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| Neil Young |
Neil Young has been part of my life musically since the my teenage years in the late '80s. He seemed to have a particular appeal to the kids of my generation, even though he was an icon from the '60s. Over the years, I have owned recorded versions of his music in various forms whether it is his work with Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young (CSNY) or with Crazy Horse. I have owned copies of "After the Gold Rush", "Harvest", "Decade", "Freedom", and "Harvest Moon". I also owned "The Bridge" - a tribute album released in 1989 with covers by Pixies, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, and Psychic TV. So I think it is safe to say that I am a fan and have been for over thirty years. But I realized that, in the present, I have no music by Neil Young. So, I downloaded a collection simply called "Greatest Hits" with selections spanning his solo career, his time with CSNY and Crazy Horse, missing only a sample from his days with Buffalo Springfield.
I have a chance to see Neil live back in 1997. For my job, I had traveled down to Phoenix for training, and my wife was out of town visiting family. So I bought tickets to that year's H.O.R.D.E. Festival, where Crazy Horse was headlining. I opted for the Desert Sky Pavilion's general admission tickets, which were cheaper than reserved seating, which was a mistake. Reserved seating was in the shade, and general admission was in the hot July sun. Everyone was scantily clad in the heat, the girls all in bikini tops. I was the only Mormon fundamentalist there, dressed in garments and long-sleeved shirt. I only survived by downing glass after glass of expensive Coffee Plantation lemonade. I spent the day on the grass watching Toad the Wet Sprocket. Sky Cries Mary, Leftover Salmon, Ben Fold Five, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Morphine, Primus, and many others.
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| Neil Young in his younger years |
At one point during the day, I wandered to one of the tents. and Neil Young happened to come in wearing shorts, a white tee and a baseball cap, carrying his acoustic guitar. He put on a show for an intimate crowd, playing well-known songs like "Southern Man", "Heart of Gold", "Ohio", "Old Man", and "The Needle & the Damage Done". It was still one of the best live musical experiences I have ever had. There was even a moment where Neil looked right at me. I was standing only about ten feet away from him. He was probably wondering why in the hell I was wearing long sleeves in the middle of summer.
At night, Crazy Horse put on a crazy show, doing songs like "Cinnamon Girl", "Cowgirl in the Sand", and "Down By the River". It was still 105 degrees when I left the venue after midnight.
All of those songs and more are found on this collection, which is really a walk down memory lane for me.
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| Willie Nelson and Neil Young at Standing Rock protests |
Not only has Neil been a presence musically in recent years - jamming with the likes of Pearl Jam, R.E.M., and Red Hot Chili Peppers - but he has been a force for social change, which is something that I admire about him. From his war protest songs in the '60s to speaking out against blatant materialism in the '80s ("This Note's For You"). When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, "Rockin' In the Free World" was the unofficial anthem of that event. And into our modern day, he has written songs in protest to our illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has used his warbling voice to speak out against injustice.
And in recent days, he met with tribal leaders at the protest site in Standing Rock to speak out against the corporate greed of DAPL with its government thugs backing them up, exploiting once again our native peoples and their land. This is a cause I feel strongly about. I encourage you to learn more about this and do something about it. Take Neil's example. Keep on rocking, Neil!
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