Perhaps it was the aborted tour with long-time bandmate Stephen Stills, or the scrapped CSNY recording sessions that preceeded those ill-fated shows, or maybe it was the upcoming tour with CRAZY HORSE, but late summer 1976 found Neil hold up at the ranch, sorting out his career by choosing the final songs for his retrospective 3LP set, tentatively titled "Decade". Scheduled for release in early November, test pressings were sent to reviewers & covers (for in-store displays) were sent to record stores. As November, and then December came and went, Neil fans and retailers were left wonderin' rumors of a drug overdose were true, and if so, will Reprise cancel the dicey 3LP set in leau of an easy-money greatest hits/"memorial album"? With no word one way or the other, "Decade" displays came down & Christmas displays went up. Neil would prove the rumors false 6 months later by finally releasing a new album -but to the shock of retailers, it would only be one LP titled "American stars 'n bars", instead of the highly- anticipated "Best of" 3LP they were expecting. Unlike the unreleased "Homegrown", very little was known about any "Chrome Dreams" LP (later known as"Ride My Llama"). First- mentioned in the Sept.9, 1976 Rolling Stone in a blurb about a 10-date CRAZY HORSE tour that's "...scheduled for November, just about when he'll release his next LP, planned as Chrome Dreams." JohnnyRogan mentions the LP in his book as an early version of "American stars n bars" that "...had (been) altered considerably ...by the time it was released in June 1977." ...and that was it; "Chrome Dreams" was never mentioned in the press again & it was assumed to be just another pencil-sketched-songlist album. Out of the blue, reports from Germany in July1992 claimed that the acetate of the legendary album had surfaced. Initial "proof" came by way of xeroxed "test pressing data sheet" which provided more information about "Chrome Dreams" than anyone had ever imagined. Unfortunately, the data sheet had been created by the record dealer/Neil Young collector that "discovered" the acetate in 1992. The sheet's design was meant to be both easy to read/understand, and a ridiculing joke aimed at "detailed-information-fanatic" collectors --but nobody got the joke, and most collectors dismissed the acetate and any stories about this "unreleased Chrome Dreams album" as fake. Their loss; detailed information about the unreleased/previously unknown studio recordings was so impressive that even Joel Bernstein conceded to the accuracy of the information. Photos of the labels proved that the acetate really did exist, and we all assumed that it was just a matter of time before a bootleg CD would appear so we could finally hear this thing. Sure enough, a year later the bootleg CD was released in Germany; unlike same/similar-titled CDs to follow, this first bootleg CD is the original acetate, with a couple of (unlisted) "hidden" tracks at the end of the 12-song program. Authenticity of the "album" remained a subjectfor debate untilsomemonthslaterwhen I acquired the actual acetate. It's a bit noisier than the CD, but it sure sounds better. Most-importantly, whatever this "album" was supposed to be called, this acetate is positively legitimate, as described in thisarticleandof immeasurable historical importance,period. Madeupmostlyof songsrecordedbetweenSeptember'75- November 1976 at Indigo Studios - Malibu Canyon, CA, the album starts off with an "alternate" version of "Pocahontas". This solo acoustic version is in fact the same take as on "Rust Never Sleeps" (July1979) --minus the overdubs. "WillToLove"("Americanstars'nbars"),"Star0fBethlehem" ("Decade" October 1977) and "Like A Hurricane" ("stars'n bars")sound much brighter,though they're all released takes. Side 1 ends with a studio version of "Too Far Gone". At first it seems as if this is just a "warm-up" version before the tape rolled for the 1989 "Freedom" recording. In fact, the tempo is so similar that thistakeisonly:10shorter than the released version! Unlike the released version, the sparse arrangement & hung-over performance that shuffles along under the lyrics with Neil reciting each line matter-of-factly, as if just-written. Side two opens withanalternate version of "HoldBackThe Tears", which was apparently recorded around the same date as"TooFarGone". Unlike the "stars'nbars" version, this take is considerably slower, and definitely more intense. "Homegrown" follows, & even though this is the same take as the "stars 'n bars" LP, the mix is noticeably different. The guitars arepushed way up-frontand have a "crisp distorted" sound."CaptainKennedy" ("Hawks & Doves" 0ct. 1980) is next, with the well-known March 31, 1976 Hammersmith Odeon - London,U.K. version of "Sringman" right after.Often bootlegged,but