Wednesday, December 13, 2023 2pm ET: Feature LP: Neil Young – Before and After (2023)

Before and After is the 45th studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young. It was released on December 8, 2023, through Reprise. Consisting of 13 tracks, the album features solo acoustic re-recordings of some of his past songs.

Before and After was conceived by Young and Lou Adler, while mixing was handled by the former and Niko Bolas. It sees the singer-songwriter revisiting some of his back catalog, “a trip into his music history”, with re-recordings that have them appear in a new guise. The album contains “eclectic” fresh takes on some of Young’s lesser known tracks pulled from his vault. Previews of three songs, “I’m the Ocean”, “Homefires”, and “Burned”, were released as an EP upon announcement of the album on October 20. Young spoke of the release as a unique experience where a “feeling is captured” and has to be listened to “as a whole piece”. As a matter of fact, the project comprises one “uninterrupted 48-minute piece”, referred to by Young as “a music montage with no beginnings or endings”.

1. “I’m the Ocean” 6:44
2. “Homefires” 2:04
3. “Burned” 2:06
4. “On the Way Home” 3:14
5. “If You Got Love” 3:32
6. “A Dream That Can Last” 4:32
7. “Birds” 2:47
8. “My Heart” 3:01
9. “When I Hold You in My Arms” 5:23
10. “Mother Earth” 3:43
11. “Mr. Soul” 3:42
12. “Comes a Time” 3:20
13. “Don’t Forget Love” 3:41

Thursday, November 9, 2023 2pm ET: Feature Artist – Neil Young

Neil Percival Young OC OM (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in the 1960s, he moved to Los Angeles, where he formed Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and others. Young had released two solo albums and three as a member of Buffalo Springfield by the time he joined Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969. From his early solo albums and those with his backing band Crazy Horse, Young has recorded a steady stream of studio and live albums, sometimes warring with his recording company along the way.

Young’s guitar work, deeply personal lyrics and signature tenor singing voice define his long career. Young also plays piano and harmonica on many albums, which frequently combine folk, rock, country and other musical styles. His often distorted electric guitar playing, especially with Crazy Horse, earned him the nickname “Godfather of Grunge” and led to his 1995 album Mirror Ball with Pearl Jam. More recently Young has been backed by Promise of the Real.

Young directed (or co-directed) films using the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, including Journey Through the Past (1973), Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Human Highway (1982), Greendale (2003), and CSNY/Déjà Vu (2008). He also contributed to the soundtracks of the films Philadelphia (1993) and Dead Man (1995).

Young has received several Grammy and Juno awards. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him twice: as a solo artist in 1995 and in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield. In 2000, Rolling Stone named Young the 34th greatest rock ‘n roll artist.

He has lived in California since the 1960s but retains Canadian citizenship. He was awarded the Order of Manitoba on July 14, 2006, and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 30, 2009.

Monday, August 28, 2023 9pm ET: Feature LP: Neil Young – Harvest (1972)

Harvest is the fourth studio album by Canadian / American musician Neil Young, released on February 1, 1972 on Reprise Records, catalogue number MS 2032. It featured the London Symphony Orchestra on two tracks and vocals by noted guests David Crosby, Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt, Stephen Stills, and James Taylor. It topped the Billboard 200 album chart for two weeks, and spawned two hit singles, “Old Man”, which peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100, and “Heart of Gold”, which reached No. 1. It was the best-selling album of 1972 in the United States.

In 2015, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

1. “Out on the Weekend” 4:35
2. “Harvest” 3:03
3. “A Man Needs a Maid” 4:00
4. “Heart of Gold” 3:05
5. “Are You Ready for the Country?” 3:21
6. “Old Man” 3:22
7. “There’s a World” 3:00
8. “Alabama” 4:02
9. “The Needle and the Damage Done” 2:00
10. “Words (Between the Lines of Age)” 6:42

