Yes, Maybe A Southern Man Does Need Neil Young Around, Anyhow

I hope Neil Young will remember, a southern man don't need him around anyhow
— Alex Harmata (@aharmata) December 27, 2012

For long time Thrasher's Wheat readers, please bear with us here as we'll get to some actual news on the subject.

It would seem that hardly a day goes past, where we come across a blog post, Facebook status update or tweet, that attempts the "Neil Young putdown" without seeming comprehension of the context or the true story of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young.

So why even bother, you might ask?

For us, understanding the fascinating backstory of Ronnie and Neil and laying to rest the "Feud Myth" has proved to be quite challenging in these polarized times. But to know the full story is to know the true meaning of "Powderfinger". To know what is the color when black is burned. To know a trip isn't a fall.



Ronnie Van Zant with Neil Young "Tonight's The Night" T-shirt
Oakland Coliseum, July 2, 1977 - Photo by Michael Zagaris
Neil Young with Lynyrd Skynyrd/Jack Daniels Whiskey T-Shirt
Verona, Italy 7.9.1982 - Photo by Paolo Brillo on Flickr

"Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
a southern man don't need him around anyhow"

Growing up in the American South in the 1970's as a Neil Young fan wasn't exactly easy. It seems as if all of our life that whenever the subject of musical tastes came up and we revealed our appreciation of Young's music, almost invariably it was met with those lines above from Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" .

You see, Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" is more than just an anthem for many -- it serves as a statement for a way of life that is intensely protected such that when threatened -- it can produce some very uncomfortable results.

"Sweet Home Alabama", written by Lynyrd Skynyrd partially in response to Young's "Alabama" and "Southern Man" contains the apocryphal line: "I hope Neil Young will remember, a Southern man don't need him around anyhow". In his recent book Waging Heavy Peace, Young writes of his "Alabama" lyrics:

"I don't like my words when I listen to it today. They are accusatory and condescending, not fully thought out, and too easy to misconstrue."

Which brings us to the actual news that Lynyrd Skynrd have taken a stand and denounced the Confederate flag. In the CNN clip below from last year, Gary Rossington, says that the band, recognizing the stars-and-bars flag's offensive and racist undertones, will cease using it as a stage decoration at concerts supporting its new album "Last of a Dyin' Breed."



So what could be the possible problem with what seems to be enlightened 21st century thinking? Well, it turns out that this decision has angered their fan base. Really. From Lynyrd Skynrd denounces Confederate flag, angering some fans - latimes.com by August Brown:

"Through the years, people like the KKK and skinheads kinda kidnapped the Dixie or Southern flag from its tradition and the heritage of the soldiers, that's what it was about," Rossington said. "We didn't want that to go to our fans or show the image like we agreed with any of the race stuff or any of the bad things." This apparently didn't sit well with some of the band's fans back in Dixie, who have taken to the comments section with pained vitriol. "Good luck with your next release 'Sweet home Massachusetts.' I am sure it will climb the charts with a bullet in Yankee-land," said one. "This isn't the real Lynyrd Skynyrd anyway. They should have taken a name like 'Obama's Politically Correct Sell Your Soul Make Believe Impostors' or something," opined another.

And the negative reaction to the announcement continued in the article's comments:

G. D. Smith: It's a shame that instead of hiding the battle flag out of political correctness, they didn't attempt to help educate the public about the rich history and heritage of the South. The last time I saw a story about the KKK, they were flying the Stars & Stripes. Yet in almost every picture you showed of LS in concert, they had Old Glory out there on stage. Does that mean they're now KKK members? Of course not. But by ignoring and denying the flag that is part of their history, they are leaving a large segment of their fan base behind as well. It's a shame that money is now more important than honor and heritage.

L R Stover: So y'all admit during the interview that the Confederate Flag represents history, heritage and the Confederate soldier, then you stop flying it because some misinformed people equate the flag with racism instead of continuing to educate people on our Southern symbol? Quoting Johnny Van Zant, "We speak for our fans, we speak for ourselves." Well, you just lost a significant portion of your fans so continue to speak for yourself. Good luck with you next release.."Sweet home Massachusetts." I am sure it will climb the charts with a bullet in yankee-land.

Paul Cox: It's hilarious to me that old school Lynyrd Skynyrd fans conveniently gloss over the fact that the original band was actually left-leaning (they campaigned hard for Carter in 1976, wrote a pro-gun control song called "Saturday Night Special"). It's only after the replacements came in that they started spoonfeeding their conservative fanbase exactly what they wanted. The confederate flag may mean heritage to some people, but I grew up in Alabama and I know what it really means. It means that there was a point in history that states were willing to go to war with the union over the right to own human beings.

And on and on...

