Rockin' in the YouTube World: The Music of Neil Young You Tube Contest

A tribute to the music of Neil Young will be held at Carnegie Hall, New York City on February 10th, 2011. As we reported last year, tribute artists include: Patti Smith, The Roots, Cowboy Junkies, Bettye LaVette, & others.

In addition, a contest has been announced -- Rockin' in the YouTube World: The Music of Neil Young You Tube Contest :

"Tonight's the Night to show your musical talents.

Do you Dance Dance Dance when you hear a Neil Young tune? Is Rockin' in the Free World not just a song, but your personal mantra? Do you believe that Rock and Roll is Here to Stay?

Want to see all your favorite Neil Young songs brought to life at one huge tribute event, and stick around for the after-party with some other very special VIP guests?

For the ultimate Neil Young fan who has spent years mastering Heart of Gold, this is your moment.

Create an original Neil Young Tribute video and upload your video to our YouTube Channel HERE of you performing/playing/interpreting an original Neil Young song.

We will assess all valid entries and the individual whose entry we decide is most creative and entertaining will win two VIP tickets to the Neil Young tribute concert at Carnegie Hall (www.neilyoungcarnegie.com) on February 10th, 2011 in New York City, and then party it up at the VIP after-party at City Winery in Soho (www.citywinery.com).

Full contest details at City Winery.

Keep on YouTube'n in free the World!

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Jeff Healey Band Covers "Like a Hurricane" on YouTube

Here's the Jeff Healey Band covering Neil Young's "Like a Hurricane" at Notodden Blues Festival, Norway in August 2006 on YouTube.

Sadly, Jeff passed away a few years ago. A unique talent who made the best of his disabilities. For more, see Jeff Healey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

So will Neil write another "Hurricane"? He seems to think so. Or maybe he already has?

We would like to argue that he has written another "Hurricane" and it is titled "No Hidden Path". An epic jam that some ask whether the song is an Atomic Sunrise or a Nuclear Sunset?


"No Hidden Path"
Neil Young - London, England - 3/9/08
Photo by Dan on Flickr

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The Story Behind The Photo | Jay Blakesberg Photography

Neil Young - Bridge School Concert, October 30, 2005
Photo by Jay Blakesberg

A nice photo gallery by renowned photographer Jay Blakesberg of Neil Young at the Bridge School Concert on October 30, 2005.

Jay tells the story behind the photo:

This was shot for a feature in Esquire Magazine.

Earlier that year Neil was given Hank Williams old guitar and case (The one in the photo). Trying to wrangle Neil for a photo shoot is not an easy task! I was promised 5 minutes. I had a small window where the available light was perfect in front of Neils car and tour bus. I discussed it with neil for a minute and he said, right after he gets off stage with Los Lobos we will do it.

Neils guitar tech - Larry Cragg showed me where the guitar case was locked inside the equipment truck. He told me to go in right when it was time and grab the guitar as I wanted that old Hank case in the shot. I had my 11 year old son with me and sent him in there to grab the guitar and bring it out. Neil was standing there with me, and saw Sam carrying the case and said "ok, I think I can handle that from here" and took the case to walk over and do the shoot.

Classic moment having your son hand Neil Hanks guitar...

More rock & roll photos by Jay Blakesberg.

Also, see more on Neil Young's guitars.

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2011 Tour: Buffalo Springfield or Crazy Horse?

Neil Young's Facebook Post on June 24, 2010

As usual, much speculation about Neil Young's next tour.

The rumor mill got kicked up last summer when Neil posted on Facebook about needing a band to play "Vampire Blues" for the 2010 Gulf Coast tour.

Naturally, the comment triggered lots of wishful thinking about a possible Crazy Horse reunion.

The comment was interpreted at the time by some as an open invitation to Crazy Horse to leave the pasture behind.


Crazy Horse
Ralph Molina, Billy Talbot & Frank Sampedro
MusiCares Honors Neil Young - Los Angeles, CA - 1/29/10
Photo by Joni Milken-Noah
Then in the recent American Songwriter Cover Interview with Neil Young And Daniel Lanois by Jaan Uhelszki comes another overt gesture to Crazy Horse:

American Songwriter: You haven’t worked with Crazy Horse for some time. Is there still collaboration with Crazy Horse in your future?

