Time Fades Away
is a 1973
live album by
Canadian-American
musician
Consisting of
previously unreleased material,
it was recorded with
the Stray Gators
on the support tour
following 1972's
highly successful album
Harvest.
Due to Young's
dissatisfaction
with the tour,
it was omitted
from his catalogue
and not released on
compact disc
until 2017.
The album is the first
of the so-called
"Ditch Trilogy"
of albums
that Young recorded
following the major success of
Harvest,
whereupon the scope
of his success
and acclaim became
so apparent that Young
subsequently experienced
alienation from his
music and career
.Nevertheless,
Time Fades Away
received much critical praise
and was widely pirated
after lapsing
out of print
because of the ensuing
demand from fans.
It was initially reissued
on vinyl as part of the
Official Release Series
Discs 5-8
Vinyl Box Set
for Record Store Day
in 2014,
then reissued again
for its
50th anniversary
in 2023
as
Time Fades Away 50.
The album finally saw an
official CD release
in August 2017
as part of the
CD version of the boxset.
It gradually became available
on streaming platforms
and on the
Neil Young Archives website
in 2021.
History
Though
"Love in Mind"
dates from a
1971 solo tour,
all other songs
on the album are from
the Harvest tour
in early 1973.
The program featured
an acoustic solo set
followed by an electric set
with the Stray Gators.
Longtime collaborator
and former
Crazy Horse
guitarist
Danny Whitten
had been set to join
the Gators as
a second guitarist
before being sent home
from rehearsals after it
became evident that he was
in no condition to embark
on the rigorous tour.
He succumbed to a
fatal combination of
Valium and alcohol
on the night following
his dismissal.
Unlike Young's
previous ensembles,
the Stray Gators
consisted of notable
Nashville and Los Angeles
session musicians;
keyboardist
Jack Nitzsche
was the only member
of the group
who had worked with
Young prior to Harvest.
During the rehearsals,
drummer
Kenny Buttrey
demanded a salary of
$100,000
(roughly $727,577 in 2023)
to compensate for
lost session work,
leading Nitzsche
(with support from Tim Drummond)
to prevail upon
the singer to extend
this salary to the other
band members.
Although Young
reluctantly acquiesced,
Nitzsche would later reflect that
"Neil got so pissed off ...
I don't think things ever
recovered after that."
In the wake of the
relatively dulcet
Harvest,
audiences did not always
react positively to
the new songs,
many of which were
emblematic of the Gators'
raucous and heavily
electrified live sound.
Struggling to cope with
Whitten's death,
Young lambasted
band members'
performances following
concerts and scheduled
soundchecks that were
often cancelled
on short notice.
Such behavior frustrated
Buttrey,
who left the band
and was
immediately replaced by
former
Turtles/Jefferson Airplane
percussionist
Johnny Barbata.
Having previously stepped in
to replace
Dallas Taylor on
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's
1970 tour,
Barbata ultimately performed
on all of the Stray Gators
selections on the album.
At the instigation of
Drummond,
Young also developed a
penchant for tequila,
with the singer
later remarking that
"it does something else
to me than alcohol usually does."
Other band members
performed erratically:
according to producer
Elliot Mazer,
Nitzsche would often
spew obscenities
into his switched-off
vocal microphone,
while pedal steel/dobro player
Ben Keith
was so inebriated
at one soundcheck
that he could not recall
the key of
"Don't Be Denied",
a song slated
for the album.
Following the loss of a pickup
on his signature
Old Black
(a heavily modified 1953 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop),
Young switched to a
Gibson Flying V;
according to Young,
the guitar
"wouldn't stay in tune"
and had other problems.
Biographer
Jimmy McDonough
has characterized
Young's performances
on the instrument as
"the worst guitar playing of his career."
Alcohol abuse and strained singing
would lead the singer to
develop a throat infection
in the final days
of the tour.
In a partial reunion of
CSN&Y,
Young hired
David Crosby
and
Graham Nash
to augment the harmonies
and play rhythm guitar.
Despite their integration,
the band's repertoire
remained confined to
Young originals.
Moreover,
clashes among
the Stray Gators continued,
with Nitzsche
complaining that he could
not hear himself playing
because Crosby's
12-string electric guitar
overpowered the sound mix.
Following sixty-two concerts
over three months,
the tour ended at the
Salt Palace in
Salt Lake City, Utah
on April 3, 1973.
On November 3, 2024,
a 50th anniversary
reissue entitled
Time Fades Away 50
was released,
featuring an extra tracks,
previously released as
the B-sides
to the single release of
"Time Fades Away"
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