MTV devotes an episode of its acoustic music series, "MTV Unplugged," to one of rock's most innovative and eclectic artists, Neil Young. The special captures Neil Young live in concert, equipped with acoustic guitar and harmonica stand, and supported by longtime partners Frank (Pancho) Sampedro on keyboards, and Ben Keith on also sax. Young's performance includes a medley from his Freedom album, the 1970 title track "After The Goldrush," and the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young classic, "Ohio," about the Kent State University killings.

Neil Young

Denis Leary

Arrested Development

Roxette was the first non English speaking band, that was invited to play at MTV Unplugged. They recorded their show in Sweden early in 1993. They played at the Stockholm Circus. Set list: 01. The Look 02. Queen Of Rain 03. Hotblooded 04. I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Loved You) 05. It Must Have Been Love 06. Fingertips 07. Heart Of Gold 08. Church Of Your Heart 09. Listen To Your Heart 10. Here Comes The Weekend 11. Joyride 12. So You Wanna Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star 13. Watercolours In The Rain [Originally Unaired] 14.

Roxette

One of the hottest and most original bands on the rap music scene, Arrested Development, performs ""unplugged"" yet electrifying in a set of songs off their debut multi platinum album, 3 Years,5 Months and Two Days I The Life Of... The songs are linked together with dance pieces and short stories narrated by Speech, Headliner, and Oje (""O.J.""), Arrested Development's spiritual adviser and group elder.

An excerpt from the MTV Unplugged book...""Between songs there were spoken word and dance performances, and at one point, during the group's spiritually charged 'Raining Revolution,' the stage was littered with umbrellas. Arrested Development had always referred to their shows not as concerts but as 'celebrations'; this theatrical performance allowed us finally to understand why.""

Set List:   Give a Man a Fish    The Gettin'    Natural    Raining Revolution    Fishin' 4 Religion    Mama's Always on Stage    U    Mr. Wendel    People Everyday

Featuring:   Arrested Development:

Todd ""Speech"" T

Comedian Denis Leary, one of the hottest comics of the nineties, unplugged his unique comedic style at a studio in Los Angeles for the first-ever music/comedy edition of the series. Leary combines original comic material with music to deliver selections from his January '93 album release No Cure for Cancer. Songs include ""Life's Gonna Suck When You Grow Up,"" ""Elvis and I,"" ""The Kennedys,"" ""Immigrant Song,"" ""Love Boat"" and ""The Man in My Little Girl's Life.""

An excerpt from the MTV Unplugged book... ""Besides the biting commentary, Denis also arranged a short parody that sounded like a bunch of R.E.M. songs thrown together. The only problem was that the show's breakout moment-- a cheerful little tune called 'Asshole'-- could only be shown on the network after 11:00 p.m. So if you ever tune in for a repeat performance, tune in late.""

Set List:   Is She Really Going Out With Him? (Written by Joe Jackson)    9 a.m.    Love Boat    Immigrant Song (Written by Robert Plant and Jimmy page)    T

""MTV Unplugged"" presents Canadian-born singer/guitarist k.d. lang for an acoustic performance at the historic Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City. lang performs such hits as ""Constant Craving"" off of her Ingenue album in addition to ""Save Me,"" ""Season of Hollow Soul,"" ""Wash Me Clean,"" and more.

An excerpt from the MTV Unplugged book...""I actually like the concept of Unplugged because it really cuts to the quick. I think it really establishes musicianship, which in today's scene gets obscured, and I think that MTV is doing a service to the young viewers by providing this vehicle.""

