Just two months after the release of his seminal After the Gold Rush, Neil Young sat down for a performance at The Shakespeare Theater on January 22, 1971. The Stratford, CT show captures the artist stripped down to the bare essentialsacoustic guitar, piano, and harmonica.

The concert was recorded for presentation on German TV later that year but was not publicly available until now. The original 50 year-old analog tapes have been lovingly restored, making available early acoustic recordings of two After the Gold Rush songs, early Harvest tunes, and beloved favorites such as Ohio, Cowgirl in the Sand, Helpless, Down by the River, and Sugar Mountain.

Young wrote on NYA that Young Shakespeare is, a more calm performance, without the celebratory atmosphere of Massey Hall, captured live on 16mm. Young Shakespeare is a very special event. To my fans, I say this is the best everone of the most pure-sounding acoustic performances we have in the Archive.

This beautiful concert is being released on LP, DVD and CD, plus a numbered deluxe boxed edition that includes all 3 formats LP, CD and DVD (Regional).

Those who purchase the CD, LP or Box set from the NYA Greedy Hand Store will also receive free hi-res digital audio downloads from the Xstream Store at NYA.

1. Tell Me Why
2. Old Man
3. The Needle and the Damage Done
4. Ohio
5. Dance Dance Dance
6. Cowgirl in the Sand
7. A Man Needs A Maid/Heart of Gold medley
8. Journey Through The Past
9. Dont Let It Bring You Down
10. Helpless
11. Down By The River
12. Sugar Mountain

Just two months after the release of his seminal album After The Gold Rush, Neil Young played a solo show at The Shakespeare Theater, Stratford, CT on January 22 1971. The show was filmed and recorded, and the concert shown on German TV later in 1971. In 2020, while Neil and his team were reviewing his Archive for future projects, Neil re-visited the 16mm film and audio recording of this show that had been preserved in the Archive for almost 50 years. Piecing together the tapes and footage, Neil realized that he had the full concert the film of which is the earliest live footage of Neil performing that is known to exist. Neil has written on NYA that this show issuperior to our beloved Massey Hall. A more calm performance, without the celebratory atmosphere of Massey Hall, captured live on 16mm. Young Shakespeare is a very special event. To my fans, I say this is the best ever. As an insight into Neils prolific song writing at the time, the concert features two songs from the recently released After The Gold Rush but four songs from the classic Harvest album that was still over a year away from being released. The wonderful set list also includes acoustic renditions of favorites such as Ohio, Cowgirl In the Sand, Helpless, Down By The River and Sugar Mountain. The ancient analog tapes have been lovingly restored resulting in (as Neil says on NYA) one of the most pure sounding acoustic performances we have in the Archive. Young Shakespeare is being released almost exactly 50 years after the original performance.