Pubblicazione di magazzino spacciata nelle discografie come vero album ufficiale (il trentottesimo, seguito del non così disastroso “Peace Trail“, 2016), derivata da una session istantanea del 1976 – totalmente acustica e tenuta sotto l’effetto di droghe in quel di Malibu – “Hitchhiker” di Neil “The Loner” Young sta, se non altro, come testimonianza del suo periodo più doloroso, che si parli di vita o di arte.
Crocevia creativo, al pari dell’ancora inedito “Homegrown” (probabilmente perché troppo poco riconoscibile al grande pubblico, a differenza di “Hitchhiker”), ma più quaderno di appunti: vi sono le prime versioni di “Pocahontas” e “Powderfinger”, che poi confluiranno, in ben altra forma, in “Rust Never Sleeps” (1979), la minore “Captain Kennedy” per “Hawks And Doves” (1980) – peraltro poco più di una copia del capolavoro “New Mama” in “Tonight’s The Night” (1975) – la title track che vedrà la luce solo trentacinque anni dopo, rimaneggiata in incubo elettrificato e riverberato con lo zampino di Daniel Lanois per “Le Noise” (2010), pure cartonetto preparatorio per “Like An Inca” di “Trans” (1982), e qualche altra.
Per completisti amanti di demo e bootleg, con produzione distillata che garantisce una buona qualità d’ascolto. Due inediti, “Hawaii” e “Give Me Strenght”, giustamente rimasti tali, fanno comunella con una versione alternativa di “Campaigner”, oscura ai più. Preceduto dalla canzone più imbarazzante della sua carriera, “Children Of Destiny”, patriottica per il 4 luglio con i Promise Of The Real, ma anche da una chicca assoluta, la prima di “Time Fades Away” (1973) in cd, in allegato al secondo box delle “Original Release Series” (2017).
Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.
13/09/2017
This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Michele Saran, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.
The Canadian Loner's historic live album, between acoustic numbers and electric rampages
Bucolic ballads and exhausting electric rampages: the apotheosis of Young-style country-rock
The best possible blend of country and rock, between promised-land epic and the languid carcasses of utopias
Young ditches Crazy Horse and rides the prairies of Nashville
The old Canadian loner can still move you
The Canadian loner's "ecological" album: ten tracks with a brazenly airy mood
The "loner" at his most "loner", accompanied by fellow Canadian Lanois
The reunion between the aging Canadian and his legendary band, for a collection of traditional songs
First double album for the Canadian Loner, alongside his Crazy Horse
An eccentric collection of covers with an old-time sound from the great Canadian
The great Canadian's arrival at orchestral rock, in a blaze of grandeur
The Loner teams up with a young band for a topical concept album
Double live album from an increasingly eco-conscious loner and his young band
A new instant record of activism and contemporary relevance from the great Canadian
Second attempt, this time patriotic, from the Loner and his young co-stars
The Loner and his young co-stars in an environmentalist western musical
A pleasant return for the Canadian Loner alongside the old Crazy Horse
Finally released: one of the great Canadian loner's most famous lost albums
The Canadian singer-songwriter and Crazy Horse return with an album written and recorded entirely in a barn
Back in action, the Canadian singer-songwriter delivers an act of love for our planet
The Canadian singer-songwriter revisits thirteen songs from his vast back catalogue in acoustic form
Another lost Loner album resurfaces, featuring a series of evocative 70s tracks in their original form
The Loner raises his voice against Musk and Trump's America in a travel diary that is both raw and intimate
The work in which Young reveals himself as a supreme philosopher of pain, bearing a timeless, universal message
Acoustic-tinged recollections and reflections from the Canadian musician
In our new annotated playlist, an "impossible" selection of our 30 favorite songs by the Canadian singer-songwriter
The story of the track the Canadian singer-songwriter "stole" from the Stones during the darkest period of his career - one that nonetheless produced one of his landmark albums
The Canadian rocker was embraced by the grunge generation as a guiding light, not just musically but morally too - a bond he sealed with an intense 1994 album
Best singles of the month of August, from Neil Young to Oasis, from Richard Ashcroft to Bright Eyes and Andrea Laszlo De Simone
Between the two folk-rock masters there has always been mutual respect, but one song nearly cracked the relationship...
The relationship between the Canadian songwriter and the Seattle scene, which saw him as an artistic and moral touchstone
This week too brought us great music: here are the best releases, from Neil Young to Peter Murphy feat. Trent Reznor to the return of The The
Probably the most beautiful track in Neil Young's songbook, and one of the most moving guitar solos in all of rock. The Story Behind the Story of "Cortez The Killer"
The explosive meeting of two very distant worlds, thanks to a Loner song dated 1975
After jamming together, the Canadian songwriter tried to convince Jimmy Page and Robert Plant to get back together
The Canadian songwriter's return to Rome, backed by his faithful Crazy Horse. Opening set entrusted to Devendra Banhart
Neil Young and his young crew return to set the Italian summer ablaze
The Canadian songwriter's return to Rome, backed by his faithful Crazy Horse. Opening set entrusted to Devendra Banhart
A new experiment for Sam Shepherd, this time between electronic and contemporary music
The most markedly alt-rock work yet from the English band fronted by Conor Mason
The new album from the Anglo-Berlin duo is an ode to resilience
New songs from the Zelienople singer-songwriter, written while wandering through the Appalachians
Ten convincing tracks that confirm the talent and ambitions of the young Dublin post-post-punk quartet
Inspired by Kathleen Edwards, Lucinda Williams and Tom Petty, the scrappy debut from the Nashville-based artist
The Australian singer-songwriter's return is a tribute to the need to escape the logic of the mainstream
A refined blend of bossa nova, jazz, psychedelia and classical music