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Countdown of my top 101 Neil Young songs. Now with entries 102-204, notable covers and other stuff (1 Viewer)

Pip's Invitation said:
76. LA (Time Fades Away, 1973; written in 1968-ish)
Time Fades Away was about as ragged as Neil got, but shining moments of grace peek through on this one -- some of Ben Keith's steel guitar licks, the harmonies. It's about the apocalypse coming to Los Angeles, so this is a good year to revisit it. The song had been around for a few years before Neil unveiled it on the tour from which TFA was taken; it may have been considered for his debut solo album.
TFA, a live album that consisted of nothing but previously unreleased songs, most of which were taken from his early 1973 tour which devolved into a complete trainwreck, is the beginning of a very important period for Neil. It is the first record of what is called his "ditch trilogy," which also includes On the Beach and Tonight's the Night. Extended screed on that later. The short-term upshot was: All those people who latched on to Neil because of CSNY, After the Gold Rush and Harvest? Most of them HATED Time Fades Away. That was by Neil's design. 
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I love this period for Neil. Glad to see a lot more of it seeing the light of day.

 
cap'n grunge said:
Have you listened to this yet @Pip's Invitation ?

I did the first episode and thought it was entertaining.
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I haven’t, because between the Neil project, the jukebox draft and making my way through krista’s Beatles thread, which I’m almost done with and will move on to Dr Octopus’ Stones thread, I don’t have time for much else music-related. I’m also behind on Survivor (the show, not the band) podcasts.

But I hope to get to it at some point.

 
75. Goin' Back (Comes a Time, 1978)
This is one of those "chill on the lawn on a perfect summer day" kind of songs and sets the stage for the blissful calm that is most of Comes a Time. Neil liked the main riff enough to use a close approximation of it again 14 years later.

This is another one from his "naming songs after existing songs" kick. It is named after a Carole King/Gerry Goffin song performed by the Byrds and Dusty Springfield, among many others.

Studio version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cccsU12U8bU&feature=youtu.be

Live version from 1999 solo acoustic  tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhf63dBw54c

Live electric version from 2015 with Promise of the Real: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmf-V3hWFw4

 
Update on my rankings vs. Rolling Stone's (mine are better):

101. Lookout Joe (RS unranked)
100. Ramada Inn (RS #47)
99. Look Out for My Love (RS #55)
98. Get Back to the Country (RS unranked)
97. Homefires (RS unranked)
96. This Old Guitar (RS unranked)
95. Slip Away (RS #86)
94. This Note's for You (RS #42)
93. Mansion on the Hill (RS unranked)
92. Grey Riders (RS unranked)
91. Motion Pictures (for Carrie) (RS unranked)
90. Downtown (RS unranked)
89. White Line (RS unranked)
88. Ride My Llama (RS unranked)
87. Windward Passage (RS unranked)
86. Albuquerque (RS #39)
85. Everybody's Alone (RS unranked)
84. I've Been Waiting for You (RS unranked)
83. Winterlong (RS #45)
82. Sail Away (RS unranked)
81. Vacancy (RS unranked)
80. When You Dance I Can Really Love (RS #83)
79. Lotta Love (RS unranked)
78. I Believe in You (RS unranked)
77. Through My Sails (RS unranked)
76. LA (RS #74)
75. Goin' Back (RS unranked)

 
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Big Blue Wrecking Crew said:
Seeing "Ramada Inn" pop up made me revisit Psychedelic Pill. What is your view on "Driftin' Back"?  Only 27+ minutes long, but some early Neil codger material, with some great lines (liked Picasso until Microsoft turned it into wallpaper ad an example)
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One thing I forgot to mention: I would like "Walk Like a Giant" much better without the whistling. 

