Time Fades Away
| Time Fades Away | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Live album by Neil Young | ||||
| Released | October 15, 1973 | |||
| Recorded | February 11 – April 1, 1973 (except "Love In Mind": January 30, 1971) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 34:33 | |||
| Label | Reprise | |||
| Producer | Neil Young, Elliot Mazer | |||
| Neil Young chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Rolling Stone | (positive) |
| Robert Christgau | (A) |
| Pitchfork | (9.1/10) |
Time Fades Away is a 1973 live album by Neil Young. Consisting of previously unreleased material, it was recorded with The Stray Gators on the support tour following 1972's highly successful Harvest. Due to Young's dissatisfaction with the tour, it was not reissued on CD. Nevertheless, Time Fades Away received much critical praise and was widely pirated after lapsing out of print because of the ensuing demand from fans. It was initially reissued on vinyl only as part of the Official Release Series Discs 5-8 Vinyl Box Set for Record Store Day in 2014, also finally released on CD in 2017. The album was also made available as a digital download for purchase through the PonoMusicWorld website (closed), the iTunes store and Qobuz.
Though "Love In Mind" dates from a 1971 solo tour, all other songs on the album are from the Harvest tour in early 1973. The program featured an acoustic solo set followed by an electric set with The Stray Gators. Longtime collaborator and former Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten had been set to join the Gators as a second guitarist before being sent home from rehearsals after it became evident that he was in no condition to embark on the rigorous tour. He succumbed to a fatal combination of Valium and alcohol on the night following his dismissal.
Unlike Young's previous ensembles, The Stray Gators consisted of notable Nashville and Los Angeles session musicians; keyboardist Jack Nitzsche was the only member of the group who had worked with Young prior to Harvest. During the rehearsals, drummer Kenneth Buttrey demanded a salary of $100,000 (roughly $571,000 in 2017) to compensate for lost session work, leading Nitzsche (with support from Tim Drummond) to prevail upon the singer to extend this salary to the other band members. Although Young reluctantly acquiesced, Nitzsche would later reflect that "Neil got so pissed off ... I don't think things ever recovered after that."
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Wikipedia