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Neil Young (1 Viewer)

Bob Magaw

Bob Magaw

Footballguy
i've heard young for a long time, especially songs like cinammon girl and down by the river, but don't recall owing any of his albums... recently picked up an inexpensive copy of his archives vol. 1 (DVD)... this set ranges from his earliest work to after the gold rush and harvest (some of his most critically acclaimed and most popular, enduring work)... i think it came out in 2009 or 2010, after many delays (while he said he was waiting for musical technology to catch up with his multimedia vision...

the set included a lot of material i hadn't heard before (but again, i didn't have anything to start with), including a hypnotic 15 minute song with the stray gators... i've since checked out more music spanning from later in his career (don't think archives vol. 2 has release date yet?), especially the post-harvest 70s (on the beach, tonights the night, zuma, etc.) and found that a lot of my favorite material was with some time backing band crazy horse...

i only discovered this connection in the past month... i missed opportunity to see NY&CH at hollywood bowl last year...

NYT article from 2012

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/magazine/neil-young-comes-clean.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

classic rolling stone article and rare NY interview (at the time) by an 18 year old cameron crowe from 1975...

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-rebellious-neil-young-cameron-crowes-1975-rolling-stone-interview-20110601

* NY just wrote a book last year, referred to in first article... some of the better film/video i've seen is the live rust concert from late 70s (early 80s?), with crazy horse... year of the horse (with crazy horse, of course), a jim jarmusch doc, and two by jonathan demme... heart of gold which is in a group setting and country-inflected (some of stray gators?), covering material from prairie wind and some classics at the grand ole opry... also journeys, interspersing solo footage in support of recent le noise tour few years ago (with lot of electric AND acoustic effects by CD/album producer/engineer daniel lanois, a name i associate with eno collaborations), along with road trip back to the canadian city he grew up in during his formative years...

** decade has advantage as introduction to more casual NY fan in being a lot less expensive (three albums into 2 CDs) and more wide ranging, encompassing and career spanning (for when it was released, admittedly about three decades ago, but representative of a lot of his most familiar material from that era)... this also includes pre-solo star material with buffalo springfield (w/ stephen stills) and later stuff with C,S,N & Y (and not much of that in archives, a few songs from harvest i think where crosby and stills do background vocals)...

 
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Random tidbit of the day.

I was surprised to learn that Neil is an avid model train enthusiast and was a part owner in Lionel Trains for over 15 years.

 
Another tidbit (at least to me) I saw from a recent Young docu on PBS...Hey, Hey, My, My sprang from a collaboration Young had with Devo. From wiki:

The song "Hey, Hey, My, My..." and the title phrase of the album, "rust never sleeps" on which it was featured sprang from Young's encounters with Devo and in particular Mark Mothersbaugh.[1] Devo was asked by Young in 1977 to participate in the creating of his film Human Highway.[2] A scene in the film shows Young playing the song in its entirety with Devo, who clearly want little to do with anything "radio-friendly" (of note is Mothersbaugh changing "Johnny Rotten" to "Johnny Spud").
Click to expand...
 
'Apple Jack said:
On the Beach and Tonight's the Night are massive, brutal records.
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that reminds me of some more crazy horse arcana (you likely know this already, but for the benefit of the thread)... tonight's the night was written partly in response to the deaths of former crazy horse lead guitarist and vocalist danny whitten, as well as ex-CSN roadie (bruce berry?), both to heroin... it was part of a dark period (also including the rare time fades away and the self-directed by bernard shaky production of journey through the past)... it was in fact shelved for a few years by another album that was deemed not as down, later released when he shelved another current project (needless to say, neil has a somewhat mercurial muse - look at all the myriad permutations with stills, CSN, etc)...whitten was supposed to go on the stray gators tour, but he just wasn't functional... NY sent him home with plane fare and some cash... THAT night he got the call from the police/coroner that whitten had ODed... he talked about feeling guilt about that a long time (for context, though, whitten and band crazy horse were earlier fired after prior tour when whitten nodded off on stage)...there is an interesting pre-NY crazy horse document called scratchy, a collection of their first two albums (debut featuring whitten's guitar and singing)... the CD is hideously expensive, but not so the download version... it sounds at times like solo joe walsh post-james gang and pre-eagles (like around time of barnstorm, smoker i drink, player i get, so what and but seriously folks)... this collection was one of the biggest musical revelations for me in a while... whitten was extremely talented, though he didn't have long to flash it...* i think neil also wrote sleeping with angels partly in response to the death of kurt cobain (NY was reportedly quoted in suicide note/letter, possibly from hey hey, my my lyric about johnny rotten?)...* whitten's later replacement poncho sampedro is also a good guitarist, though different from whitten (maybe a bit more neanderthal, meant as a compliment :) )...
 
