Neil Young Interview at Farm Aid 1985 - YouTube
An interesting look back to 1985 and the very first Farm Aid concert.
Clearly, Neil Young is quite excited about the event. Neil also wonderfully reveals his "true self" and his love of "country rock-n-roll."
What's most fascinating is his evolution in thinking about how to deal with the farm crisis in the 1980's to today's approach.
To think that Congress might be of help today is a joke, sadly.
Labels: farm aid, interview, neil young
by thrasher@PermaLink: 2/12/2013 07:24:00 PM
14 comments
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14 Comments:
The Farm Aid 1985 Lineup:
•Alabama
•John Anderson
•Beach Boys
•The Blasters
•Bon Jovi
•Jimmy Buffett
•Glen Campbell
•Johnny Cash
•David Allan Coe
•John Conlee
•Ry Cooder
•Lacy J. Dalton
•Charlie Daniels
•John Denver
•Bob Dylan
•John Fogerty
•Foreigner
•Vince Gill
•Merle Haggard & the Strangers
•Sammy Hagar
•Daryl Hall
•Don Henley
•Waylon Jennings
•Billy Joel
•George Jones
•Rickie Lee Jones
•B.B. King
•Carole King
•Robbie Krieger
•Kris Kristofferson
•Lone Justice
•Lorreta Lynn
•Delbert McClinton
•John Mellencamp
•Roger Miller
•Joni Mitchell
•Willie Nelson and Family
•Randy Newman
•Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
•Roy Orbison
•Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
•Bonnie Raitt
•Lou Reed
•Kenny Rogers
•Johnny Rodriguez
•John Schneider
•Bryan Setzer
•Southern Pacific
•Tanya Tucker
•Eddie VanHallen
•Dottie West
•Winter Brothers
•X
•Neil Young & International Harvesters
That's a helluva lineup! I'd go just to see Roger Miller for that one.
And 25+ years later they're still trying to help. That is what it's all about friends.
Sorry to be off topic, great You Tube Vid of WLAG from Red Rocks, not sure if Thrasher poster it before, but for those who haven't seen it, its sublime:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEPPuyA3GOs
Wow...to think that in 1985 we at least had a President who deeply loved his country...fast forward to today's narcissistic man-child who throws up straw men arguments & limitless platitudes of crap...
Yes I went there...
Isn't it time for another cut & paste global warming post Thrasher?
'Yes We Can!'...change the weather...lol...
Was it a 2 day event? I mean that's a TON of acts...many of which have passed on sadly...
Agreed on the politics of today...Barack is an embarrassment...
@01:05:00 PM - We think Neil's talking to you here in the 1st few seconds of this clip.... http://youtu.be/Go0p0pINQOo
You know. The part about the doubters.
peace
Neil's such a dude.
Ain't it great how all of the reactionary haters and doubters publish under "Anonymous", yet still come here to spew their vitriol beneath a mask that is not even worthy of being called AMONYMOUS.
Fucking trolls. Get your ignorant ass back to the Ted Nugent page because us true NY fans despise your ignorance.
PEACE
-- Eric in sunny FLA
What stikes me the most as contrast between then in now is that people had faith that they could affect change through their congressional representatives. It seems that the overriding feeling is that congress and the government in general is so far removed and insulated from the populace that we have little to no say in how they act and legislate. It's apparent to most on both ends that our representatives are more concerned with legislating for the companies in which they hold positions or interest rather than any of us.
We can only hope the cool democrat president stays in power a little longer to champion issues like civil rights/gay marriage and gun control. Sure he's guilty of the same civil liberties violations and drone striking as dubya (moreso for the latter), but he's somewhat in line with what people voted for, at least on the surface. While holding up Regan as some man of the people and painting Obama as a communist or whatever (I believe Chomsky recently described him as being a moderate republican from a few decades ago) is pretty off base, I can't help but relate on some level to the frustration of with the government's apparent unresponsiveness, the executive branch included. Seeing the level of optimism in a government they (Neil and the Farm Aid organizers) had at least a little amount of faith in does reinforce those feelings for me.
