Early Daze

Early Daze is a curated archival collection that serves as a 'lost' bridge between Neil Young’s self-titled debut and the monumental 'Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.' Recorded primarily in 1969 with the original Crazy Horse lineup (Danny Whitten, Billy Talbot, and Ralph Molina), the album provides a historical corrective to the Young canon, showcasing the band's versatility before the 'Doom Trilogy' era. While many of these tracks appeared on later albums or the first 'Archives' box set, Early Daze presents them as a cohesive listening experience, emphasizing the country-rock and vocal-harmony aspects of the band. Notable for including the Danny Whitten-penned 'Look At All the Things,' the album highlights the immense talent of the guitarist whose death would later haunt Young’s mid-70s work. Critics, including those at AllMusic, have noted the album's 'loose quality' and its value as a document of a band in its prime, offering a lighter, more melodic counterpoint to the heavy distortion usually associated with the Young/Horse partnership.