Neil Young to Release 'Live at the Cellar Door' December 10

Neil Young will release Live At The Cellar Door, the latest in his Archives Performance Series, on December 10th on Reprise Records. The album collects recordings made during Young's intimate six-show solo stand at The Cellar Door in Washington D.C. between November 30th and December 2nd, 1970, a few months after Reprise released his classic third solo album After The Gold Rush in August.

Of the many unique gems found on Live At The Cellar Door, a rare solo version of "Cinnamon Girl" performed on piano rather than guitar is a particular treasure for Neil fans (the full band version appears on Young's 1969 second solo album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere).

The album, which features Young performing on acoustic guitar and piano, includes tracks that are interesting for several reasons, such as stunning live versions of songs that appeared on After The Gold Rush ("Tell Me Why," "Only Love Can Break Your Heart," "Birds," "Don't Let It Bring You Down" and the title track) and solo performances of the Buffalo Springfield songs "Expecting To Fly" (from their 1967 second album Buffalo Springfield Again), "I Am A Child" (from their third and final album Last Time Around and Young's 1977 Decade compilation), and "Flying On The Ground Is Wrong," from their 1966 self-titled debut.

In addition, Live At The Cellar Door features early, raw performances of songs that wouldn't appear until subsequent Young albums, including the rarity "Bad Fog Of Loneliness" (which appears on Live At Massey Hall '71 - released in 2007-- but was previously unreleased until the studio band version was included on Archives Vol. 1 1963-1972) and "Old Man" (released two years later on 1972's Harvest album). "Down By The River," also from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, rounds out the spectacular set.

Live At The Cellar Door was recorded by Henry Lewy and produced by Young.

As with Young's previous releases in the Archives series, Live At The Cellar Door will be released digitally, on CD, and on 180-gram vinyl (mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering and pressed at Pallas in Germany).

The track-listing for Live At The Cellar Door is as follows:

  • Side One:
  • Tell Me Why
  • Only Love Can Break Your Heart
  • After The Gold Rush
  • Expecting To Fly
  • Bad Fog Of Loneliness
  • Old Man
  • Birds
  • Side Two:
  • Don't Let It Bring You Down
  • See The Sky About To Rain
  • Cinnamon Girl
  • I Am A Child
  • Down By The River
  • Flying On The Ground Is Wrong

Find out more at www.neilyoung.com

Photo by Danny Clinch

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**

Join now for unlimited access

US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year

UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year 

Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Prices from £2.99/$3.99/€3.49

Acoustic Nation

Acoustic Nation is written by Laura B. Whitmore, a music industry marketing veteran, music journalist and editor, who has contributed to Parade.com, Guitar World, and others. She has interviewed hundreds of musicians and hosts the She Rocks Podcast. As the founder of the Women’s International Music Network, she advocates for women in the music industry and produces the annual She Rocks Awards. She is the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Positive Grid, making the world safe for guitar exploration everywhere! A guitarist and singer/songwriter, Laura is currently co-writing an album of pop songs that empower and energize girls.