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Hey Bob -

If you are going through a phase of having a man crush for Neil Young, I can send you another care package . . .

 
'David Yudkin said:
Random tidbit of the day.I was surprised to learn that Neil is an avid model train enthusiast and was a part owner in Lionel Trains for over 15 years.
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Young basically gave up his ownership stake when the company went in to bankruptcy aobut 5 years ago. He is still listed as a "consultant" for the company.As for his music, I saw him once with Kravitz and Blind Melon. Booker T and MG's were Young's backing band and it was a sensational concert even though I only knew about 3 of his songs at the time (high school).
 
So hoping that Neil and Stills finally get that Buffalo Springfield reunion going. Looks like it was ready to go last year, and then the old acrimony surfaced and that was it.

 
I'm not crazy about Sleeps With Angels, but Change Your Mind is one of my favorite Neil songs.

I shot pool with Billy Talbot once at Miraloma on Portola in SF. My buddy used to tend bar there and they were regulars and had been for years, often during the day. That was 15 years ago, so who knows now, but I'm pretty sure all but Neil lived in that vicinity. Iirc, music was not discussed.

 
That Live with Crazy Horse from 1970 is one of the greatest live recordings I have ever heard. Long, incredible versions of "Down By the River" and "Cowgirl In the Sand". Love that stuff.

 
His MTV Unplugged performance is astonishingly good. Anybody who hasn't heard it, should. My favorite of that Unplugged series, and there are some good ones.

 
Another fact about Neil I find odd...he was, for a short time, in a band with Rick James (prior to Springfield)

 
'glumpy said:
'David Yudkin said:
Random tidbit of the day.I was surprised to learn that Neil is an avid model train enthusiast and was a part owner in Lionel Trains for over 15 years.
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:cool:Always been a fan.
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Young enthusiasts should read his autobiography "Waging Heavy Peace". Just finished it a few weeks ago and it includes a lot of Neil's history with various bands. Be warned it is random and scattered, but he admits to that because he has been 'clean' for awhile. Talks alot about Lionel trains and various new projects he's involved in. As a fan it was nice to see his eclectic interests and his love for his family especially his children. :thumbup:
 
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'David Yudkin said:
Hey Bob -If you are going through a phase of having a man crush for Neil Young, I can send you another care package . . .
Click to expand...
awesome... coincidentally, i've been rediscovering hendrix, but that is another thread. :)
 
'Apple Jack said:
His MTV Unplugged performance is astonishingly good. Anybody who hasn't heard it, should. My favorite of that Unplugged series, and there are some good ones.
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thanx for the rec, i'll have to check that out...not all artists have the ability to translate from acoustic to electric excellence (or vice verce), but neil definitely does... live rust opens acoustic and goes to electric... i think heart of gold is a mix (certainly has acoustic and electric elements in band), and the recent journeys intersperses acoustic and (more) electric... this pattern was also seen earlier in CSNY concerts...he is like a giant colossus bestride the two worlds... :)i am amazed at the longevity and sustained relevance of neil... sure he has had some clunkers (techno-influenced trans commonly cited) along the way, but i think it is not only important to him, but nearly impossible otherwise, to incorporate new developments at times on the career arc as it unfolds, and not do the same thing for perpetuity... i thought the new psychedelic pill with crazy horse (haven't heard folky twin americana yet) that the recent 2012 (and i think continuing 2013 concerts - australia, europe?) were/are in support of, was well done...
 
'Apple Jack said:
Have you ever made it a Bridge School show, Bob?
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no, but i might try now if the opportunity avails itself. it sounds like a great cause... i think in waging heavy peace, he talks about how friend bruce springsteen helped him with the first one...
 
