Political Beats

Scot and Jeff discuss the second part of Neil Young’s career (1973–1979) with Jeff Dufour.

Introducing the Band: Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are joined by guest Jeff Dufour. Jeff is the editor-in-chief of National Journal. Find him on Twitter at @dcdufour.

Jeff’s Music Pick: Neil Young (Part 2) Grab a bottle of tequila, an inflatable palm tree, and a rack of honey slides to prepare yourself for our discussion of Neil Young’s latter Seventies career, which begins after the early 1973 Harvest/Time Fades Away tour with a plunge straight into darkness, despair, and alcohol-sodden musings on death and redemption. Yes, we’re talking about none other than the infamous Tonight’s The Night. The album was so disarmingly bleak and bizarre that he decided not to release it for several years after recording it (even though he toured it across the world!), and instead turned around to record On The Beach (which Jeff argues may well be the most stoned album of the Seventies, and perhaps coincidentally also Neil’s greatest ever work) and reunite with a re-formed Crazy Horse to play on and off with for the rest of the decade. This was also the era when Young began to record so prolifically and become so indecisive about his material that no less than three “lost” albums were prepared for release and then shelved. But what he did release was the most sterling work of his career: from Tonight’s The Night to Rust Never Sleeps and the canonical Live Rust, this era represents Neil Young’s undisputed, where his creative winds are blowing like a hurricane. Please take my advice, come along with us, and try not to stub your toes on any garbage pails as we take you through one of the most impressive explosions of creativity from any popular musician of the last 60 years.