The first Neil Young tune I ever heard was Hey, Hey, My, My from this album, on a small transistor radio, played by John Peel, when I was supposed to be going to sleep.
I remember being kind of shocked that I liked it, because Young was considered hippie music.
As far as soul is concerned, I definitely favour the Philly side of things.
Barbara Mason had a unique voice, which I love.
She never quite established a position in the mainstream, perhaps because if the uniqueness of her voice, but held her own in the modern independent soul sphere, with some pretty awful 'response' records and some decent ones, like this Butch Ingram-produced single.
British jazz has been on an uptick for the past few years. I struggle with some of its 'Ibiza wine bar' leanings, just wanting a bit more of a pump on the gas. Henry, on this album, is looking across the Atlantic to his US peers (and occasionally featuring them), making an album which fits with contemporary American jazz. That's no bad thing. And when his London roots show, in an accent or a UKG rhythm, they fucking slap. Cleverly.
There are few absolutely perfect albums, but this is one of them.
A couple of years ago we went to see the Neil Young: Harvest Time documentary, and it was fascinating to watch footage of them working up, rehearsing and recording these songs that are now so well known.
I was a bit surprised to see Barking Town Hall used as the location for recording the orchestral parts of A Man Needs A Maid. I used to walk past there on my way to... well, anywhere, when I lived on the Gascoigne.
Young (who was shockingly young at the time) is digging his heels in with the LSO and insisting that they re-do takes until he is happy. Such confidence and vision.
Neil Young is my go to summer album. Reminds me of sitting out under the verandah with dad. Amazing he headlined big day out in 2009 with the prodigy lol.
It came as something of a surprise to me when a new wave of musicians started revisiting 80s soul/dance/boogie and taking it on as an influence.
This was the soundtrack to a large part
of my youth and it had been widely disparaged for years until people like Thundercat, Kaytranada, and Anderson .Paak came along.
I bought this LP off the back of Make It Better and it arrived in the midst of a glut of good new tunes, so the album probably hasn't received the turntable time it deserves.
At the end of the thanks list, .Paak says 'P.S. I made a song with Smokey Fucking Robinson!!' and I find that strangely moving.
We have a touch of frost a couple of times a year in these parts. I will never miss having to scrape my car windows and wait for the blowers to warm up to clear the condensation.
Ruud
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John Spithead
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