Before I start I want to add a disclaimer that my two decades of blogging are not all about vinyl records. In fact most of my blog is about live music and personal stories of my experiences at concerts as well as life in general. Some posts are shorter than others due to the time I have to submit my online musical journal. I have many shows and thousands of photos that never made it to this blog that will make it in one form or another as time permits. Soon the pandemic will wane and live music will return to our stages near and far. The pandemic has pushed me to listen to more music at home and share stories about great vinyl. I plan to be there right in the middle of the live music renaissance with my camera as soon as I see the Vaccine Man or Woman.
All that said…It’s Turntable Tuesday because life is too short not to listen to great music! Turn that TV off! Crank up the local fireplace and let the snow just pile up…it will go away at some point! You need some music to warm things up and a fifty year old recording just came out of my collection to knock the chill off what is left of this winter…
If you would like to listen to my companion podcast you can listen here or subscribe for free on any of the streaming services you use. My podcast is easily searchable on any streaming service where you get your podcasts by searching “Andrew Talbert.” Look for the World Wide Music Media logo.
“After the Gold Rush” was released in the fall of 1970. At that point I was 11 years old and I have a recollection of the next summer spending some vacation time at my older cousin’s house in a small town in North Carolina where the train came through at least twice a day on the tracks across the street. After you slept there for a couple of nights you didn’t wake when the very loud horn blew at 11:00 PM as the train came through town especially in the summer time as the window unit air conditioning would help drown the outdoor sounds out. My cousin was roughly two years older than me and mostly hanging out with an older crowd of teenagers. She had a “suitcase” record player that was the rage in the early 1970’s for anyone wanting to spin a vinyl record. There were many types of “record players” but this one as I recall had black vinyl and grey and black grill cloth on the speakers which attached to the sides of the turntable. You could detach the speakers from hinges and get some stereo separation or pack the whole thing into a box of sorts as there was a carry handle if you wanted to travel. Most of these turntables stayed in the bedroom of the owner as I recall from that time but many copies of this design were made and sold. As soon as I heard Neil Young music blasting from this machine I knew I had to own one of these record players as soon as possible. Mine would ultimately wait until the “console” version came available as a second hand treasure.
I remember seeing the “After the Gold Rush” album cover in the Summer of 1971 after the album release and hearing all of the tracks on this album. I was really into many genres of music and this was the first Neil Young tracks that I had even heard. Soon I was trying to sort out what I thought of the music and the vocals. Even as a young kid I liked this music. I heard some stories about people and life in this music. I was also reading cast-off copies of Rolling Stone magazine from a friends older brother and learning about all the famous music being created. The reviews on this album were not all that stellar as it released. Within five years there were writers calling “After the Gold Rush” a “masterpiece.” I still listen to these songs 50 years later and know every line of every song.
“Southern Man” written and performed by Neil Young in 1970 on “After the Gold Rush” was mentioned in the 1974 hit from Lynyrd Skynyrd “Sweet Home Alabama.” I opened my pod cast this week with a snippet of “Southern Man” to get your recall going on the song and set the mood for some stories about this album.
I am not going to go into a topic that has been covered from every aspect imaginable but let’s just say there are many stories about the lyrics in both of these songs as well as the later “Alabama” and how they play off of each other. Not only do I remember how much I thought this Neil Young music was very cool I also remember the month “Sweet Home Alabama” released because I heard a very fresh bootleg cassette tape in my best friend David’s orange Subaru about 2:00 AM after a load out from his band gig in Greenwood, Mississippi. I bought the vinyl copy as soon as I could find one because this band was very new at the time. I was stunned by how good the music from Lynyrd Skynyrd was. I did not know until some time later that the press would create a lot of stories about how the two songs were playing off of each other. I personally liked both of these albums and just watched as the press and the big money music machines just cranked out stories to sell albums and advertising. Most of the press at that time seemed to act like Neil and Ronnie Van Zant did not like each other but that was not the case in real life. In fact they would wear each other’s t-shirts in concert to make statements. In fact Ronnie has that Neil t shirt on for the photo shoot of the “Street Survivors” vinyl cover. One could believe all of this press probably sold a lot of records. I heard the story from many people in my travels through time and I heard many versions of it. You can even read many perspectives even now on the internet if you are so inclined to research the topic.
“After the Gold Rush” Track Listing
Side one
“Tell Me Why” 2:54
“After the Gold Rush” 3:45
“Only Love Can Break Your Heart” 3:05
“Southern Man” 5:41
“Till the Morning Comes” 1:17
Side two
“Oh, Lonesome Me” (written by Don Gibson) 3:47
“Don’t Let It Bring You Down” 2:56
“Birds” 2:34
“When You Dance I Can Really Love” 3:44
“I Believe in You” 2:24
“Cripple Creek Ferry” 1:34
50th Anniversary Edition outtakes
“Wonderin’” 2:12
“Wonderin’” 1:55 (previously unreleased version)
I will dive into the tracks and background on this classic album on my podcast. Be sure to join me for a listen wherever you get your podcasts for this episode. Meanwhile you can get the 50th anniversary pressing of this album over on the Neil Young website along with all kinds of cool things. In fact be sure to check out the fidelity of his archives. You can join as a member after a free sample and listen to his music in very high fidelity. It’s all located at: https://neilyoungarchives.com/
That’s all for this week. Until next time I’ll see you, down the road.