Neil Young

I’ve also been thinking that the waves of music that Neil goes through is a lot like Bob Dylan.  Dylan has some terrible releases, only to come back a few releases later with yet another widely considered masterpiece.  Neil’s Greendale period is just such a lull in his recorded legacy.  

I love NY in all his different settings.  I’ve seen him solo, with Crazy Horse and with several other backing bands.  He puts on an amazing show.  I haven’t seen him lately because his ticket prices are so high and it’s okay with me if I don’t see him after so many shows.  A true music legend.  

Ironically, he said it himself, "Better to burnout, than to fade away"....

We knew him a bit back in the late 60's when he had a house up in Topanga Cyn and we hung out at a bar named The Corral on Topanga Cyn Blvd. Many artists came in there , Dylan , Neil , Canned Heat , Joni Mitchell and others. They were all friendly and would play a bit sometimes if handed a guitar but they were there to hang out not perform. Everyone treated them like anyone else h I'm sure was appreciated. Neil's early stuff was really good. After The Gold Rush is my favorite. It was recorded in his basement which he made into a recording studio. Pretty sure they did Southern Man on one take. That's Jack Nitzsche on piano who Neil said he had to talk into doing it as he was quite inebriated at the time. Neil was always quite cordial and I love his guitar playing. That's a Gibson sunburst given to him by Jim Messina when they were in Buffalo Springfield. Neil calls it old black because someone had painted it black. It has a terrific sound and he can sure play it although when his partner Danny Whitten O.D.'d Neil said things were never the same afterwards. I don't like his politics and didn't like it when he dumped his wife of many years Peggy but then I'm not perfect either. Neil is an icon for sure.

I like Neil especially his early LPs but think some of his political preaching is hypocritical. He’s in the money grab like including previously released full albums in the archive series and phony environmentalist using only a few minutes of a cd when the music would easily fit on another one.