THE LONER

THE LONER by Neil Young.

Welcome to October! Martin and I just walked Amy to the subway and you can finally feel a little nip in the air. It's not bad at all.

Growing up we had what I had always assumed was Neil Young's first solo album, "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere." At some point, though, I found out there was actually a self-titled album released even before that one, at the end of 1969. The question I always had was, is this a great lost album, or just crap? You never saw it in stores, so there was no way to find out.

This is one of those burning questions that I never got answered until about two years ago, when I saw the first album available online. I picked it up and can tell you you're not missing a whole lot, to be honest. A real shame, especially considering who played on it (Jack Nitzsche, Ry Cooder, Jim Messina, Gloria Jones, Merry Clayton... ). I listened to it again yesterday, and there's really only one choice to share with you, and that's The Loner. So, have a listen, see what you think, but don't expect everything on that album to be as good as it!

LISTEN.

Photo: The Grove (May 2005).