''Chrome Dreams'' is a 1977 unreleased album by

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fu ...

, and also an

acetate An acetate is a salt formed by the combination of acetic acid with a base (e.g. alkaline, earthy, metallic, nonmetallic or radical base). "Acetate" also describes the conjugate base or ion (specifically, the negatively charged ion called ...

from that period which is claimed to be of that album.

Jimmy McDonough Jimmy McDonough is a biographer and journalist. He is best known for his biographies of Russ Meyer, Andy Milligan, Tammy Wynette, Al Green, and Neil Young. He is noted by critics for his remarkably exhaustive accounts and for his tendency to avoi ...

's ''Shakey: Neil Young's Biography'' supports the claim that ''Chrome Dreams'' is indeed a bootlegged acetate with said title. A document that accompanied the acetate (which according to Young's archivist Joel Bernstein is a forgery) gave the impression that Young had officially given ''Chrome Dreams'' as the title, inspired by rumours in the press of a new album with the same title. Young is quoted as saying "What ''Chrome Dreams'' really was, was a sketch that avidBriggs drew of a grille and front of a '55 Chrysler, and if you turned it on its end, it was this beautiful chick...I called it ''Chrome Dreams''." Writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', Alexis Petridis opined that the album "could have been Young's strongest album of the 70s". There have been a number of unofficial recreations of ''Chrome Dreams.'' Three of the songs featured on ''Chrome Dreams'' were officially released in September 2017 on '' Hitchhiker''. On October 23, 2007, Neil Young released a new album entitled ''

Chrome Dreams II ''Chrome Dreams II'' is the 28th studio album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young. The album was released on October 23, 2007 as a double LP and as a single CD. The album name references '' Chrome Dreams'', a legendary Neil Young album from ...

''.

Song information

''Chrome Dreams'' features a large amount of still-unreleased material. The version of "Powderfinger" included is the original acoustic demo, while the "Sedan Delivery" featured is at a slower pace than the '' Rust Never Sleeps'' take and contains an additional verse. "Pocahontas" is the same version heard on ''Rust Never Sleeps'' without overdubs. "Hold Back the Tears" is a radically different take compared to the one that appears on '' American Stars 'n Bars'', also featuring additional lyrics. "Too Far Gone" would not see release until 1989's '' Freedom''. It is presented on ''Chrome Dreams'' with

Crazy Horse Crazy Horse ( lkt, Tȟašúŋke Witkó, italic=no, , ; 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by ...

's Frank "Poncho" Sampedro accompanying Young on a 1917

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

. "Stringman", a piano ballad, was (according to ''Shakey'') written for

Jack Nitzsche Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spec ...

and is presented as a performance from Young's 1976 European tour with slight studio overdubs. Eighteen years later Young revived it for his '' Unplugged'' performance, never having released the song as a studio track. "Homegrown" here is a different mix than the version on ''American Stars 'n Bars''. The rest of the songs are for the most part identical to their releases on subsequent albums.

Track listing

References

{{Authority control Albums produced by Neil Young Neil Young albums Unreleased albums