Re: Happy Birhday to Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
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Neil Young Archives has May 14th as the release date ... ?
On Thu., May 1, 2025, 12:41 p.m. Ian Rosen via , <shmucking= [email protected]> wrote: From John Einarson on Facebook:
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On this date, May 1, 1969, Neil Young released his second solo album, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, which features favorites "Cowgirl in the Sand," "Cinnamon Girl," and "Down by the River." His debut solo album simply entitled Neil Young had been released just four months earlier however it was not a commercial success and Young was displeased with the sound and style of his debut.
Having hooked with backing trio, given the name Crazy Horse, and energized by working with them in a back to basics approach, Young quickly recorded his second album with them The resulting sound would define Young for the next five decades, the elongated slow stoned guitar workouts and twin guitar interplay with Danny Whitten on the album, (photo below), grungy distorted guitar tone, country and folk music textures. His image as the patched jean hippie in California became indelibly imprinted on the public conscience.
The album peaked at number 34 on the US Billboard 200 during a ninety-eight week chart stay in August 1970 and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. For the wider pop audience the album served as their introduction to Young on the world stage. He would throw in his lot with Crosby, Stills and Nash that summer, raising his profile considerably as well.
On the photo cover, Young is shown leaning against a tree with his dog, Winnipeg.
The album is on the list of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
The album contains four songs that became standards in Young's performance repertoire: "Cinnamon Girl", "Down by the River", the title track, and "Cowgirl in the Sand", all of which were written in a single day while Young had a 103 ¡ãF (39.5 ¡ãC) fever. Young's lead vocal track on the song "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" (on the original album) was actually a temporary scratch vocal he sang through the low quality talk-back microphone on the mixing board, with no effects such as reverb. Young liked the stark contrast to the rest of the recording, which became one of his many innovations.
In a contemporary review, Bruce Miroff of Rolling Stone wrote a favorable review, describing Young's voice as "perpetually mournful, without being maudlin or pathetic. It hints at a world in which sorrow underlies everything [...] because that world is recognizable to most of us, Young's singing is often strangely moving." Robert Christgau wrote in The Village Voice that "Young is a strange artist and I am not all the way into him yet, but this record is haunting." The original review was printed with a grade of "B+", but Christgau later said he would have changed it to an "A¨C".
FYI, the title song "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" is believed to be referencing Young's longing to be back in Manitoba where it's "cool and breezy".
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