Neil Young’s Missing Link Album ‘Homegrown’ To Be Officially Released

‘Homegrown’, Neil Young’s missing link between ‘Harvest’ and ‘Comes A Time’, will be officially released in June.

Neil says, “I apologize. This album Homegrown should have been there for you a couple of years after Harvest. It’s the sad side of a love affair. The damage done. The heartache. I just couldn’t listen to it. I wanted to move on. So I kept it to myself, hidden away in the vault, on the shelf, in the back of my mind….but I should have shared it. It’s actually beautiful. That’s why I made it in the first place. Sometimes life hurts. You know what I mean. This is the one that got away.

“Recorded in analog in 1974 and early 1975, Homegrown was mixed at that time to original stereo analog master tapes. These original mixes have been restored with love and care by John Hanlon, and mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, making Homegrown a completely original album.

“Levon Helm is drumming on some tracks, Karl T Himmel on others, Emmylou Harris singing on one, Robbie Robertson plays on one. Homegrown contains a narration, several acoustic solo songs never even published or heard until this release and some great songs played with a band of my friends, including Ben Keith – steel and slide – Tim Drummond – bass and Stan Szelest – piano. Anyway, it’s coming your way in 2020, the first release from our archive in this new decade. Come with us into 2020 as we bring you the past.”

HOMEGROWN Track Listing:

Separate Ways
Try
Mexico
Love Is A Rose
Homegrown
Florida
Kansas
We Don’t Smoke It No More
White Line
Vacancy
Little Wing
Star of Bethlehem

The previously unreleased tracks are “Separate Ways,” “Try,” “Mexico,” “Kansas,” “We Don’t Smoke It No More,” “Vacancy” and “Florida” (a spoken word narration).

Also included are the very first recordings of “Homegrown” and “White Line”. “Little Wing,” “Love Is A Rose,”, and “Star Of Bethlehem” – different mixes of which would all later appear on other Neil Young albums, retain their original form in Homegrown.

‘Star of Bethlehem’ and ‘Homegrown’ later appeared on 1977’s ‘American Stars & Bars’, ‘Little Wing’ ended up on 1980’s ‘Hawks & Doves’. ‘White Line’ showed for 1990’s ‘Ragged Glory’. ‘Love Is A Rose’ was released on the 1977 compilation ‘Decade’.

Bootlegs of “Separate Ways”, “Mexico,” and “Kansas” can be found on YouTube.