Hear Neil Young’s Previously Unreleased Version of ‘Thrasher’

Neil Young has shared a previously unreleased performance of “Thrasher” from the upcoming Archives Vol. III (1976-1987) box set. Check it out below.

The recording is from a May 1978 residency at the Boarding House in San Francisco, some of which was memorably included on Young’s 1979 live album, Rust Never Sleeps. Young debuted “Thrasher” on May 24, his opening date, and played both early and late shows over five days.

Inspiration for the song came during a drive through the American west. “I wrote ‘Thrasher’ in a car on my way to Albuquerque from Taos, New Mexico. I was being driven by Carpio, a native American who I was introduced to by Dennis Hopper filming Human Highway,” Young said on his official site.

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“Driving through the magnificent beauty of New Mexico, the words just kept coming to me,” Young added. “I saw the eagles circling, the deep canyons, the road ahead, reflecting on my journey through recent years, and thankful to be where I was.”

This newly released version of “Thrasher” is from the early show on May 27. It’s one of 198 featured tracks on the 17-CD, 5 Blu-ray Neil Young Archives Vol. III (1976-1987), including live material, studio performances and new mixes and edits. More than 120 of the songs are previously unreleased.

The deluxe edition Blu-rays feature 11 films, four of which are previously unreleased, with a total of 14 hours of video. Neil Young Archives Vol. III (1976-1987) is due on Sept. 6.

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