away, a collection of new songs culled from the concerts, reclaimed the ragged feistiness of the Crazy Horse era. The set included the passionate "Last Dance" and the superb "Don't Be Denied", an unflinching autobiographical account of Young's early life in Canada.

The deaths of Whitten and road crew member Bruce Berry inspired the harrowing Tonight's The Night, on which Young's bare-nerved emotions were expounded over his bleakest songs to date. "I'm singing this borrowed tune, I took from the Rolling Stones, alone in this empty room, too wasted to write my own', he intoned in world-weary fashion on "Borrowed Tune", while in-concert Young would offer multiple versions of the grief-stricken title song. However, the final set was rejected by the record company in favour of On The Beach, released to coincide with a Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young reunion tour. The work was initially greeted coolly and Rolling Stone described it as one of the "most despairing albums of the decade". In common with John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band, On The Beach saw Young stripping away his personality in a series of intense songs. The undoubted highlight of the set was the closing "Ambulance Blues", arguably one of the most accomplished works of Young's career. In analyzing his place in the rock music world, Young offered a sardonic riposte to his detractors: "So all you critics sit alone/You're no better than me for what you've shown/With your stomach pump and your hook and ladder dreams/We could get together for some scenes". The belatedly issued Tonight's The Night was no longer a shock, but testified to Young's absolute conviction. The album sold poorly but was retrospectively acclaimed as one of the bravest and most harrowing albums of the decade.

Young next chose to team up Crazy Horse again - Talbot, Molina and new guitarist Frank "Poncho" Sampedro - for the highly electric Zuma. The set's highlight was provided by the guitar-strewn "Cortez The Killer" but, despite often ecstatic reviews, the overall performance was generally stronger than the material it supported. Another gripping recording, "Like A Hurricane", was the pivotal feature of American Stars 'N' Bars, an otherwise piecemeal collection drawn from extant masters and newer, country-orientated recordings. The latter direction was maintained on Comes A Time, Young's most accessible set since Harvest, on which Nicolette Larson acted as a female vocal foil. The album's use of acoustic settings enhanced Young's pastoral intentions and the singer was moved to include a rare cover version: Ian Tyson's folk standard, "Four Strong Winds". Characteristically, Young chose to follow this up by rejoining Crazy Horse for Rust Never Sleeps. The album rightly stands as one of Young's greatest and most consistent works. The acoustic "My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)" and its electric counterpart "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)" explained the central theme of the work - the transience of rock stardom. "The Thrasher", one of Young's most complex and rewarding songs, reiterated the motif. "Ride My Llama", "Pocahontas" and "Powderfinger" were all worthy additions to Young's classic catalogue. The album was preceded by a Young movie of the same name and was followed by the double live album, Live Rust.

During the 80s the artist became increasingly unpredictable as each new release rejected the musical directions suggested by its predecessor. The understated and underrated Hawks & Doves was followed by excursions through electric R&B (Re-Ac-Tor), electro-pop (Trans) and rockabilly (Everybody's Rockin'), before embracing ol' timey country (Old Ways), hard rock (Landing On Water) and R&B (This Note's For You). The last-named achieved notoriety when a video for the title song, which attacked the intertwining of rock with corporate sponsorship, was banned by MTV. The R&B experiment using brass (Neil And The Blue Notes) also saw Young regain some critical acclaim. Young's next project was culled from an aborted release, tentatively entitled Times Square. Eldorado invoked the raw abandonment of Tonight's The Night, but the five-song set was only issued in Japan and Australia. Three of its songs were latterly placed on Freedom, an artistic and commercial triumph which garnered positive reviews and assuaged those viewing its creator as merely eccentric. The set was generally acclaimed as Young's finest work in a decade and included some of his most intriguing lyrics, most notably the lengthy "Crime In The City", itself an extract from an even longer piece, "Sixty To Zero". Young affirmed this regeneration with Ragged Glory, a collaboration with Crazy Horse marked by blistering guitar lines, snarled lyrics and a sense of urgency and excitement few from his generation could hope to muster. Contemporary new wave band Sonic Youth supported the revitalized partnership on the US Spook The Horse tour, cementing Young's affection for pioneers.