 
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Reactions: jwb
Pip's Invitation said:
78. I Believe in You (After the Gold Rush, 1970)
One of many, many gorgeous acoustic songs from After the Gold Rush, Neil's greatest contribution to the singer-songwriter movement that was all the rage around this time. This one has particularly vexing lyrics, even by Neil's standards, but it's more or less about trying to make love endure amidst change and chaos.

Studio version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhMHPQH4a8g&feature=youtu.be

Live version (solo piano) from 2011: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhMHPQH4a8g&feature=youtu.be

Linda Ronstadt cover (she dipped into his songbook a lot in the '70s): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVA2Yj28ZjE

Gillian Welch cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl6y0Pno784
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I really do not, do not, do not know Neil's catalogue, so I'm going to be coming at so much of this new.  But wow, if there are 77 songs you like better than this, I can't wait!

 
Pip's Invitation said:
75. Goin' Back (Comes a Time, 1978)
This is one of those "chill on the lawn on a perfect summer day" kind of songs and sets the stage for the blissful calm that is most of Comes a Time. Neil liked the main riff enough to use a close approximation of it again 14 years later.

This is another one from his "naming songs after existing songs" kick. It is named after a Carole King/Gerry Goffin song performed by the Byrds and Dusty Springfield, among many others.

Studio version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cccsU12U8bU&feature=youtu.be

Live version from 1999 solo acoustic  tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhf63dBw54c

Live electric version from 2015 with Promise of the Real: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmf-V3hWFw4
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Lovely x100.  Those pauses on the acoustic guitar.

 
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krista4 said:
I really do not, do not, do not know Neil's catalogue, so I'm going to be coming at so much of this new.  But wow, if there are 77 songs you like better than this, I can't wait!
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As I said in entry 80, I basically have 80 favorite Neil songs (I guess 81 now that I've heard Vacancy) and this is the order they happened to fall into on the day I made the list. Once we get into the top 50, those are the ones I feel most strongly about, but this one could have easily risen 20-25 spots on a different day. 

I've identified 89 of the 103 songs it will take to do a supplemental list to get to 204 (this would be a list only, no major writeups) and I'm having to delve into Neil's recent more forgettable stuff* to see if I overlooked anything back when I was underwhelmed by it. I guess this is my equivalent of you listening to Ringo albums. 

* -- The lyrics on The Monsanto Years are still AWFUL

 
74. Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero) (Freedom, 1989)
In the spring or summer of 1988, Neil had thoughts about crime, urban decay, and the toll it takes on the people involved. A lot of thoughts. After a writing session at sea, he emerged with a 12-verse, 18-minute epic called Sixty to Zero. He performed the full version of it six times while on tour with the Bluenotes in 1988. During subsequent sessions with the Bluenotes which became part of Freedom, he pared it down to five verses (verses 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11 from Sixty to Zero) and 9 minutes and retitled it Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero part 1). It's quite the grand statement and still hits home today.
But the story didn't end there. Neil reworked it again for his 1991 tour with Crazy Horse, trading in subtle acoustic picking and gentle horn charts for raging electric riffs. It was a highlight of those shows (one of the Philly gigs on that tour was my first Neil show) and the Weld live album. And Neil has said that a studio version of the full 18-minute Sixty to Zero does exist, and he hopes to include it on an Archives project someday. ( @Eephus -- so-o-o-o-ome-day....)
One of my Facebook friends has this ranked at #1 (!).

Freedom version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ6hmupAtIg&feature=youtu.be

Live version from Weld: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-HyW9q_Pqw

Live version from Bluenote Cafe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuuuW3M93K4

Live acoustic version from 1989: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAwL9bY3UQg

One of the six performances of the full Sixty to Zero: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-IfnNGuOtY

 
73. From Hank to Hendrix (Harvest Moon, 1992)
A wistful meditation on love and music, this catchy tune shows up often in Neil's acoustic sets and benefits from harmonies by James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt. This album showed that Neil's late 80s/early 90s revival wasn't just about the Godfather of Grunge side of him.

