Thanks To Neil Young For Still Being Gloriously Weird

Neil Young
Chrome Dreams II Tour - 2007
(Click photo to enlarge)
Generally blogging, we tend to disagree with the many "labels" applied to Neil Young and his music.

For example, labels like "crazy", "weird", and "inexplicable" -- to randomly pick a handful -- tend to be shorthand brushoffs by some bloggers who fail to penetrate the complex simplicity of the man we call Neil. We actually prefer to use phrases like "artist", "passionate", "dreamer", "conscious", or "individualistic truth teller".

Or, as we sometimes blog, there are two types of people in the world: those who "get" Neil and those that don't.

From buffaBLOG - The Buffalo music blog "Thanks To Neil Young For Still Being Gloriously Weird" by John Hugar in a review of Psychedelic Pill:

There are plenty of musicians who make great albums well into their 60s, but how many make stuff as groundbreaking as this?

I loved Springsteen's Wrecking Ball, and if we're going purely on enjoy-ability it might even be a stronger record than Young's Psychedelic Pill, but at heart, it's a Bruce Springsteen album. It features the same music styles, and lyrical tendencies that have been featured in Springsteen's work for years. While I applaud Springsteen for still making entertaining relevant work, the album is completely in his wheelhouse, and doesn't really break any new ground.

Young should be applauded for taking his music to new places when he doesn't really have to anymore. Most of his fans would be happy with a clone of Harvest every few years, but he wants to do more than that. Indeed, he might be the most ambitious person in music today, with the possible exception of Kanye West.

Well, we're not too sure about the Kanye West comparison? And we definitely disagree about needing a "clone of Harvest every few years". But we'll agree on the "most ambitious person in music today" part.

And here's just one more way to view the world...

I don't trust people who don't like Neil Young.

— Coll (@thr3epointone4) January 20, 2013

(Note the volume of re-tweets. This is not a fringe opinion of the "Gloriously Weird".)

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Producer David Briggs and Neil Young

Neil Young and Producer David Briggs, 1995
Photo by Pegi Young
(Click photo to enlarge)
Neil Young's erstwhile Producer David Briggs -- who passed away in 1995 -- was integral to the recording of most of Young's most acclaimed albums beginning with "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere," in 1970.

Here's a photo of Neil Young and Producer David Briggs, en route to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in 1995. The photo is by Pegi Young.

From a Neil Young Interview in MOJO Magazine on David Briggs influence:

Neil: "He told me what was wrong with my performance at Bob-Aid (1992 Tribute Concert to Bob Dylan). Everyone else was telling me how great it was. He didn't belabour the fact that it was great. His opinion was: 'Yeah, it was great, OK. It was great BUT forget about that because what was wrong was... this, this and this. You sang it in the wrong key, your voice was too low, the drums weren't tight enough 'til half-way through... No-one'll probably notice but... It's not usable.' (Laughs) And I always listen to what he has to say and take note of it. "

"There certainly weren't any recordings of Neil Young and Crazy Horse that David Briggs wasn't involved in," Joel Bernstein recalled.

Artist James Mazzeo, longtime Neil collaborator said of Briggs:

David Briggs had the capacity to make you feel like an integral part of the whole picture no more or no less than any other part of that picture (or song or Album) than even Neil himself.....Neil (and myself) respected David on the highest of levels when we all were working alongside his illuminations.....David was a brilliant light for all of us to work in.....he could take from us our self doubts and shadows and devour them gone....he was like a black light and the best of us came forth and glowed in his presence ....i miss David and i send 'Thank you's' to his spirit with every new piece i create.

Also, see:

• David Briggs in Memorium
• David Briggs Obituary - NY Times, 12/3/95
• Also, see interview with Elliot Roberts on working with David Briggs.

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Photo of the Moment: Rusted Out Garage Tour 1986 - Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Neil Young & Poncho
1986
Photo by DAVID PLASTIK
(Click photo to enlarge)
A very cool photo gallery from the Rusted Out Garage tour era by photographer DAVID PLASTIK.

Check out the crazy shots.

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Interview: Stephen Stills Talks Guitars, CSN, Jimi Hendrix, Buffalo Springfield, & more

Stephen Stills
27 June 2012, Short Hills, New Jersey
Photo by Joe Bosso
(Click photo to enlarge)
The recent news regarding Stephen Stills upcoming box set "Carry On" has prompted a bit of renewed well deserved interest in Stills career and legacy.

From a very detailed interview with Stephen Stills in 2012 on MusicRadar by Joe Bosso, Stills talks guitars, CSN, classic songs, Jimi Hendrix, Buffalo Springfield and many other topics.

MusicRadar: In Buffalo Springfield, how did you and Neil work out your guitar parts, your language together?

Stephen Stills: "By looking at each other and emulating each other. We'd copy each other, and by doing that we'd meet in the middle. He was much better than I was at first, although I had a better stroke for rhythm. But he was instrumental in teaching me how to play lead, showing me positions and stuff."

More on interview with Stephen Stills on MusicRadar by Joe Bosso.

Also, see Stephen Stills upcoming box set "Carry On".

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Neil Young @ Amsterdam 10-12-1989 - YouTube

Neil Young. Ben Keith. Acoustic.

What more do you need to know to play?

