Neil Young Archives Volume II: 1972–1976 is a 10-CD box set from American-Canadian folk rock musician Neil Young that was initially released in a limited deluxe box set (and streaming on the Neil Young Archives site) on November 20, 2020. The release is the second box set in his Neil Young Archives series, following 2009's The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972, and covers a three-and-a-half-year period from 1972 to 1976. The track list was officially announced on the Neil Young Archives site on September 20, 2020, with the first single, "Come Along and Say You Will", being posted to the site as the Song of the Day on October 14. The set then went up for pre-order on October 16, 2020, as an exclusive release to his online store, with only 3,000 copies being initially made available worldwide. After selling out the following day, Young announced several weeks later that a general retail version, as well as a second pressing of the deluxe box set, is expected to be released to market on March 5, 2021. This was followed by the release of a second single, "Homefires", on October 21, and a third, an alternate version of "Powderfinger", on November 3.

Of the 131 tracks on the track listing, 63 are previously unreleased. These include live and alternate versions of previously released songs. Twelve of the songs on this set have never been released in any form.

Background

Young's manager Elliot Roberts originally said in 2009 that Volume II would span the period of 1972 through 1982,Sound and Vision magazine article: "Sound & Vision Magazine – Neil Young: Archives Vol. 1 (1963–1972) ". and would be released "two or three years" after Volume I. In October 2009, Young told Guitar World that a disc called Time Fades Away II would be included in the second volume, noting: "It's interesting because [Time Fades Away II] has a different drummer than what was on that album. Kenny Buttrey was in there for the first half, and Johnny Barbata came in for the second. It's a completely different thing, with completely different songs"Guitar World interview with Neil Young. Time Fades Away II would eventually evolve into the Performance Series release Tuscaloosa though that album only contains two songs from the album Time Fades Away. Young had also said in 2012 that "four unreleased albums from this period are being rebuilt ... Chrome Dreams, Homegrown, and Oceanside-Countryside are the three unreleased studio albums. Also from this period is the unreleased Odeon Budokan live recording produced by David Briggs and Tim Mulligan".News , Neil Young Website.

In May 2014, Young stated that Volume II would be finished by the summer, and that the remaining volumes would be issued relatively quickly following the second. In July 2016, Rolling Stone and the Thrasher's Wheat website reported that Young intended to focus on completing Archives Volume II after his tour with Promise of the Real concluded that October. Although a physical release was still planned, it would also involve a "high-resolution website" and would also include unreleased works entitled Dume and Hitchhiker (Hitchhiker was later released as a standalone album on September 8, 2017, with Dume later confirmed to be a disc on Volume II. The Neil Young Archives website was also launched in December of that year.). In August 2018, in response to an enquiring fan in the Letters to the Editor section of the NYA Times-Contrarian area of his website, Young had the following to say: "May 2019 the NYA V2 CDs and a separate book by Toshi Onuki will be available. Blu Ray is no longer viable for economic reasons. NYA can give you what the blu ray had though, including Hi Res audio. Thanks NY."Neil Young Archives Times-Contrarian reply: "Letters NYA V2".

In September 2018, March and April 2019, in response to other fans enquiring on its release in the Letters to the Editor section of the NYA, Neil Young stated: "We are currently reviewing all of the unreleased albums from the Volume II period, which is the seventies. Songs for Judy was one of those. Oceanside Countryside is another. We are reviewing the others"; "NYA vol 2 late this year/before Christmas. Odeon Budokon is on volume 2 as an album"; "Volume two has so much content that we have made it into two sets. The first is about ten discs and will include Odeon Budokan. The set covers about 4 or 5 years of intense recording and creativity."Neil Young Archives Times-Contrarian reply: "NYA VOL 2".

