I’m a huge fan of Neil Young. So much, that an old friend once half-joked that Neil Young is my John Lennon. Obviously, I was thrilled to learn that Young’s new documentary and soundtrack Coastal gets released today. Daryl Hannah directed the film and it’s about his post-Covid return to the stage as a solo performer. The soundtrack blends live takes of newer songs and older fan favorites. To my ears, the two main standouts include a haunting, threadbare reworking of “Expecting To Fly,” easily my favorite song of Young’s during his time with Buffalo Springfield. But it was a stripped-down version of “Vampire Blues” that stopped me in my tracks – this performance is peeled to the proto-grunge marrow of vocals and a heavily overdriven electric guitar. It’s a timely translation that features Young crooning over the heavy, tube-driven distortion of “Old Black,” his famously modified 1953 Les Paul, plugged into a 1959 Fender Tweed Deluxe amplifier that’s so hot-rodded, his techs usually train two fans on the back of it, to ensure the amp doesn’t ignite and catch fire. Of course, listening to this incredible rendition of the song just made me want to revisit its origins – and my favorite era of his music – the Ditch Trilogy.
