NEIL YOUNG & THE STRAY GATORS ‘Tuscaloosa’ – CD

$26.00 Inc GST

Available on backorder

Description

The next chapter of Neil Young’s ongoing archival series will shine a spotlight on a concert he played with his backing band The Stray Gators, at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa on February 5th, 1973. Tuscaloosa follows the previous archival live albums Songs for Judy and Roxy: Tonight’s the Night, both released last year, and the “lost” studio record Hitchhiker, released in 2017. It features material from classic albums Harvest, Time Fades Away, and more.

Here’s what Young recently told Rolling Stone magazine in revealing Tuscaloosa was coming:
“It’s a concert from the period right around Harvest and Tonight’s the Night. For me, it’s edgy. It’s like those mellow songs with an edge. It’s really trippy to be down in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and singing those songs from Harvest and the songs that we were doing for Time Fades Away before it came out. I found this thing and it had such a great attitude to it. I just loved the whole night, so I put that together with [engineer] John Hanlon.”

Intentional or not, Neil Young picked a rather poignant time to release a live album recorded in Alabama – and given his prickly history with the state (and with the South at large), Tuscaloosa feels like it’s arriving in the same way that so much of Shakey’s career has: just when we need it. Tuscaloosa is an upbeat set, a treasure-trove artifact and a stunning performance.