Neil Young covers album to benefit the Bay’s Bridge School
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“Heart of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young.”
The annual Bridge School Benefit concert may be a thing of the past, but Neil Young is still working to help support the Bay Area school that works with youths with speech impairments and physical disability.
The latest fundraiser is a covers compilation album, Heart of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young. The music will be released in two volumes. The first, out April 25, includes Fiona Apple, Eddie Vedder, Brandi Carlile, Sharon Van Etten, the Lumineers, Mumford and Sons and more. Several of these artists have performed at the benefit concert over the years, and were purposefully selected for their contributions to Bridge School.
Two songs were released on Friday, Courtney Barnett’s take on “Lotta Love” and Chris Pierce’s rendition of “Southern Man.”
“’Lotta Love’ is one of my favorite Neil songs and the lyrics feel especially relevant at this moment in history,” Barnett said in a news release. “It’s a real honor to be part of this tribute helping to raise funds for The Bridge School.”
The goal of the project was to blend classics with fresh interpretations of Neil Young’s songs. Some of the involved artists are newer but have been inspired by Young and his music. Volume II will be announced soon, according to Cinema Music Group and Killphonic Records.
Young’s ex-wife, Pegi Young, co-founded Bridge School in Hillsborough, along with Jim Forderer and speech and language pathologist Marilyn Buzolic. The school’s goal is for people with speech and physical impairments to live full lives through the use of augmentative and alternative means of communication and assistive technology.
See the full track list of the first volume below. Preorder the album.
Young has been busy in recent years other touring and releasing music from his vault. His next release will be Oceanside Countryside, an unreleased album from 1977, in March.
Volume I Track Listing:
Brandi Carlile – “Philadelphia”
Fiona Apple – “Heart of Gold”
Mumford & Sons – “Harvest”
Eddie Vedder – “Needle and The Damage Done”
Courtney Barnett – “Lotta Love”
Stephen Marley – “Old Man”
Sharon Van Etten – “Here We Are In The Years”
Lumineers – “Sugar Mountain”
The Doobie Brothers with Allison Russell – “Comes A Time”
Steve Earle – “Long May You Run”
Rodney Crowell – “Mr. Soul”
Anders Osborne – “Cowgirl in the Sand”
Charlie Greene – “Such A Woman”
Chris Pierce – “Southern Man”