Neil Young: Solo Tour 1970-71

A bootleg of the famous Royal Festival Hall gig from the same tour that included the Massey Hall concert, which was recently released officially. I guess this CD is now less desirable than it once was.

I'm not sure whether it will one day get an official release itself — it's long been known in fan circles as a great performance. I think I'm right in remembering that Johnny Rogan cites it extensively, and suggested that the solo version of A Man Needs a Maid at this concert would have been a better choice for inclusion on Harvest than the orchestral version. You can tell that the base recording from which this is taken is very high quality, too, but, being a bootleg, this is second or third generation and its limitations and compression are very clear when you play it on a proper stereo.

All the performances are at least good, and some songs are outstanding. How disorientatingly wonderful it is to hear Neil strike up the first chords to Heart of Gold and be met with total silence from the audience — because it's a brand new song, none of them have ever heard it before.

As is the tradition with bootlegs, the photo of Neil Young on the cover comes from 10 or 20 years after the time of the concert concerned.

MusicBrainz entry for this album