Neil Young’s “Tuscaloosa” Featuring Tim Drummond Now Available

Neil Young: TuscaloosaThe early ’70s were a high point for Neil Young. 1972’s Harvest is often heralded as his most popular album with hits like “Old Man,” “Heart of Gold,” and “Needle and the Damage Done.” 1973 had his first live album, Time Fades Away, which featured louder and fierier renditions of his songs with his band The Stray Gators. Now a new document of that timeframe has come to light with Tuscaloosa, which captures a 1973 concert at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Young performs two tracks – “Here We Are In The Years” and “After the Gold Rush” – on his own before the band joins him. The Stray Gators lineup included Ben Keith on pedal steel, Jack Nitzsche on keyboards, Kenny Buttrey on drums, and Tim Drummond on bass. Drummond had previously worked in James Brown’s band before meeting Young and performing on Harvest and every one of his albums until 1980’s Hawks & Doves. He worked with a who’s who of musicians and passed away in 2015.

“Stray Gators, anchored by Tim Drummond and Kenny Buttrey, were unbelievable to play with!” Young writes of the album. “They are all gone now but for me. So this is a special album personally, one I wish you had heard a long time ago as ‘Harvest Greatest Hit’ live album or something… but that was not to be.”

Hear the band tear through “Alabama”:

Tuscaloosa is available now on CD, vinyl and as a digital download (iTunes and Amazon MP3).

Tuscaloosa Track List:

  1. Here We Are In The Years
  2. After The Gold Rush
  3. Out On The Weekend
  4. Harvest
  5. Old Man
  6. Heart Of Gold
  7. Time Fades Away
  8. Lookout Joe
  9. New Mama
  10. Alabama
  11. Don’t Be Denied

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