Recorded at Elektra Audition Demos Records, New York City, 15 December 1965
In 1965, Neil managed to acquire an audition for Elektra Records, the prestigious home of many great artists, such as his hero Phil Ochs, Tim Buckley, Judy Collins, Fred Neil, Tom Rush and Mark Spoelstra. There was a lot riding on it. Elektra were considered a cool label. The Doors later signed to them. He says he was ushered into a tape store room, given a tape recorder and told to turn it on and let it run. It was not what he was expecting: ‘In a little room by myself, with my guitar. Sitting on an amp. Couldn’t even record in a real studio’.
The songs were rejected.
A tape of the demos recorded for the audition shows how Neil has developed as a songwriter, singer and musician since his pop days with The Squires, although the performance is a tad forced. Not surprisingly, given the circumstances, singing to a rack of tapes in a cupboard tends not to bring out the best. It’s amazing that it came out as good as it did. He’s pouring everything into it.
Before Neil made it as an singer songwriter, following the disbanding of the Squires he recorded some demos with his friend Comrie.
The Comrie Smith Tapes (1965)
Personnel:
Neil Young: guitar, harmonica, vocal
Comrie Smith: guitar
Produced by: Neil Young and Comrie Smith
Recorded at 26 Golfdale, Toronto, ON, 15 October 1965
Comrie Smith was a childhood friend of Neil’s. They used to walk to school together and hang out playing the music they loved – ranging from Bo Diddley, Gene Vincent and Link Wray, to The Everly Brothers, Fendermen and Roy Orbison.
In 1965, they made a tape together. A number of tracks from that tape were released on Neil Young Archives Vol. 1 – (1963-72). It seems that a few songs, ‘Betty Ann’, ‘Don’t Tell My Friends’ and ‘My Room Is Dark’, still remain unreleased. These are the ones that were released:
‘Hello Lonely Woman’ (Neil Young)
This is quite a jump lyrically, stylistically and musically. We’ve moved away from the pop songs of The Squires into a stompin’ blues with two synchronised acoustic guitars. It’s only a short space of time, but Neil sounds so much older.
The two strummed guitars set up a real twelve-bar bluesy beat. Neil’s voice is fuller and much more mature. He provides some great blues picking, and, towards the end, breaks into some great bluesy harmonica.
The teenage love of young romance with The Squires has been replaced by a much darker throb of sexual encounters with an older woman here. Neil sounds as if he is now familiar with her kind, too!
Inequality is the basis behind most of the world’s problems. The division between the have’s and have-nots is immense. The judgement of a good civilised country is how it treats its underprivileged, needy and disabled.
I was shocked by what I saw in America and what I see in Britain. There is a heartlessness in many people’s actions; they seem to believe that the homeless and down-and-outs deserve all they get. They should have worked harder at school, achieved higher qualifications, got themselves a job.
I am not referring to the hapless free-loaders. There are the scroungers who need to be made to contribute.
Before making judgements people should listen to the stories of the people concerned. There are many sad tales of neglect, abuse and disaster. Many are traumatised and unable to function.
There but for fortune.
The worth of a society is its benevolence. It seems that the greatest nations on Earth are content to have people living rough and scratching round dust-bins for food – as if they were vermin.
I think that is an indictment on those nations. It is cold, heartless and uncaring. We should be better than that.
The children brought up in the degradation created by poverty, desperation, prostitution and drugs will grow up to have a blighted life. It needs addressing and we are rich enough nations to address the issues properly. There is far too much greed and selfishness.
Neil Young highlighted the problems in this song. The ‘Free World’ should set an example and show the world how compassion is done!
“Rockin’ In The Free World”
There’s colors on the street Red, white and blue People shufflin’ their feet People sleepin’ in their shoes But there’s a warnin’ sign on the road ahead There’s a lot of people sayin’ we’d be better off dead Don’t feel like Satan, but I am to them So I try to forget it, any way I can.
Keep on rockin’ in the free world, Keep on rockin’ in the free world Keep on rockin’ in the free world, Keep on rockin’ in the free world.
I see a woman in the night With a baby in her hand Under an old street light Near a garbage can Now she puts the kid away, and she’s gone to get a hit She hates her life, and what she’s done to it There’s one more kid that will never go to school Never get to fall in love, never get to be cool.
Keep on rockin’ in the free world, Keep on rockin’ in the free world Keep on rockin’ in the free world, Keep on rockin’ in the free world.
We got a thousand points of light For the homeless man We got a kinder, gentler, Machine gun hand We got department stores and toilet paper Got styrofoam boxes for the ozone layer Got a man of the people, says keep hope alive Got fuel to burn, got roads to drive.
Keep on rockin’ in the free world, Keep on rockin’ in the free world Keep on rockin’ in the free world, Keep on rockin’ in the free world.
In the realm of singer songwriters, few have been as influential as Neil Young, whose music has always been creative and relevant throughout six decades. Neil is a chameleon for whom boundaries of genres do not exist. He has delved into folk, country, r&b, rock ‘n’ roll, grunge, hard rock, electronic and pop and made them his own. But the sixties were his launch pad. This book follows his music through that seminal period when he played with The Squires, Mynah Birds, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Crazy Horse and The Stray Gators. During this seminal period, Young wrote or co-wrote some of his greatest songs, including ‘I Am A Child’, ‘Southern Man’, ‘Helpless’ and – most importantly – ‘Ohio’. It is the story of how one of the most seminal artists of the last fifty years learned his trade – every band, every twist and turn and every track.
I review and talk about every album, every band and every single track. All the background, explanation and intrigue! Everything you ever wanted to know!! A fascinating read! a fun journey! A wealth of information! Entertaining too!
The fabulous Neil Young is revealed in all his glory right from the beginning!!
