Neil Young – Jones Beach – June 14th 1989
I see that “Hitchiker” will be finally be released by Neil Young on September 8th. I never knew about the album until recently – how about Chrome Dreams Neil? Anyhow, I will buy it immediately on release. 1970s Neil Young is irresistible. The 1980s were another story….that was until the glorious summer of 1989. That year Neil released “Eldorado” – a Japan only EP (easy to obtain on Amazon these days) and the “Freedom” – my personal favorite from his canon – and one of my favorite records of all time. I’m not sure why this record resonates so well with me – I clearly remember the first time I heard it was in the Coffee Inn (long gone) in Dublin. Mostly the record, famous for “Rocking in the Free World,” is a rag-tag collection of leftovers and an extraordinary cover of “On Broadway.” But everything fits together perfectly and unexpectedly.
About a year after the release of Freedom – a VHS tape appeared under the same name. This was Neil playing live and solo at Jones Beach – a fantastic concert – but only 7 tracks. WTF? Many years later, I obtained a bootleg DVD (there is also a soundboard CD circulating), with perfect sound and really poor video. For the most part, this is 90 minutes of Neil, with his guitar and harmonica playing solo – an unbelievable setlist (?his greatest ever). Accompanied only by Ben Keith and Frank Sambedro, the great surprise is saved till last – a duet rendition of “Down by the river” with Bruce Springsteen. It is a fantastic concert. Hopefully, some day, anyday, we will get a nice high res audio-video release of this 5 star concert.
NEIL YOUNG JONES BEACH JUNE 14TH 1989 SETLIST
- My my hey hey (Out of the blue)
- Rockin’ in the free world
- Comes a time
- Sugar mountain
- Pocahontas
- Helpless
- Crime in the city
- For the turnstiles
- This old house
- Roll another number
- Too far gone
- This notes for you
- The needle and the damage done
- No more
- After the goldrush
- Heart of gold
- Ohio
- Rockin’ in the free world
- Powderfinger
- Down by the River (with Bruce Springsteen)
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