'zamboni said:
So hoping that Neil and Stills finally get that Buffalo Springfield reunion going. Looks like it was ready to go last year, and then the old acrimony surfaced and that was it.
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that would be great... i'm interested in the new stills box set that came out just last month...supposedy stills use to terrorize neil when they were in buffalo springfield together (like off stage), and could be bullying and intimidating... this may have been around the time he first started suffering epileptic seizures (who can say if any relationship of a causal nature, no doubt a lot of excitement but also associated pressure and anxiety from sudden national fame in early 20s that could have at least contributed?)...stills is quoted in BBC doc that he has an expectation that NY won't/can't be constrained by band all the time, but has questioned his timing... mentioning when he quit two days before the band was to appear on johnny carson show, which might have propelled them to another level... he also bailed famously on stills/NY tour (long may you run?), has had a similar incident on a CSNY tour, one time (not sure if NY, stills or both) asked crosby and nash to join an in progress session, only to later erase their vocal tracks, etc... *imo, it is possible that in the early going stills overestimated his contribution to buffalo springfield (and early CSNY iteration/s) and underestimated NYs importance... not that he wasn't hugely important (multitracked nearly all non-drum/percussion instrumental parts for first CSN album), he obviously was, but i think he would have been wrong to underestimate neil... i suspect this evaluation, especially given their different stations later in life (still has been relatively less productive last few decades, at least individually, and maybe even with CSN?), may have changed...neil says in BBC doc that despite the ups and downs (like with a family), his overall impression of stills is one of his very best friends... though they haven't played together a lot more than they have collaborated, cumulatively over the years, and though each reunion seems to be followed by a distressing number of akward partings, they must have a deep underlying mutual respect for each other musically (and maybe personally?) in order to continue making the attempts (sometimes tantalizingly realized, more often not)... i think they have both discussed how they can push each other into new places on guitar hard to reach by themselves, and they are both capable of supporting each other rhythmically when called for... * cool vintage rolling stone article, cameron crowe interview, about one of CSNs periodic reunions ('77?)...http://www.4waysite.com/articles/God_reunion77.htm
 
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'Ministry of Pain said:
'glumpy said:
'David Yudkin said:
Random tidbit of the day.I was surprised to learn that Neil is an avid model train enthusiast and was a part owner in Lionel Trains for over 15 years.
Click to expand...
:cool:Always been a fan.
Click to expand...
Same here, not surprised :thumbup:I always like Bob's threads.
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thanx, MoP...likewise.speaking to your next post, the acoustics in hollywood bowl are freaky (i heard the structures and shapes above stage were part of computer study having to do with optimization for sonic dispersal throughout the venue, reflecting the sound waves into the upper reaches)... one time (possibly a john mclaughlin concert with jonas hellborg in mid-80s?) we were at the very top, but were amazed we could hear somebody flick a lighter much closer to the stage (it was before the show and admittedly quiet, but not silent! :) )...* been a long time since i have seen a meaningful show their (did take my wife to see yanni - OOF!)... it did look like a couple interesting shows this summer... i think buddy guy with some iteration of the meters as second act... towards end of summer, wayne shorter with herbie hancock in support...
 
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'CokeZero said:
'glumpy said:
'David Yudkin said:
Random tidbit of the day.I was surprised to learn that Neil is an avid model train enthusiast and was a part owner in Lionel Trains for over 15 years.
Click to expand...
:cool:Always been a fan.
Click to expand...
Young enthusiasts should read his autobiography "Waging Heavy Peace". Just finished it a few weeks ago and it includes a lot of Neil's history with various bands. Be warned it is random and scattered, but he admits to that because he has been 'clean' for awhile. Talks alot about Lionel trains and various new projects he's involved in. As a fan it was nice to see his eclectic interests and his love for his family especially his children. :thumbup:
Click to expand...
i can vouch for this (as relatively new NY enthusiast), just few chapters into this, but it is very interesting... i have seen some interviews where he was less than articulate (in fairness, i think he is a very instinctive musician, not just in terms of making seemingly impulsive and impetuous career decisions from an outside vantage point, but in terms of the source of his music), so i was a little reticent, but he has a fascintating narrative voice... his father was an outstanding writer (nationally known sports writer, and also wrote novels)...it does jump around as was advertised, but i liken that to enjoying a good caper movie like kubrick's the killing of tarantino's reservoir dogs/pulp fiction precisely BECAUSE it has a non-linear structure, keeps it more interesting...come to think of it, neil's life and career haven't unfolded in a straightforward, linear fashion... a better way to "visualize" it might be to invoke the venerable, timeworn, universe-tested spiral ( :) ), in which he sometimes goes sideways, even backwards, than loops around to a similar point, only seen from higher place...* it was touching reading about his son ben young, who can't walk or talk... i think having a personal interest and motivation in bettering his son's care and that of other children like him was what prompted the bridge school fund raisers alluded to above...another project discussed early and often in the auto-bio is a new music delivery medium (at that time called pure tone ((?)), now pono)... not sure what level of readiness beyond prototype stage this is to commercial viability?
 
