On the Beach (Neil Young album)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"I need a crowd of people, but I can't face them day to day. Though my problems are meaningless, that don't make them go away." |
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On the Beach is the fifth studio album by Neil Young, released in 1974. The first song to deal with Charles Manson and his followers was probably Revolution Blues, a short song on Neil Young's On the Beach album.
Background
Recorded after (but released before) Tonight's the Night, On the Beach shares some of that album's bleakness and crude production—which came as a shock to fans and critics alike, as this was the long-awaited studio follow-up to the commercially and critically successful Harvest—but also included hints pointing towards a more subtle outlook, particularly on the opener, "Walk On".
While the original Rolling Stone review described it as "One of the most despairing albums of the decade", later critics such as Allmusic’s William Ruhlmann used the benefit of hindsight to conclude that Young "[w]as saying goodbye to despair, not being overwhelmed by it". The despair of Tonight's the Night, communicated through intentional underproduction and lyrical pessimism, gives way to a more polished album that is still pessimistic but to a lesser degree.
Much like Tonight's the Night, On the Beach was not a commercial success at the time of its release but over time attained a high regard from fans and critics alike. The album was recorded in a haphazard manner, with Young utilizing a variety of session musicians, and often changing their instruments while offering only bare-bones arrangements for them to follow (in a similar style to Tonight's the Night). He also would opt for rough, monitor mixes of songs rather than a more polished sound, alienating his sound engineers in the process.
Throughout the recording of the album, Young and his fellow musicians consumed a homemade concoction dubbed "Honey Slides", a goop of sauteed marijuana and honey that "felt like heroin". This may account for the mellow mood of the album, particularly the second half of the LP. Young has said of it "Good album. One side of it particularly—the side with 'Ambulance Blues', 'Motion Pictures' and 'On the Beach'—it's out there. It's a great take."
Availability
For about two decades, rarity made a cult out of On the Beach. The title was deleted from vinyl in the early 1980s and only briefly available on cassette - the old slide-out case style, as well as 8-track cartridge tape. Along with three other mid-period Young albums, it had been withheld from re-release until 2003. The reasons remain murky but there is some evidence that Young himself didn't want the album out on CD, variously citing "fidelity problems" and legal issues. Beginning in 2000, over 5,000 fans signed an online petition calling for the release of the album on CD.
Personnel
- Neil Young – vocals; guitar on "Walk On", "Revolution Blues", "Vampire Blues", "On the Beach", "Motion Pictures" and "Ambulance Blues"; harmonica on "See the Sky About to Rain", "Motion Pictures" and "Ambulance Blues"; Wurlitzer electric piano on "See the Sky About to Rain"; banjo on "For the Turnstiles"; electric tambourine on "Ambulance Blues"
- Ben Keith – bass on "Motion Pictures" and "Ambulance Blues"; slide guitar, vocal on "Walk On", steel guitar on "See the Sky About to Rain"; Wurlitzer electric piano on "Revolution Blues"; Dobro, vocal on on "For the Turnstiles"; organ, vocal, and hair drum on "Vampire Blues"; hand drums on "On the Beach"
- Rusty Kershaw – slide guitar on "Motion Pictures"; fiddle on "Ambulance Blues"
- David Crosby – rhythm guitar on "Revolution Blues"
- George Whitsell – guitar on "Vampire Blues"
- Graham Nash – Wurlitzer electric piano on "On the Beach"
- Tim Drummond – bass on "See the Sky About to Rain", "Vampire Blues" and "On the Beach"; percussion on "Vampire Blues"
- Billy Talbot – bass on "Walk On"
- Rick Danko – bass on "Revolution Blues"
- Ralph Molina – drums and vocal on "Walk On"; drums on "Vampire Blues" and "On the Beach"; hand drums on "Motion Pictures" and "Ambulance Blues"
- Levon Helm – drums on "See the Sky About to Rain" and "Revolution Blues"
Note
- † Neil Young credited as Joe Yankee
