Live at Massey Hall 1971

by

Neil Young

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This is Neil on stage with just a guitar, a piano and a mike, playing in front of a very appreciative and proud Canadian audience. Though relatively young in age to us at 26 years, Neil sounds mature and seasoned here, and is comfortably "in control" of this crowd. He talks in a down-home manner to the crowd between almost every song, occasionally to introduce a song that they (and sometimes we) have never heard before. The acoustics and mic'ing are fantastic, and Neil is in great voice throughout. He plays about two-thirds of the songs on guitar, and the rest on piano - I've never been more keenly aware of his unique skill at strumming/picking/soloing (sometimes sounds like two!). This is just a fabulous cd that makes you feel like you're right on stage with a gifted yet humble artist who is just coming into his own, playing his "best of" tunes of the time.

Just before I veered way left (or right?) into progressive rock, jazz fusion and classical music, it was folk rock that rang my bell. Listening to these short, sincere, unadorned souvenirs of beauty reminds me of why singer/songwriters like NY were so important to us around 1971...and why their music still rings true today. Recommended.

I value interesting music that is played and recorded well. This cd's rating was based on:

Music quality = 8.5/10; Performance = 9/10; Production = 9/10; CD length = 10/10.

Overall score weighted on my proprietary scale = 8.8 ("4-1/2 stars")