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Been a huge Neil fan for a long time. Discovered a while back that Neil was in a band called The Ducks with one of the guys from Moby Grape. They weren't allowed to tour because his other band had an exclusive contract so they played local night clubs in LA I believe. This was probably the mid 70s. Anyway, I found a full concert on the internet and listened to it. Absolutely fantastic complete with duck calls from the audience.

And to add to one of the stories told before in this thread; Neil wasn't planning on releasing Tonight's the Night. He was hanging with The Band and was playing his new album that he was going to release and then he played T'sTN and Rick Danko suggested he release that one instead.

 
I'm having a hard time reconciling myself with the new information (to me) that he quit drinking and smoking pot. That's like hearing Willie quit smoking.

 
some highlights...

audio

2004 greatest hits (75 minutes)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhteJ6SZxQ0

1977 decade (145 minutes)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSKkpwmUlO0

1969 everybody knows this is nowhere, with crazy horse (40 minutes)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGpBawPsqR4

1969 live at the fillmore east with crazy horse (43 minutes), one of few albums with late CH lead guitarist danny whitten... timochet mentioned this above, and it is outstanding...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At2XtmojpDk

1970 after the gold rush (35 minutes)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpNdiXLBDC4

1972 harvest, with stray gators (37 minutes)... has one of my favorite NY songs, words (between the lines of age), just before 31 minute mark... incidentally, archives vol. 1 effectively ends here (the VIDEO DVD journey through the past included as extra)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZPWNh8_Ph4

1973 tonights the night live (nearly 2 hours)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp6-E1XRf-E

1974 on the beach (39 minutes)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D705s1p4BU8

1975 chrome dreams unreleased (70 minutes), see detailed notes on songs and context if interested...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YknnvmYBhyo

1979 rust never sleeps, with crazy horse (38 minutes)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI-7zATi43E

1979 live rust, with crazy horse (74 minutes)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVXXAoPZ_Mw

* buffalo springfield, CSN & CSNY

1969 buffalo springfield retrospective (40 minutes)...

 
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video highlights (i'll add/edit in stuff later as i go)...

1971 BBC acoustic concert (nearly 30 minutes), guitar and piano...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWlD7R9VdrM

1974 CSNY live, wembley stadium (190 minutes!!)... reportedly chief CSN (and CSNY) archivists nash and bernstein are nearing completion of a box set (3 CDs & 1 DVD, not sure if above show?) of some of these 1974 shows that they have been working on for years (some reports said first quarter of 2013, so possibly soon - i'm sure they wanted to get the stills set out first)... there have been some complaints about the sound (in wembley, specifically), but perhaps they can repair some of that with contemporary tools?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_oEmZbtFU8

2002 german concert with poncho sampedro of CH and some of the MGs (Booker T Jones and duck dunn?), broadcast after few hour delay (160 minutes)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK-sRd8Q7Uw

2010 le noise (39 minutes), the same material seen in the longer journeys DVD (directed by oscar winner jonathan demme, who did silence of the lambs, among others, as well as NY concert heart of gold)... director jim jarmusch also did the excellent year of the horse ...

 
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Always been a big fan of Neil. Always loved me Over and Over or Country Home from Ragged Glory. After the Gold Rush is one of my favorite tunes of all time. His work on The Young Ones goes very underrated.

 
more source, background material...

2009 DVD legends of the canyon (110 minutes) by CSN/Y photog henry diltz gives general coverage of the LA scene at that time, but also understandably good specific coverage of the band... avail netflix (though not streaming)...

