An ambulance can only go so fast: Neil Young's On the Beach at 45

July 19, 2019 8:33 AM

An Ode to ‘On the Beach,’ Neil Young’s Most Beautiful (and Most Depressing) Album Forty-five years after its release, Young's melancholic search for meaning in a chaotic world feels more relatable than ever.

Walk On
See the Sky About to Rain
Revolution Blues
For the Turnstiles
Vampire Blues
On the Beach
Motion Pictures
Ambulance Blues

posted by porn in the woods (27 comments total)

Funny, “Walk On” just came up in my Spotify rotation. It reminded me of Frank Black and the Catholics, who often recorded direct to two track. Sounds like Neil took a similar approach with this album.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:45 AM on July 19, 2019

thanks for this, I love Mr Young!
posted by supermedusa at 8:47 AM on July 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

The awesome Levon Helm on See The Sky About to Rain.
posted by effluvia at 8:57 AM on July 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

I absolutely love “On The Beach.” But no album of his is more depressing than “Tonight’s the Night.” Both masterpieces, though, and both fulfill the recent Ask question about cohesive albums on which every song is great.
posted by sallybrown at 9:30 AM on July 19, 2019 [5 favorites]

Also, a perfect album cover. That sickly 70s yellow.
posted by sallybrown at 9:43 AM on July 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

The awesome Levon Helm on See The Sky About to Rain.

And Revolution Blues along with Rick Danko.
On the Beach is probably my favorite NY album. When I first heard it 20 years ago I thought... how could this have not been as big as Harvest etc.?
posted by Liquidwolf at 10:24 AM on July 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

I've always found On the Beach more "eerie" than "depressing," if I had to use a single word to capture the mood it sets for me, but maybe that's because I was very much drawn to "For the Turnstiles" and "Vampire Blues" the first time I heard it.

Also, a perfect album cover. That sickly 70s yellow.

And the fringed vinyl umbrella. None more 70s.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:24 AM on July 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

I wonder if it is related to the movie On the Beach.

"All the sailors with their seasick mamas, Hear the sirens on the shore"
posted by bdc34 at 10:25 AM on July 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

The Rusy & Doug Kershaw episode of the Cocaine and Rhinestones podcast covers the making of this album pretty thoroughly. No link coz I am not googling "cocaine" at work.
posted by Duffington at 10:37 AM on July 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

Toss up between On The Beach and Time Fades Away for my favorite.
posted by 3.2.3 at 10:46 AM on July 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

This LP and Tonight’s the Night are my favorite records of all time. Couldn’t pick a favorite but side 2 of On the Beach is his best ever side.
posted by porn in the woods at 11:36 AM on July 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

The Rusy & Doug Kershaw episode of the Cocaine and Rhinestones podcast covers the making of this album pretty thoroughly. No link coz I am not googling "cocaine" at work.

I've listened to a couple of episodes of this, but totally missed that On the Beach was ever covered! Thanks for mentioning it.

Here's the episode link: CR013 Rusty & Doug Kershaw: The Cajun Way
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:41 AM on July 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

One of my best roadtrips—driving from Long Beach to San Luis Obispo along the PCH, with stops for whale watching, surfer-watching, and fish tacos, blasting Neil Young from On the Beach through Rust Never Sleeps. I can smell the ocean right now thinking about it. As famous as he is, I don’t think that span of great albums gets the acclaim it deserves...
posted by sallybrown at 11:48 AM on July 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

Great post, great album. I wonder how different it would feel if "Walk On" closed the album instead of opening it. It might be kinda like Bruce Springsteen's Ghost of Tom Joad tour where, after a set full of that album's dark ballads, he turned on the lights and let the crowd dance to "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?"
posted by lumpy at 12:35 PM on July 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

Neil's legendary 4/5/1974 show at the Bottom Line, NYC (often bootlegged under the name of Citizen Kane Jr. Blues) is a must-listen for Ditch heads. The OTB material is dynamite.
posted by porn in the woods at 3:31 PM on July 19, 2019 [5 favorites]

I absolutely love “On The Beach.” But no album of his is more depressing than “Tonight’s the Night.”

Good points, but it's "Don't Let it Bring You Down" from "After the Gold Rush" that hits me hardest every time I hear it..

But then I've got the revolution blues and I see bloody fountains and ten million dune buggies comin' down the mountains..
posted by Nerd of the North at 6:09 PM on July 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

I would also vote "Tonight's the Night" as a cathartic masterpiece. Tired Eyes and For the Turnstiles are standout for double entendre lyrics, the haunted, parched yet drunken timbre. Every line of For the Turnstiles is soul wrenching, as is the dobro and banjo; sparse, shakey. See the Sky About to Rain is an exceptionally moving song for me. Ben Keith's pedal steel matches the subtext so seamlessly. Helm's drumming perfect rainfall. These albums were the backdrop of my adolescent years, and it's so nice that they have held up to the decades. Thanks for this post!
posted by effluvia at 7:58 PM on July 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

I sometimes think banjo is the happiest instrument. Then I remember “For The Turnstiles.” I had not heard banjo be haunting and eerie before that.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:01 PM on July 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

i generally prefer tonight's the night but the title track of on the beach might be my favorite neil young song, and the first thing i point to when people say he's a bad guitarist. that fuckin solo, holy crap
posted by JimBennett at 8:39 PM on July 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

I would guess it's not as big as Harvest because On The Beach went out of print on vinyl in the 80s, and it didn't come out on CD until the early 2000s.
posted by WhackyparseThis at 9:32 PM on July 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

Also, a perfect album cover. That sickly 70s yellow.

...echoed and amplified on Supertramp's Crisis? What Crisis? album cover the following year.
posted by fairmettle at 10:54 PM on July 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

when people say he's a bad guitarist

Must go listen to Powderfinger again to cleanse myself of these misguided, sad people. :-P
posted by sallybrown at 5:55 AM on July 20, 2019 [3 favorites]

when people say he's a bad guitarist

what
posted by COBRA! at 6:52 AM on July 20, 2019 [2 favorites]

if you've never heard people call him a bad guitarist i'm guessing this is the first time you've ever talked about him on an internet discussion board
posted by JimBennett at 7:23 AM on July 20, 2019

That is true. I’ve heard a lot of in-person complaining about his voice (from people who never sought out his music beyond the radio hits), which I can understand a little more (sorry Neil).
posted by sallybrown at 8:06 AM on July 20, 2019

Used to know a person who hated Neil’s voice so much they called him “The Goat Man.”

I disagree.
posted by porn in the woods at 8:14 AM on July 20, 2019 [2 favorites]

So, Young did a 4-night stand of solo shows in Minneapolis in January, and I caught one of them. And it was a weird mix of great and awful. He was great, just wandering around the stage from guitar to piano to organ, playing songs as they suited him. But the crowd was awful- drunk and rowdy and given to yelling and hooting when the intimate nature of the show made all that especially intrusive. Young was pretty clearly irritated. And weirdly, the vast majority of the people being obnoxious were well past 50; I guess the desire for attention doesn’t fade with age for some people.
posted by COBRA! at 8:28 AM on July 20, 2019 [2 favorites]