Decade (Neil Young album)

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For other albums named Decade, see Decade (disambiguation).
Decade
Decade cover
Compilation album by Neil Young
Released October 28, 1977
Recorded 1966-1976
Genre Country rock, Folk rock, Rock
Length 143:40
Label Reprise
Producer Neil Young, Tim Mulligan, David Briggs
Professional reviews
Neil Young chronology
American Stars 'N Bars
(1977)		 Decade
(1977)		 Comes a Time
(1978)

Decade is a triple album compilation by Neil Young, released in 1977, now available on two compact discs. It contains thirty-five of Young's songs recorded between 1966 and 1976, among them five tracks that had been unreleased up to that point. It peaked at #43 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart.

Contents

[edit] History

Compiled by Young himself, with his hand-written notes about each track, representing every album from his career and various affiliations through 1977 with the exception of Four Way Street and Time Fades Away. Of the previously unreleased songs, "Down to the Wire" features the New Orleans pianist Dr. John with Buffalo Springfield on an item from their shelved Stampede album; "Love Is a Rose" was a minor hit for Linda Ronstadt in 1975; "Winterlong" received a cover by Pixies on the Neil Young tribute album from 1989, The Bridge; and "Campaigner" is yet another Young song critical of Richard Nixon. The track "Long May You Run" is a different mix to that found on the album of the same name, featuring the harmonies of the full CSNY before Crosby & Nash left the recording sessions.

The album has been lauded in many quarters as one of the best examples of a career retrospective for a rock and roll artist, and as a template for the box set collections that would follow in the 1980s and beyond. However, in the original article on Young from the first edition of the Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll, critic Dave Marsh used this album to accuse Young of deliberately manufacturing a self-mythology, arguing that while his highlights could be seen to place him on a level with other greats from his generation like Bob Dylan or The Beatles, the particulars of his catalogue did not bear this out. The magazine has since excised the article from subsequent editions; a somewhat messy transcription of it can be found at the link below.

For many years, Decade was the only Neil Young compilation album available. A 1993 compilation called Lucky Thirteen was released, but it only covered Young's 1982-1988 output. It was not until 2004 that Reprise Records released a single-disc retrospective, simply titled Greatest Hits. Since the 1980s, Young has promised fans a follow up collection, variously referred to as Decade II or Archives and ranging in size from a box set to an entire series of audio and/or video releases. In the meantime, the first release of archival material since Decade and Lucky Thirteen would appear in 2006, Live at the Fillmore East, a recording from a 1970 concert featuring Crazy Horse with Danny Whitten.

[edit] Alternate Early Version

Initially, Decade was to be released in 1976, but was pulled at the last minute by Young. It was shelved until the following year, where it appeared with two songs removed from the original tracklist (a live version of "Don't Cry No Tears" recorded in Japan in 1976, and a live version of "Pushed it Over The End" recorded in 1974). Also removed were the following comments on those two songs and Time Fades Away, from Young's handwritten liner notes:

"Time Fades Away. No songs from this album are included here. It was recorded on my biggest tour ever, 65 shows in 90 days. Money hassles among everyone concerned ruined this tour and record for me but i released it anyway so you folks could see what could happen if you lose it for a while. I was becoming more interested in an audio verite approach than satistfying the public demands for a repition of Harvest."

"Don't Cry No Tears. Initially titled 'I Wonder,' this song was written in 1964. One of my first songs. This is a live recording from Japan with Crazy Horse."

"Pushed It over the End. Recorded live on the road in Chicago, 1974. Thanks to Crosby & Nash's help on the overdubbed chorus, I was able to complete this work. I wrote it for Patty Hearst and her countless brothers and sisters. Also, I wrote it for myself and the increasing distance between me and you."

[1]

[edit] Track listing

All songs written and performed by Neil Young except where noted.

[edit] Disc one

  1. "Down to the Wire" – 2:25 Performed by Buffalo Springfield & Dr. John, from the unreleased Buffalo Springfield album Stampede.
  2. "Burned" – 2:14 Performed by Buffalo Springfield, the first Neil Young vocal ever recorded, circa late 1966.
  3. "Mr. Soul" – 2:41 Performed by Buffalo Springfield, recorded live in the studio in New York City.
  4. "Broken Arrow" – 6:13 Performed by Buffalo Springfield.
  5. "Expecting to Fly" – 3:44 Performed by Buffalo Springfield.
  6. "Sugar Mountain" – 5:43 Recorded live in concert on November 9, 1968 at the Canterbury House, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
  7. "I Am a Child" – 2:17 Performed by Buffalo Springfield.
  8. "The Loner" – 3:50
  9. "The Old Laughing Lady" – 5:35
  10. "Cinnamon Girl" – 2:59
  11. "Down by the River" – 8:58
  12. "Cowgirl in the Sand" – 10:01
  13. "I Believe in You" – 3:27
  14. "After the Gold Rush" – 3:45
  15. "Southern Man" – 5:31
  16. "Helpless" – 3:34 Performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

[edit] Disc two

  1. "Ohio" – 2:56 Performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
  2. "Soldier" – 2:28
  3. "Old Man" – 3:21
  4. "A Man Needs a Maid" – 3:58
  5. "Harvest" – 3:08
  6. "Heart of Gold" – 3:06
  7. "Star of Bethlehem" – 2:46
  8. "The Needle and the Damage Done" – 2:02
  9. "Tonight's the Night, Part 1" – 4:41
  10. "Tired Eyes" – 4:33
  11. "Walk On" – 2:40
  12. "For the Turnstiles" – 3:01
  13. "Winterlong" – 3:05 previously unreleased
  14. "Deep Forbidden Lake" – 3:39 previously unreleased
  15. "Like a Hurricane" – 8:16
  16. "Love is a Rose" – 2:16 previously unreleased
  17. "Cortez the Killer" – 7:29
  18. "Campaigner" – 3:30 previously unreleased
  19. "Long May You Run" – 3:48 Performed by The Stills-Young Band

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Williams, Paul. Neil Young: Love To Burn, p.115. ISBN 0-934558-19-1. 

[edit] External links

[edit] Charts

Album - Billboard

Year Chart Position
1977 Pop Albums 43
v • d • e
Neil Young
Crazy Horse • The Stray Gators
Discography

Studio albums: Neil Young • Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere • After the Gold Rush • Harvest • On the Beach • Tonight's the Night • Zuma • American Stars 'N Bars • Comes a Time • Rust Never Sleeps • Hawks & Doves • Re-ac-tor • Trans • Everybody's Rockin' • Old Ways • Landing on Water • Life • This Note's for You • Freedom • Ragged Glory • Harvest Moon • Sleeps with Angels • Mirror Ball • Broken Arrow • Silver & Gold • Are You Passionate? • Greendale • Prairie Wind • Living with War • Living with War: In the Beginning • Chrome Dreams II

EPs: Eldorado

Live albums: Time Fades Away • Live Rust • Weld • Arc • Unplugged • Year of the Horse • Road Rock Vol. 1

Soundtracks: Journey Through the Past • Where the Buffalo Roam • Philadelphia • Dead Man

Compilations: Decade • Lucky Thirteen • Greatest Hits

Archive Series: Live at the Fillmore East • Live at Massey Hall 1971 • The Archives Vol.01 1963-1972

Unreleased albums: Homegrown • Human Highway • Chrome Dreams
Also see