Well, it's been over twenty-five years since Neil Young went into a recording studio to begin working on the album that we know as "Comes A Time". Although the LP was "completed" in less than two months, it would be another twelve months before the album reached any record store bins. Most of the facts regarding the unusual problems that delayed release of the record for so many months are well- known, if not legendary. Some of the details remain cloudy, and will be noted. In any event, it's a good read, and a fine example of "if anything can go wrong, it will". The project started off like any other; in early 1978, Neil "finished" the album, delivered it to Reprise and his interests turned towards other projects and his private life Although the LP may sound like it recorded at a series of planned sessions within a short time frame, a glance at the back cover shows that the LP was recorded at six different studios during a two-year period of un-related sessions that included thirty-nine different musicians! "Lotta Love" (November28,1975) is the oldest cut on the album (probably recordedat BrokenArrow Studios inbetween NorthernCaliforniaBarTourshows).Othersongs recorded November'75 include"LikeAHurricane", "SedanDelivery"(from"ChromeDreams"acetate)& "WhiteLine".The latter two recordings remain unreleased. "Look Out For My Love" (1976) also from "Chrome Dreams" acetate; probably cut at Wally Heider Studios. "Field Of Opportunity"from May 3,1977 masters recorded at Woodland Studios in Nashville, TN. "It Might Have Been" and "Dance, Dance, Dance" were also cut at these sessions and, as ever, they remain unreleased. "Goin' Back"and"Human Highway"are from October,1977 sessions at Triad Studios-Ft.Lauderdale,FL. November,1977 sessions at The Sound Shop in Nashville,TN produced five of the ten"ComesATime" songs: "Comes A Time", "Peace Of Mind", "Already One", "Motorcycle Mama" and "Four Strong Winds". The leftover unreleased songs from these sessions include "Daughters" and "Please Help Me I'm Falling". ExactlywhatwasrecordedatColumbiaStudiosinLondon,Englandisunclear.Themasternumberkeyindicates that all ten tracks were finished in a California, Florida or Tennesee studio, and the finished album was mastered at Columbia Studios in New York --it's unlikely, but could "London, England" be a simple typo? Your guess is as good as mine;any solid information would be appreciatedand published here in an updated version of this article. With the finalized/remastered ("RE1") album finished in February, Neil returned to the ranch to wait for Test Pressings to be QCed & approved and for the album to be added to the Reprise "new releases" schedule. In the meantime, Neil began pre-production work on "Human Highway" (the movie) & continued to expand his barn- filling Lionel train layout. Around 22 April, the first Test Pressings of "Give To TheWind"(fig.1)were distributed to"key"WB/Reprise Records executives,publicists&"a few"reviewers.The recordwasreceivedenthusiasticallybyalmost everyone whoheardit;theexceptionbeinganannoyedNeilYoung. Theannoyance was from a"tick"-noise on side1 that, legend has it,only Neil could hear.Inany event,"ALL" first Test LPs werescrapped/new testLPs¹were made a few days later (with "RE-1" etched in trail-off.Again). Asit turned out,thissecond pressing sounded exactly likeoneof thefirstpressingLPs(i.e.,sameaudioflaw), but the labels¹ were radically different in appearance. Instead of the normal/generic white label with""credit with the standard "Available only to..." disclaimer, this second "Give To The Wind" Test Pressing was pressed with standard 1978 stock copy labels (fig.2)!! Even more odd is the fact that there's a simple explination: from 1978-79 WB/Reprise Test Pressing LPs were occasionally pressed without Data Sheets but with normal stock copy labels --thanks to an amazingly-efficiant Production Dept. staff. Unlike this LP, all other such test pressings had the correct LP title printed on the labels! ¹special note: it's common sense that "a few" copies of ANY label or pressing variation exists (except for factory errors) --however, this unique "stock copy label" Test Pressing is the exception to the rule! ONLY ONE copy is known to exist!! A week or two after this stock copy label disc turned up, some"RE-2"TestPressing LPs were made (fig.3) with normal white Test Pressing labels. This time, however, the Data Sheet indicated an "Album Title Change" to "Comes A Time". This is where it starts to get confusing. Although the same "April 22" Data Sheet is used for both of these Test Pressings, the original "Give To The Wind" Data Sheet shows revisions dated April 10-April 18. The "Comes A Time" Data Sheet shows only an "Album Title Change" revison, dated April 8. It's obvious on this second sheet where the person in the Production Dept. used White Out to cover the old information, but why would they alter/delete the revision dates? To further confuse the history of this album is the WB Records May 1978 new