Set List:   Save Me    The Mind of Love    Still Thrives This Love    Miss Chatelaine    Season of Hollow Soul    So it Shall Be    Outside Myself    Wash Me Clean    Constant Craving    Black Coffee (Written by Webster and Burke)    Crying (Written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson)    So in Love (Written by Cole Porter)    Barefoot

Featuring:   k.d. lang - vocals

Ben Mink - musical director, string arrangements

k.d. lang

Veteran British rocker and multi-platinum superstar Rod Stewart makes his first ever appearance on ""MTV Unplugged."" Taped in Los Angeles in February of 1993, Stewart reunites with Faces partner Ron Wood for a portion of his riveting ninety minute acoustic performance. This marks the first time in nearly twenty years that Stewart and Wood performed together. Stewart performs a medley of classics from his early years, as well as selected tracks from his most recent solo album, Vagabond Heart. Song selections performed by Stewart with Wood include ""Reason To Believe,"" ""Every Picture Tells A Story,"" ""Maggie May,"" ""People Get Ready,"" ""Mandolin Wind,"" and ""Stay With Me."" Stewart's solo renditions include ""Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright),"" ""Hot Legs,"" ""Handbags & Gladrags,"" ""Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?,"" ""Tom Traubert's Blues,"" and ""We're Havin' A Party."" A 16-piece string section accompanies Stewart on selected songs.

The band is comprised of Rod Stewart (vocals & banjo),

Rod Stewart

""MTV Unplugged"" presents an Uptown Records edition with R&B artists Mary J. Blige, Christopher Williams, Father MC, Heavy D And Jodeci.

Mary J. Blige -- Solo artist Mary J. Blige exploded onto the music scene in 1992 with her debut album What's The 411? and hit single ""Real Love."" Heavily influenced by the soul of the 60's and 70's, Blige redefines R&B music by bringing in her own special blend of hip hop and soul. Blige performs ""Real Love"" and ""Sweet Thing.""

Christopher Williams/Father MC -- New York powerhouse vocalist Christopher Williams entered the music scene in the mid-Eighties with his debut album Adventures In Paradise, and hit singles ""Talk To Myself"" and ""Promises."" Williams contributed the No. 1 gold single ""Dreamin'"" to the movie soundtrack of New Jack City, in which he also made his acting debut. Williams, who is the nephew of the legendary Ella Fitzgerald, is currently riding high on the success of his sizzling debut album for Uptown, Changes. New York rapper Father MC

Uptown Unplugged

""MTV Unplugged"" presents the ethereal folk-rock sound of 10,000 Maniacs. The band began performing around upstate New York in the early '80s, incorporating English rock and island rhythm influences with elements of country, bluegrass and folk. In 1985, 10,000 Maniacs released The Wishing Chair, one of the year's most critically-lauded releases with special acclaim going to lyricist/singer Natalie Merchant. This was followed by the 1987 platinum release In My Tribe, which brought the group an international mass audience, and the 1989 album Blind Man's Zoo. 10,000 Maniacs is comprised of Natalie Merchant (lead vocals), Jerome Augustyniak (drums), Robert Buck (guitar), Dennis Drew (Keyboards) and Steven Gustafson (bass). Their ""Unplugged"" selections include ""These Are Days,"" ""Candy Everybody Wants,"" ""Dallas"" (with David Byrne), ""Like The Weather,"" and ""What's The Matter Here.""

An excerpt from the MTV Unplugged book...""Natalie actually cut her hair for the show. At rehearsals she had long

10,000 Maniacs

One of the hottest rock 'n' roll bands on today's music scene, Minneapolis natives Soul Asylum make their memorable debut on ""MTV Unplugged"" in June. The band, who began writing and performing together in the early '80s, entered the studio for the first time in 1983 to record their debut EP, Say What You Will. In 1986, they went on to release their critically acclaimed full-length debut album, Made To Be Broken. Non-stop touring over the years has brought them national attention, and prompted the Village Voice to call them the ""Best Live Band In America."" The band's latest album, Grave Dancers Union, has brought Soul Asylum out on the road again for a U.S. club tour and a trip to Europe. Their ""Unplugged"" song selections include ""Runaway Train,"" ""Black Gold,"" ""Somebody To Shove,"" ""Without A Trace,"" and ""Get On Out."" One of the program highlights is the band's performance of ""To Sir With Love"" accompanied by British pop star Lulu.

