Over 40 years ago, Neil Young recorded the solo acoustic tracks that make up the album Hitchhiker. Now, for the first time ever, fans can hear the album in its entirety, courtesy of NPR, prior to its official release on Sept. 8.
Eight of the 10 tracks on Hitchhiker have appeared on different albums over the years leaving just “Hawaii” and “Give Me Strength” as the two never-before-released tracks. And while many will be familiar with the previously-released tunes — “The Old Country Waltz” (1977’s American Stars ‘n Bars), “Campaigner” (Decade from that same year), “Human Highway” (1978’s Comes A Time), “Pocahontas,” “Powderfinger” and “Ride My Llama” (1979’s Rust Never Sleeps), “Captain Kennedy” (1980’s Hawks & Doves) and the album’s title track “Hitchhiker” (2010’s Le Noise), the versions heard here are vastly different and stripped down in nature.
Young was just 30 years old when he recorded the raw tracks heard on Hitchhiker in an uninterrupted session at Indigo Studios in Malibu, CA back on Aug. 11, 1976 with his longtime collaborator David Briggs in the producer’s chair. The folk singer-songwriter reminisced on the album’s rapid recording process in his 2014 memoir Special Deluxe saying he paused only “for weed, beer, or coke.”
Listen to Hitchiker on NPR.
Hitchhiker Track List:
1. Pocahontas
2. Powderfinger
3. Captain Kennedy
4. Hawaii
5. Give Me Strength
6. Ride My Llama
7. Hitchhiker
8. Campaigner
9. Human Highway
10. The Old Country Waltz