NEIL YOUNG : SUGAR MOUNTAIN - LIVE AT CANTERBURY HOUSE 1968

  1. Emcee Intro.
  2. On the Way Home
  3. Songwriting Rap
  4. Mr. Soul
  5. Recording Rap
  6. Expecting to Fly
  7. The Last Trip to Tulsa
  8. Bookstore Rap
  9. The Loner
  10. "I Used to..." Rap
  11. Birds
  12. Winterlong /Out of My Mind Intro
  13. Out of My Mind
  14. If I Could Have Her Tonight
  15. Classical Gas Rap
  16. Sugar Mountain Intro
  17. Sugar Mountain
  18. I've Been Waiting for You
  19. Songs Rap
  20. Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing
  21. Tuning Rap & The Old Laughing Lady Intro
  22. The Old Laughing Lady Young
  23. Broken Arrow

Label : Reprise Records

Release Year : 2008

Venue : Canterbury House, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Recording Date : November 9 - 10, 1968

Length : 70:14

Review (AllMusic) : Sugar Mountain : Live at Canterbury House 1968 the third installment from Neil Young's Archives - although through some weird filing system this is Vol. 00, possibly because this dates before either of the previously released volumes in Archives Performance Series - culls highlights from Neil Young's two shows at Canterbury House in Ann Arbor, MI on November 9 and 10, 1968. Like its two predecessors in the Archives series, the concerts captured on Sugar Mountain are legendary among Neil Young collectors, in this case because of the gentle, tentative version of the title track that showed up on Decade - prior to this, the only official release from the concert. At first glance, Sugar Mountain might seem similar to Live at Massey Hall 1971, as they're both solo acoustic sets, but the tenor of the two shows is quite different. Massey Hall captured Neil in full flight, just before the release of Harvest, whereas the concerts on Sugar Mountain were just a month or two shy of the release of his first solo album. He had hits with Buffalo Springfield - much of the set list leans heavily on Springfield songs, such as "Mr. Soul," "Expecting to Fly," "Birds," "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing," and "Broken Arrow" - but he had yet to prove himself as a solo artist, so the endearing tentative quality of his performances shouldn't come as a surprise, and yet it does: Young's reputation as a steely renegade often suggests that he never second-guesses his moves. Neil doesn't second-guess here but he is fragile and human, telling stories (sometimes at considerable length) before sliding into these delicate songs, wryly lamenting that he should have some happy songs to sing before testing out the melody for "Winterlong," stopping short because the song isn't quite written yet. It's a marvelously intimate performance, unguarded and open-hearted, unique in its delicate touch: it's Neil Young before the myth crystallized, and listening to it anew, it's easy to fall in love with him all over again.