An ensuing in-concert set, Weld (accompanied by an album of feedback experimentation, Arc), was rightly applauded as another milestone in Young's often contrary oeuvre. Following this, Young informed the media that he was making a return to a Harvest-type album, and the result was, for many, another one of his best albums. Harvest Moon captured the essence of what is now rightly seen as a great 70s album (Harvest) and yet it sounded perfect for the 90s. "From Hank To Hendrix" and the title track are but two in a collection of Young songs destined to become classics. As if this was not enough, less than a year later he produced Unplugged, which was a confident live set recorded for MTV. Sleeps With Angels mixed some of his dirtiest guitar with some frail and winsome offerings. His ability to juxtapose contrasting styles is extraordinary: "Piece Of Crap" finds Young in punkish and vitriolic form, whilst the gentle "My Heart" would not be out of place in a school church hall. In similar mood was his ethereal "Philadelphia", perfectly suited for the movie Philadelphia, for which it was composed.

A collaboration with Pearl Jam produced a good album in 1995, on which once again Young thrilled, excited, baffled and amazed. Mirror Ball was a gripping rock album that bought him many new (younger) fans, although older devotees were by now wanting something special and were tired of the dirty grunge. Dead Man was a challenging and rambling guitar soundtrack to a Jim Jamursch movie, and neither a commercial nor a listenable excursion. Broken Arrow received a less than positive reception from the critics, although many newer fans saw little difference in quality from recent efforts, except for the dreadfully ramshackle bar-room version of Jimmy Reed's "Baby, What You Want Me To Do". The Year Of The Horse was yet another live album, tolerated by his fans but leaving a genuine appetite for some new material. In 1999, Young reunited with his CSN colleagues for a lucrative tour and an album. The lacklustre contributions he made to their album spilled over to Silver & Gold. Reception was mixed, but generally it was seen as a dull and at times ("Buffalo Springfield Again") a downright corny set. Are You Passionate? was another disappointing set, with Young unable to be spurred on by the presence of soul veterans Booker T. Jones and Donald "Duck" Dunn in his studio band.

For his next project, 2003's Greendale, Young created a mythical town in the USA. The entire album revolved around this imaginary concept, with "Grandpa" as the main character of Greendale with its ocean, mountains and farms other symbolic representations. Although the songs were for the most part pedestrian, the album stood out as one of Young's most interesting and intriguing works for many years.

Even with a less than perfect discography in recent years, Young's artistic standing still remains at an all-time high. However, he retains the right to surprise, infuriate, and even baffle, while his reluctance to court easy popularity must be applauded. More than any other artist working in the rock field over the past 30 years, Young is the greatest chameleon. His many loyal admirers never know what to expect, but the reaction whenever a new project or direction arrives is initially favourable from all quarters, creating great interest. Even his most recent work which has often been flawed, seems to receive accolades. He still transcends generations and manages to stay hip and in touch with laconic ease, indifference and worldly style. In appraising grunge let it be said that it was Young who first wore check workshirts outside torn jeans, and played blistering distorted cranked-up guitar (with Crazy Horse). And he did it all more than 30 years ago.

Discography:
Neil Young (Reprise 1969)****, with Crazy Horse Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Reprise 1969)*****, After The Goldrush (Reprise 1970)*****, Harvest (Reprise 1972)****, Journey Through The Past film soundtrack (Reprise 1972)*, Time Fades Away (Reprise 1973)**, On The Beach (Reprise 1974)*****, Tonight's The Night (Reprise 1975)****, with Crazy Horse Zuma (Reprise 1975)****, American Stars 'N' Bars (Reprise 1977)***, Comes A Time (Reprise 1978)***, with Crazy Horse Rust Never Sleeps (Reprise 1979)*****, with Crazy Horse Live Rust (Reprise 1979)***, Hawks & Doves (Reprise 1980)***, with Crazy Horse Re-Ac-Tor (Reprise 1981)**, Trans (Geffen 1983)**, with the Shocking Pinks Everybody's Rockin' (Geffen 1983)**, Old Ways (Geffen 1985)***, Landing On Water (Geffen 1986)*, with Crazy Horse Life (Geffen 1987)**, with the Bluenotes This Note's For You (Reprise 1988)***, Eldorado mini-album (Reprise 1989)***, Freedom (Reprise 1989)****, with Crazy Horse Ragged Glory (Reprise 1990)***, with Crazy Horse Weld (Reprise 1991)***, with Crazy Horse Arc (Reprise 1991)**, Harvest Moon (Reprise 1992)***, Unplugged (Reprise 1993)***, with Crazy Horse Sleeps With Angels (Reprise 1994)****, Mirror Ball (Reprise 1995)***, Dead Man film soundtrack (Vapor 1996)*, with Crazy Horse Broken Arrow (Reprise 1996)**, with Crazy Horse Year Of The Horse (Reprise 1997)***, Silver & Gold (Reprise 2000)**, Road Rock V. 1 (Reprise 2000)***, Are You Passionate? (Reprise 2002)**, with Crazy Horse Greendale (Reprise 2003)***.