Neil Young – lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, piano, harmonica
Teddy Irwin – second acoustic guitar on “Heart of Gold”
John Harris – piano on “Harvest”
James McMahon – piano on “Old Man”
James Taylor – banjo guitar, backing vocals on “Heart of Gold” and “Old Man”
Linda Ronstadt – backing vocals on “Heart of Gold” and “Old Man”
David Crosby – backing vocals on “Are You Ready for the Country?” and “Alabama”
Stephen Stills – backing vocals on “Alabama” and “Words”
Graham Nash – backing vocals on “Are You Ready for the Country?” and “Words”
London Symphony Orchestra – orchestra on “A Man Needs a Maid” and “There’s a World”
Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar
Jack Nitzsche – piano, lap steel guitar on “Are You Ready for the Country?,” “Alabama,” and “Words”; arrangements and orchestration on “A Man Needs a Maid” and “There’s a World”
Tim Drummond – bass guitar
Kenny Buttrey – drums

Friday, August 11, 2023 10pm ET: Feature LP: Neil Young – Chrome Dreams (2023)

Chrome Dreams is the 44th album by Neil Young. It was first compiled as an acetate for consideration as an album for release in 1977. A copy of the acetate widely circulated as a bootleg in the decades prior to its release. The album was officially released on August 11, 2023.

First compiled in spring 1977, Chrome Dreams is a showcase of songs that Young had recorded over the previous two years. It compiles songs from several different sessions with various collaborators and backing musicians. The earliest recording, “Star of Bethlehem”, was recorded at the end of 1974 and intended to be the closing track of Homegrown, an abandoned album eventually released in 2020. “Sedan Delivery”, recorded during the Zuma sessions, has a slower pace than the Rust Never Sleeps take and contains an additional verse. “Too Far Gone”, “Homegrown”, “Like a Hurricane”, “Look Out for My Love” were all recorded at various sessions at Young’s Broken Arrow Ranch with Crazy Horse during the fall and winter after the release of Zuma and before the supporting tour of Europe and Japan in the Spring of 1976. “Too Far Gone” was not released until 1989’s Freedom. It is presented on Chrome Dreams with Crazy Horse’s Frank “Poncho” Sampedro accompanying Young on a 1917 mandolin. “Stringman”, a piano ballad, was (according to Shakey) written for Jack Nitzsche and is presented as a performance from Young’s 1976 European tour with slight studio overdubs. Eighteen years later Young revived it for his Unplugged performance. “Powderfinger”, “Pocahontas”, and “Captain Kennedy” all date from the August 1976 session featured on the 2017 album Hitchhiker. “Pocahontas” is the same version heard on Rust Never Sleeps without overdubs. “Will to Love” has Young performing before a fireplace at his ranch. He later overdubbed additional instrumentation. The acoustic solo performance of “Hold Back the Tears” has additional lyrics not found on the band recording on American Stars ‘n Bars. Like the Hitchhiker tracks from six months earlier, it was also recorded at Indigo Ranch Studio in Malibu during a full moon.

“Pocahontas” (3:23)
“Will to Love” (7:11)
“Star of Bethlehem” (2:43)
“Like a Hurricane” (8:21)
“Too Far Gone” (2:44)
“Hold Back the Tears” (5:15)
“Homegrown” (2:23)
“Captain Kennedy” (2:54)
“Stringman” (3:32)
“Sedan Delivery” (5:21)
“Powderfinger” (3:23)
“Look Out for My Love” (4:01)

Friday 11/18/22 8pm ET: Feature LP: Neil Young and Crazy Horse – World Record (2022)

World Record is the 42nd studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young and his 15th with Crazy Horse, released on November 18, 2022, through Reprise Records. The album was produced by Young and Rick Rubin, and preceded by the lead single “Love Earth”.

World Record’s lyrical content concerns Young “reminisc[ing] with gratitude about the gifts the Earth has given him” as well as the “state of Earth” and “its uncertain future”, as well as “Chevrolet”, a song about “Young’s relationship with cars”. The album was recorded live and mixed to analog tape at Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La studio in Malibu, California. It was completed in July 2022 with its release delayed to “properly release” the album in “quality” form on vinyl. Young also noted that the album is unlike 2021’s Barn, and contains “unheard of combinations of instruments”.

