Early Daze＜Indie Exclusive Crystal Vinyl＞

The Neil Young archive can sometimes seem bottomless and much of the material unearthed in the ongoing series -- grainy bootleg recordings, studio outtakes, and alternate versions -- is going to be exciting only for the most diehard Neil freak. Early Daze, on the other hand, has a broader appeal, collecting ten rare tracks put to tape by Young and his best-fitting backing band Crazy Horse during various sessions in 1969. Its an alternate reality album from a group in top form, delivering different performances of some of the better-known hits, but adding in deep cuts as well. Melancholic, Buffalo Springfield-descendant folk-rocker "Look at All the Things" and the barnyard rave-up "Dance Dance Dance" both appeared on Crazy Horses self-titled 1971 album, and songs like "Winterlong" and "Everybodys Alone" have long histories as obscure fan favorites. Theres also a thoughtfully rambling version of "Wonderin," the After the Goldrush-era outtake that showed up in a far different style on Youngs 1983 rockabilly detour Everybodys Rockin. The vast majority of Early Daze hadnt been released prior to this collection, and this far into his legacy, there are very few Neil Young songs that havent been released in any form, but even the different takes on old classics here have merit. "Down by the River" and "Cinnamon Girl" are similar, if slightly looser, than the versions that made the final cut, but the Early Daze versions of "Birds" and "Come On Baby Lets Go Downtown" (the best-known version was recorded in 1970 but didnt reach the public until 1975, when it appeared on Tonights the Night) both sound like works in progress, more tentative and with a lighter tread than theyd later be. Early Daze is one of the entries in the Neil Young archival series that sounds most like a deliberately designed album. The songs are up there with some of Neils very best, Crazy Horse are hungry and ready to deliver, and the mix of familiar tunes and similarly intoned outliers flows fantastically. Its an absolute must for fans, but also a great starting point for anyone whos a little more than just a casual listener, but not quite ready to venture too deep into the vaults. ~ Fred Thomas

もう休むつもりなどなさそうなニール・ヤングが4月の最新ライヴ盤『Fu##in' Up』に続いて届けるのは、バッファロー・スプリングフィールド解散後の69年に初期クレイジー・ホースと録った秘蔵音源集! 同年の『Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere』に入る"Cinnamon Girl"や"Down By The River"、71年にクレイジー・ホース単体作で出された"Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown"や"Dance Dance Dance"などが並ぶ。さらに後年のベスト盤で音源化される"Winterlong"やCSN&Yの人気曲"Helpless"にはこの時期からあったのか!と驚かされつつ、歌や演奏の瑞々しさそのものに打たれる。
bounce (C)轟ひろみ