Neil Young: Well, you know, there is, somewhere out there. They have to be together before I can be together with them. They haven’t been doing anything together, so they need to be able to do it. I don’t have the time to support things. I have to go with things that are going to support me. But I think they can do it.

Certainly over the years, we hear more pleas for a Crazy Horse tour than just about anything else - Archives and Toast included. But then you have all of the hyping of a possible Buffalo Springfield Reunion tour.


The Buffalo Springfield, v. 2010
Joe Vitale, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Neil Young and Rick Rosas
Photo by Eleanor Stills (via Rick Rosas | Facebook)

After the triumphant reunion of The Buffalo Springfield at the 2010 Bridge School Benefit Concerts, rumors have also been swirling about a possible Buffalo Springfield Reunion Tour. Ritchie Furay has discussed it. The Los Angeles Times has stoked the flames and Rolling Stone magazine even went through the motions of laying out opening band possibilities.

So.

Who would you like to see Neil Young tour with in 2011? Buffalo Springfield or Crazy Horse? And why?




Oh yeah, remember, Neil never, ever listens to his fan base.


Fans React to Rumors of a "Possible" Buffalo Springfield Reunion Tour

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Randomly Blogged: Mojo Cover, Daniel Lanois, Adam Vollick, Pegi & Neil Photos, Linc-Volt Report, Jimmy Fallon... Again

Mojo Magazine - February 2011

Neil Young on the cover of this month's Mojo Magazine (February 2011).

A 25-page tribute of stars (Paul McCartney, David Crosby, Metallica, MGMT, Rush etc) choose their favorite Neil Young compositions, Phil Sutcliffe tells the story of Harvest, Nils Lofgren explains how to play with Shakey, while the Neil tells Sylvie Simmons about the ancient mystic art of songwriting.

Includes free CD "HARVEST REVISITED", Neil Young’s classic album re-recorded exclusively for MOJO by Villagers, Phosphorescent, Doug Paisley, Smoke Fairies, Neville Skelly, Chip Taylor, Jane Weaver, Kelley Stoltz, Sam Amidon and Danny And The Champions Of The World.

Order Mojo on Amazon.com.

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Fascinating interview with Daniel Lanois on Blogcritics Music by Donald Gibson:

Blogcritics Donald Gibson: Experience must dictate a lot of this, but when do you know when to say, “This isn’t working?” or “This other idea is better?” How do you know when to switch gears to reach some common ground?

Daniel Lanois: Well, I usually encourage all ideas to be brought to conclusion, if you have the time, especially if you’re with a group of folks who want to experiment. Somebody’s got an idea, see it through. It just costs time. And then a few days from the work, everybody listens and it becomes clear what rises to the surface, what the strongest ideas are, and go from there. People are smart so they’re not going to be supporting a weak result. You never know about an idea until you bring it to conclusion. I try to say yes to everything, but in the end my commitment and my care — I think people really feel that I care about them and their music — so I might give some ultimate advice on content, as I did with Neil.

We had an excess of material. I said, “Neil, believe it or not, I think this should be an eight-song record. It should be 39-minutes long, just like the vinyl days. You’ve already got your two slow songs; the rest should be rockers.” So we had to put five or six songs into the coral that he loved, and I loved too. It would have weighed the record down. It would’ve made it a soft record, which I felt served him badly. So in the end he said, “You’re the man. You’re my editor. You’re my curator.”

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Alternate Ending of Neil Young's 'Walk With Me'

From Spinner, interview with videographer Adam Vollick, who filmed Le Noise videos:

"Vollick captured each track as it was committed to the hard drive, and his 38-minute black-and-white film 'Le Noise Film' is perfectly suited to the raw intensity of Young's performance.

If the film connects on any level, Vollick credits his subject.

'Neil's a force. You feel his conviction in everything he says and in every note he plays,' he says. 'You just have to rise to the occasion.'

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Pegi Young and Spooner Oldham on keyboards, Phil Jones on drums and Neil
Photo Gallery and review by Benjamin Lozovsky
Bell House, Brooklyn, New York - December 16, 2010

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Neil Young is back rebuilding Linc-Volt after the fire. A report from Jalopnik: "Determined to rebuild the LincVolt, we saw Young on webcam this week visiting the remains of his charred dream."

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Jimmy Fallon, as Neil Young, covers "Tardy for the Party" by Kim Zolciak.