The album cover is a photograph of Young’s father, the journalist Scott Young, with his date of birth printed next to it.

1. “Love Earth” 4:03
2. “Overhead” 3:40
3. “I Walk with You (Earth Ringtone)” 3:57
4. “This Old Planet (Changing Days)” 2:30
5. “This World (Is in Trouble Now)” 3:15
6. “Break the Chain” 4:07
7. “The Long Day Before” 2:18
8. “Walkin’ on the Road (To the Future)” 2:57
9. “The Wonder Won’t Wait” 3:17
10. “Chevrolet” 15:15
11. “This Old Planet Reprise” 1:19

Wednesday 8/31/22 9pm ET: Feature LP: Stills-Young Band – Long May You Run (1976)

Long May You Run is a studio album credited to the Stills–Young Band, a collaboration between Stephen Stills and Neil Young, released September 20, 1976 on Reprise Records. It peaked at #26 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold in the United States by the RIAA. The album is the sole studio release by Stills and Young in tandem.

1. “Long May You Run” 3:53
2. “Make Love to You” 5:10
3. “Midnight on the Bay” 3:59
4. “Black Coral” 4:41
5. “Ocean Girl” 3:19
6. “Let It Shine” 4:43
7. “12/8 Blues (All the Same)” 3:41
8. “Fontainebleau” 3:58
9. “Guardian Angel” 5:40

Stephen Stills – vocals, acoustic piano, guitars
Neil Young – vocals, acoustic piano, string synthesizer, guitars, harmonica
Jerry Aiello – organ, acoustic piano
George “Chocolate” Perry – bass, backing vocals
Joe Vitale – drums, flute, backing vocals
Joe Lala – percussion, backing vocals

Wednesday 7/13/22 1am ET: Live Track Show

Tonight:

Paul McCartney & Wings, Jethro Tull, Bon Jovi, Al Stewart, John Fogerty, Foreigner, Doobie Brothers, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Neil Young, Ozzy Osbourne, Queen, Rolling Stones, Mavis Staples, Journey, Robert Plant, Joe Cocker, Sly & The Family Stone, Nick Lowe, Nils Lofgren, Eagles, Def Leppard

Thursday 12/16/21 2am ET: Feature LP: Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Barn (2021)

Barn is the 41st studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young and his 14th with Crazy Horse. The album was released on December 10, 2021, by Reprise Records. A stand-alone film of the same name will also be released on Blu-ray and will be directed by Young’s wife Daryl Hannah.

“Song of the Seasons” – 6:04
“Heading West” – 3:22
“Change Ain’t Never Gonna” – 2:53
“Canerican” – 3:12
“Shape of You” – 2:55
“They Might Be Lost” – 4:32
“Human Race” – 4:14
“Tumblin’ Thru the Years” – 3:19
“Welcome Back” – 8:28
“Don’t Forget Love” – 3:48

Neil Young
Nils Lofgren
Billy Talbot
Ralph Molina

Tuesday 10pm ET: Feature LP: Neil Young – Colorado (2019)

Colorado is the 39th studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young (and his first studio album with Crazy Horse since 2012), released on October 25, 2019, by Reprise Records. The album was preceded by the singles “Milky Way” (released on August 30, 2019) and “Rainbow of Colors” (released on September 12, 2019) and is dedicated to Elliot Roberts, Young’s manager since 1967 who died aged 76 on June 21, 2019.

1. “Think of Me” 3:02
2. “She Showed Me Love” 13:36
3. “Olden Days” 4:04
4. “Help Me Lose My Mind” 4:14
5. “Green Is Blue” 3:48
6. “Shut It Down” 3:43
7. “Milky Way” 5:59
8. “Eternity” 2:43
9. “Rainbow of Colors” 3:35
10. “I Do” 5:37

Tuesday 2pm: Sounds of The 80’s

In this installment of Sounds of The 80s.  Tina Turner, Rolling Stones, Phil Collins, Neil Young, 38 Special, AC/DC, Def Leppard, Rosanne Cash, Cyndi Lauper, Tom Petty, Bon Jovi, Greg Kihn and more. . . 