2012 KABC, eye on LA special legends of laurel canyon (60 minutes, may have some commercials)... this doc reportedly had input from music historian harvey kubernik, i preferred the hotel california doc based on hoskyns, as well as above one by diltz...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3V_ti8Z5dE

2011 from PBS american masters series, troubadors: carole king/james taylor & the rise of the singer-songwriter (90 minutes)... about the burgeoning socal singer-songwriter movement from late 60s, early 70s, also including neil young, joni mitchell (who he met when he was about 18, both being from canada) jackson brown (steely dan, the eagles), etc...

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/troubadours-carole-king-james-taylor-the-rise-of-the-singer-songwriter/watch-the-full-film/1798/

2012 david geffen entry from same PBS american masters series (just under 2 hours)... he was a super agent/manager (with elliot roberts) before becoming a media icon... helped launch the career of several of the musicians mentioned above, also came to sue NY around the time of trans... *

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/david-geffen/film-inventing-david-geffen/2361/

* funny part in the BBC doc (see above) in which NY talked about the circumstances in which geffen sued him for trans, which was deemed non-representative (come to think of it, this is almost an oxymoronic, nonsensical term when applied to the protean young, an artist who arguably as much as ANYBODY, is known in advance to be mercurial and have an eclectic sonic palette)... former partner (and long time NY manager) roberts felt he crossed the line, causing an irreperable breach in their relationship)...

for the record, geffen was paying big advances based on a previous body of work, which, while diverse, hadn't had anything like trans! :) NY was told by geffen to make a "rock" album, whatever that means... he than came out with a roots rock, neo-rockabilly work, which, for different reasons, was similarly uncommercial...

so it turned out in the end geffen wanted a "hard" rock album... neil talked about how if you are going to tell somebody what to make, and yell (and sue!), you should be (more) specific...

 
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When Decade came out I wore a DEEP groove in Hurricane and Cortez... One night while I was studying Hurricane came around (vinyl) so I reached over and cranked it up...

...About halfway in my Mom knocked on my door. I instinctively reached over to turn NY down as I called out to her to come on in. As she opened the door she said, "No, no, no- don't turn it down! Don't turn it down!" and proceeded to drift/dance around my room like some flower child on acid. As I watched her in amusement she told me with her eyes closed that "this song is like a trip... it's I don't know..."

"I know what you mean, Mom." ;)

 
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1971 eponymous first release crazy horse (full track sequence minus second to last song, i'll get by)...

gone dead train...

crow jane lady...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmXuwdgowsY

online review of the album...

http://www.warr.org/young.html

"If you ever wanted to hear a Neil Young record without Neil Young, this is the place to go. Young gave the band two tunes and matched them with youthful guitarist Nils Lofgren and crusty pianist/producer Jack Nitzsche, who in turn brought in Ry Cooder - Nitzsche's acquaintance from Rolling Stones sessions - to lay on some slide guitar. It's still mostly Danny Whitten's show; he sang most of the leads and wrote half the record (sounds like he stole the "Dirty Dirty" riff from David Bowie). But Lofgren and Nitzsche also contributed a few numbers - Nils' phase-a-thon "Beggars Day" and foot-stomping "Nobody" are plenty of fun, and Nitzche's languid, country-bluesy "Crow Jane Lady" sucks you right in despite being ruined by his lead croak. So it's no surprise that all the talent adds up to an imaginative and entertaining end product, with a lot of grungey rock and gritty country-blues that treads close to both Young and the Stones. And while Whitten's not as distinctive a singer as Young, he's got the same kind of ragged, knowing moan, and he's never hard on your ears. It's a damn shame that Whitten overdosed within a few months of this release."

* danny whitten...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Whitten

he can be heard (in addition to crazy horse debut) with neil on everybody knows..., after the gold rush, tonights the night and live at the fillmore east...

 
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Psychedelic Pill - first time listening. This. This is the stuff I love about Neil. God, I can't believe I missed this one. Can't wait to get stoned to the gills and listen to this on a long walk at night.

 
Saw him on this last tour w/ Promise of the Real (Willie Nelson's kids, basically). Was really good. Very Crazy Horse-like, and maybe even better. Great setlist that went from solo Neil to Harvest Moon stuff w/ the band, then new stuff and classics. Highlight = a 12-minute Cowgirl in the Sand. Fantastic show. He's going to do a few more dates out west - definitely see him on this tour if you're a fan.

 
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