Nola Neil

Today is Something Else Sunday.

Every week, usually at least twice, sometimes even three times in a week, I post "something else" in the form of an album that I used for running. So then what's the big deal that I'm posting something else? Well, those are just albums.

Live music 'round these parts comes in the form of The Good Ol' Grateful Dead or something within the immediate GD Family. Right? Far and away, way above everything else, that's what I love most in this world. Ya with me so far? Well, methinks I want to make a real effort, once a week, to post up some other live music. Sugarmag is helping in a huge way to collect a ton of other stuff and when she's not too busy with Grad school, in addition to the regular GD postings, she might put up a post or two to help spread some of these other tunes around, as well.

Originally I wanted this to be Something Else Saturday -- for whatever reason, alliteration aside, Saturday seems like a good time for that, for posting something else -- but at the last minute I got another source (a better one) for this show. Making the switch from posting the inferior source to posting the better source proved an impossible task for Saturday... but here we go today, on Sunday... and posting this today actually makes more sense since the show was one week ago this afternoon!

Enjoy!

Neil Young and His Electric Band -- Sunday, May 3, 2009
Fair Grounds Race Course
New Orleans, Louisiana

"New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival"

Love And Only Love
Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)
Are You Ready For The Country?
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Pocahontas
Change Your Mind
Cinnamon Girl
Mother Earth
The Needle And The Damage Done
Light A Candle
Heart Of Gold
Old Man
Speakin' Out
Down By The River
Get Behind The Wheel
Rockin' In The Free World
A Day In The Life

I really dig Neil Young and I've definitely got to get more of his music into my listening diet. Getting this into my ears a whole bunch of times in the past few days has been wonderful.

The fact that I have no idea how to review live is perhaps a good thing. All's I can say is -- I love this show! This is great stuff. He is energized! At times this is the grungy Neil and then a song later it can be almost countrified Neil and then mellow reflective solo acoustic Neil before delving into nearly-psychedelic GD-like improv Neil. Change Your Mind and Down By The River are each over 15 minutes and they give the band two great opportunities to use that space to open up and jam. For the encore, The Beatles' A Day In The Life is excellent to hear.

The source I'm posting is an improvement over the Schoeps mk-41 source that I first got and was ready to post. That wasn't bad sounding, it was okay, perhaps . This source has some wind noise and crowd noise (clapping at times, yelling and talking between songs) but overall it is a lot clearer, a lot sharper in presentation of the music; the vocals and instruments are nicely and equally right up front; it's definitely better:

Maybe in a couple years Sugarmag and I will hop on the City Of New Orleans and head on down for the great music that takes place every Spring. My mom's from there but I've never been to Jazz & Heritage Festival. Hopefully one day!

by Keith Spera The Times-Picayune Sunday May 03, 2009, 6:26 PM What do Neil Young and Bon Jovi have in common? Not much, except that within 24 hours, they both ended their Jazz Fest sets for huge Acura Stage crowds with a song recorded by The Beatles. Jon Bon Jovi and company knocked off "Twist and Shout" on Saturday. On Sunday, Young and his band absolutely smoked "A Day in the Life," an exclamation point ending to a two hour tour de force. Much of the massive crowd, even among the chair and blanket set far from the stage, stood as Young announced himself with a squall of feedback and "Love and Only Love." Young wrestled with his Les Paul as if trying to subdue it. He succeeded, as old masters such as he tend to. Moreso than usual, position on the field affected perceptions of the show. The wind wreaked havoc with the remote speakers back on the field; audio waves were blown away, dampening the music's impact. Closer up, however, a full-bore Neil Young had its full impact. He and his band stomped through "Hey Hey My My" and affixed an epic ending to "Cinnamon Girl." They briefly lost their way in "Change Your Mind," but recovered. He accompanied himself on organ and harmonica for the green themed "Mother Earth." A solo acoustic "Needle and the Damage Done" included the lines, "Every junkie's like a setting sun." "I'm not depressing you, am I?" he asked. "We don't want that. I'm just not used to seeing anything. It's always dark when I play." A country-tinged "Heart of Gold," with Young on harmonica and acoustic guitar, preceded "Old Man" and its banjo. He switched to saloon piano for "Speakin' Out." "Down By the River" ran for a full 18 minutes; the brawny chorus punctuated long improvisatory sections of muscular guitar heroics. As Young refused to let go, banging and pressing his Les Paul's strings, his drummer appeared to be hanging on for dear life. It finally melted away. In the set's only false start, Young halted the band after someone apparently misread the set list. "That was two songs at once," Young cracked. "That was amazing." With everyone on the same page, he bore down on his guitar's whammy bar for an epic "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World." He grinned at the other musicians before calling for a bonus chorus. The encore of "A Day In the Life" was a monster. At the end, he sacrificed his guitar. He shook it against an amplifier, tore off the strings and dragged it across the stage. He then hustled over to a xylophone and plunked one final note to close the set. Minutes later, the gray clouds opened and a hard rain fell, clearing out much of the crowd before the Neville Brothers. It took 40 years to get Neil Young to Jazz Fest. He was worth the wait.