Studio version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQtiVaelsoY&feature=youtu.be

Live version from Unplugged: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIAiPQ2Ge50

Live version from Farm Aid 1993 with Willie Nelson on guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO50QOW1CO8

Live version from 2015 with Willie's sons in Promise of the Real (I was there!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbHWfkX9rtc

 
@krista4 and everyone else from the Beatles thread, look what I found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCjWa7ypZMc

I always thought it was weird that the Beatles song Neil has covered most live was the one that represents perhaps the apex of the Beatles' approach to songcraft, which is the diametric opposite of Neil's. But now we know Paul doesn't hate it. 

ETA: They must have smoked some of Paul's best stuff beforehand. 

 
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71. World on a String (Tonight's the Night, 1975; written and first performed in 1973)
One of many songs Neil wrote about skepticism toward fame, this one is especially raw given its context; it was from the batch of songs he wrote while grieving the deaths of his friends Danny Whitten and Bruce Berry. "It's not all right to say goodbye," indeed.

Studio version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiEeTlyDmpc&feature=youtu.be

Live electric version from Roxy: Tonight's the Night Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc0dZmM6PdY

Live acoustic version from Unplugged: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-R3Evk3nkY

Live version from the Red Rocks 2000 DVD (It was also played at the show I saw on this tour): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2LYWDlLaRU

Live version from 2018 with Promise of the Real: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXELI4AuLcA

Nils Lofgren cover (he played on Tonight's the Night): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRmOHktwAM8

 
70. Sea of Madness (Woodstock soundtrack, 1970; with CSNY)
In true Neil fashion, this song from Woodstock wasn't actually from Woodstock. He wouldn't allow himself to be filmed or for his playing to be included on the soundtrack. In 1970, the general public would have had no way of knowing that, so it was easy for the producers to slap on a version from a show later in 1969 and pass it off as the real thing.
But it's easy to see why they did. Melodic and rocking, this was an early sign that Neil's post-Buffalo Springfield career was going to be very special. Unfortunately the song disappeared after the 1969 tour and has never been revived; it was recorded during the Deja Vu sessions but not used. 

"Woodstock" version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie2xtK5Nh8E&feature=youtu.be

Studio outtake from the Deja Vu sessions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9ACIwJ6cH4

 
I'm not going to post the results of the 8-person Neil song draft I did in 2011 until the countdown is done, but all the songs I took there are on the list and none have appeared yet. Here's where I took them by rank on the list:

1st round: #1

2nd round: #2 (this should not have fallen to me)

3rd round: #4 (nor should have this)

4th round: #32 (there was a VBD consideration here)

5th round: #18

6th round: #30

7th round: #34

8th round: #35

9th round: #46

10th round: #41

11th round: #29

12th round: #42

13th round: #51

14th round: #58

15th round: #59

 
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69. Razor Love (Silver and Gold, 2000; written and first performed in 1984)
Gentle but sprawling, this song goes back to Neil's mid-80s country phase, where it first appeared in International Harvesters sets but didn't make the cut for Old Ways. I first encountered it when given a tape of a radio broadcast of a 1989 acoustic show; it so happened to be its only appearance of that year. The rolling melody and touching lyrics about overlooking your partner's flaws to provide steadfast love hooked me. It was revived again on his 1999 solo tour -- I happened to be at the show where it made its first appearance that year, and was ecstatic. Neil finally committed it to record shortly thereafter, where it became one of the standouts of Silver and Gold.