　 　

THE COVER :- Single sleeve

THE LABEL :- Reprise labels

THE VINYL VISUALLY :- On initial inspection of this piece of vinyl I cannot see any real areas of immediate concern. The vinyl sits perfectly flat on the turntable so there are no nasty warps to worry about. The vinyl still retains its just pressed quality, full of deep shine and lustre. I have only noted a little rubbing of the surface at the end of the opening track on both sides. Other than that just some light sleeve removal marks that these card inners always produced. All in all for the age a nice looking piece of vinyl. I would grade it as about Excellent Minus 

THE VINYL PLAY GRADED :- The playgrading of the vinyl reveals hardly any lessening in the sound quality. It plays a little better than its visual grading might suggest. There is very minimal surface noise. What there is can be only heard on the run in and run out of tracks and extra quiet areas of the album. The sound quality is high with a full dynamic range and very detailed sound. I feel certain this album has been played carefully and stored well over the years. I would grade the audio playback as a nice Excellent condition.

THE SLEEVE FRONT CONDITION :- This is the very earliest 1st press Garrod & Lofthouse sleeve. The front of the sleeve is free from writing, free from stickers or evidence of previously removed stickers. The sleeve reveals no ringwear. There is one crease in the top left hand corner and a few little spidery ones on the seams. The colours are bright and crisp. I would grade the front of the cover as Excellent condition. 

THE SLEEVE REAR CONDITION :- The rear of the sleeve is free from writing, free from stickers or evidence of previously removed stickers. There are no creases on the rear of the sleeve and only the faintest of ringwear. Just some very light corner and seam wear. Again the rear still retains its original crisp colours. I would grade the rear as Excellent Plus condition.

THE TOP AND BOTTOM EDGES CONDITION :- The top seam just shows a little rubbing in spots and the botttom seam the same. There is a little added rubbing in the two outer corners but in generally Excellent condition.

THE LABEL SIDE ONE CONDITION :- Original Reprise label in excellent order free from stickers or writing and no damage at all, light signs of play around the spindle hole and some light staining around the rim. Excellent condition.

THE LABEL SIDE TWO CONDITION :- Original Reprise label in excellent order free from stickers or writing and no damage at all, light signs of play around the spindle hole and some light staining around the rim. Excellent condition.

THE SPINE CONDITION :- The writing on the spine is clear and all readable. No spine splits at all just very light signs of shelfwear in the two corners. Excellent condition

THE INNER SLEEVE CONDITION :- The original card inner is in Excellent condition with just a little crinkling of the surface.

THE LYRIC SHEET :- The sheet is again in Excellent condition with just a few light marks and some light handling creases on the corners. 

THE CATALOGUE NUMBER :- K 54105

THE YEAR OF RELEASE :-  1979

THE LABEL :- REPRISE

THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN :-  UK

PLAYING FORMAT :- STEREO

THE MATRIX NUMBERS :-  K 54105 A//1  &  K 54105 B//1

 

 

TRACK LISTING :-

SIDE ONE :-

MY MY, HEY HEY (OUT OF THE BLUE) THRASHER RIDE MY LLAMA POCAHONTAS SAIL AWAY

SIDE TWO :-

POWDERFINGER WELFARE MOTHERS SEDAN DELIVERY HEY HEY, MY MY (INTO THE BLACK)

 

WHAT WE PLAY THE RECORD ON :- 

We use a Project 6 Perspex Turntable to play grade our records which delivers a rich authoritative sound and achieves a rich and weighty vibrancy unrivalled by the majority of decks within its price range

HOW WE CLEAN YOUR RECORD :- 

We use a V.P.I. HW-16.5 record cleaning machine to clean your vinyl. "A highly recommended machine" as quoted by Stereophile magazine. This removes any excess dirt before playing

