Young’s view from ‘Mountain’

Neil Young Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968 Reprise

Neil Young spent two November nights in 1968 playing before rapt, polite audiences at a church coffeehouse in Ann Arbor, Mich. A recent musical orphan after the breakup of his band Buffalo Springfield, Mr. Young was just a few weeks away from the release of his solo debut and a few days shy of his 24th birthday.

The iconic rocker has been a musical eminence for decades and one who typically is described as “ageless” for the enthusiasm he brings to his live performances and his songwriting energy. On “Sugar Mountain,” however, Mr. Young is intense, passionate, occasionally awkward and sometimes painfully earnest. He’s exposed in a way that major artists rarely appear - except perhaps on some contrived “Unplugged” setting.

Between songs, he chit-chats for extended periods that rate full tracks on the album. Sometimes he’s filling dead air as he switches from standard to modal or open tunings, but sometimes he genuinely seems at a loss for what to do next.

He plays his Buffalo Springfield composition “Out of My Mind” on request and tells the story of how he wrote the song as if by a premonition - singing of the “screams from outside the limousines.”

The tracks are evenly split between Buffalo Springfield songs like “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing,” “Mr. Soul,” “Birds” and tracks from his solo debut, including “The Last Trip to Tulsa,” “Loner” and “Old Laughing Lady.” Mr. Young’s trademark tremble sounds young and unwearied - even on the autumnal tones of “Sugar Mountain” - a rueful song about the end of youth he wrote as a 19-year-old.

By virtue of its very existence, “Sugar Mountain” is essential as a document of the period and of Mr. Young’s growth as an artist. What’s not here is, in a way, more important than what is on the album. Just three years later, Mr. Young recorded the concert released as “Live at Massey Hall 1971.” Almost every track on that album qualifies for classic hit status, including “Cowgirl in the Sand,” “Ohio,” “Down by the River,” “Old Man” and others.

By way of contrast, these songs aren’t as recognizable, and Mr. Young doesn’t lay down virtuoso performances. His guitar playing is raw, frequently rushed, and the recording feels primitive at times - with strummed chords blurring together into a sonic hash from time to time.

At the same time, “Sugar Mountain” is an album that can be set on repeat for an afternoon, rewarding the listener with a mix of bleakness, despair and unexpected comfort that characterizes Mr. Young’s work. It almost feels like eavesdropping, listening in as Mr. Young tries out the songs he hopes will help him transition from playing second fiddle (to Stephen Sills) in an influential national band to being a solo star in his own right.