Live Harvest
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

On April 18, 2015,
Blitzen Trapper Blitzen Trapper is a Portland, Oregon-based experimental country music, country/Folk music, folk/Rock and roll, rock band associated with Sub Pop Records, Vagrant Records and Lojinx. Formed in 2000, the band currently operates as a quintet, with ...
released ''Live Harvest'' for
Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...
. Recorded on October 17 at the
Doug Fir Lounge The Doug Fir Lounge is a bar and restaurant housed within the ground level of the Jupiter Hotel, in Portland, Oregon's Buckman neighborhood, in the United States. It was established in 2004 and features a basement music and event space. Recepti ...
in Portland, Oregon at the end of the band's ''
VII VII or vii may refer to: the Roman numeral 7 Art and entertainment * The Vii, a video game console * vii, leading-tone triad, see diminished triad * ''VII'' (Blitzen Trapper album) * ''VII'' (Just-Ice album) * ''VII'' (Teyana Taylor album) * ...
'' tour, ''Live Harvest'' is a song-for-song interpretation of
Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
's 1972 album ''
Harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...
''. The album was released as a 180 gram vinyl LP with a download card. The band launched a short tour in support of the record, including stops at several
City Winery City Winery is a winery, restaurant, music venue and private event location in Hudson Square, New York City. Other locations include Atlanta, Chicago, Nashville, Boston, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia. Satellite locations are sited in Chicago ...
locations in New York, Nashville, and Chicago, in which they played ''Harvest'' in its entirety, as well as Blitzen Trapper songs. Blitzen Trapper's interest in Neil Young goes back before the band's inception: ""All of us have disparate tastes which comes out in our own stuff, but Neil Young is a common thread that’s run through all of our lives," bassist Michael Van Pelt stated, "I remember listening to ''Harvest'' on cassette in Eric’s mom’s car back in high school ... It’s a special record, and it gets pretty dark in spots, too. Darker than I remember." Lead singer Eric Earley elaborated, "I think we all knew the record before we even tried to play it. It’s one of those records that takes us to that place of comfort and nostalgia like ''
The Dukes Of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy TV series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television series ...
'' or a
Chevy Impala The Chevrolet Impala () is a full-size car built by Chevrolet for model years 1958 to 1985, 1994 to 1996, and 2000 to 2020. The Impala was Chevrolet's popular flagship passenger car and was among the better-selling American-made automobiles in ...
. It just feels good to play it." Though the band had long been familiar with the original album, the conception for the cover album was spontaneous. Van Pelt said of Earley, "Eric just came in one day and said, ‘Let’s do ''Harvest'' at the Doug Fir,' ... We were all like, ‘Yeah!'" Unusually, Earley doesn't sing lead on every song on the album; keyboardist Marty Marquis - who has sung lead on the band's song "Jericho" - performs a stripped-down version of "A Man Needs a Maid," while drummer Brian Adrian Koch performs lead duties for the first time on a Blitzen Trapper record, on "The Needle and the Damage Done." Website
Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...
teased the release with an exclusive premiere of the song, "Heart of Gold," eight days before the album's release. Stereogum called the track a "graceful rendition," stating that, "the band immaculately reconstructed
he song He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
from familiar components — the introductory wavering harmonica line, the chorus’ soaring slide guitar, and even the timid barn-door drumming ... It feels good to hear it."


Reception

Review site
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
gave the record seven out of ten stars, stating, "Blitzen Trapper ... aspositioned themselves as the rough hewn renegades Young ... aspired to be ... Their live take on the album comes across as a tributes of sorts, a nod to Young as the forerunner of all that’s unpredictable and spontaneous when it comes to making music - i.e. the ability to defy expectations and his leave the public gasping with anticipation. That’s likely one reason they don’t play with the template. The arrangements remain true to the originals, sans the orchestration and cameos (Stephen Stills, James Taylor, Linda Rondstadt et. al.) that helped accentuate the original recording. Given that formula, nothing can or does go astray. ''Live Harvest'' gives a classic album new life indeed." Site KIJIS puts the album into perspective with Blitzen Trapper's larger career, stating, "To a certain extent, Blitzen Trapper's desire to retrace Neil Young’s fourth and arguably most famous album, ''Harvest'' provides some practical purpose; that is, to reestablish their Americana allegiance." Site My San Antonio was effusive with their praise: "Portland indie band litzen Trappermay win Record Store Day with the live front-to-back recording of the classic Neil Young album."


Tour

The band announced the tour for the album on February 4, 2015, explaining that the dates performing at
City Winery City Winery is a winery, restaurant, music venue and private event location in Hudson Square, New York City. Other locations include Atlanta, Chicago, Nashville, Boston, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia. Satellite locations are sited in Chicago ...
locations in New York, Chicago, and Nashville would feature the band playing ''Harvest'' in its entirety, while "the other shows on the tour will be traditional BT performances with a few select tunes from ''Harvest'' sprinkled into the set." The tour ran as follows: * April 11: Columbia, S.C. — River Rocks Festival * April 12: Asheville, N.C. — Grey Eagle * April 13: Indianapolis, Ind. — Radio Radio * April 14: Chicago, Ill. — City Winery Blitzen Trapper Performs Harvest * April 15: Columbus, — Ohio A&R Bar * April 16: Wilmington, Del. — World Cafe Live Upstairs * April 17: New York, N.Y. — City Winery Blitzen Trapper Performs Harvest * April 18: Washington, D.C. — Black Cat * April 19: Charlotte, N.C. — Visulite Theater * April 20: Nashville, Tenn. — City Winery Blitzen Trapper Performs Harvest Said website U of Music of the band's New York City performance, "Highlighted by Eric Earley’s energetically engaging vocal approach, guitarist Erik Menteer’s colorful and distinctive slide parts ... and warm harmonies that wonderfully fell into place when needed, their interpretation was a magnificent treat for the audience whose passion surged with each song ... They captured the full passion and fury of "Alabama" and "Words" with striking instinct for both songs’ heart and soul. The audience could best be described as insatiable and the band obliged by performing a rousing three song encore. The imagination, precision and passion Blitzen Trapper bring to the stage makes them a band well worth seeing."


Production credits

* Recorded live at the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, OR, October 17, 2014 * Recorded by Nathan Vanderpool and Martin Gonzalez * Mixed by Eric Earley and Michael Van Pelt * Mastered by Paul Gold at Salt Mastering * Photography by Paul Laxer


Track listing

All songs written by
Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
.


References

{{Authority control 2015 albums