Neil Young – Hitchhiker

Wow shame for those stating Bad Copies I feel for you because US/Can 560639-1 probably cleanest record I have.
Neil True Genius and no bias coming from a Canuck.

Bad copy here: i have weird "bubbles" on 2 tracks plus marks on the dead wax. The pressing is clearly not the best since i'm not the only one. Gonna try the EU version.

This LP belongs right in there with the Ditch Trilogy.My skin literally quivered upon first play. What a shame we had to wait forty-one years. This recording is a MUST for ANYONE who loves Neil's music especially from that time period. Just Dave & Neil, It doesn't get any better than that.

My copy is excellent -- flat, no warp. And it sounds great. Love this album.

Just picked up a copy from a seller here. The sound is excellent. The vinyl quality is way better than merely good. This is a great sounding LP and the songs are something of a revelation stripped bare and still in flux. Shit, what a great record!

Everything about this release is great. Everything except for the actual record pressing. While my copy plays, it is right up to the point where I would call it damaged and thus, returnable. Warbled along the outer edge and with small, audible 'bubbles' in the wax. Unfortunate, as the care in mastering/ mixing certainly comes through. Otherwise, a great snapshot into a very interesting time and place in music.

Brilliant album. Going to treasure this one for all my days. Such a nice surprise that these were in the vaults....

That being said how's your vinyl press? Sounds great but definitely has that wavey/warpy thing going on on the outside edge that seems to be the case with all records these days. My needle looks like it's bobbing like a rubber ducky in the bathtub. Doesn't affect the playback but really bugs me. Just my copy?

The last new Neil LP I purchased was Dreaming Man. Wish 'Because Sound Matters' had pressed this.

If anything, Neil Young is predictably unpredictable … and truth be told, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a drawback, because right after he releases something brilliant such as Psychedelic Pill, he’ll come out of left field with something that leaves me scratching my head as nearly nothing, other than a few songs here and their come even close to the moving and specular material he laid out during the late 60’s and early 70’s, especially with his band Crazy Horse.

Here on Hitchhiker, we find Young turning to his literal massive musical vaults, thumbing through a collection of songs that were recorded nearly back to back over a single afternoon, ittedly very stoned, at Indigo Studios in Malibu on August 11th of 1976 … a very strange summer for those of you who weren’t there then, a month after America’s bicentennial, an event that came off like a wet firecracker. Of the ten tracks found here, eight of them would show up later, some much later on other albums. The opener “Pocahontas” would make itself known on Rust Never Sleeps, which came out in ’79, then there was American Stars ’n Bars, a really difficult album for me to get into that contained “The Old Country Waltz” in ’77, with the title track that wouldn’t show up for nearly thirty-five years, until the release of Le Noise, by which time I was pretty much done with Mr. Young, his tantrums, his lectures, and his endless social and societal rantings.

It’s important to understand that nearly all of Neil Young’s material is cobbled together from other adventures, including his brilliant After The Gold Rush, which was also subjectively pieced in place from a variety of sessions which used a variety of artists. Now, releasing material that has been recorded within a year or two of it’s conception is one thing, and as with After The Gold Rush, made for an intoxicating album, but this album is a different story all together, with ‘story’ perhaps being the operative word, as we’re given songs that have not been fleshed out, nor are they what might be called acoustic ‘unplugged sessions.’ These songs come off as mere sketches, some better than others, but more designed to give a window into the mind and thinking of Neil Young during a time when he was becoming more erratic, and to my way of thinking, a bit mad, if you you will. Of course their are those who say that this gives the songs a new perspective, especially when considering “Hawaii” and “Give Me Strength,” both new to this album, yet not new to those familiar with Young’s catalog.

All of this gives me pause, causing me to question why I would be interested in this, or what Young may be attempting to convey. Of course with the interest in the huge Pink Floyd catalog, where the consideration of a single note change is subject for debate in nuance and implication, has me wondering whether Neil is simply swamping us with material because he knows it will be profitable, or if he’s welcoming us into his home, his world and his fragile mind. One thing for sure, songs such as “Powderfinger” and “Hitchhiker” have been subjectively changed right down to core of their essence. To say that the release of Hitchhiker is unpolished is certainly an understatement, to say that it sounds incomplete is also justified. There are those who are going to initially rate this outing highly, but in the end, it’s going to be shelved and forgotten, as has most of Neil Young’s material, as our hands reach for more of that polished precise wanderlust that came from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Harvest and After The Gold Rush.

Now, I’m in no way attempting to claim that anything needs to be justified, though that being said, this is a sketchbook of sorts, often out of focus, complete with eraser marks. Hitchhiker is archival material designed for the obsessive fans only, a sort of mood-ish jam, one that doesn’t rest easy, nor does it sonically resound with emotion. Hitchhiker is not a series of pieces from an unfinished puzzle, if anything, the album is a series of footnotes in a continuing conversation of unanswered questions regarding Neil Young. Again, if I was forced, or attempting to explain or justify this release, I’d have to say that Neil Young was apparently very unsatisfied with his presentation and performance in the summer of 1976, though not with the material itself, as eighty percent of these tracks have found their way onto other recordings … so here [laughing], you’ve been given the opportunity to purchase and hear something that even Neil Young didn’t like.

*** The vinyl pressing is excellent, warm and wasted in that eloquent manner that Neil demands.

Review by Jenell Kesler

this is neil young during his peak period. every song is a goldmine. even the already known ones impress again with their different sound signatures. with 33 minutes it is an pretty short album, but its so sweet it turns your heart to gold. makes me wonder why hitchhiker wasnt released back in the day? anyway, pressing quality is excellent. vinyl is dead silent and nearly flawless.
This is one impressive release.