Good ole boys be hummin Lynyrd Skynyrd @john_kass: We're sending Neil Young to Alabama to put some old hippie whupass on them good
— Amy (@allovergirl) January 8, 2013

  Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie VanZant Wearing Neil Young T-shirt Oakland Coliseum, July 2, 1977
More on the true story of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young.

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Synchronicity and Neil Young

Here's one those weird little Neil Young synchronicities that we come across from time to time.

As you may recall, we recently posted on Smart Phone Etiquette regarding relentless texting during a Neil Young concert and the ensuing consequences. The post contained photos and video with Neil mocking texters by pushing his fingers maniacally into his palm.

Anyways. So what do we come across but the above video posted on a TW reader's Facebook page of Neil Young w/ The Trans Band at Deutschlandhalle, West Berlin, West Germany in 1982. (Thanks Matt L.!)

The song "Transformer Man" is from the Berlin video -- a fantastic document of the period -- where Neil had gone techno-synth-pop before anyone really knew what that genre was all about. And most are still scratching their head about the whole TRANS period still.

So take a look at the video, with the awesome Nils Lofgren, where neither are playing instruments, per se, but doing a wild, mind blowing performance art thing. Very cool.

So what's Neil doing anyway? He seems to be using his wireless mike transmitter as an early texting device as he punches away at it. It doesn't seem to have any discernable impact on his vocals that we can hear? But maybe we're missing the whole point still 30 years on?

Maybe Neil had an early prototype of an Apple iPhone back in 1982?

Well, Neil's always been a bit ahead of his time... or behind... we can't decide.

(This post is for Ben.)

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TONIGHT: Thrasher's Wheat Radio - Looking Ahead in 2013

Thrasher's Wheat Radio
Tune in on WBKM.org, Saturdays @ 9P EST
Logo design by Geoff Moore - Silver Moon Graphics
Tonight, our 2013 kick off edition of Thrasher's Wheat Radio Hour will broadcast on WBKM.org.

Tune in tonight, Saturday at 9P EST (in about ~1 hour) to hear some thoughts on what might be in store in 2013 for Neil Young news. Another Year of the Horse???

Downloadable podcasts for the Thrashers Wheat Radio Hour are available here. Tonight's edition will be uploaded in the near future.

Take the pill. Tune in, it'll be a groovy, far out trip.

enjoy!

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Photo of the Moment: Los Lobos and Neil Young

"Farmer John"
Los Lobos & Neil Young
Memorial Auditorium, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada - 2012-11-20
Photo from Los Lobos | Facebook
(Click photo to enlarge)
The Photo of the Moment is Los Lobos and Neil Young with Crazy Horse at Memorial Auditorium, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada on 2012-11-20 by Cheryl Eckler.

Los Lobos was the opening band on the middle leg of North American tour and this was their last stop together. Los Lobos joined Neil Young for only one song -- "Farmer John".

More on Kitchener concert of Neil Young & Crazy Horse in 2012.

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Producer John Hanlon On Recording Neil Young's two latest albums, Americana and Psychedelic Pill

Producer John Hanlon
Here's an article that we missed getting posted last year which really deserves highlighting.

A very essential read if you're into all of the technical details of making a Neil Young album. Here's a Mix magazine interview with producer John Hanlon about the recording process for Neil Young's two latest albums, Americana and Psychedelic Pill. From Mix magazine's October 2012 issue, Producer John Hanlon talks about recording Neil Young's two latest albums by Barbara Schultz:

In August 2011, Hanlon got the call to head up from his home in Malibu to Young’s ranch in Northern California. “They told me we’d be working with Crazy Horse and Mark Humphreys,” Hanlon explains. “Mark is Neil’s monitor engineer onstage; he runs the P.A. in the studio. We record everything live, with no headphones. There’s some overdubbing later, but he always goes for the live performance feel. It’s always about the performance with him.”

“I was to build a studio in one of the houses on the ranch where David Briggs and Tim Mulligan had done American Stars ’n Bars with Neil back in the ’80s,” Hanlon says. “And he wanted to do it 8-track analog, which meant we’d also snapshot to Pro Tools, but he wanted an 8-track setup, in the building they call the ‘white house.’

“First I went up for some preliminary meetings with my assistant engineer, John Hausmann, to lay out the space and check out the acoustics. I purposely didn’t ask how they had set up the room for American Stars ’n Bars. I wanted to feel the vibe in the room without any preconceived notions of copying what they did. That was the 1980s; sounds and amplifiers, and where people’s heads were, would have affected the sound coming off of the instruments and from their souls at that time, anyway.

Everything changes.

More of interview on Mix magazine.


John Nowland (left) w/ Will Shanks and "The Green Board"
The Making of The Neil Young Archives
Also, see The Making of The Neil Young Archives.