An excerpt from the MTV Unplugged book... ""Still, despit

Soul Asylum

""MTV Unplugged"" presents an acoustic performance with veteran Australian band, Midnight Oil. Known for their explosive live performances and indelible relationship between music and politics, the band gained superstar status with their 1982 hit, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 which spawned the hit singles ""U.S. Forces"" and ""Power and the Passion."" By 1986, the band had addressed many of the most important issues of the century, including the arms race, the danger of nuclear conflict, and the environment. In 1987, The Oils tackled the plight of Australian Aborigines with the release Diesel and Dust, which included the band's first international hit,""Beds Are Burning."" This was followed by the enormously successful Blue Sky Mining in 1989, and their incendiary live album, the 1992 release Scream In Blue. Midnight Oil is currently on tour with their latest album, Earth And Sun And Moon. The album's first official release, ""Truganini,"" is about a tragic historical figure, who by 1873, was t

Midnight Oil

MTV presents the first ever ""Spoken Word"" edition of ""MTV Unplugged."" The program showcased the work of some of the hottest spoken word artists who performed their own work in an intimate coffee house setting. Also featured in this program was a performance by the master of the spoken word himself: Henry Rollins: Following was the artist line-up: 99 (""Burns""), Maggie Estep (""The Stupid Jerk I'm Obsessed With""), Barry Yourgrau (""Helium""), Reg E. Gaines (""Please Don't Take My Air Jordans""), Reg E. Gaines/Maggie Estep duet (""Using Me For Sex""), Bob Holman (""Welcome To The United State Of Poetry""), Edwin Torres (""Peesacho""), and Henry Rollins (""Ode To MTV Unplugged"").

An excerpt from the MTV Unplugged book... ""This was one of our proudest moments. The spoken word show, the brainchild of co-creator Robert Small, was, at its purest, the embodiment of what we had always wanted to accomplish with Unplugged. It spoke to the audience on the most basic level. It was also a challenge in terms of p

Spoken Word I

Duran Duran   Recorded 11/17/93 at Sony Music Studios - New York City

Duran, Duran, the premiere band of the video generation, make an appearance on ""MTV Unplugged."" Taped in New York City in November of 1993, band memers Simon Le Bon (lead vocals), Nick Rhodes (keyboards), John Taylor (bass) and Warren Cuccurullo (guitar) perform selections off their ninth album, simply titled Duran Duran.

An excerpt from the MTV Unplugged book...""The band was extremely excited about the details of this show. If anyone doubts this, consider the orange set and the gold angels. The group had asked for the two heavenly creatures, but the request turned out to be almost impossible to fulfill. Finally, after we had all but given up on the concept, a studio worker announced that he'd just been across the street to a new space, designed as a party venue. 'They've got a couple of angels over there,' he said, 'but they're pretty nice. I don't think they'd rent them. Besides, they're white.' Minutes later we we

Duran Duran

Seattle sensation Nirvana taped a performance for ""MTV Unplugged"" in New York City in November of 1993. Band members Kurt Cobain (lead vocals, guitar), Krist Novoselic (bass) and Dave Grohl (drums) performed an acoustic set featuring songs from the band's latest release In Utero, as well as material from earlier releases.

An excerpt from the MTV Unplugged book...""Of all the emotions and images that linger from this broadcast, a few stand out. The most striking is a picture that will be forever etched in the collective memory of Unplugged. During the band's closing cover of Leadbelly's 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night,' Kurt was hushed, almost whispering, before he finally unleashed the full power of his voice. The entire evening had seemed to build to this moment, and when it came, Kurt sighed, almost to catch his breath, before he let out every last ounce of energy in one scream. Everything else stopped. Along with Michael Stipe's performance on R.E.M.'s 'Fall on Me,' it was one of the

Nirvana

MTV's acclaimed music series showcases today's top artists and rising stars in the industry performing acoustic versions of their songs.

Neil Young

Seasons35

Season 4 Episodes13

Discussion

Episode Summary