On a toasty, November fall evening in Washington D.C. in 1970, one of the greatest rockers from that era kicked off what was to be a historic, six-concert residency at Cellar Door. Young would perform two shows over the course of three nights - one early show and one late show. This concert series is now a live album that Uncle Neil released to fans in 2013, called Live at the Cellar Door.
The first show of the first night was a banger, to say the least. Not only did Uncle Neil play the early show with select favorites from his Buffalo Springfield catalog, but he also live debuted a handful of songs, one of which later became his most notable release to date, "Old Man." Listen to the audio recording from the concert here:
The live debut of this track came two years before its studio album release on 1972's Harvest, which is also home to his other famed track, "Heart of Gold." The song was written for the caretaker of his well-known ranch, Broken Arrow in Northern California. It's a heartfelt metaphor about how his young life meets the same needs as the caretaker's.
In Young's own words:
"I had also—just, you know, being a rich hippie for the first time—I had purchased a ranch, and I still live there today. And there was a couple living on it that were the caretakers, an old gentleman named Louis Avila and his wife Clara. And there was this old blue Jeep there, and Louis took me for a ride in this blue Jeep. He gets me up there on the top side of the place, and there's this lake up there that fed all the pastures, and he says, "Well, tell me, how does a young man like yourself have enough money to buy a place like this?" And I said, 'Well, just lucky, Louis, just real lucky." And he said, "Well, that's the darnedest thing I ever heard.' And I wrote this song for him."
This was a rich place for Young to debut "Old Man." It was his return to the stage after a near five-month break, and also about four months after the release of After the Gold Rush. Unbeknownst to his fans, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young had also quietly broke up that summer, but after the release of After the Gold Rush, and the epochal debut's at this solo concert, the decades of ever-growing fame that followed was basically foretold.
During this particular show, Young also live debuted: "After the Gold Rush," "Bad Fog of Loneliness," and "See the Sky About the Rain." The 10-song setlist is below:
The following nights at Cellar Door were just as historic, with Young performing "Cinnamon Girl" on piano for the first, and only time, ever. You can listen to that rare audio below:
Since its debut, "Old Man" has become Young's third most performed song to date. The last time he performed it, however, was last year, December 2017.
Hopefully 2019 will be the year of the "Old Man"'s return.
