In the early 1960s, while he was still quite young, Neil Young played with a Winnipeg outfit called the Squires. Next month, Young and his newly formed group, the Chrome Hearts, will drop the album Second Song, and we’ve already shared the title track. As noted before, the record features a handful of fresh interpretations of songs Young wrote long ago. Today we premiere a new rendition of “Casting Me Away From You,” a tune composed more than six decades earlier.
Neil Young isn’t entirely certain about the exact moment he authored “Casting Me Away From You,” but he suspects it was around 1964 or 1965. The Squires never issued their own version of the piece, yet Young did record a take with his high school friend Comrie Smith, which later appeared on the 2009 box set Neil Young Archives Vol. I (1963 – 1972). That version carries a straightforward charm and a touch of an Everly Brothers vibe in its vibe.
Second Song was laid down at Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La studio in Malibu, and the Chrome Hearts’ new interpretation of “Casting Me Away From You” embraces a lonely, countrified mood. For now, the fresh take is exclusively available on the Neil Young Archives website. The site presents a video assembled from footage David Meyers shot at Young’s Broken Arrow Ranch in the early 1970s. On that page, Young adds a few reflections about the song:
CASTING ME AWAY FROM YOU stands among my early works. I believe I wrote it in 1964 or 1965. When we were recording Second Song, at the start of this year I was running low on material. I only had five new, long tracks, and I needed more, so I began to improvise and ended up pulling Casting Me Away — from a distant era. There exists an older recording with my schoolmate Comrie Smith somewhere in the ARCHIVES from that time. I tracked it for the Second Song album with the Chrome Hearts the very next day.
In the early 1970s, shortly after I moved to Broken Arrow Ranch, the esteemed cinematographer David Meyers hopped onto the back of my old jeepster, and we cruised across Broken Arrow. Roughly two decades before Rick Rosas captured that journey that has become the current Second Song.
Take a look at this video! Zeke’s mom, Carrie Snodgress, is riding her horse alongside Timer, our dog, who’s along for the ride as we traverse the ranch on a new road. Sending my love to you,
neil
Listen to the new version of “Casting Me Away From You” here, and compare it with the older rendition below.
Second Song is set for release on September 18 through Reprise Records. Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts recently canceled a planned European tour that had been scheduled for this summer, but they’ll hit the road again next month to perform at Farm Aid, as well as two shows alongside Willie Nelson.
