Neil Young has shared details of a limited edition of his classic album ‘On The Beach’ to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
Set to arrive on November 8 via Reprise, the new version of the 1974 album will come exclusively on a limited edition clear vinyl. It’ll be available via the Neil Young Archives, as well as standard music retailers – pre-order it here.
Arriving back in the mid-70s, ‘On The Beach’ came as the follow-up to Young’s chart-topping ‘Harvest’ album, which was shared two years earlier, and it marked the second entry in his ‘Ditch Trilogy’.
It featured collaborations from The Band’s Rick Danko and Levon Helm, Crazy Horse’s Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina and his longtime CSNY collaborators Graham Nash and David Crosby.
“This was Young at his most adventurous, and pointed to several new musical directions for him, yet to be defined,” reads a press release, recalling how ‘On The Beach’ saw the singer-songwriter hit a new milestone in his career.
“The level of expansion of ‘On The Beach’ became a mark in the sand for how Young’s future would grow. The new musicians he was recording with was a path the man would follow the rest of his life, and the subject matter of the songs opened up new vistas which would stay open to the present day,” it added. “It has a sound of freedom to it which marked his future.”
In the upcoming anniversary edition reissue, a new version of the album artwork has been incorporated, which sees ‘50’ added to the cover to represent the passing of time. Check it out above, as well as the full tracklist below.
The ‘On the Beach’ 50th anniversary edition tracklist is:
Side One:
1. ‘Walk On’
2. ‘See the Sky About to Rain’
3. ‘Revolution Blues’
4. ‘For the Turnstiles’
5. ‘Vampire Blues’
Side Two:
6. ‘On the Beach’
7. ‘Motion Pictures’
8. ‘Ambulance Blues’
Last week, it was reported that Young had performed his elusive 1977 song ‘Hey Babe’ live for the first time ever.
He wrote and released ‘Hey Babe’ along with Crazy Horse, Linda Ronstadt and Nicolette Larson as part of his eighth studio album ‘American Stars ‘N Bars’. For the 47 years since its release, the song was just one of two tracks off the record that had never been performed live, alongside ‘Will To Love’.
Last month, Young finally commented on his recently axed Crazy Horse tour dates, explaining that it was due to an undisclosed illness. Following the tour’s cancellation, the ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’ singer returned to the stage to perform at this year’s edition of Farm Aid at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York on September 21.
It was also confirmed recently that the musician is set to reunite on stage with Stephen Stills – formerly his bandmate as part of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young – for the 2024 edition of the Harvest Moon charity event.
