The long-awaited Neil Young Archives have finally been released to the public with Live at the Fillmore East, which is part of a subsection entitled Performance Series, and is inexplicably, though — considering the artist — not surprisingly designated as Disc 2. There had been so much hype and delay that even Axl Rose was wondering if it would ever happen.

A month after releasing 1969’s Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, his second solo album and the first backed by Crazy Horse, Young joined up with Crosby, Stills, and Nash. They played Woodstock for their second gig, and recorded Déjà Vu. Their musical talents, combined with the void created by Bob Dylan’s refusal to accept what fans wanted him to be and the break-up of The Beatles, saw them rise as a voice for and stars of the counterculture; however, they broke up soon after their 1970 summer tour, which was captured on 1971’s Four Way Street.

As part of his arrangement to join the CSN, Young was allowed to carry on with his solo career, so during February and March of 1970 he went on tour to support Everybody Knows with Crazy Horse (Danny Whitten on guitar, Billy Talbot on bass, Ralph Molina on drums) and producer Jack Nitzsche on electric piano.

Collected from two nights is their brand of electrified county rock straight out of the canyons of Los Angeles, quite possibly the home Young refers to in the album’s title track. “Winterlong” is an unusual love song, finding the couple at place where moving forward together is difficult and the end can be seen. The song was first released on the 1977 best-of compilation Decade, and later covered by The Pixies. Whitten joins Young on the vocals creating good harmonies.

However, the real genius of their joining is revealed on “Down By The River,” a love story with a different ending. The country sound disappears and rock comes to the forefront as the song wonderfully winds into a sprawling 12-minute epic of guitar virtuosity with Young and Whitten exchanging leads on the bridges.

The country elements return on “Wonderin'.” When Young introduces it, he says it’s “from our new album. When we record it.” He laughs, but it would take 13 years for the two-minute song to be released on 1983’s Everybody's Rockin' where it was given a rockabilly treatment.