Homegrown. Neil Young

"The one that got away", Neil Young said about his "new" album, Homegrown. Now I was under the impression that we had already been let in on that secret with 'Hitchhiker', released late in 2017, but I am mistaken.

Homegrown should have been released in 1975, a period in time Young had a prolific output. My absolute favourite 'On The Beach', 'Tonight's The Night', 'Zuma', all great albums in their own right. And now there's Homegrown, the one that got away.

Musically it partly matches 'On The Beach', but more strongly shows his strength as a singer-songwriter with mild country influences. So more 'Harvest Moon' than 'Comes A Time'. Yes, there is a limited amount of filler to make it a whole album, a few songs found their place on other, later albums with leftovers, 'American Stars 'N' Bars' (1977) and 'Hawks & Doves (1980). So what's new and what to make of the whole?

As starters, I still think it's great Neil Young is self-releasing his legacy. Through the live series as with unreleased albums. That thought shows that Homegrown is more than welcome. The way it starts with 'Separate Ways', sets the tone. It is Young, his unique voice, an acoustic guitar and his whining way of playing the harmonica. The late Levon Helms on drums (and on 'Try'). All instantly definable as Neil Young when he puts on his straw hat and holds a long grass straw in the corner of his mouth. Faintly I remember a drawing in Muziek Express of the 70s by Peter Pontiac. It's all a bit blurry so don't pin me down on the correctness of the memory.

Listening to 'Try', I wonder if this song was ever meant to be released at the time. The recording has a looseness that makes it sound informal. A demo recording before the real thing that never happened (or never became better. That's another option). This description says nothing about the song being nice.

Overlooking the album as a whole I start getting the inkling why Homegrown was not released at the time. Many of the songs sound like something Neil Young had done before and better or more serious. 'Mexico' can't possibly compete with 'After The Goldrush'. At the time he never repeated himself easily. Perhaps as a whole album but not like the songs on Homegrown. With 'After The Goldrush', 'Harvest' (never my favourite though) and 'On The Beach' he had set his standard. In a way with 'Tonight's The Night' as well, as a standard in musical anger management. Seen from that angle Homegrown is not a standard. According to Wikipedia Homegrown was not released because the lyrics became too close for comfort, '"Homegrown was just a very down album". Oh, is my response, have you ever listened to 'On The Beach'?

With the title song things stand different. I always sort of hated the version on 'American Stars 'N' Bars' version. Here it sounds, again, like a loose jam, suggested by the beginning even more so, but also a typical Neil Young mild rocking song of which he wrote so many more. The central riff/guitar melody here is just fun somehow.

'Florida' is all filler, a drunk or high and if not that a very incoherent story of what ever. This should never be on an album in my opinion and draws the album down. Something that will always be skipped. That is the only true critique on Homegrown possible. The only reason I can find that it relates to the phrase "Gliding through the air" in 'Kansas'.


This song could have been on 'On The Beach' easily. Young and his acoustic guitar, singing in the dark (of his mind) all alone. But also, it is a song that seems unfinished. One with great potential surely but not finished it seems. 'We Don't 'Smoke It No More' is a nice jam, not more but certainly not less. It shows what a nice bunch of musicians Neil Young had with him in the studio.

The songs on the album stem from a host of sessions, with CSNY, former The Band members and his other band including Ben Keith, Karl Himmel and Tim Drummond. Some songs have surfaced over the years in other formats. A few have not. Of those I truly like the rocking 'Vacancy' the best. 'Separate Ways' and 'Kansas' come close. 'Star Of Bethlehem' with Emmylou Harris on backing vocals is a great track of course. The country Neil at his best.

So even if I can understand why Neil Young did not release Homegrown in 1975, releasing 'Tonight's The Night', recorded in 1973, in its stead, what a present it is in 2020. As a whole the album totally works and brings his fans a host of "new" tracks very much worthwhile listening to. Not so long ago I wrote that I had not bought a new Neil Young album for well over a decade. I think that is going to change soon.

Wo.

Listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g