Neil Young is set to release Songs For Judy on November 30, available to pre-order here. Songs For Judy is the debut release on Shakey Pictures Records, Young’s own imprint. Songs For Judy is available in hi-res on his official archives website and those who pre-order will receive an instant download of the track "Campaigner", recorded live in Boston, November 22, 1976. Cameron Crowe and Joel Bernstein curated this collection.
"The shows were reckless and beautiful. Every night. The evenings began with an hour-long acoustic solo-set from Neil. The acoustic portion of the evening morphed nightly, often fueled by a smoke or two just behind the curtain. After a break, Neil and Crazy Horse would return for a barn-burner of an electric-set designed to level the place. They succeeded nightly. Just two years after the big-arena explosion of CSNY’s 74 summer tour, Neil was back with something even more potent and personal" said Cameron Crowe
Songs For Judy is a thoroughly engaging collection of live acoustic performances culled from Neil’s November 1976 solo tour and features twenty-two songs recorded at various cities along the tour. This song cycle of live recordings is particularly powerful and unique. Young had spent much of the year traveling around the world on tour with Crazy Horse. When touring on his own, he recharged and focused on songs that would not surface in recorded form for several years. Of the albums many treasures, "No One Seems To Know" would not see the light of day until now and it remains unreleased in any other iteration.
The raw versions of the tracks found on Songs For Judy reflect an artist completely unvarnished and unafraid to allow the songs to breathe and to find their own shape when performed in a solo setting. Songs written in that era would come into focus and then seemingly disappear only to re-enter Young’s orbit somewhere down the road. "White Line" and "Give Me Strength" are such examples of finding the light in 1990 and 2017 respectively. It’s also fascinating to hear Young revisit early gems such as Springfield’s "Mr. Soul" (1967), "Here We Are In The Years" (1968), and "The Losing End" (1969) from some of his earliest solo recordings which remain as timeless as ever.
Read more: I Like: Neil Young Playlist