Download The Show Here "Taped" by: Amdewstu from the 1st row of the VIP section, dead center stage; Zoom H4 Digital Recorder > Sandisk 2G Soundcard > PC Neil Young 5/3/09 - Part 1 ♦ (320 kbps) ♦ Part 2 - 5/3/09 Neil Young

Can anywhere really be nowhere?

Saturday Afternoon Run: 25 minutes 45 sec

+ 18 seconds

2:40 pm - 59° - overcast
X ·Dec :: +43 sec· X

DECEMBER: 2 hours 42 min November: 2 hours 31 min October: 2 hours 10 min September: 3 hours 25 min August: 2 hours 39 min July: 2 hours 11 min June: 1 hour 47 min

It took me a couple days but I think finally found my groove for January. I woke up ready to run today and early this afternoon, finally, I got 'er done.

Five since my last run and that, again, is way too long. I've got to pick up the pace, dang it! I've got pounds to shed and I've got a healthy heart to try to maintain (not necessarily in prioritized order.) Every four or five days ain't gonna make for the healthy life I want. Well... it's better than nothing.

Felt good today. Weather is nice, I actually dig overcast for running 'cause I don't need my sunglasses. Temperature is cool but not warm and not so utterly freezing that it's uncomfortable to run. I ran when it was that cold in Alaska and it's not a joy. 50 to 55 Fahrenheit is about ideal and 59's not too bad. This temperature doesn't suck the energy out of me and I can finish strong without having that seemingly never-ending feeling of wanting to quit, quit, quit. None of that today. No strains, chest feels good, breathing good, all's A-okay.

Now if I can just get out there in two or three days and not wait five again.

Saturday's Running Playlist included most of this album...
	Neil Young with Crazy Horse Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere 1969
Cinnamon Girl Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere Round & Round (It Won't Be Long) Down By The River The Losing End (When You're On) Running Dry (Requiem for the Rockets) Cowgirl In The Sand

Need more Neil Young in this life! This is such a great album and more consistent than his debut released just six months before. Versus the debut where there are none, there are three pure classics here -- Cinnamon Girl, Down By The River, and Cowgirl In The Sand. The second two of those clock in at over 9 minutes and 10 minutes respectively. Cowgirl In The Sand I can get lost in over and over. One of the coolest things I dig here is the fiddle on Running Dry -- like kinda eerily somber, almost dirge-like and almost psychedelic in a way.

Such a sweet collection of tunes, from first note to last.
I really need to listen to this more!

320 kbps download @ BlitzWarez

mp3 download

"Cinnamon Girl" - October 29, 2005
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, California
Bridge School benefit, with Los Lobos

a run

A running I will go, a running I will go. A running I DID go, actually.
Now I'm so tired.

I wonder if the stock market is going down again today. I wouldn't be surprised if it has/is. A day or two ago Late Friday it made a leap on word of who the new Treasury Secretary is going to be. Other than that, it's just been dropping and dropping since election day -- worst ever (post-WWII) stock market performance for a president-elect. Isn't that special? Investor confidence since that day has been in the tank. I wonder how much money I've lost this quarter. Down a total of around $40,000 in the 2nd & 3rd quarters alone. And now it's getting worse. It should be getting BETTER. Nope, it's not. Ain't that swell. Yeah, just swell.

At least I'm trying to keep healthy. If I'm forced to have healthcare, I want to make sure I don't have to use it.

So I run...

Monday early afternoon Run: 25 min 56 sec

+ 11 sec

12:55 p.m. - 56°, bright & sunny
X ·Oct :: +30 sec· X

October: 2 hours 10 min September: 3 hours 25 min August: 2 hours 39 min July: 2 hours 11 min June: 1 hour 47 min May: 4 hours 46 min

First run in almost a week. I suppose I've got an excuse -- been a little sick. Felt great from the neck down, felt like I could've run no problem. Had some problems with the neck up -- a cold. Definitely held me back. Perhaps I could've run with a cold, I just don't know what it would've been like needing to blow my nose every half minute while running. Wouldn't've been pretty, I'm sure.