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Bruce Springsteen 2013 MusiCares Tribute: Neil Young, others to Perform

Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young
The 2013 MusiCares tribute to Bruce Springsteen will feature performances by Elton John, Neil Young, Mumford & Sons, Sting, Mavis Staples, Juanes, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Jackson Browne, Alabama Shakes, and Kenny Chesney.

The tribute to Springsteen will be on Feb. 8 in Los Angeles two days before the Grammy Awards.

Springsteen is MusiCare's person of the year, an award given to a performer who is notable both artistically and philanthropically. The sold-out concert will benefit MusiCare's emergency financial assistance and addiction recovery programs.

Neil Young was honored as MusiCares Person Of The Year in 2010. Also, Neil Young & Crazy Horse performed at the Paul McCartney Musicares Benefit in 2012.

Paul McCartney Honored at Musicares by Neil Young & Crazy Horse, others
More on Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young: The Difference in Greatness.

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Smart Phone Etiquette: What NOT To Do At A Neil Young Concert

Neil Young "Mock Texting"
Bridgeport, CT - December 4, 2012
(Click photo to enlarge)
Last year, we posted the story If You Text During a Neil Young Concert, This Could Be You, which turned out to be one of our most "viral" blogs of 2012 in terms of impressions, engagement, reach, comments, Facebook Likes and Shares, Re-Tweets, virality, and external links.

ThrashersWheatNeverSleeps | Facebook.com
(Click photo to enlarge)
This is interesting and instructive on many levels.

First, a quick re-cap in case you missed this story and didn't follow link above. At the Neil Young & Crazy Horse concert in Bridgeport, CT on 12/4/12, during the song "F*!#in' Up", basically Neil stopped playing and started mocking an audience member who had been constantly texting during the entire concert. An eyewitness account was provided by an audience member standing directly behind the perpetrators who recounted the incident in great detail.

As noted above, the reaction to the story was quite fascinating. Probably 99% of opinions were "Right on, Neil!" and enthusiastically supported Neil's reaction to the whole phenomenon of smart devices at live events and those more caught up in their own personal small screen dramas rather than the real world around them. It would seem that the always connected revolution has reached a critical mass on a collision course with those who unplug and try and enjoy a live concert. Check the blog comments themselves for more of the reaction here at Thrasher's Wheat.

ThrashersWheatNeverSleeps | Facebook.com
But onto some of the wider implications. Why did this relatively isolated event at the final tour concert by Neil Young & Crazy Horse go viral? Why were folks so engaged with the post causing such a reaction across the internet and various band sites where fans applauded Neil's reaction and begged they're fellow concert goers to be more respectful of the artist and the audience? What was unique here?

Well, we have our theories of what was happening here even though it ain't exactly clear.

Our thinking is that what happened was truly unique in that a performer onstage basically stopped the show to make a point that this sort of "Smart Phone Etiquette" is unacceptable and called the audience member out on their behavior. It seems obvious that this sort of behavior is increasingly "normal" but yet performers are highly reluctant to speak out directly against it. So in summary -- once again -- we have Neil being his contrarian trendsetting self to thank. Our little rebel with causes, if you will.

Neil Young
Bridgeport, CT - 12/4/12
Photo by Dave S. | Facebook
(Click photo to enlarge)
To try and wrap this analysis all up, two take aways -- one for performers and one for bloggers. For performers, it is that fans totally support them in their desire to keep concerts "traditional" in the sense that the focus is on what happens onstage publicly and not in the audience's private social networking world. For bloggers, it is that truly unique content creates positive metrics and generates higher levels of engagement with your readers.

While neither of these observations is particularly surprising, we mainly share this to reinforce what makes Neil unique and therefore engaging. Seriously, who else does this sort of thing these days? That is, take risks, challenge audiences and consequences be damned?

Lastly, we'll just make this clarifying statement here because we'll see it in comments below for those who may not have taken in all the details. This is not about someone snapping a few photos or doing a few texts at a concert somewhere in the middle of a huge auditorium. This is about folks who constantly fiddle with their gadgets within a few yards of the stage who are annoying both their surrounding audience mates and the performers onstage. This is about either politely going with the prevailing flow of the "Smart Phone Etiquette" expected or against it and being simply rude. In other words, if you're at a Lady GaGa/Justin Bieber, etc concert that's one thing. If you're at the Metropolitan Opera that's another.

See the incident for yourself below beginning at 04:35.


Neil Young and Crazy Horse perform Fuckin Up at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT on December 4, 2012
As for us? We just print out a stack of these cards below before attending a Neil Young concert and hand them out as needed. ;)


When Neil Young is playing, you shut the f* up (and don't text)!!!
So please, don't make us have to pull "The Card" on you at a Neil concert. That would be so uncool and harsh our mellow.

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