NEIL YOUNG
Official Bootleg Series: Royce Hall, 1971/ Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 1971/Citizen Kane Jr Blues (Live The Bottom Line) WARNERS 7/10, 8/10, 9/10
Seductive sets round out important period for Young. By Tyler Wilcox
AS with so many other things, Neil Young’s attitude towards bootlegs has been inconsistent, to say the least. An oft-circulated film clip from the early 1970s shows him angrily confronting a hapless record store clerk over a stack of unauthorised CSNY releases, eventually absconding with them, unpaid for. By the early 1990s, however, he had changed his tune. “More power to them – they can sell ’em in the parking lot, I don’t give a shit,” Young told biographer Jimmy McDonough. “I have nothing against bootlegs – for an artist like me, they’re essential.” In the 2020s, Neil has leaned even further in the latter direction. Last year saw the launch of his Official Bootleg Series with Carnegie Hall 1970 (though in typically haywire fashion, this was in fact a previously un-bootlegged performance). Now, he’s released three more volumes, all solo acoustic, capturing two early 1971 concerts and one surprise small-club gig in 1974. Thanks to upgraded sonics (but retaining their charmingly amateur graphic design), they’re are all worthy additions to Young’s ever-expanding canon. But fans will almost certainly have a few quibbles about this latest batch of boots.