Neil Young and Crazy Horse‘s latest studio album, Barn, got its release today.
As previously reported, the album was recorded this past June in a restored 19th century barn Young owns in the Colorado Rockies. The album is the second Neil has made with Crazy Horse since multi-instrumentalist Nils Lofgren rejoined the band in 2018.
Lofgren, who first played with Crazy Horse during the early 1970s, tells ABC Audio that he hadn’t expected to record a full album when Neil invited the band to Colorado for the sessions.
“[I]n the middle of the pandemic, it was a beautiful surprise,” Nils says, “’cause originally Neil said, ‘Look, I got four songs. Why don’t we at least get together for a week or so and play and be mates, and maybe we can do that two or three times in different locations and get an album.’ So this was extraordinary, ’cause once we got there, he kept writing.”
Lofgren says after “about a week,” Young had penned nine songs.
As Nils recalls, “[T]hen Neil said, ‘Look, I think we’re almost done with an album…so let me write a song tonight…Tomorrow we’re gonna record the 10th song. We’re gonna have an album.'”
Playing with Young on and off for over 50 years, Lofgren says he’s gotten accustomed to how fast Neil records.
“As usual…a lot of the takes were while we were learning the song,” he notes. “And usually, when he gets a great vocal that captures the lyric, that’s it.“
Barn is available on CD, vinyl, cassette and digital formats, and as a deluxe box set featuring a CD, a vinyl LP, and a Blu-ray disc that includes a film capturing the making of the album directed by Neil’s wife, actress Daryl Hannah.
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