I think this album has gotten a bad rap over the years. If you forget about record company politics and just listen to the music, it’s a fun tribute to the early days of rock and roll. Neil wasn’t trying to reinvent Mystery Train or the other covers. He was tipping his hat to the music that helped shape rock in the first place. Sometimes it’s nice to hear an artist simply enjoying himself, and that’s exactly what I hear every time this song comes on.
I’ve always liked it when artists take a chance, even if the fans don’t quite know what to make of it. That’s exactly what Neil Young did with “Mystery Train” from Everybody’s Rockin’. If you were expecting another Harvest or Rust Never Sleeps, you were probably surprised. Instead, Neil stepped back almost thirty years and made a record that sounded like it came straight out of a 1950s jukebox. I have to admit, I’ve always had a soft spot for this album.
I heard this album in the 80s and really liked the song Wonderin’and the video. When I first saw the 80s time-lapse video…I thought Young looked a little like Stephen King around this time…looking at it again…I still do. In the early eighties, David Geffen signed Neil Young to a huge contract with Geffen Records. Neil Young, who will do his own thing no matter what or when, released an album called “Trans” which was his foray into pure electronic music. Geffen wanted another Harvest with another Heart of Gold or Old Man…instead, he got songs like Computer Age and We R in Control with Neil singing through a Vocoder.
After the electronic Trans, Neil turned in a country album called Old Ways (which wouldn’t be released until 2 years later), but Geffen Records rejected it and told him they wanted a rock and roll record instead. Neil’s response was to give them exactly that, just not the kind they expected. He made a genuine 1950s-style rockabilly album. The sessions were cut quickly with musicians having fun in the studio, but before Neil could finish his original concept, Geffen shut the sessions down and released the short album anyway. Before long, the label actually sued Neil Young for making records they claimed didn’t sound enough like Neil Young. This album is full of early fifties Doo-wop and rockabilly-sounding songs in the middle of the 80s (thank you, Neil! We needed it). The record company was not amused…he then released an album full of country music… In his contract, Neil had full artistic freedom.
Geffen had claimed the new albums were unrepresentative of Neil’s music. He sued Neil for 3.3 million dollars, but the case was settled, and Geffen lost and had to apologize to Neil. That shows you…sometimes life is fair. If you look at Neil’s career…it was all about change and evolving, so I don’t know what Geffen expected. Neil rarely repeats himself. Geffen was expecting early seventies Neil, and that wasn’t happening. Young is not an artist that you mess with.
This song was written by blues singer Junior Parker and producer Sam Phillips before Elvis Presley turned it into one of the defining records of early rock and roll at Sun Records in 1955. Rather than trying to improve on the original, Neil simply had fun with it. Backed by the Shocking Pinks, he captured that rockabilly sound with upright bass, slapback vocals, saxophone, and simple guitar work. The recording wasn’t meant to be polished. It was meant to sound like the records that inspired an entire generation of musicians.
The album peaked at #22 in Canada, #46 on the Billboard Album Charts, and #50 in the UK in 1983.
I’m also going to include the song that connected me with the album….Wonderin’
Mystery Train
Train I ride, sixteen coaches long
Train I ride, sixteen coaches long
Well that long black train took my baby and gone
Train, train, comin’ down, down the line
(Mystery train, mystery train)
Train, train, comin’ down, down the line
(Mystery train, mystery train)
Well it took my baby
But it never will again, no, not again
Train, train, comin’ down, down the line
(Mystery train, mystery train)
Train, train, comin’ down, down the line
(Mystery train, mystery train)
Well it’s bringin’ back my baby
Because she’s mine, all mine
Train, train, comin’ down, down the line
(Mystery train, mystery train)
Train, train, comin’ down, down the line
(Mystery train, mystery train)
Well it’s bringin’ back my baby
Because she’s mine, all mine
You might also like
Everybody’s Rockin’
Neil Young & The Shocking Pinks
Cry, Cry, Cry
Neil Young & The Shocking Pinks
Old Man
Neil Young
(Wooh, wooh)
(Wooh, wooh)
Train, train, train (Mystery train, mystery train)
Train, train, coming ’round, ’round the bend (Wooh, wooh)
(Mystery train, mystery train)