Sunday 12am: Saturday Night Rock Show

This week on the Rock Show:
Smashing Pumpkins, Robin Trower, AC/DC. Deep Purple, Seether, Allman Brothers Band, Black Sabbath, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Electric Light Orchestra, CJ Ramone, Neil Young, Judas Priest, Jackyl, Snow Patrol, Journey, Pilot, Meat Loaf, and many more.  12am – 6am  ET on RadioMaxMusic.

 

 

Sunday 12am: Saturday Night Rock Show

This week music from Megadeth, Built To Speed, Neil Young, Genesis, Free, Argent, AC/DC and more!  

Tuesday 11pm: Top 100 Albums of The 70’s – #98 – Neil Young – After The Gold Rush (1970)

The Top 100 Albums of The 70’s

#98 – Neil Young – After The Gold Rush (1970)

After the Gold Rush is the third studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, released in September 1970 on Reprise Records. It is one of four high-profile albums released by each member of folk rock collective Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the wake of their chart-topping 1970 album Déjà Vu. Gold Rush consists mainly of country folk music, along with the rocking “Southern Man”, inspired by the Dean Stockwell-Herb Bermann screenplay After the Gold Rush.

After the Gold Rush peaked at number eight on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart; the two singles taken from the album, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” and “When You Dance I Can Really Love”, made it to number 33 and number 93 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100. Despite a mixed initial reaction, it has since appeared on a number of “greatest albums” lists.

1. “Tell Me Why” 2:54
2. “After the Gold Rush” 3:45
3. “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” 3:05
4. “Southern Man” 5:31
5. “Till the Morning Comes” 1:17

1. “Oh, Lonesome Me” 3:47
2. “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” 2:56
3. “Birds” 2:34
4. “When You Dance I Can Really Love” 4:05
5. “I Believe in You” 3:24
6. “Cripple Creek Ferry” 1:34

Thursday 10pm: Feature LP: Neil Young – Songs For Judy (2018)

Songs for Judy captures Neil Young at his mercurial peak, writing songs too fast to release and scrapping albums too fast to remember. In November 1976, on a tour backed by the reunited Crazy Horse, he opened with solo acoustic sets at his buzzed and intimate best. Sanctioned photographer and taper Joel Bernstein and teenage rock journalist Cameron Crowe sorted through recordings of that run, compiling a 20-plus-track mix that, when leaked and bootlegged, eventually came to be known as The Bernstein Tapes. Long circulated among fans, it is perhaps the definitive document of Young in his archetypal solo acoustic guise.

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/neil-young-songs-for-judy/

1. Songs for Judy (Intro)
2. Too Far Gone
3. No One Seems to Know
4. Heart of Gold
5. White Line
6. Love Is a Rose
7. After the Gold Rush
8. Human Highway
9. Tell Me Why
10. Mr. Soul
11. Mellow My Mind
12. Give Me Strength
13. A Man Needs a Maid
14. Roll Another Number
15. Journey Through the Past
16. Harvest
17. Campaigner
18. Old Laughing Lady
19. The Losing End
20. Here We Are In the Years
21. The Needle and the Damage Done
22. Pocahontas
23. Sugar Mountain

Sunday with Ron Kovacs (8a – 12p) ET

Join Ron Kovacs for another edition of Sunday.  This week music from Fairport Convention, Jethro Tull, Steeleye Span, The Band, The Beach Boys, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Mamas & the Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, Ryan Adams, Joan Armatrading, Beck, Jackson Browne, Harry Chapin, Tracy Chapman, Jim Croce, Donovan, Bob Dylan, Dan Fogleberg, Steve Forbert, Ben Howard, Carole King, Mark Knopfler, Gordon Lightfoot, Van Morrison, Patrick Park, Ed Sheeran, Bruce Springsteen, Cat Stevens, Teddy Thompson, Eddie Vedder, Neil Young, Warren Zevon and more . .. .   Live starting 8am on RadioMaxMusic.