But today I finally got out onto the trail. Got my shorts on, long-sleeve running/hiking shirt, laced up my shoes, walked outside -- too warm. What the?!?! I had to freakin' change into a short-sleeve shirt. It was too warm!!! That made me sad. Annoyed, actually. I need to move. Here -- way too warm in November. We've had some nice weather -- nice for me: upper 40's, low 30's at night -- but for the most part it's just on the too warm side for me. This bites. I got my run in anyhow. Not like it was 100 or anything! 56 degrees didn't really negatively affect me, I just would've preferred cooler than that.

Being my first run in 6 days, I wasn't sure what to expect but I got through it okay. I considered shortening my Running Time to below 25 minutes and then rebuilding a little... but somehow I made the right decision to press onward toward 26 minutes; I added on yet again, rather than take a step or two backwards.

I wanted to quit my run but that's standard operating procedure for me. Even when I want to quit, when it just sucks so badly, I push on.

Feelin' so tired now but I'm so glad I got out there. Waiting (6 days) was unavoidable, I guess, but I'm still not happy about that. Hopefully I can now wrap up November with at least 3 more decent runs like this. We shall see...

Monday's Running Playlist included most of this album...
	Neil Young [self-titled debut] 1968
The Emperor of Wyoming The Loner If I Could Have Her Tonight I've Been Waiting For You The Old Laughing Lady String Quartet From Whiskey Boot Hill Here We Are In The Years What Did You Do To My Life? I've Loved Her So Long The Last Trip To Tulsa

I'm so guilty of not listening to enough Neil Young. Like with the Eagles (and many others) I've decided to go back to the beginning.

This album, from the end of '68, is Neil's first after he left Buffalo Springfield and there's be one more solo LP before he'd record and release Deja Vu with Crosby, Stills and Nash.

The songs here are a mixed bunch, to be sure. Judging from the first track alone, you'd think this would be country music! The Loner changes that and gives us that Neil Young sound that most people know and recognize. Another standout is The Last Trip To Tulsa -- weird lyrics, man. That one is almost Dylan-esque but soaked in LSD or something. I dunno.

Great stuff, though. To keep this and more Neil Young out of my ears for too long is just stoopid.

320 kbps @ Strange Rhythm
(you can try it but shortly after this post, that site went private. sorry)

320 kbps mp3 download

Just a confusing Trans run

Why do I always feel compelled to type utter nonsense here? Sometimes it's interesting information. All I did today was nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. One of the laziest days I've had all year... and I liked it!!!

Did get off my butt for a run about an hour ago. The Rec Center never seems to be that crowded on a Saturday night. Very cool. Students must be gettin' ready to enjoy their night, not hugely in a gym mood. I was, just for running, and I got my run in. Yup. Good day.

Saturday evening Run: 17 minutes 18 seconds

(+3) · indoors ·

XXXXXXXX+++++++ 42 sec +++++++XXXXXXXX

Run Time February: 1 hour 41 minutes January: 2 hours 56 minutes

Tonight's run was one of those where inexplicably I succeeded with very little difficulty. Not just a so-so run, actually somewhat easy. Why, from one day to the next, does it change when my preparation is essentially the same? Very confuzling. In any case, done deal, another run in the books. I only added 3 seconds but then again, I'm not in a huge race or nothin'. Yes, I'd love to be able to run a marathon in 4 hours... but quite possibly that's never in my future so these relatively short runs, they're better than nothing! I keep saying that... 'cause it's so true! This exercise is strenuous and it's the only strenuous exercise I get and for that I'm wicked grateful!

Running tunes from
the album of the day...

Neil Young

Trans

1982






Little Thing Called Love
Computer Age
We Are In Control
Transformer Man
Computer Cowboy (AKA Syscrusher)
Hold On To Your Love
Sample And Hold
Mr. Soul
Like An Inca

Wow. I just commented at Infinite Foolishness that I can't imagine what the person who listened to this album before ever hearing any other Neil Young must have thought. Hopefully not scarred for life from how... odd this is. There are a couple very straight-forward Neil songs here. Like An Inca is the exceptional stand-out. At almost 10 minutes, for my money it's a freakin' masterpiece. Little Thing Called Love has a rather country-ish feel to it. Hold On To Your Love is also one of the normal tracks. Mr. Soul comes very close to being normal yet still has a touch of what Neil was messing with on so many of the other songs here.

The rest of the tracks that are on Trans -- just... completely out there. According to the Wikipedia page for this album (and we all know Wikipedia is the be-all-end-all of accurate information on the internet) when recording these futuristic songs about computers dominating the world, Neil used something called a vocoder, a device he used in communicating with his kid with cerebral palsy. Okay. It makes for some weird stuff, so different than the classic Neil Young that so many people know and love.

320 kbps dload @ Strange Rhythm