Neil Young “Tonight’s the Night” Acetate (’73-74), John Lennon “Studio Tracks” Discs 1-9 (around unfound)
One of my recent favorite bootleg sites has been Grateful Breed, run by the self-proclaimed Netanderthalian. His site focuses on the 60's and 70's and often includes rare acetates and quality live boots. Here are two recent examples of the Grateful Breed site that I think you should download:
Download HERE from Grateful Breed
This alternate acetate of Tonight's the Night is particularly mindblowing. Given that On the Beach was recorded after but released before Tonight's the Night, it is plausible that Neil Young may have sequenced tracks from both recordings into one possible record. This mutant acetate goes beyond that, including not only On the Beach tracks, but also old Crazy Horse and CSNY. I'll say no more. Liner Notes:
Of all legendary released or unreleased Neil Young albums, none has received more accolades, criticism or prompted more discussion by fans &/or critics than "Tonight's The Night".
Although the released LP (issued June 20, 1975) is supposidly closer to the original concept, it's those the alternate versions that Neil (or someone close to him) has mentioned in numerous interviews over the years that fuels interest in what might have been.
Details were few, except that "most" of the released songs have always been part of the story, which songs were anybody's guess. Even the often-mention Elliott Roberts stage play version has never been detailed.
Then, about 25 years ago, I came across a box of acetates at a record swap meet. Some of them were labeled; some were not. A few of the labels bore the names of unknown artists in faded type. One Columbia Studios disc had "NEIL YOUNG" in type so faded that it was more embossed than legible; the "B" side label was
blank. I bought it, carefully put it in my record carry-case, headed for the door & went home. I had no idea about what I'd found, but I knew that I'd found enough for one day.What I found that day was one of the who-knows-how-many different "Tonight's The Night" acetates.
Although seven of the twelve acetate cuts did end up on the 1975 Reprise LP, the song order was completely different (and included only one take of the title song). Three of the remaining five songs were eventually released, but the other two are still unreleased, nearly thirty years later. Expected but missing was the no-break between-song chatter that had been one of the few recurring "original concept" rumors. There is a small amount of extra "musician noise" at the end of some cuts, but it is always followed by cold silence.
As it turned out, nothing unexpected (--based on countless discussions and published articles) would appear sonically on the acetate. Invariably, accounts of the numerous unreleased versions of this album have always implied a cohesive "story" (i.e., starting and ending with the title song), this previously "Tonight's The Night" 1974 LP acetate side 1 label undocumented version seems unfocused as it rolls on like any other collection of songs drawn from various dates.
The album starts off just like the released LP, with "Tonight's The Night (part one)", followed by "Mellow My
Mind", "Roll Another Number", "Tired Eyes" and "Speakin' Out" --out of sequence (all from the released LP).But that's where the similarities end and the interesting stuff begins. Two tracks from "On The Beach" (July 10, 1974) follow, with "Walk On" closing side one and "For The Turnstiles" opening side two.
The still-unreleased "Bad Fog Of Loneliness" is next. How this February 6, 1971 Crazy Horse track ended up in this project has been debated for years, but the mood & performance fits seamlessly with the Santa Monica Flyers cuts. This slow, plodding recording is classic Crazy Horse, highlighted by the "dueling" lead guitars of Old Black (Neil) & the sweet pedal steel guitar (Ben Keith).
"New Mama" (from the released album) follows, with "Winterlong" (from "Decade" October 28, 1977) and then
"Borrowed Tune" (also from the Reprise LP). The acetate closes with the second unreleased song, a solo acoustic version of "Traces". A well-known leftover from the '74 CSNY tour, the song is most-likely an unused demo from the unfinished "Human Highway" project rather than a new recording cut specifically for this project. Even so, the song of hope for an unresolved relationship closes the set well in this symbolic summing up of the program's theme.After twenty-five years of listening to "Tonight's The Night" as Neil presented it to us, it's disorienting (although certainly interesting) to listen to this acetate. Nonetheless, of all the Neil Young tapes available from tape collectors/traders, maybe ten of them are really worth seeking out; this one is ESSENTIAL.
Download HERE from Grateful Breed (tracklist is available at this link)
From Grateful Breed:
Happy 70-th birthday, Johnny L. I had this in store for a while, just waiting for this day to come. A huge pack of 9 CDs called Studio Tracks to celebrate the birth of John Lennon, one of the biggest influences in this world for the last 50 years. Most of these recordings are studio outtakes ('69-'76) alternate versions and home demos. I created 2 archives, Studio Tracks 1-5 and Studio Tracks 6-9 for your convenience. The official recordings may be found here, there's a new boxset out this week: http://johnlennon.shop.livenation.com/ God may as well be a concept but peace is certainly achievable if you want it.
Interesting Lennon-related read from Gary Arseneau "Artwork of John Lennon $100 MILLION FRAUD, The Dead Don't Create Artwork"