HOW WE PACKAGE YOUR RECORD :- 

Your record will be package very securely to minimise any risk of damage during transit. We remove the record from the outer sleeve unless asked not to do so. This helps to minimise the risk of seam spliting. We use a high quality record mailer which is designed to give superior protection for your vinyl record. We place stiffeners either side of the record for added protection. The album will also be placed in a 450 gram Poly outer sleeve for even extra added protection

 

 

POSTAGE AND PACKAGING CHARGES FOR UK CUSTOMERS :-

We advise that items reaching over £50 in price to be insured and sent by Special Delivery. This protects both of us and ensures better handling of the parcel during transit.We are in no way out to make money from postage. The postage price includes the record mailer, stiffeners and plastic sleeve. We just want your item to reach you in the best possible condition. A breakdown of insured postal services are listed below. Please choose to use the relevant postal service for your own protection as once these rare records are lost they can quite often seldom be replaced

 SECOND CLASS RECORDED (INSURED UP TO £50) :- FREE

FIRST CLASS RECORDED (INSURED UP TO £50) :- £0.45

SPECIAL DELIVERY NEXT DAY UPTO 500g :- £3.80

SPECIAL DELIVERY NEXT DAY FROM 500g - 1000g :- £5.00

(SPECIAL DELIVERY INSURES YOUR ITEM UPTO £500)

 

POSTAGE AND PACKAGING FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION :-    

All records reaching under £15 are sent to the European Union by Airmail small packets. We will not ship abroad without insured post for items reaching over £15

AIRMAIL SMALL PACKETS  :-  £6.22 (For items under £15)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :-  £11.37 (For items £15 - £50)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :-  £13.97 (For items £50 - £500)

(These prices are based on a package weight of no more than 500g and can vary for heavier packages)

 

POSTAGE AND PACKAGING FOR THE USA AND CANADA :- 

All records reaching under £15 are sent to the USA & Canada by Airmail small packets. We will not ship abroad without insured post for items reaching over £15

AIRMAIL SMALL PACKETS  :-  £8.78 (For items under £15)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :- £13.93 (For items £15 - £50)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :- £16.53 (For items £50 - £500)

(These prices are based on a package weight of no more than 500g and can vary for heavier packages)

 

POSTAGE AND PACKAGING FOR THE AUSTRALIA AND JAPAN AND ROW :- 

All records reaching under £15 are sent to the Australia & Japan by Airmail small packets. We will not ship abroad without insured post for items reaching over £15

AIRMAIL SMALL PACKETS :- £9.06 (For items under £15)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :- £14.21 (For items £15 - £50)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :- £16.81 (For items £50 - £500)

(These prices are based on a package weight of no more than 500g and can vary for heavier packages)

 

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DO NOT PROFIT FROM POSTAGE, THE PRICES WE QUOTE ARE QUITE ACCURATE AND INCLUDE THE PACKAGING MATERIALS AT COST PRICE

 

NOTE FOR INTERNATIONAL BUYERS:

PLEASE AWAIT AN INVOICE BEFORE PAYING SO WE CAN WORK OUT THE CORRECT POSTAGE/SHIPPING CHARGES

 

BUYERS OF MULTIPLE ITEMS :- 

Postage prices and courier methods for multiple purchases will be calculated after the auction end. It is impossible for us at the pre auction stage to determine these prices as the final weight is unknown.If you are the winner of multiple items the please await contact from us or alternately contact us yourself for a breakdown of the shipping costs.You will only pay the stamp price + relevant packaging charges so there are big savings to be made with multiple purchases

 

HOW TO PAY FOR YOUR RECORD :-

We can accept the following payment methods

UK BUYERS :- 

PayPal Personal cheque (Please allow to clear) Bankers Draft Postal Order

OVERSEAS BUYERS :-

Paypal only

 

TERMS AND CONDITIONS :-

We always try to appraise the record for sale as openly and honestly as possible and provide plenty of pictures for you to look at but please be aware that errors however rare do occur and not everyone has the same audio  equipment. There is no problem that cannot be worked out in a civilised manner. We urge you to contact us so that we can discuss any small problems that may occur. We offer a refund of the purchase price for returned items within 7 days of purchase and are happy to help you with any questions or concerns you may have during the auction

SAVE US TO YOUR FAVOURITES LIST AS WE INTEND TO LIST MANY MORE RARE VINYL TREATS OVER THE COMING MONTHS AND YEARS

Powered by