release publication (distributed only to record stores and distributors) that includes a detailed review of "Give To The Wind". Additionally, an article in the May 18 issue of Rolling Stone titled "Young's 'Give To The Wind' due" claimed that the LP would be issued May 15th. The official May 5 release date came and went; the June issue of the Guide To New Release listed the "corrected" album title, and changed the release date to "ASAP". This release date would be repeated in the publication every month until the album was actually release in September. In the meantime, in late May, Neil played a series of shows at San Francisco's Boarding House. Filmed snippets from these shows appear in "Human Highway", but the interesting thing about these shows is the fact that he performed more songs from "Rust Never Sleeps" than he did from "Comes A Time". Three songs recorded at the shows ("My My Hey Hey", "Ride My Llama" & "Thrasher") even appear on the LP! It's not certain exactly when, but sometime around May or June the audio flaw that had bothered Neil all this time was found to be in the 2" Master Tape. The tape was repaired, and another batch of Test Pressings ("RE-2" in trail-off) (fig.3) were manufactured, and approved by all concerned. By early August, the Glendale, California Capitol Records pressing plant (where all WB/Reprise LPs were made 1976-1983) was finally manufacturing "Comes A Time" LPs for the public. What happened next is sketchy, but sometime between the moment that the first LP came off a pressing machine, but before that LP was shipped, Neil changed his mind about the song sequence. Up until this point, track 4 had been "Peace Of Mind" and track 5 had been "Lotta Love" (fig.4); but rather than have "Lotta Love" close side one, it was decided to swap the order of the last two songs, moving "Peace Of Mind" to the end (fig. 5). I don't get it either. Imaginative stories have circulated for years about what happened at this point, but there are a few well-known facts. Although some promo copies with original song order discs were shipped in early September, the fact is that the vast majority were sent directly from the manufacturer to the Warner Bros. warehouse in the San Fernando Valley. The actual release date was pushed back again in lieu of yet another Test Pressing ("RE-3" in the trail-off) (fig.3) with the new song order. Soon after, new "RE-3" promo copies were made and distributed. All promo copy LPs had stock copy labels with either promo-stamped (second) covers OR were sealed stock copy LPs with a promo drill-hole through an original version cover. At the same time, after negotiations with Mo Ostin, Neil was allowed to buy the entire early August "Comes A Time" press run. Soon after, the records (only) were delivered to Neil's ranch and, by his own account, he put a 22 shell through each and every box of LPs, making sure that these "incorrect" discs would never get out. Finally, on September 29, 1978 "Comes A Time" was finally officially released to the public. Some copies came in the original covers ("Lotta Love" listed as the last song on side 1), while others appeared with 3.5" x 12" corrected songlist stickers pasted on the backs of original covers. Eventually, corrected covers with the proper song order reached stores, closing the book on this story after nearly a year of problems and frustrations. Twenty-Five years after its release, "Comes A Time" remains a favorite topic of conversation when Neil Young collectors get together. The endless array of pressing variations is truly amazing. Rare &/ or unique foreign pressings (like white label Japanese promo copies or first issue U.K. copies with original song order labels & covers --New Zealand copies even list "Give To The Wind" as the LP title!) or common U.S. pressings (like 1980's pressing high-gloss correct song order covers), the variations are almost endless. But of all the "Comes A Time" variations, perhaps the most important of them all is the compact disc release. Too often the quality of an album is lost amidst the frantic collecting of the countless variations that appear. At long last, with the release of "Comes A Time" on compact disc, we have a version of the album in a format with no variations. The CD version of the album is just for listening. And as such, the CD version is certainly as welcome, if not more so, than the album's first release over 25 years ago. photography ©1978 Coley Coleman, "GiveToTheWind"/"Comes A Time" ©1978 WB Records All label images ©1978 Warner Bros. Records, Inc. except "mid-80s src" label 1978,©1984 WB Records • "late-80s src" label 1978,©1986 WB Records "Give To The Wind" label "(fig.2)" photo ©1999 sidestreet publishing company. All Rights Reserved. text ©1988, 1999, 2004 jef michael piehler ©1988, 1999, 2004 sidestreet publishing company (article originally published in Broken Arrow #33 November 1988, updated December 1999) All rights reserved. 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