Studio version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKNCAQQaNP8&feature=youtu.be

The version from 1989 I mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IplR6BeX3Aw

Live version from Red Rocks 2000 DVD with the Music in Head band (this was also played at the show I saw that tour): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WYovrvjTwo

Live electric version from 1997 with Crazy Horse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzBDdXku0Ww

 
68. On the Way Home (Buffalo Springfield's Last Time Around, 1968)
This is basically two songs in one, but the message is the same. Neil's stint in Buffalo Springfield was a tumultuous one, as he constantly fought with Stephen Stills and quit the band on multiple occasions. He is barely present on their swansong, Last Time Around, but still makes an impact. The album kicks off with this, one of his finest compositions to that point. It's a breakup letter to the rest of the band and pretty stark emotionally. "I went insane like a smoke ring day when the wind blows" remains one of my favorite lines of his. Oddly, the decision was made to try to make it into a hit single, so it was adorned with horns and strings, and Richie Furay, who had the most conventional singing voice in the band, was given the lead vocal. Like other Springfield singles except "For What It's Worth," it didn't gain much traction on the charts.
The Springfield version is a lot of fun, but the real reason this song is on the list is the version on CSNY's live album Four Way Street. Stripped down to its essence, with Neil singing it himself, this version is as raw and honest as anything he's ever done. Neil warbling "And I love you/can you feel it now?" while CSN provide anguished harmonies has always given me the chills.

Buffalo Springfield version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSnCUidmfEc&feature=youtu.be

CSNY version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06fhBb57d5k

Live at Canterbury House 1968 archival release version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxVc-hRZ09U

Live at Massey Hall archival release version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Am7VwsfLaU

The horns returned for the Live at Bluenote Cafe archival release version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gyhhg0m2Zw

Live solo acoustic version from 1999: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tVHoLrtL1Y 

David Roback (Mazzy Star) cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UwM_RpGZUY

 
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67. Long May You Run (Stills-Young Band's Long May You Run, 1976; written and first performed in 1974)
One of Neil's most sentimental and most quoted songs, this one means a lot of things to a lot of people. But it's actually about a car. Neil loves cars.

It's also the only song from Neil's duo album with Stephen Stills that really holds up. The rest of it is not A-grade material from either of them, and has a lot of the "layered b------t" production of the time that Neil hated. Not surprisingly, live acoustic versions are often where this song shines the most.

I got two interesting reactions when I posted this on the other sports/music geek site:
Person A: It will be interesting to me to see what 66 songs you put ahead of this iconic one.
Person B: It's fun seeing the different reactions - mine was 67? This song made the top 100?!? I'm admittedly biased since I consider this album to be one of Neil's worst - if not his absolute worst - LP in his extensive discography.

Studio version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVM8_jAL86w&feature=youtu.be

Live version from Unplugged: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QhcSmvF6Ag

Live version with Willie Nelson from Farm Aid 1997: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQH-L78clJw

Live version from 2012 on pump organ (I think it works really well this way): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo6K-mhKZRY

Live version with CSNY from 1991: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRSyW-qs2mc

Live version with Promise of the Real from 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnZSHoO7OhA

Emmylou Harris cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt5wnvnQ3bc

Nils Lofgren cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dHRgEdtEeY

Stephen Stills cover with Neil's wife Pegi on harmony vocals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17Mz8WBIV6k

 
Pip's Invitation said:
70. Sea of Madness (Woodstock soundtrack, 1970; with CSNY)
In true Neil fashion, this song from Woodstock wasn't actually from Woodstock. He wouldn't allow himself to be filmed or for his playing to be included on the soundtrack. In 1970, the general public would have had no way of knowing that, so it was easy for the producers to slap on a version from a show later in 1969 and pass it off as the real thing.
But it's easy to see why they did. Melodic and rocking, this was an early sign that Neil's post-Buffalo Springfield career was going to be very special.
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I understand why the producers did that to get Neil on the soundtrack, but always struck me as very gimmicky. Doesn’t detract though from the amazing performances elsewhere on the soundtrack. 

 
Id have that much higher. Stills and Young were the only part of CSNY I cared much about. Great song.

ETA: I agree with your assessment of the overall record. 

 
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zamboni said:
Hope to see a lot more of his Buffalo Springfield stuff as we head higher. 👍
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There's not much of it -- in general, no comment on countdown. They only had three albums and Neil was more or less gone for the last one. Plus his songs had to share space with Stills' and Furay's. 