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Freedom in a New Year

Freedom (1989) by Neil Young -
"The rock and roll coda of the Cold War"

Neil Young's album Freedom -- which was released in 1989 just as the Berlin Wall fell -- has been called "the rock and roll coda of the Cold War".

The album contains the song "Rockin' In The Free World" and is one of Young's most popular, important and prophetic songs of his vast catalog.

The song has become an iconic anthem and it's status continues to rise as more and more artists cover the song. Young's lyrics are considered to be an indictment of the politics of the 1980's. In today's post-9/11 world, the lyrics seem prophetic and even more meaningful than when originally written on the eve of the '90's as the Berlin Wall fell.

Twenty years on, the song "Rockin' In The Free World" has become a set closer for bands,as well as, a coda for an era.


"There's colors on the street
Red, white and blue"

Pearl Jam covers "Rockin' in the Free World"
Final Philadelphia Spectrum Concert - 10/31/2009

In 2009, Pearl Jam concluded their tour at the Philadelphia Spectrum with "Rockin' in the Free World" amidst an avalanche of balloons and confetti to commemorate the final concert at the historic venue before it's demolition.


"We got a thousand points of light
For the homeless man"
Freedom: Berlin Wall, Germany - 1989

There are those who have argued that "Rockin' in the Free World" espouses anti-freedom ideals, to which we have taken serious issue with in the past.


"We got a kinder, gentler,
Machine gun hand"
Freedom: Tiananmen Square, China - 1989

Yet the song is often misunderstood and attacked on false interpretations and misplaced understandings. Witness some of the near violent comments that have been left on this blog over the years in reaction to some of our previous postings on the song's lyrical analysis (see comments here and here.)


"But there's a warnin' sign on the road ahead
There's a lot of people sayin' we'd be better off dead
Don't feel like Satan, but I am to them
So I try to forget it, any way I can."
Freedom: Kent State University, Ohio - 1970

As always, we live in dangerous times where those who stand for freedom are often accused of treason and worse. Such times are now and the struggle for freedom -- even among those who feel they are actually free -- is more paramount than ever. The right to live and speak freely is an inalienably human right that can never be assumed nor taken for granted.


Freedom: Sunset Strip, Los Angeles, CA - November 1966

So, for what it's worth...


U.S. President John F. Kennedy - 1961
The President and the Press:
Address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
New York City, April 27, 1961

Addressing the American Newspaper Publishers Association at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City on April 27, 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy said at the peak of the Cold War's Cuban Missile Crisis:

"The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it.

Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know.

[We have an] obligation to inform and alert the American people -- to make certain that they possess all the facts that they need, and understand them as well -- the perils, the prospects, the purposes of our program and the choices that we face.

Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed -- and no republic can survive. That is why the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy. And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment-- the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution -- not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply "give the public what it wants" -- but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion.

And so it is to the printing press -- to the recorder of man's deeds, the keeper of his conscience, the courier of his news -- that we look for strength and assistance, confident that with your help man will be what he was born to be: free and independent."

Leia's Daddy

"There's one more kid that will never go to school
Never get to fall in love, never get to be cool."

freedom. not just another word.

happy new year.

peace

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More on finding the cost of freedom.

UPDATE: Comment of the Moment: Freedom in a New Year

UPDATE 2/12/11:

"The revolution will not be televised"
... it will be blogged, streamed,
tweeted, shared and liked


Revolution in Tahrir Square
Cairo, Egypt - February 12, 2011


Twitter / @RepStones

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UPDATE 2/18/11:

Wisconsin: Keep on Rockin' in the Free World
30,000 Protesters in Madison, Wisconsin Capitol - Feb 17, 2011

Twitter / @Marti : R @manyko2 For @sdpdx Rock ...

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UPDATE 3/23/11:

Rebel in Libya - 3/23/11

UPDATE 4/23/11:
Demonstrators in Syria - 4/20/11



UPDATE 4/23/11:
Celebration in Yemen - 6/5/11

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The whole world is morphing. The whole world is morphing. The whole world is morphing.

"The Earth is talking to me
I hear a rumblin' in her ground
Don't you feel that new wind blowing?
Don't you recognize that sound?"
~~Neil Young


Gulf Oil Gusher Rally, Florida, June 2010
1,000,000 Strong Against Offshore Drilling | Facebook
"Walk with Us"

be the rain, rumble, rock. now.
namaste

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