3rd Leg of Twisted Road Goes to Gulf of Mexico

A 3rd leg of Neil Young's "Twisted Road" concert tour has been announced.

Only one date listed so far on Hollywood, Florida on September 23.

From N Y Times:

HARD ROCK SHOW ANCHORS GULF COAST TOUR

September 23 at the HARD ROCK in Hollywood Florida is now confirmed. Tickets are already on sale. Other dates will be announced that are surrounding this show in Florida and on the Gulf Coast. Theaters in cities on the Gulf Coast are being checked for availability. We will be announcing these tour dates as they are officially confirmed. I am looking forward to playing Florida and the Gulf Coast.

This leg of the tour may well prove to be most fascinating.

Neil has already indicated that "Vampire Blues" may be part of the setlist. With mother nature on the run in the 21st century, maybe it's time to listen. As Sun Green would say, "we've got a job to do, we've got to save the Gulf of Mexico."

More on Leg #1 & #2 of Neil Young's "Twisted Road" concert tour.


"Look At Mother Nature On The Run In The 21st Century"

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Social Networking With Neil Young

Last year, we blogged about how Neil Young was being recognized as a social marketing genius. OK, so it was a little tongue in cheek.

But lo & behold, it looks like Neil got off that couch and posted on Facebook:

"i have been thinking about adding vampire blues to my show. but i would rather do it with a band. this is my first posting. thanks for being there."

Fascinating.

Vampire Blues. So timely. So awesome.

We "Liked" it. And so did about 10,000 others with thousands of comments.

Vampire Blues has only been played live once, when Young guested with Eagles on March 26th, 1974.

Neil's FB posting even made news in Rolling Stone, which relayed a rant from Chicago in 1999, about his "internet fans" fromHyperRust:

"One thing I found out on this tour is that the Internet has really changed things a lot. They got this list of all the songs I play. We try and play new songs all the time. I don't ever look at it. I just heard of it. Every night, whatever you do, it's there. I'll probably never look at the damn thing. I might use it for something else. I don't need to keep track of myself. I don't want to keep track of anyone else whose keeping track of me, either. A couple of weeks ago somebody was talking and I went, 'Shut up asshole!' I'm sure it went right up there. That's the Shut Up Asshole show! People in Zimbabwe are finding out what I said. I don't know what to make of all that. Here's another new song for this tour. It's probably only been played once before, maybe three days ago. It'll show up on the graph. They keep track of how many new songs I did, how many old songs I did in a different way. It's just a stupid song."

Welcome Neil! Good to see you. What's next. Start using Twitter?!

More on Neil Young's On The Beach infamous "blues trilogy": "Revolution Blues", "Vampire Blues", and "Ambulance Blues".

Sucking blood from the Gulf of Mexico...

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Norah Jones Covers Neil Young's "Barstool Blues"

Norah Jones performs Neil Young's "Barstool Blues" in Prospect Park, Brooklyn on 06.09.10.

From Entertainment Weekly, Norah Jones reveals her current listening: "But I’m, like, obsessed with Neil Young. I’m listening to Zuma and Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere a lot. He seems like someone that just does whatever the hell he wants. And God love him for that!"


Norah Jones performs "Tell Me Why"
MusiCares Person Of The Year Tribute To Neil Young at the Los Angeles Convention Center on January 29, 2010 in Los Angeles, California

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Irony While Rockin’ in the Free World

Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Greendale at Radio City Music Hall, New York City - March 18, 2004
Photo by Thrasher

Over the years, we've written quite extensively how Neil Young's song “Rockin’ in the Free World” has been used and abused for a variety of purposes.

Now comes an in-depth look at the irony and aftermath of RITFW from The Umpteenth Times by Kevin Egan:

To borrow a phrase from the mathematicians, people seem to enjoy things broken down to it’s lowest common denominator. In the case of “Rockin’ in the Free World,” Young experiences what Springsteen has with “Born in the USA,” which is an audience clueless to the ideas expressed in his song.

The masses only seem to recall the chorus to this song, when the chorus is only a summing up of what the verses had articulated with more specific concepts and detailed images. It’s quite possible that Young may have been inspired by Springsteen (Springsteen’s song was written years before Young’s) when he created his own “anti-anthem,” a song in which a chorus is sung ironically, juxtaposed against gloomy, hopeless lyrics.

