Neil Young Shares Third 'Fireside Sessions', Following Wife's Health Delay

Neil Young has shared the third installment in his Fireside Sessions webcast series. This newest edition came after a two-week-long, health-related delay, following Young’s wife and cameraperson, Daryl Hannah, falling ill. Fortunately, she is healthy once again, allowing Young to resume his acoustic remote concert program.

In this newest webcast, Young continued to dust off rarities and oddities, much to the delight of content-starved fans. This third installment featured selections from across Young’s illustrious career and a variety of different projects. Fans got their money’s worth in this 30-minute performance that opened with “New Mama” from the singer songwriter’s 1975 album, Tonight’s The Night. Beside a campfire and the dying daylight, Young’s tranquil homestead cabin in Telluride, CO with his wife and dogs seems like the ideal quarantine location.

Next, we come inside Young’s wood cabin where he sits at the piano for “See The Sky About To Rain”, from 1974’s On The Beach. The Fireside Sessions are recorded on Hannah’s iPad and, normally, the sound is pretty good. During “See The Sky About To Rain”, however, Young is sitting at the piano, facing the wall, and the camera is a good ten feet away from him. The way Young’s voice bounces off the wall and fills the empty room, however, gives the melancholy song of impending doom an authentic, low-fidelity feel.

After some extensive footage of Young’s dog’s frolicking, we return to the music with “I Am A Child” from the Buffalo Springfield catalog. Thus far, Young has been committed fairly exclusively to his solo repertoire for the Fireside Sessions, but this installment features him tapping into a few different songbooks. In that vein, Young returned to the piano for a rendition of “Throw Your Hatred Down”, from the 1995 album he recorded with Pearl Jam, Mirror Ball.

Young switches back to the trusty acoustic guitar for a solemn rendition of “World On A String”, yet another selection from Tonight’s The Night. Next came the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young classic “Helpless”, marking the last selection from Young’s illustrious career of writing songs with others. It’s always a strange sight and sound to see a member of CSNY play one of the band’s songs alone, without the group’s trademark harmonization. The same was apparent in a recent performance from Graham Nash for Rolling Stone‘s “In My Room” webcast series. Young then closed out the session, outdoors beside a campfire once again, with a performance of “Already One” as the final rays of sunlight faded on the mountaintop.

To watch the latest installment of Neil Young’s Fireside Sessions, head over to his website, the Neil Young Archives.