On the Beach

by Neil Young

Overview

Following the 1973 Time Fades Away tour, Neil Young wrote and recorded an Irish wake of a record called Tonight's the Night and went on the road drunkenly playing its songs to uncomprehending listeners and hostile reviewers. Reprise rejected the record, and Young went right back and made On the Beach, which shares some of the ragged style of its two predecessors. But where Time was embattled and Tonight mournful, On the Beach was savage and, ultimately, triumphant. "I'm a vampire, babe," Young sang, and he proceeded to take bites out of various subjects: threatening the lives of the stars who lived in L.A.'s Laurel Canyon ("Revolution Blues"); answering back to Lynyrd Skynyrd, whose "Sweet Home Alabama" had taken him to task for his criticisms of the South in "Southern Man" and "Alabama" ("Walk On"); and rejecting the critics ("Ambulance Blues"). But the barbs were mixed with humor and even affection, as Young seemed to be emerging from the grief and self-abuse that had plagued him for two years. But the album was so spare and under-produced, its lyrics so harrowing, that it was easy to miss Young's conclusion: he was saying goodbye to despair, not being overwhelmed by it. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	08/19/2003
Label:	Reprise
UPC:	0093624849728

Tracks

1. Walk On
2. See the Sky About to Rain
3. Revolution Blues
4. For the Turnstiles
5. Vampire Blues
6. On the Beach
7. Motion Pictures
8. Ambulance Blues

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Neil Young   Primary Artist,Banjo,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Harmonica,Wurlitzer
Levon Helm   Guest Artist,Drums
Ralph Molina   Vocals (Background),Hand Drums,Drums,Vocals
Rick Danko   Guest Artist,Bass,Guitar (Bass)
David Crosby   Guest Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Guitar (Rhythm)
Ben Keith   Vocals (Background),Bass,Dobro,Drums,Organ,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Wurlitzer,Hand Drums,Slide Guitar,Guitar (Bass),Guitar (Steel)
Graham Nash   Guest Artist,Piano,Vocals,Wurlitzer
Tim Drummond   Bass,Drums,Percussion,Guitar (Bass)
George Whitsell   Guitar
Joe Yankee   Bass,Harp,Tambourine
Billy Talbot   Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Rusty Kershaw   Fiddle,Guitar,Violin,Slide Guitar
Crosby & Nash   Guitar (Rhythm)

Technical Credits

Al Schmitt   Audio Production,Producer
Mark Harman   Audio Production,Producer
Neil Young   Audio Production,Design,Composer,Producer,Art Direction
David Briggs   Audio Production,Producer
Tim Mulligan   Digital Mastering
Gary Burdon   Design,Art Direction
Bob Seidemann   Photography
Rick Griffin   Lettering
Chris Bellman   Mastering
Rusty Kershaw   Liner Notes
John Nowland   Analog Transfer
Gary Burden   Design,Repackaging,Art Direction
Mark Henry Harman   Producer
Jenice Heo   Repackaging