Following suit from MMM’s threads:
Paul Simon Deep Cuts
Elton John deep cuts
Since he has such a vast catalog that I’ve heard a good deal of but far from everything…what are your favorite Neil Young obscure/semi-obscure tunes? Please post links if so inclined.
Some of mine:
Winterlong
Captain Kennedy
Stringman
Come On Baby Let’s Go Downtown
“Homegrown.”
“Thrasher” (Rust Never Sleeps) - YouTube
“It’s a Dream” (Prairie Wind) Neil Young - It's A Dream - YouTube
“Sugar Mountain” (Decade, but previously unreleased)
I can’t link to songs from work, but some of my deep cut favorites are:
“I’m the Ocean” - Mirror Ball
“Southern Pacific” - Reactor
“Sample & Hold” - Trans
“Cortez the Killer” - Zuma
Hey, what do you know? I can link from work!
Don’t know how I’ve never heard this one. I lost my grandmother on Thursday, so you can imagine what the result of listening to this was. What a great tune.
This is one of my favorite Neil Young songs, but I wasn’t sure whether it was truly a deep cut… I feel like the question of what qualifies as a genuine Neil Young deep cut is a little tricky.
If dipping into the Buffalo Springfield catalogue is allowed, I might mention “On the Way Home”.
Well, if dipping into other catalogs is allowed
“Through My Sails” - Zuma
Written and recorded for an aborted CSNY album, so it has all 4 voices on it.
Yeah, it’s not like he released just a whole lot of singles. I figure if I haven’t heard it on the radio a ton, it’s fair game.
My sister and I were talking about “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” the other day. We agreed that it was the quintessential October song. White cane lying in a gutter in the lane if you’re walking home alone…
It’s been a favorite of mine since I first heard it. I prefer the 4-Way Street version, with the intro:
“This is a song that’s guaranteed to bring you right down.
It’s called, ‘Don’t Let It Bring You Down.’
It sort of starts off real slow, then fizzles out altogether.”
Not only favorite deep cut. Favorite cut.
Tell Me Why
Most of these songs are fairly well known:
Sugar Mountain, Springfield material, Tell me why (is the opening cut on After the Gold Rush), Cortez, Powderfinger, Don’t let it bring you down…
IMO anything played a lot on FM, or anything on Decade or a greatest hits collection (Winterlong, soldier) is not deep, (For Neil).
My list includes
Ambulance Blues, On The Beach (On the Beach)
Citizen Kane Jr. Blues, Pushed it over the end (Bootleg unreleased, archive)
Will to Love (American Stars and bars)
Here we are in the years, if I could have her tonight (Neil Young)
New Mama, mellow my mind (Tonights the night)
Danger Bird, Country Girl…
It’s endless… A whole different animal than Elton or Paul.
“The Old Laughing Lady” and “The Loner” from his first solo album.
Just off the top of my head, there are so many of those in his vast catalogue, but these are rarely played songs I really like:
Yeah, and Tell Me Why and I’m The Ocean, but those were already posted, like many others.
Outstanding idea for a deep cut discussion.
Lawd amighty, where do I begin?
Only Love Can Break Your Heart
And, even though it’s the title track, I still consider this beautiful song a deep cut:
Harvest Moon
mmm
I especially like the Crazy Horse treatment on The Loner on Live Rust.
FWIW, in my Elton John and Paul Simon threads, my working definition of a deep cut is a song the casual fan is unlikely to know.
Of course, contents may have settled during shipping.
mmm
And this.
And got one more: Human Highway. I have to stop now, I could go on and on…
Edit: Just ONE more. Over And Over.
This is clearly now a favourite Neil Young song thread, rather than deep cuts one, unless someone really likes a track or two from Trans or Re-ac-tor.
I love the BBC solo live session he did in 1971. Here’s the whole thing:
Here's a great film of Neil busking on the streets of Glasgow in 1976
Fuckin’ Up
Change Your Mind
Ten Men Workin’
All of them, really.