From 'Neil Young: Heart of Gold' Film
Photo by Bob Vergara, Paramount Classics
Pegi Young has a new album out "Bracing for Impact" and is on the road.
From Singer Pegi Young is 'Bracing for Impact' – USATODAY.com:
Pegi Young and her band The Survivors recorded in Los Angeles rather than at the more convenient studio on the Youngs' Broken Arrow Ranch in Northern California.
"There's a fantastic studio here, but there are also distractions," she says. "We started on a full moon, which Neil swears by, and we recorded seven tracks in one day."
Sessions ended after five days and Young went home, only to return a few weeks later with the newly hatched Gonna Walk Away.
"I was lying down to take a nap and this song came in," she says, "I thought, no, not now. But when the muse knocks, you open the door."
While she and Neil share musical tastes and outlooks, they operate on parallel tracks.
"Each of us goes into our hidey-holes to write," she says. "We share the philosophy that you have to be honest and true and feel good about what you're doing. It hasn't been a hindrance being married to someone who's made a life example of that."
...
The Bridge School has flourished, as has Ben, 33, a state-certified organic egg farmer.
"Ben has enriched our lives," Young says. "We call him our spiritual leader. Most of the artists who perform at the Bridge concerts have never interacted with the disabled. They get immersed in the kids and their families, and by the end of the weekend, they change. It's a huge honor to be able to bridge those worlds."
And speaking of Pegi, here's a comment on The Surrealism of Neil Young's "On The Beach" Album from Mother Nature Knows:
If you asked Neil, he would probably say that whole time period was surreal. Don't read too much into it because had he continued on that path, he would have been found dead somewhere.
Pegi pulled him out of the maelstrom of craziness and the surreal, breathed new life into him, and gave him a second look at life.
Also, see Pegi Young Talks New Album, Bridge School Benefit | American Songwriter and Pegi Young And The Survivors: "Flatline Mama" on Conan.
Bless you Pegi and stay as sweet as you are. Lots of people talk about "family values"; the true believers live those values every day and every waking moment..."never lose the will to love". I'll always remember seeing you last December, raising a toast to Ben Keith and hearing Bert Jansch place his magic spell on us all.
ReplyDeleteI'm watching the live panel discussion for World Aids Day right now and Bono has just been called "the real deal" by President Bush...maybe things aren't so bad after all?! Just watching the opening portion with Arcade Fire's song Wake Up playing was pretty emotional...The Beginning of the End of Aids. My daughter works in this field, for an organization that's striving to develop a vaccine and cure. Godspeed to you all.
I always find myself inspired whenever I hear about Ben and the beautiful life that he lives. As you might know, the song Keep on the Sunny Side was written by Ada Blenkhorn who was inspired by her nephew. He also needed a wheelchair and would ask to go down the sunny side of the street whenever he went out. So this is for Ben and his family.
There's a dark and a troubled side of life
There's a bright and a sunny side too
Though we meet with the darkness and strife
The sunny side we also may view
Keep on the sunny side
Always on the sunny side
Keep on the sunny side of life
It will help us every day
It will brighten all the way
If we keep on the sunny side of life
Though the storm in its fury break today
Crushing hopes that we cherished so dear
Storm and cloud will in time pass away
The sun again will shine bright and clear
Let us greet with a song of hope each day
Though the moments be cloudy or fair
Let us trust in our Savior always
Who keepeth everyone in His care
Keep on the sunny side
Always on the sunny side
Keep on the sunny side of life
It will help us every day
It will brighten all the way
If we keep on the sunny side of life
--Ada Blenkhorn & J. Howard Entwisle