 
Pip's Invitation said:
67. Long May You Run (Stills-Young Band's Long May You Run, 1976; written and first performed in 1974)
One of Neil's most sentimental and most quoted songs, this one means a lot of things to a lot of people. But it's actually about a car. Neil loves cars.

It's also the only song from Neil's duo album with Stephen Stills that really holds up. The rest of it is not A-grade material from either of them, and has a lot of the "layered b------t" production of the time that Neil hated. Not surprisingly, live acoustic versions are often where this song shines the most.

I got two interesting reactions when I posted this on the other sports/music geek site:
Person A: It will be interesting to me to see what 66 songs you put ahead of this iconic one.
Person B: It's fun seeing the different reactions - mine was 67? This song made the top 100?!? I'm admittedly biased since I consider this album to be one of Neil's worst - if not his absolute worst - LP in his extensive discography.

Studio version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVM8_jAL86w&feature=youtu.be

Live version from Unplugged: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QhcSmvF6Ag

Live version with Willie Nelson from Farm Aid 1997: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQH-L78clJw

Live version from 2012 on pump organ (I think it works really well this way): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo6K-mhKZRY

Live version with CSNY from 1991: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRSyW-qs2mc

Live version with Promise of the Real from 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnZSHoO7OhA

Emmylou Harris cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt5wnvnQ3bc

Nils Lofgren cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dHRgEdtEeY

Stephen Stills cover with Neil's wife Pegi on harmony vocals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17Mz8WBIV6k
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I always liked the way this song was used at the end of that episode of The Wonder Years where they had to finally give up on their family car. 
 

https://youtu.be/iGZruXdwFs8

 
eddiezz74 said:
I always liked the way this song was used at the end of that episode of The Wonder Years where they had to finally give up on their family car. 
 

https://youtu.be/iGZruXdwFs8
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LMYR wasn't a huge hit upon release, so its profile was really raised in the popular consciousness when it appeared in that episode in 1989. That's around when it started to become yearbook-quote central. Think of it this way: Neil didn't see fit to include it on the acoustic sides of Live Rust (1979) and in fact didn't even play it on the tour where it came from, whereas it was a lock to be included on Unplugged (1993). Put another way: of the 243 known live performances, less than 50 occurred before the airing of that episode. 

I'm in South Jersey too. Eagles* fan?

* - the football team

 
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Pip's Invitation said:
84. I've Been Waiting for You (Neil Young, 1969)
Fuzzed-out bliss. The "ahs" between the guitar blasts at the beginning are a nice touch. One of the few tracks from Neil's solo debut that wasn't done in by overproduction/bad mixing. Confusingly, Neil did not perform this live much around the time of its release; all that's documented before 2001 is three acoustic performances in the late '60s. Since 2001 it has appeared 53 times. Bonus points for being covered by David Bowie, the Pixies and Dinosaur Jr.

Studio version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6TYpTSEjYo&feature=youtu.be

Live acoustic version from the Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968 archival release: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo3xtG3_mtA

Live electric version with Crazy Horse from 2001: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJgrAbYvRmM

Live electric version with Promise of the Real from 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lH2MrFlOzs

Bowie cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNgsCmcIYKo

Pixies cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5oY9mXB1Oo

Dinosaur Jr. cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot0xLoY_Z2w
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As I catch up with the @cap'n grunge Spotify playlist, it occurs to me that the 2009 remaster of this song dialed back the fuzz. Wouldn't have been my choice. It's the first Neil remaster I've come across that sounds significantly different to me -- though that may not be saying much since my ears are shot after a long history of concerts. 

 
Eephus said:
It wouldn't be very long unless you plan on listening to their solo stuff.
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It would have to be like I'm doing with Neil -- anything one of them wrote or co-wrote would count, regardless of where it appeared. I'd also have to allow covers because there are two covers they did that can't be omitted if you're trying to tell their story. 

