Neil Young will release of one his most storied albums, Homegrown, roughly 45 years after its original recording. The studio LP, often referred to by fans as one of his mysterious, great “lost albums,” includes 12 tracks and will finally be released on June 19, via Reprise Records. Listen to two previously unreleased album songs below.
Neil Young describes Homegrown as “the one that got away,” and posted the following letter on Neil Young Archives:
“I apologize. This album Homegrown should have been there for you a couple of years after Harvest. It’s the sad side of a love affair. The damage done. The heartache. I just couldn’t listen to it. I wanted to move on. So I kept it to myself, hidden away in the vault, on the shelf, in the back of my mind….but I should have shared it. It’s actually beautiful. That’s why I made it in the first place. Sometimes life hurts. You know what I mean. This is the one that got away. Recorded in analog in 1974 and early 1975 from the original master tapes and restored with love and care by John Hanlon.”
Listen to the previously unreleased “Vacancy”
Related: Our Album Rewind of Harvest
Young continues: “Levon Helm is drumming on some tracks, Karl T Himmel on others, Emmylou Harris singing on one, Homegrown contains a narration, several acoustic solo songs never even published or heard until this release and some great songs played with a great band of my friends, including Ben Keith – steel and slide – Tim Drummond – bass and Stan Szelest – piano.”
Recorded between June 1974 and January 1975, Homegrown was intended to come out in 1975 before Young cancelled the release.
The album features twelve Neil Young songs, seven of which are previously unreleased: “Separate Ways,” “Try,” “Mexico,” “Kansas,” “We Don’t Smoke it No More,” “Vacancy” and “Florida” (a spoken word narration).
Listen to “Try”
Also included are the first recordings of “Love is a Rose,” “Homegrown,” “White Line,” “Little Wing,” and “Star of Bethlehem” – different versions of which would all later appear on other Young albums.
Young plays solo on some tracks (guitar, piano and harmonica), and is joined by a band of friends on other tracks, including Helm, Keith, Himmel, Drummond, Harris and Robbie Robertson.
Homegrown Track Listing
Separate Ways
Try
Mexico
Love is a Rose
Homegrown
Florida
Kansas
We Don’t Smoke It No More
White Line
Vacancy
Little Wing
Star of Bethlehem
1 Comment so far
Jump into a conversationThanks, Neil – better late than never; old Young is welcome!