Though some may argue differently, this is far from an elitist tactic, particularly since both Young and Springsteen sing their verses quite clearly and include the lyrics to the songs on their albums. The information is there for the listener to absorb if they are interested. Unfortunately, in both these cases, many people still don’t get the joke and they ultimately and sadly become part of the joke. They sing proudly and patriotically to these “anti-anthems” that point out the hardships and inequalities of a system and government that has failed their people. It is only to those who have been listening attentively that the irony of these pieces comes across clearly enough.

Thanks Kevin!

More from NO SERIOUSLY: “Rockin’ in the Free World:” The Irony Continues | theumpteenthtimes.com.

Also, see lyrics analysis of Neil Young's “Rockin’ in the Free World”.

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In Search of International Harvesters Material

International Harvesters Tour, Costa Mesa, CA - 10/24/84
Photo by Robert Matheu

Well, it looks like the folks over at Shakey Pictures are looking for some Neil Young archival material from the International Harvesters era.

Hi Thrasher,
The Neil Young Archives team is looking for any rare film or video footage that collectors and fans may have of the International Harvesters band.

In our library we already have their performances on Austin City Limits, Live Aid, Farm Aid and Nashville Now.

Now we are reaching out to the community for contributions.

If you or someone you know has Harvesters footage that isn't what is listed above, they can send the details to me.

I will get you in contact with the appropriate person in the Shakey Pictures production crew to send it to.

Thanks for your help and the great dedication to the community on Thrashers Wheat.

-Archives Guy
nyv1archive@yahoo.com

So, if you can help out, we're sure the Shakey Pix guys would love to hear from you.

The International Harvesters era -- which ran from roughly ~1984 - 1985 -- produced some wonderful country twang moments in Neil Young's career. The band consisted of 2 band lineups:

International Harvesters Band #1
Ben Keith
Anthony Crawford
Rufus Thibodeaux
Spooner Oldham
Tim Drummond
Karl T. Himmel
Larry Cragg
Joel Bernstein

International Harvesters Band #2
Ben Keith
Anthony Crawford
Rufus Thibodeaux
Hargus Pig Robbins
Joe Allen
Karl T. Himmel
Matraca Berg
Tracy Nelson
Larry Cragg
Joel Bernstein

(Bonus points for correctly identifying each player's instrument.)

From a Funhouse album review of Old Ways by Steve Peck:

The International Harvesters were a swinging band that added a lot to the quality of Old Ways, and this is Neil's most realized country effort to date. One enjoyable aspect of the album is his use of Waylon Jennings for vocal harmonies. Waylon and Neil's voices blend well together, and Jennings is one of the best harmonizers around. Willie Nelson shows up to duet on "Are There Any More Real Cowboys?," adding further to the record's country credentials. This period of Neil's career is even more significant if you look past the Old Ways album, and take into account the subsequent International Harvesters tour, with its performances of several exceptional, unreleased songs, "Interstate" and "Grey Riders."

YouTube - Neil Young w/ International Harvesters & Nicolette Larson - "Homegrown" at Farm Aid II

Some more International Harvesters video:

YouTube - NEIL YOUNG SOUTHERN PACIFIC 8/17/85 - 1985-08-17, Canadian National Exhibition Grandstand, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

YouTube - Neil Young & Waylon Jennings 1984 - Neil Young & Waylon Jennings Sept 20 1984 'Nashville Now' TV show Are You Ready For the Country?

YouTube - Neil Young - Nashville Now tv show pt 1 - Neil Young on the tv show Nashville Now on Sept 20 1984. Part 1 includes intro, Field of Opportunity and the first part of the interview.

YouTube - Neil Young - Nashville Now tv show pt 3 - Neil Young on the tv show Nashville Now on Sept 20 1984. Part 3 - Amber Jean, band intro's and the closing moments of the show."

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Jewel and Neil Young

Jewel

During Neil Young's 1996 tour, singer-songwriter Jewel performed as the opening act in her first performances before large audiences. Certainly, a challenge for any act to open solo acoustic before an electric Crazy Horse set.

In discussing her new album, "Sweet and Wild", she recalls sage advice from Neil Young. From Winnipeg Free Press by Victoria Ahearn:

Jewel says the theme of her new album, "Sweet and Wild," is finding your inner truth and defending it.

It's a lesson Canadian music legend Neil Young taught her in the mid-1990s when she was touring with him and promoting her debut album, "Pieces of You," she explained in a recent interview.