In March 2020, Young confirmed Volume II for release on July 24 of that year. After numerous delays related to the coronavirus pandemic, it was scheduled to be released on November 20, according to the Archives website. A track listing posted to the Archives site on September 20 confirmed Volume II’s contents, and the first single, "Come Along and Say You Will", was posted to the site as the Song of the Day on October 14. The set then went up for pre-order on the 16th as an exclusive release to his online store, with only 3,000 copies being initially made available worldwide. After selling out the following day, Neil and Warner Records announced a second run of the deluxe edition, as well as a general retail version, several weeks later, both of which are scheduled to hit the market on March 5, 2021. This was followed by the release of a second single, "Homefires", on October 21, and a third, an alternate version of "Powderfinger", on November 3.

Track listing

Disc 1 – Everybody's Alone (1972–1973) "Letter from 'Nam" (3:35) – previously unreleased song (early version of "Long Walk Home") Neil Young – guitar, harmonica, vocal Recorded at A&M Studios, Los Angeles, 11/15/1972. Produced by Neil Young and Henry Lewy. "Monday Morning" (2:47) – previously unreleased version of "Last Dance" Neil Young – guitar, vocal Recorded at A&M Recording Studios, Los Angeles, 11/15/1972. Produced by Neil Young and Henry Lewy. "The Bridge" (2:56) – previously unreleased version Neil Young – piano, harmonica, vocal Recorded at A&M Recording Studios, Los Angeles, 11/15/1972. Produced by Neil Young and Henry Lewy. "Time Fades Away" (4:21) – Neil Young with The Stray Gators – previously unreleased version Neil Young – guitar, vocal; Ben Keith – lap slide guitar, vocal; Tim Drummond – bass; Jack Nitzsche – piano; Kenny Buttrey – drums Recorded at Studio, Broken Arrow Ranch, 12/15/1972. Produced by Elliot Mazer and Neil Young "Come Along and Say You Will" (2:28) – Neil Young with The Stray Gators – previously unreleased song Neil Young – guitar, vocal; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar, vocal; Tim Drummond – bass; Jack Nitzsche – piano; Kenny Buttrey – drums Recorded at Studio, Broken Arrow Ranch, 12/15/1972. Produced by Elliot Mazer & Neil Young. "Goodbye Christians on the Shore" (5:24) – Neil Young with The Stray Gators – previously unreleased song Neil Young – guitar, harmonica, vocal; Ben Keith – dobro, vocal; Tim Drummond – bass; Jack Nitzsche – piano; Kenny Buttrey – drums Recorded at Studio, Broken Arrow Ranch, 12/15/1972. Produced by Elliot Mazer & Neil Young. "Last Trip to Tulsa" (4:19) – Neil Young with The Stray Gators – from the 45 RPM single of "Time Fades Away" Neil Young – guitar, vocal; Ben Keith – lap slide guitar; Tim Drummond – bass; Jack Nitzsche – piano; Johnny Barbata – drums Recorded at Louisiana State University Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, LA, 2/18/1973. Produced by Neil Young & Elliot Mazer. "The Loner" (3:54) – Neil Young with The Stray Gators – previously unreleased version Neil Young – guitar, vocal; Ben Keith – lap slide guitar; Tim Drummond – bass; Jack Nitzsche – piano; Johnny Barbata – drums Recorded at Myriad Convention Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 3/1/1973. Produced by Elliot Mazer & Neil Young. "Sweet Joni" (2:42) – previously unreleased song Neil Young – piano, harmonica, vocal Recorded at Bakersfield Civic Auditorium, Bakersfield, CA, 3/11/1973. Produced by Elliot Mazer and Neil Young. "Yonder Stands the Sinner" (3:19) – Neil Young with The Stray Gators – from the album Time Fades Away Neil Young – guitar, vocal; David Crosby – guitar, vocal; Ben Keith – slide guitar; Tim Drummond – bass; Jack Nitzsche – piano; Johnny Barbata – drums Recorded at Seattle Center, Seattle, WA, 3/17/1973. Produced by Neil Young & Elliot Mazer. "L.A." (Story) (4:02) – previously unreleased Neil Young – guitar, vocal Recorded at Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, CA, 4/1/1973. Produced by Elliot Mazer and Neil Young. "L.A." (3:35) – previously unreleased version Neil Young – guitar, harmonica, vocal Recorded at Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, CA, 4/1/1973. Produced by Elliot Mazer and Neil Young. "Human Highway" (3:04) – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – previously unreleased version from aborted Human Highway sessions. Neil Young – guitar, vocal; Stephen Stills – guitar, vocal; David Crosby – vocal; Graham Nash – vocal Recorded at Studio, Broken Arrow Ranch, 6/29/1973. Produced by Elliot Mazer and CSNY.

