Neil Young has announced plans to launch a series of official bootlegs.
The project will see the rocker deliver official versions of widely-circulated, fan-sourced recordings of live performances that have been available on the bootleg market for years.
Young previewed the series with artwork from a bootleg of an early 1970s solo concert.
“’I’m Happy That Y’all Came Down’ is a bootleg that has been circulating for almost 50 years,” writes the singer on his Neil Young Archives site. “Rubber Dubber put it out in 1971. It’s an audience recording of a solo show at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion February 1st of that year.
“The big difference with this NYA Official Bootleg and many in the Official Bootleg series will be that the music is coming from our original master tapes.”
“We have ripped off all of the original art from the bootlegs, continuing the tradition,” adds Young. “No expense will be spared. The only thing different will be the radically better sound from our masters.
“We are going full bore with our series right now, so write letters in to me with your favorite bootlegs and we will find them and use the best audio we can locate, either from the NYA vaults or somewhere else. Watch for this coming soon. We are building it starting today.”
Young has been busy working on his extensive archives over the past few years; he will release a previously-shelved 1970s album, “Homegrown”, on June 19; recorded in 1974 and early 1975, the record features appearances by Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson of The Band, and Emmylou Harris.
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