Neil Young - Hitchhiker

The Guardian 80

(Reprise)

Recorded one evening in August 1976, Hitchhiker is one of Neil Young’s “lost” albums, capturing the Canadian at his most intimate – just him, slightly stoned, his acoustic guitar and the odd burst of harmonica. Eight of the 10 tracks crop up on later sets, though Powderfinger (1979’s Rust Never Sleeps) and Hitchhiker (2010’s Le Noise) are very different songs from their better-known versions, the former particularly affecting when stripped back. Elsewhere, Give Me Strength, the best of the unreleased tracks, laments the end of Young’s romance with the actress Carrie Snodgress. “Give me strength to move along,” he pleads, his tremulous voice and weed-fuelled guitar still resonating 41 years on.