After 46 years, a recording of Neil Young’s 1973 performance with The Stray Gators in Alabama is set to be released, with Tuscaloosa being unleashed on June 7th.
If you’re a Neil Young fanatic, then the rocker’s iconic archives are one of the most exciting things imaginable.
After first embarking on an archival project back in the ’80s, we’ve seen countless interesting pieces of lost musical history released thanks to the Canadian music legend. In 2017, the archive found its way online, and we’ve since seen plenty more sought-after items being released.
While we’ve seen the release of the long-lost Hitchhiker album, we’ve also received the soundtrack to 2018’s Paradox, along with a number of live recordings from the vault as well.
Now, as Rolling Stone notes, a 1973 concert is set to become the latest release for those Neil Young completists.
Back in 1973, Neil Young was out on the road in support of his recently-released Harvest album. Backed by The Stray Gators, the rocker toured around the US, eventually releasing a handful of these recordings on the Time Fades Away album.
On February 5th of that year, Young performed at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where he played a roughly 20-song set that has clearly stuck in his mind for some time.
Check out Neil Young’s ‘Time Fades Away’:
“It’s from the period right around Harvest and Tonight’s the Night,” Young explained to Rolling Stone recently. “For me, it’s edgy. It’s like those mellow songs with an edge.”
“It’s really trippy to be down in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and singing those songs from Harvest and the songs that we were doing for Time Fades Away before it came out. I found this thing and it had such a great attitude to it. I just loved the whole night, so I put that together with [engineer] John Hanlon.”
Arriving on June 7th, the fittingly-titled Tuscaloosa is an 11-song collection of that evening’s setlist, and will be released on CD, and a three-sided vinyl album featuring an etching on the fourth side.
While the live album doesn’t contain every song performed on that night back in 1973, Neil Young has previously addressed such a concern, noting that not every song makes the cut.
“We don’t like to release a lot of songs on many albums, so ‘On The Way Home’ went by the wayside,” he explained to a fan. “‘The Loner’ was just not good enough. I still make those decisions because I am here on the planet.”
“However, those two versions will be available in the archives for members to hear. I have no plans to release everything I have ever recorded. Some of it is just not good enough.”
Check out Neil Young’s ‘Don’t Be Denied’:
