January 22, 1971 saw Neil Young take solo centre stage at the Shakespeare Theater in Stratford, Connecticut. Portions of the amazing acoustic gig have been passed around by his fans for decades but the entire set is finally available as Young Shakespeare, a live album and concert film.
The stand—recorded at the time by a German television crew—occurred just three days after Young’s highly-lauded Massey Hall show. In a post on the Neil Young Archives (NYA) last year, the musician explained that both producer John Hanlon and Young himself feel that Shakespeare is the better performance of the two. The music icon went on to explain: “To my fans, I say this is the best ever. Personal and emotional, for me, it defines that time.”
Our own Managing Editor Jason Gorber dives into the limited edition box set of the release below. Tune in and find out what you can expect:
Young Shakespeare‘s set list is as follows:
- Tell Me Why
- Old Man
- The Needle and the Damage Done
- Ohio
- Dance Dance Dance
- Cowgirl in the Sand
- A Man Needs A Maid/Heart of Gold medley
- Journey Through The Past
- Don’t Let It Bring You Down
- Helpless
- Down By The River
- Sugar Mountain
Watch the film’s trailer, which contains clips from many of the above songs.
Catch up on more audio greats in our Unboxing series here.