At the time, her single "Who Will Save Your Soul" was "starting to have some baby success," she said, but the rest of the album was "struggling" to get off the ground and her label wanted her to give up on it and focus on a sophomore effort.

Desperate for a hit to avoid having to live in her car again, she agreed.

"I started writing kind of bad, hooky material that I thought would do well on radio but it just wasn't very me," the three-time Grammy-nominated artist, born Jewel Kilcher, said from her Texas ranch.

"I remember Neil kind of talking to me about it and I told him my dilemma. I was like, 'I wrote a song that the label loves and I just feel horrible about it, I think it's a crappy song but I really want a hit and I don't want to get dropped from my label,' and I was kind of in this terrible position.

"And Neil was like, 'Don't worry about it. Don't care about radio, don't think about radio, just keep writing what you write and stick to touring,' which kind of gave me the strength to try and keep doing that."

Later, as the album took off (it eventually sold over 12 million copies in the U.S.), Young offered her more sage advice as she walked off stage from a sound check at Madison Square Garden.

"I must have looked green because he goes, 'You look nervous,' and I was like, 'I am nervous,' and he's like, 'Why?' and I'm like, 'Because you're Neil Young and you have Crazy Horse and I'm going to die out there, they're going to murder me, solo acoustic!'" she said.

"And he looked at me, got real serious and he put his finger in my face and he goes: 'This is just another hash house on the road to success. You show them no respect,' which I thought was the coolest line ever!"

More on Neil Young's influence on other artists.

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Neil Young Print by Shepard Fairey

A graphic print of Neil Young photo by the artist Shepard Fairey went on sale last week. The limited edition sold out in 3 minutes.

The print is based on the photography by Henry Diltz of Neil Young and his White Falcon guitar at Balboa Stadium, San Diego, before a CSNY concert in 1969.

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"Needle of Death" by Bert Jansch

Bert Jansch performs "Needle of Death" 6/15/10 in Felton, CA.

Bert Jansch recenty performed "Needle of Death" while on tour with Pegi Young.

"Needle of Death" has been cited by Neil Young as an inspiration for the song "Ambulance Blues". Neil Young told Rolling Stone back in 1992:

"I was especially taken by Needle Of Death, such a beautiful and angry song. That guy was so good… And years later, on On The Beach, I wrote the melody of Ambulance Blues by styling the guitar part completely on Needle Of Death. I wasn’t even aware of it, and someone else drew my attention to it."

And here's review of a recent concert of Pegi Young Goes and Bert Jansch by
Daniel in Portland:

"Behind every great guy there's a great gal."

I don't know who said that but it's more than true when it comes to Neil Young.

I attended the Bert Jansch/Pegi Young Band show on June 12. The venue holds less than 200 and we had seats up front. I think the smaller the venue the better for two artists' like these. And without elaborating, all I'm going to say here is that Pegi's set was a heck of a lot of FUN! The crowd was movin' and groovin'!

Bert Jansch is a whole different trip. Same crowd, totally different reaction. We were sitting no more than ten feet from the stage and we were fixated, for lack of a better term. Compared to Pegi's set that had folks whistling and yahooing, the crowd settled in to hear every nuance and follow every tuning and capo setting of the guitar (he changed it every song). At one point, he said, "You're very quiet."

Nobody said nothin'. Like I said, we were enamored with his...playing and presence.
So, it was like two completely different shows in one. But both having one common thread and that is being associated with Neil. It blows my mind some people think there is something wrong with that.

"Behind every great guy there's a great gal."

You bet your ass there is!

It was nice meeting you, Pegi.

- Daniel in Portland

More on Pegi Young and Bert Jansch tour and Bert Jansch and Neil Young.

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Don’t Spook The Horse Upcoming Gigs

The Neil Young Tribute Band Don’t Spook The Horse has a few upcoming warmup gigs in preparation for the 2010 NYAS convention:

• 30th June 2010, Royal Norfolk Show
• 2nd July 2010, The Corner House, Wells-next-the-Sea.
• 17th July 2010, Blakeney Harbour Rooms, NR25 7NU
• 29th August 2010, Darby’s. Elsing Road, Swanton Morley, Dereham, Norfolk, NR20 4NY
• 18th September 2010, Neil Young Appreciation Society convention, London

NYAS convention set for the weekend 17th / 19th September 2010 in Brixton

See NYAS conventions for details.

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