Music

I mentioned in my first blog that one of my all time favorite bands/artists is Led Zeppelin.  OK, my top four of all time (could never rank beyond 4) also consist of Steely Dan, The Clash and yes...Neil Young.  Since Neil has something new out (and is only one of two on that list who has the potential to have anything new out), and since Deuce has talked about U2's latest in our music blog...I thought I'd bring a little attention to Neil.  Actually, his new "Fork In The Road" CD is nothing really new or groundbreaking, it's partially a platform to draw attention to his latest environmental/political crusade: the preservation of the American car industry.  You see, Neil got ahold of a 1959 Lincoln "Heavy Metal Continental," a 5,000 pound "whale" at least as big as any Chrysler the B-52's ever sang about, and is converting it to a hybrid with an ultimate goal of 100 miles per gallon (I think they have it just over 80 MPG at this point).  Once the goal is reached, Neil will drive it from Witchita, Kansas (where it's being modified) to Washington, DC to show everyone that American know-how is still very much alive...and if it can make this "whale" that efficient, Detroit can do it too...and, as he feels, without a lot of physical retooling to get it done.

Good 'ol Neil, that is one of the reasons I have always admired him...you never know what part of left field he is going to walk out of...just that he eventually will.  From rock to country to an album based on an ad slogan for a spray paint, to techno, back to country, over to grunge, etc. etc ...a true nightmare for any record company's marketing department.  Yet his music has influenced artists as diverse as James Taylor (who played banjo on the original studio recording of "Old Man"), Devo, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kurt Cobain, Eddie Vedder, Sonic Youth and Radiohead, just to name a few.  The kid from Canada, who suffered through Polio, Diabetes, Epilepsy (he sometimes refers to himself as Bernard Shakey), and a recent brain aneurysm which almost did him in for good, has done pretty well for himself. 

I first saw him live on a solo tour he did in the mid-80's, then with Crosby, Stills and Nash in 2003 and 2007, but regret never getting to see him with Crazy Horse.  A good friend of mine dated a girl many years ago who once toured with her brother as an acoustic act which did a lot of Neil's songs.  One night in the late 70's, while playing in a small bar in upstate New York, they noticed Neil sitting at the bar.  He introduced himself, then when their gig was done that evening, flew them to his farm in Canada.  She told me she couldn't believe it...there were chickens running through his farmhouse, which also doubled as the left speaker of a GIANT stereo system with his barn as the right speaker.  I think this is another reason he's been one of my hero's..he's always into the experience of music, and for Neil that experience is, many times, loud and clear.  His latest endeavor is offering up collections of his music on Blu-ray disc because of that formats ability to reproduce audio in a lossless format...loud and clear.

Anyway, back to his latest CD...it's a fun, country/rock group of songs that poke at today's economic issues, which has been the topic of several of Neil's past works, but this time with an enthusiastic outlook that "we'll get through this."  Maybe it's his older age or maybe it's his latest brush with death, but his tone seems less angry and more optimistic this time around.  Nonetheless, if you're already a fan you'll like it and, if not, it probably will not win you over.  I think the best chance of winning new fans over is his recent movie release on DVD, Jonathan Demme's "Heart of Gold" which is a concert he performed at the famed Ryman Auditorium in Nashville shortly after his recovery from the aneurysm and after the death of his father.  It really shows the emotional side of Neil, with some truly heart-rendering music, and the recording quality is excellent.  

Either way, with Neil Young, I have found, you either love him or....you usually tolerate the ones like me who do! 

PhilH