Neil Young Releases New Album Oceanside Countryside
Mark WilkesOn a quest to unearth old recordings and scrapped projects from his archives, Neil Young has released the long-awaited second album of his Special Release Series. Oceanside Countryside which follows Hitchiker, released in 2017.
The result of recording sessions with producer David Briggs on nights of the full moon in 1977, the albums were rejected by Reprise for sounding like uncompleted demos. The record label requested he record them with a full band; he instead shelved the album and released one of his most critically acclaimed albums Comes a Time in 1978, which features three of the songs from Oceanside Countryside. The other six of ten songs have also been released on various albums over the years including Rust Never Sleeps and Hawks and Doves.
As its title implies, the album presents two thematic sides: Oceanside (side A) consisting of five nautically inspired folk meditations recorded between Fort Lauderdale and Malibu, and Countryside, (side B) featuring five down-home country romps recorded largely in Nashville. Oceanside Countryside showcases two distinct visions, skilfully performed by Young at the height of his creative powers.
The album was released earlier this month on digital and vinyl; Young now claiming 15 career appearances on the Vinyl Albums chart. That total continues to grow steadily, as the format has become a preferred way for his fans — many of whom have followed him for decades — to own his work and hold it in their hands.
As Young says, “This analog original album was recorded in 1977 and unreleased. These songs are the original mixes done at the time of the recordings in the order I planned for the album. I sang the vocals and played the instruments on Oceanside in Florida at Triad studios and Malibu at Indigo studio. I sang the vocals and recorded with my great band of friends, Ben Keith, Joe Osborn, Karl T. Himmel, and Rufus Thibodeaux at Crazy Mama's in Nashville on Countryside. I hope you enjoy this treasure of an Analog Original recording, recorded by Tim Mulligan, as much as I do. Listening to it now, I think I should have put it out back then.”