Hey Eric - grab a fork & get bent...
I guess only self-righteous tools like yourself are the "true" Neil fans, eh?
Typical...
Eric, you give us anonymous a bad name. You must be very unhappy as it shows in the hostile nature of your posts. Pls just ban this hateful guy.
Thrasher,
Great Find. Thanks for putting it together.
I remember that cold, wet day. It was a great line-up but by evening the crowd faded. Luckily Sammy Hagar broke the spell and introduced I Can't Drive 55 with: "Here's one for you tractor pulling m-fers". Woke the crowd right back up. I remember that clear as a bell.
Was at the first farm aid 12 hours nonstop music rain most of the day , man was it great looking back
Wow, this brought back a flood of memories because I got to chat with Neil Young backstage after a show at Meadowbrook Theater in Pontiac, Michigan just before this interview aired. Was working on assignment for weekly Variety to do a standard concert review and Lookout Management provided two of the best seats in the house for me. During the interview after the Grey Riders show he told me that he was going to arrange an interview, just like this one, with Willie Nelson the following week at Pine Knob, just a few miles up the road. Neil Young said picking up the tape recorder firmly, if I didn't get it published he'd never talk to me again, ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRhRkKMoMC8
Next morning I got a call from Lookout Management who had the Willie Nelson interview all arranged and I just had to show up. Called my editor at the Detroit Free Press and explained what happened and he gave me a thumbs up for the assignment. The interview on Willie Nelson's bus ended up being a three hours long with my dear friend Dave Brogren by my side. One of the most thrilling experiences of my life. There is nothing like talking to a musical artist when Neil Young arranges it for you.
Turned the Willie Nelson Q&A style interview into my editor at the Detroit Free Press and it was published under my byline in the entertainment section and there was so much information Gary Graff (is that his real name that sounds like paragraph?) used a bunch of the quotes I got in a front page article. My mom and dad read that the morning it came out. My parents are gone now but it gets me a little misty eyed thinking how proud they were of me that morning. I had been a Detroit Free Press paperboy in my teenage years so it was a huge deal to get on the front page of the paper.
So I spent all morning today writing about it and it is way too long to post here, tried, but it is too long for the system. It might be 6,000 words long.
I'll see if I can publish it elsewhere professionally but if it doesn't work I'll contact my friend Thrasher to see if we can make an exception on the length just before Farm Aid.
Wish I could sell a special 8x10 picture I have of Neil from the Farm Aid press conference in 2003 but as a rule he doesn't give image permissions per Lookout Management. Wanted to help out Thrasher's Wheat with 50% of the after expenses profits but it just is too risky for me to do without permission. We talked about doing this at Farm Aid in Raleigh but it just isn't going to work without permission as I don't have much but it is too much to lose in a lawsuit.
Do hope Neil gets the band rehearsed with a little mini-tour like he did in 1985 and would suggest he hasn't played North Carolina, other then the debut of PRTR at Farm Aid and solo show, for a long time with a band.
By the way, you have not heard "Down By The River" until you've heard it with Hargus "Pig" Robbins playing the Danny Whitten parts on piano. Neil Young and the Grey Riders' were call and response holy music, holy music!
Here is Neil Young talking about the Grey Riders that maybe had the most "soul" of any band he played with and I've seen almost all of his bands except POTR and the Ducks. That emotional soul that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand on end to the point where other people notice it. You might realize you have this huge grin on your face that has been there for minutes because you are in this transcendent state watching them play. What Neil is saying is what I wrote in my review of the Harvesters and the Grey Riders in weekly Variety and I'm so glad Neil agreed with me almost note for note on what I wrote about them.
There is no point even argueing about these statements because until you've heard "Down By The River" by these guys for twenty minutes you have no reverence to what I'm saying here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4uCSDnjbRc
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