just another famous unreleased song until 1993's "unplugged" album.This song was performed often during the 1976 U.K. tour,but never recorded in a studio(or performed again,until1993). An AMAZING exampleof TEXTBOOK "NEILYOUNG WITH CRAZYHORSE"followswith theSTUDIO VERSION of "Sedan Delivery" that makes the"Rust" version sound like an"OldWays"outtake! This plodding, ragged & LOUD performance would've fit just as well on "Times Square" or "Eldorado" as it does here. It's a matter of personal opinion, but for me, the next track is the highlight of the album: the "Powderfinger" "studio demo". The stunningly-simple-but-brilliant acoustic performance defines "Neil the storyteller" at his very best. Additionally, this take isn't "better" than the "Rust" version; it simply stands apart as a completely different and, somehow, far-more-desperate & heart-breaking song. Absolutely perfect from start to finish. Even so, it'd be hard to find a better closing track to this set than"LookOutForMyLove". Lost in the shuffle of the"ComesATime" tapestry (October 1978), this haunting wordplay proves to be the perfect summary of the thunder & lightning that came before it. Had it been released,"ChromeDreams"might have stood today as one of NeilYoung's best records ever.The barroom characters amidst historical references& passionate love songs createsa magical atmosphere.But like most first drafts, the perception of what's important & what isn't must be left to the artist, and not to the record company bean counters or the whims of the artists' "biggest" fans. As near-perfect as "Chrome Dreams" might seem, it's release would've created unfillable holes in other near-perfect albums like "American stars 'n bars", "Comes A Time" and "Rust Never Sleeps". In any event, this "album" of rough sketches stands as a unique historical document, long-lost somewhere in the pages of Neil Young's amazingly-brilliant career; and at the top of the "ESSENTIAL Neil Young tapes" list. footnotes__________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Rogan, Johnny "NEIL YOUNG The definitive story of his musical career" (page 138) ©1982 Proteous Books (U.K.) 2. There has been a lot of confusion about the "Chrome Dreams" acetate since this this article was originally published in Broken Arrow back in February 1993. A bootleg CD was released some months later containing all of the recordings that are discussed above plus three live Neil Young & The Ducks performances. Issued with a nice booklet & insert using the "star 'n bars" inner sleeve-style design and photo. Although a review eluded to the unlisted 8/22/77 Ducks' tracks, there's no mention of them anywhere in the packaging. Here's where the confusion began. Soon after the first one, a second bootleg CD called "Chrome Dreams" appears containing most of the same songs (but not the same recordings) along with a few additional recordings (most-notably the previously-unissued 1975 studio version of "White Line" and a 1978 live version of "Ride My Llama" --which was actually yet another working title for the "American stars'n bars"album). The CD booklet front cover shows a 1978 B&W (& silver) photo of Neil using a vending machine. It's really that simple. However, numerous reviewers have gotten these two CDs mixed-up countless times, detailing live version information even though the disc contains the studio (acetate) version of the song. The Ducks' tracks aren't even mentioned in most reviews. To further confuse things, supposidly a third bootleg CD has also been issued, adding tracks from the "Times Square" acetate as bonus cuts. I have not seen this one, but I read a review of it in Broken Arrow a few years ago. I've actually handled, taped & studied the acetate discussed here, so despite what you might have read anywhere else regarding the recording dates and/or any version(s) of the songs from this acetate, the information here is correct. "Chrome Dreams" data sheet image ©1992, 1993, 1999 sidestreet publishing company "Chrome Dreams" LP acetate labels ©1977 Columbia Recording Studios "Chrome Dreams" bootleg CD#1 photo ©1977 Joel Bernstein ©1977 Reprise Records "Chrome Dreams" bootleg CD#2 (unknown photographer) ©1978 Reprise Records ©1992,1993,1999,2004 jef michael piehler ©1999,2004 sidestreet publishing company Portions of this article were originally published in Broken Arrow magazine #48 (August 1992) & #50 (February1993); additional information & artwork was added by the author July1999 and June2004. All rights reserved. No partof this article may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, including information storage,database &/or retrieval systems without permission in writing from the , except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review of this or related materials.