''Unplugged'' is a
live album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by Canadian / American singer-songwriter
Neil Young, released on June 15, 1993 on
Reprise. Recorded on February 7, 1993, the album is an installment of the
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
series, ''
Unplugged''. The performance was also released on
VHS.
Background and recording
The recording of ''Unplugged'' was reportedly rife with tension, with Young displeased with the performances of many of his band members. The released version was his second attempt at recording a set suitable for airing and release.
Jimmy McDonough
Jimmy McDonough is a biographer and journalist. He is best known for his biographies of Russ Meyer, Andy Milligan, Tammy Wynette, Al Green, and Neil Young. He is noted by critics for his remarkably exhaustive accounts and for his tendency to avoi ...
, 2003, ''Shakey: Neil Young's Biography'', p.669+
The track "Stringman" was recorded for Young's famously unreleased studio album, ''
Chrome Dreams'' (1977).
Track listing
All tracks composed by Neil Young
# "
The Old Laughing Lady
"The Old Laughing Lady" is a song written by Neil Young that was first released on his 1968 debut solo album ''Neil Young''.
Music and lyrics
Allmusic critic Matthew Greenwald describes "The Old Laughing Lady" as a "striking mood piece." He descr ...
" – 5:15
# "
Mr. Soul" – 3:54
# "
World on a String
''Tonight's the Night'' is the sixth studio album by Canadian / American songwriter Neil Young. It was recorded in August–September 1973, mostly on August 26, but its release was delayed until June 1975. It peaked at No. 25 on the ''Billboard' ...
" – 3:02
# "
Pocahontas" – 5:06
# "
Stringman" (previously unreleased) – 4:01
# "
Like a Hurricane" – 4:44
# "
The Needle and the Damage Done" – 2:52
# "
Helpless" – 5:48
# "
Harvest Moon" – 5:20
# "
Transformer Man
A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer's c ...
" – 3:36
# "
Unknown Legend" – 4:47
# "
Look Out for My Love" – 5:57
# "
Long May You Run" – 5:22
# "
From Hank to Hendrix" – 5:51
In addition to the tracks found on this album, Neil Young performed the following songs live during the performance:
*"Dreamin' Man"
*"Sample and Hold"
*"War of Man"
*"Winterlong"
Personnel
*Neil Young -
guitar,
harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
,
piano,
pump organ, lead vocals
*
Nils Lofgren - guitar,
autoharp
An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...
,
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
, backing vocals
*
Ben Keith -
Dobro
Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar.
The Dobro was originally ...
*
Spooner Oldham - piano, pump organ
*
Tim Drummond
Timothy Lee Drummond (20 April 1940 – 10 January 2015) was an American musician from Canton, Illinois. Drummond's primary instrument was bass guitar and he toured and recorded with many notable artists, including Conway Twitty, Bob Dylan, James ...
- bass
*
Oscar Butterworth - drums
*
Astrid Young
Vendela Astrid Young (born August 16, 1962) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of journalist, sportswriter, and novelist Scott Young and his second wife Astrid Carlson, and the half-sister of fellow musician Neil Young, who bou ...
- backing vocals
*
Nicolette Larson
Nicolette Larson (July 17, 1952 – December 16, 1997) was an American singer. She is perhaps best known for her work in the late 1970s with Neil Young and her 1978 hit single of Young's "Lotta Love", which hit No. 1 on the Hot Adult Contem ...
- backing vocals
*Larry Cragg - broom on "Harvest Moon"
Charts
Certifications and sales
References
Unplugged (Young, Neil album)
Albums produced by David Briggs (producer)
Neil Young live albums
1993 live albums
Reprise Records live albums
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