Disc 2 – Tuscaloosa (1973) "Here We Are in the Years" (3:56) "After the Gold Rush" (4:42) "Out on the Weekend" (5:29) "Harvest" (4:14) "Old Man" (4:17) "Heart of Gold" (3:48) "Time Fades Away" (6:10) "Lookout Joe" (4:59) "New Mama" (3:01) "Alabama" (3:50) "Don't Be Denied" (8:09) Neil Young – guitar, vocal, piano, harmonica; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar, slide guitar, vocal; Jack Nitzsche – piano, vocal; Tim Drummond – bass; Kenny Buttrey – drums, vocal (all tracks) Recorded at Memorial Auditorium, Tuscaloosa, AL, 2/5/1973. Produced by Neil Young & Elliot Mazer.

Disc 3 – Tonight's the Night (1973) "Speakin' Out Jam" (5:01) – Neil Young and Santa Monica Flyers – previously unreleased version from Tonight’s the Night sessions Neil Young – piano, vocal; Nils Lofgren – guitar; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar; Billy Talbot – bass; Ralph Molina – drums Recorded at S.I.R., Hollywood, 8/25/1973. Produced by David Briggs & Neil Young with Tim Mulligan. "Everybody's Alone" (2:44) – Neil Young and Santa Monica Flyers – previously unreleased song from Tonight's the Night sessions Neil Young – guitar, vocal; Nils Lofgren – piano, vocal; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar, vocal; Billy Talbot – bass; Ralph Molina – drums, vocal Recorded at S.I.R., Hollywood, 8/26/1973. Produced by David Briggs & Neil Young with Tim Mulligan. "Tired Eyes" (4:41) – Neil Young and Santa Monica Flyers – from the album Tonight's the Night Neil Young – guitar, harmonica, vocal; Nils Lofgren – piano, vocal; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar, vocal; Billy Talbot – bass, vocal; Ralph Molina – drums, vocal Recorded at S.I.R., Hollywood, 8/26/1973. Produced by David Briggs & Neil Young with Tim Mulligan. "Tonight's the Night" (4:43) – Neil Young and Santa Monica Flyers – from the album Tonight's the Night Neil Young – piano, vocal; Nils Lofgren – guitar; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar, vocal; Billy Talbot – bass; Ralph Molina – drums, vocal Recorded at S.I.R., Hollywood, 8/26/1973. Produced by David Briggs & Neil Young with Tim Mulligan. "Mellow My Mind" (3:11) – Neil Young and Santa Monica Flyers – from the album Tonight's the Night Neil Young – guitar, harmonica, vocal; Nils Lofgren – piano; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar; Billy Talbot – bass; Ralph Molina – drums Recorded at S.I.R., Hollywood, 8/26/1973. Produced by David Briggs & Neil Young with Tim Mulligan. "World on a String" (2:27) – Neil Young and Santa Monica Flyers – from the album Tonight's the Night Neil Young – guitar, harmonica, vocal; Nils Lofgren – piano; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar; Billy Talbot – bass; Ralph Molina – drums, vocal Recorded at S.I.R., Hollywood, 8/26/1973. Produced by David Briggs & Neil Young with Tim Mulligan. "Speakin' Out" (4:57) – Neil Young and Santa Monica Flyers – from the album Tonight's the Night Neil Young – piano, vocal; Nils Lofgren – guitar; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar, vocal; Billy Talbot – bass; Ralph Molina – drums