Neil Young announces release of “lost” album ‘Johnny’s Island’

Neil Young has announced the release of a new “lost” album from the 1980s called ‘Johnny’s Island’.

The record will finally be release as part of the musician’s Archives project, which has seen him share a host of unreleased tracks and previously unheard albums.

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The latest instalment of this project is ‘Johnny’s Island’, which was recorded at the Commercial Recorders studio in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1982. The album was once called ‘Island In The Sun’ and was made in collaboration with the same crew on his 12th studio album ‘Trans’, which was released in December 1982.

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“‘Johnny’s Island’ a complete album now being prepared for release at NYA, includes a majority of unreleased tracks including ‘Big Pearl,’ ‘Island In The Sun,’ and ‘Love Hotel,’ plus others you may have heard before,” read a post on the Neil Young Archives website. “It’s a beautiful record coming to you soon.”

Neil Young
Neil Young performing at an empty Coronation Hall in Omemee, Ontario. Credit: Neil Young Archives.

As Stereogum reports, Young previously explained more about the record in a Mojo interview conducted in 1995. “It was a tropical thing all about sailing, ancient civilisations, islands and water,” he said, adding that he had offered it to label Geffen before ‘Trans’.







Some of the songs recorded in the ‘Johnny’s Island’ sessions were eventually released on ‘Trans’, including ‘Like An Inca’, ‘Hold On To Your Love’, and ‘Little Thing Called Love’.

Earlier this month (January 16), Young announced a new live album and concert film calls ‘Way Down In The Rust Bucket’. It was recorded at a 1990 show the star played with Crazy Horse in Santa Cruz, California shortly after his 18th studio album ‘Ragged Glory’ was released.