NEIL YOUNG : LONDON 1971

1. On the Way Home
2. Tell Me Why
3. Old Man
4. Journey Through the Past
5. Cowgirl in the Sand
6. The Bridge
7. The Loner
8. Don't Let It Bring You Down
9. See the Sky About to Rain
10. Out on the Weekend
11. I Am a Child
12. Ohio
13. Love in Mind
14. Only Love Can Break Your Heart
15. Heart of Gold
16. A Man Needs a Maid
17. Harvest
18. The Needle & the Damage Done
19. Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing
20. Dance, Dance, Dance

Label : Silver Shadow

Time : 71:50

Venue : Festival Hall, London, UK

Date : Februay 27, 1971

Quality : Soundboard Recording (A-)

Review (Old Grey Cat) : It says something about his confidence in himself that at this February 27th, 1971 solo concert Neil included 11 new songs among a 20-song set. Or is that 21-song set? According to Johnny Rogan's book The Visual Documentary, "Flying on the Ground Is Wrong" was also performed that night but, alas, it's not included here. What is here, however, is pure genius. Presenting himself in the singer-songwriter mode then in vogue, Neil shapes a delicate and incisive set for an appreciative-and quiet-audience. Compare this set to, say, later solo Neil, and what comes across most is the slow dissolve of innocence and the dwelling on the down and dour; but, of course, that "dissolve" is the domain (primarily) of the young, and here it's captured by one of the best equipped chroniclers of such stuff in the arts today. It doesn't matter, really, how rich or poor you are, whether you're a rock star or a kid just out for a good time-eventually, life catches up to you. Typical for a Neil show, highlights abound: "Journey Through the Past" and a drop-dead, beautiful "Love in Mind" are two such moments. Quite a few songs that eventually surfaced on Harvest are also presented minus that album's MOR-ish sheen. Shorn of embellishments, "Old Man," "Out on the Weekend," "Heart of Gold," "A Man Needs a Maid," "Harvest" and "The Needle & the Damage Done" come across as what they, in truth, are: songs from a young man's soul.