 
66. Like an Inca (Trans, 1982)
Trans is Neil's synth-and-vocoder album, except when it isn't. It was born after Geffen Records rejected the album he recorded for it in 1981/early 1982, Island in the Sun. That was a guitar-based folk-rock album that the label decided was passe. They asked for a more modern product, so Neil gave them synths and vocoders, and you couldn't get much more modern than that at the time. However, while Trans is infamous for those tracks, it also had a few leftovers from Island in the Sun, the best of which is this one.
It's thematically descended from Cortez the Killer (he would go to that well again on 1987's Inca Queen) and its chorus borrows melody and lyrics from Hitchhiker, a chronicle of his drug use written in the mid 70s. (Hitchhiker made its live debut in 1992 and finally saw an official release in radically altered form on 2010's Le Noise. A sparse acoustic version from the mid-70s became the title track of a recent archival release.)
As for Like an Inca, it fascinates me because it's one of the few examples of Neil doing an extended jamming style that doesn't sound like Crazy Horse or CSNY. And the hippies and their descendants can certainly dance to it. After disappearing following the Trans tour, it was revived in even longer versions on the 2016 tour with Promise of the Real, Neil's only backing band that's ever been able to execute ALL of his styles.

Studio version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjC_eczKi4c&feature=youtu.be

Live version with the Trans Band from 1982: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFK18NSE2n0

Live version with Promise of the Real from 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc9JLCsgxWM

Hitchhiker (Le Noise version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOq93UqN9vU

Hitchhiker (Hitchhiker version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp7lcQBQaLU

Live acoustic Hitchhiker from 2003: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPU3gRCE6ow

Live electric Hitchhiker from 2011: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dre5tDev_M0

 
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I have not listed to the Trans album, so this was my first experience with that song. I have to admit I am unimpressed. 

 
Dr. Octopus said:
I have not listed to the Trans album, so this was my first experience with that song. I have to admit I am unimpressed. 
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Trans is quite a thing. IMO it is better than its reputation but does have some serious flaws. As I said, LAI fascinates me because it is so unlike the rest of his catalog — and even so unlike the rest of the material on the album it came from.
 

One thing evident on Trans is that Neil was committed to the project/material, which was not the case for some of his other Geffen albums. He hadn’t started out-and-out trolling the label yet.

Trans makes a lot more sense when you know that the use of vocoders - and some of the lyrics - were a representation of his difficulties communicating with his son Ben, who was born with severe cerebral palsy and is non-oral. Its reception at the time would likely have been better if Neil had let everyone know the story. But he didn’t until many years later.

 
Pip's Invitation said:
Trans makes a lot more sense when you know that the use of vocoders - and some of the lyrics - were a representation of his difficulties communicating with his son Ben, who was born with severe cerebral palsy and is non-oral. Its reception at the time would likely have been better if Neil had let everyone know the story. But he didn’t until many years later.
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I had seen this story somewhere. Not sure why I never explored the album other than there's just so much music out there.

 
Dr. Octopus said:
I had seen this story somewhere. Not sure why I never explored the album other than there's just so much music out there.
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Similar story here in that I had heard some tracks from Trans, but never actually listened all the way through until a recent COVID quest to listed to Neil's catalog in order beginning to end. Was making good progress (even through all the Geffen years) but stuck after listening through Psychedelic Pill for the first time in a while. "Little Thing Called Love" was a highlight from Trans for me. Guessing it may have been from the rejected album per Pip's story above, but eased into the album before the synths were broken out...:)

 
Big Blue Wrecking Crew said:
"Little Thing Called Love" was a highlight from Trans for me. Guessing it may have been from the rejected album per Pip's story above, but eased into the album before the synths were broken out...:)
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It was. The others were Like an Inca and Hold on to Your Love. 

