Recently Neil Young has announced the release of 1982’s ‘Island in the Sun’, which has the new title of ‘Johnny’s Island.’ Geffen Records rejected the album. So he set out ‘Trans’ instead.
A few of the songs from his original LP made their way into ‘Trans.’ Neil remembers three or four. The initial album was recorded in Commercial Records in Honolulu, Hawaii. It “includes a majority of unreleased tracks. Including ‘Big Pearl’, ‘Island in the Sun’, and ‘Love Hotel.'” In an interview from 1995, Neil claimed that the album was “a tropical thing all about sailing, ancient civilizations, islands, and water.” The songs are “lightweight love songs and odd acoustic numbers,” said Jimmy McDonough. “The most out-there was ‘Big Pearl,’ a South Seas love story complete with faux Hawaiian guitar courtesy of Ben Keith’s steel.”
It was planned to be the first release of Geffen’s multi-album deal. While going out to Hawaii to personally hear Neil’s process, David Geffen claimed it was just “okay.” The idea sort of crashed and burned in Geffen’s eyes.
After the release of Trans, Neil followed up in 1983 with ‘Everybody’s Rockin’.” However, Geffen wasn’t happy about that at all. They claimed it was “unrepresentative” and “characteristic,” so they sued Neil shortly after.
“They told me they wanted me to play rock ‘n’ roll and told me I didn’t sound like Neil Young,” he recalled. “So I gave them Everybody’s Rockin’ and said, ‘This is a rock ‘n’ roll album by Neil Young after someone tells him what to do. This is exactly what you said you wanted.’ And we got way into it.” Geffen ultimately apologized.
Years later, Neil wrote in response to a fan letter, “I have started a new album. It’s solo. I’ve waited a long time.”
