Does anyone have an interpretation of what down by the river is about? Something dawned on me when I heard it and just wondering what you ny experts think.
Neil has said its a murder ballad and has also said its about a dissolving relationship. People have speculated it could be about addiction.
Thanks. Nice. I always took it for face value, then just thought about the drug connection. Kinda like james taylor 'you've got a friend'. The good thing about a great song is that it should be interpreted differently by everyone and can mean something different to the same person at different times. Good stuff.
FYI: Return to Greendale LP is sub $20 on Amazon US.
Deluxe is $62 (down from $100, well $90 on Amazon)
This is a reason I generally wait a bit before springing for Neil’s recent releases. I know I picked up Cellar Door and Hitchhiker for less than $15 each. Songs for Judy was around $10. The ORS3 box I got for some like $60. I won’t be surprised to see Rust Bucket for $40 in another month or two.
If everything that is lined up for this year gets released as scheduled, thats fucking bonkers. I've never seen an artist put out out this much. best dude.
Neil said Prairie Wind is getting a vinyl reissue next year. Makes me wonder if we are gonna see ORS 7, 8 (which is where PW would be) and 9 in 2022. Which kinda catches him up to whats in print and whats OOP.
OK, Maybe ORS 10 gets us up to the OOP stuff. Man his stuff has been going recently. Amazon has a Letter Home for $100. That shit was on clearance like a year or 2 ago.
FYI: Return to Greendale LP is sub $20 on Amazon US.
Deluxe is $62 (down from $100, well $90 on Amazon)
This is a reason I generally wait a bit before springing for Neil’s recent releases. I know I picked up Cellar Door and Hitchhiker for less than $15 each. Songs for Judy was around $10. The ORS3 box I got for some like $60. I won’t be surprised to see Rust Bucket for $40 in another month or two.
Rust Bucket, at least here, has been touted as a limited release... even the non-CD/DVD version... so hmm...
"Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
OK, Maybe ORS 10 gets us up to the OOP stuff. Man his stuff has been going recently. Amazon has a Letter Home for $100. That shit was on clearance like a year or 2 ago.
Would never pick up A Letter Home...
Would have picked up Americana if I found it cheap though. That one is fun.
"Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
The Admin of one of the Neil fan groups on FB has put some notes together from the call:
So Neil is due back in the studio on June 20th with Nils and....
Here is the pick of the new information which Neil shared on his suprise Zoom call with NYA Patrons today. I hope I haven't missed anything important. If so, please add in the comments.
° Archives Vol. 3 will cover a wider span than we all thought and will run from late 1976 to early 1990 (!) and be “bigger than all the other ones”. It will come in a Blu-ray and a CD-edition, the former with a lot of movies.
° Neil is really excited about Toast. He describes it jokingly as being “part of our PTSD Series” – a record so good you can only afford to listen to it once!
° El Dorado was never on analogue tape. It was “sourced on CD-level from the dark ages of digital sound”.
° Neil says he is putting so much stuff out now because he really wants to be able himself to “control how they are”… “I don’t want to have a lot of other people doing that stuff.” If you want them, they will be there, he says. You don’t have to buy them. You can always buy them later or even not at all, just listen to them on NYA, he says.
° Outtakes will not be offered for download: “No, that’s why they’re outtakes. They are lucky to have gotten this far!”
° The Boarding House album release on Vol. 3 looks like it will be one complete show “with no cuts”, from May 25, 1978 (though he didn’t say if it is the early or the late show) PLUS a Joel Bernstein compilation from the other shows. It will be a film and a record. Neil admits he was a little nervous at first and made lots of mistakes. He was just starting to work with a small microphone attached to his harmonica holder, roaming around the stage, so “I couldn’t hide behind the microphone”.
° Timeline Concerts are coming “as fast as we can” but there are a lot of processes involved – converting analogue tape to digital and then preparing for hi-res streaming etc. etc. “Every couple of weeks” there should be a new one, “some weeks there’ll be more than one.”
° Johnny’s Island was made with “an acoustic version” of the Trans Band, “one of the most polished and finished records I ever made”. (Note: Originally, he said it was a different project to Island In The Sun, the record always said to have been offered to Geffen but which was rejected. It now seems Neil sees Johnny’s Island as being that rejected record.)
° Talking about possible lineups for future shows, Neil mentioned Poncho Sampedro, how fit he is swimming every day “250 days in a row”, and somehow implying that Poncho’s coming out of retirement at some point might not be totally out of the question. However, he also spoke of “maybe another tour with Nils or a combination of people. Micah Nelson would be great in Crazy Horse too.”
° But he said: “Nils will probably be the one who’s there when we go back in the studio”, and he even mentioned June 20 as a specific date. (Note: Full moon would be June 24!)
° Talking about the 18-minute version of Sixty To Zero: “I think we are going to put it on Road To Plenty… On the other hand, I can see this in my head…” and he went on to describe his vision of a maxi single running at 33 1/3 rpm with Ordinary People on one side and Sixty To Zero on the other and the label showing an image of a 45 rpm single adaptor, like the NYA logo. But Sixty To Zero “is a monster of its own, kinda stands on its own…”. I must say I like the idea of a big single, Neil. Go for it!
“Do not postpone happiness”
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
You’re a saint @goldrush for posting that recap! Very cool.
Welp, if this was an attempt for Neil to entice the people on the fence to join at the Patron tier, consider me in. Based on the amount of treats he’s given fans just these past couple years alone, I’m convinced he’ll make it a unique experience. I’ll at least try it for a year.
You’re a saint @goldrush for posting that recap! Very cool.
Welp, if this was an attempt for Neil to entice the people on the fence to join at the Patron tier, consider me in. Based on the amount of treats he’s given fans just these past couple years alone, I’m convinced he’ll make it a unique experience. I’ll at least try it for a year.
That's pretty much what I was thinking too. If it doesn't feel like it's worth it in the long run, I'll probably change to the Rust level. The good news is that it takes your existing membership payment into consideration, so it was something like $54 now and will revert to the normal price at renewal.
No problem with posting the recap - someone else did all of the hard work on FB. I just figured there would be people here that would like to see it too.
“Do not postpone happiness”
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
Encouraging to hear that Poncho is doing well and that he MIGHT be seen playing guitar again. He works so well in tandem with Neil. Those guitars locked together is a truly unique sound
"...though my problems are meaningless....that don't make them go away...."
With Poncho having problems playing nowadays. I kind of wish he would be able to and could be used on the records at least... But maybe it's not even fun when it hurts and you have lost the ability like he seems to have.
"Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
Sorry if this is has been hashed over, but what is the value of Young Shakespeare? Every song is on Massey.
Massey is no longer widely available at an affordable price.
Oh interesting. Didn't realize that is out of press. I need to take great care of mine then. It's a perfect record. I recently saw that Yield is out of print and exploding in price.
Comments
Deluxe is $62 (down from $100, well $90 on Amazon)
Would have picked up Americana if I found it cheap though. That one is fun.
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)
No problem with posting the recap - someone else did all of the hard work on FB. I just figured there would be people here that would like to see it too.
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)
I mean, its basically the difference between the Euro 2000 boots and the US 2000 boots.
I think it's literally the week after Massey.