The post-Psychedelic Pill original material is mostly not good. I'd strongly recommend mixing in the archival releases to give yourself a break from the disappointment. 

 
65. Interstate (Broken Arrow vinyl version, 1996; written and first performed in 1985)
This song, in which Neil laments missing his children while on the road, is one of best tunes he wrote in the '80s and gives me chills. But it's mostly been a mystery to non-diehard fans. Written in 1985 too late for Old Ways, Neil debuted it in Philly (!) on his fall tour that year and played it a handful of times thereafter. Those versions are stunning and as of now can only be heard on bootlegs. He next worked it up during the Ragged Glory sessions but decided the album didn't need an acoustic song. Finally, a more rustic version was worked up for Broken Arrow, but only included on the vinyl release, during the nadir of vinyl's popularity. Hopefully it comes out of hiding again someday.

Studio version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD-B_r_0VVU&feature=youtu.be

Live version with the International Harvesters from 1985 that was going to be on an EP to benefit Farm Aid that never materialized: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc65mHWrS1k

Mike Campbell (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Fleetwood Mac) cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwEr7Q1Th6o

 
64. Days That Used to Be (Ragged Glory, 1990; written and first performed in 1988)
Days That Used to Be is one of the few songs on Ragged Glory that would sound at home on almost any of Neil's albums. It's a folk-rock song amidst a sea of garage rock. Written in 1988 on the same boat trip that produced Sixty to Zero (which evolved into Crime in the City) and another tune I'll get to later, this one finds Neil in wistful mode, pondering the human costs of his dogged pursuit of his musical vision and navigation of the industry that made him famous. Its early performance history is a testament to its versatility; it debuted with the Bluenotes, then appeared in the acoustic sets of some of his early 1989 shows with The Restless (the Bluenotes without the horns), then was heard in the warmup shows for what would become known as the Weld tour, as well as in some of the early shows on that tour, including the one I saw (2/5/91 in Philly). Then it remained dormant until the 2014 Crazy Horse tour, a testament to the breadth of material Neil has to draw from.

Studio version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1BNV3TCkvg&feature=youtu.be

Live version with the Horse from 1990: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbZfH15fbXM

 
63. New Mama (Tonight's the Night, 1975; written in 1972 or 1973; first performed in 1973)
This is the one ray of hope on Neil's bleakest album. This brief, gorgeous tune appears to be about the birth of his oldest son, but Neil grouped it with songs he wrote around the same time about death and societal decay for the original 1973 version of Tonight's the Night (though it debuted earlier, first seeing live performance on the early 1973 tour that produced Time Fades Away). Neil also brought it to CSNY reunion rehearsals, which likely led to Stephen Stills covering it on his 1975 album Stills (recorded when HE had a new baby). The final line, "I'm livin' in a dreamland", takes on an entirely different context when surrounded by the other TTN songs, indicating this bliss isn't going to last.
The early 1973 performances (such as the one on the Tuscaloosa archival release) have an "oh, new mama" coda that doesn't appear on TTN but does appear on the Stills cover. 

Studio version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvlO2F_RBkY&fbclid=IwAR2plf5VWVhLztZiBAAWm_yIxNZ35mJOlYHFY2IIYQsCa4IaZXKL1KXJU7w

Live version (acoustic) from Roxy: Tonight's the Night Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nQJytlqEo0&fbclid=IwAR0BHBuu0d_A47QYI_NT58PV-1V_kgh9FcsPKyR7tryOYgP5PaYbFmQUwa4

Live version (electric) from Tuscaloosa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pQobM-JPLI&fbclid=IwAR3po_G-kuMYLQla8ZP3fBRwDVr7EfCZ4HrAORqRDH92CWI_ruOcvc5ETh0

Live version with CSNY from 1973: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COS-Y2S91_w

Live version with Promise of the Real from 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjIO2cGZJAU

Stephen Stills cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZvV40EMdX0

Michael Hedges cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ5q2XYY5Bc

 
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