Neil Young with Ben Keith in Amsterdam 10-12-1989 on YouTube.

Acoustic "Heart Of Gold" and "Rockin' In The Free World".

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Neil Young 2009 Interview - Australian ABC 7:30 Report

A great video Neil Young interview from exactly fours ago -- on the eve of Obama's 1st inauguration -- during the 2009 Tour in Australia from ABC 7:30 Report on January 21, 2009.

Thanks Stringman & Dan1!

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Celebrating 10 Years of Daily Blogging: Waging Heavy Wheat

Logo design by
Geoff Moore - Silver Moon Graphics
As 2013 begins, we here at Thrasher's Wheat begin to celebrate 10 years of near daily blogging of Neil Young News. Or -- as we are quite fond of quoting -- separating the wheat from the chaff on all things Neil.

Over the past decade, we've published over 3,600 blog posts, with tens of thousands of comments, attracted over 11 million unique visitors, and logged nearly 27 million page views. And its now been 20 years since joining the Rust List - The Neil Young Community and 17 years since starting the original Thrasher's Wheat website, whose original mission was to harvest and archive postings from the Neil Young Internet Rust and Human Highway communities.

Daily blogging on Thrasher's Wheat began with the following post, in the post 9/11 era -- when paranoia was striking deep and creeping into all of our lives -- on the eve of The Iraq War v. 2.0.



Neil Young
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer
From Fresh Wheat - Updated 3/15/03:

Neil inducted Mo Ostin into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction on March 10, 2003. From PUNK: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction 2003:

"Of anything that was said throughout the entire evening, the most important words spoken by anyone were the ones that didn't make it onto VH1. Some of those words came from Neil Young.

Young, who was on hand to give a Lifetime Achievement Award in the Nonperformer Category to Mo Ostin, said:

"'We're having a good time tonight but we're going to kill a lot of people next week.

So let's not forget about that.

I don't want to ruin this but it's too real not to mention it. And music used to be about this. And it still is about this, it's a human thing. And these are human beings over there and we're making a big mistake.

I feel like I'm riding in a giant gas guzzling SUV and the driver's drunk as a fucking skunk. He's drunk on power.'"

And with the above blog post we were off on our crazy adventure to try and blog all things Neil and Greendale.

For us, Greendale was like a sledgehammer to the anvil of truth and consciousnesses which awakened this blog from it's post-9/11 dormancy into something that we're not even sure what its evolved into being.

So, after a few months of blogging, we promised Thrashette that we'd stop blogging when Neil stopped playing Greendale.

But a funny thing happened. Neil kept playing Greendale. Around the world. Europe. North America. Japan. Australia. New Zealand. Into 2004, Neil brought Greendale back to Canada and the U.S.

And Neil kept churning out the Greendale message in song, on stage, on film and even in a graphic novel.

Greendale by Neil Young
The Concert, Stage Play, Musical, Film & Graphic Novel
There was so much going on with Greendale that we just had to soak it all in and capture as much of the magic as we possibly could.

Simply put, there had never before been anything like it before coming from the always surprising Neil Young, so that was saying something right there.

From the moment we heard Sun Green pickup that red megaphone and speak the truth to power, we knew.

We knew that oh-so little inconvenient truth of Greendale was that Sun Green was right. More so now, than ever before.


Neil Young & Sun Green
Greendale at Radio City Music Hall, New York City - March 18, 2004
photo by TW
So, Thank You for Supporting Thrasher's Wheat. We couldn't do this without you -- our beloved dear, loyal readers.

Be the rain.
Wage heavy wheat.
Stay shakey.
peace & love,
thrasher & thrashette

"Keep on bloggin'
`Til the power goes out
The batteries dead
Twist and shout"
- "Fork In the Road"

ps - it keeps us searchin' for a vista and a muse.

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Music is Love - A Singer-Songwriters' Tribute to the Music of Crosby Stills Nash & Young

Music is Love - A Singer-Songwriters' Tribute to the Music of Crosby Stills Nash & Young
We're just now getting a chance to catch up on some of our listening.

Right now, we've been enjoying Music is Love - A Singer-Songwriters' Tribute to the Music of Crosby Stills Nash & Young, a two disc set featuring 27 new recordings by artists interpreting the songs of David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young.

The CSNY tribute package is actually quite nice with a 36 page booklet that you can actually read without a magnifying glass. Each song has its own page with recording notes and the artists insights and inspirations surrounding both CSN&Y and their songs.

And the tribute also benefits the Equestrian Therapy Co-Op in Brandeis, CA, which provides horseback riding to children and adults who can personally benefit from a natural encounter with horses.

Equestrian Therapy Co-Op
Here are some thoughts by Dave Zimmer (author of "Crosby, Stills & Nash: The Biography"):

More than 40 years ago, CSN&Y were looking inward, speaking out and writing songs that helped define a generation.

Well, that generation grew up, as did the artists, but this connection and bond continued; then new generations discovered them, and much of the music ripened and gained fresh meaning with new causes and the passage of time.

The strength of these newly recorded versions is a testament to the artistry of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young as well as the special nature of their songs, which hold up beautifully when interpreted and reimagined by a varied roster of artists
that range across decades, musical genres and different parts of the globe: from California, Texas and New York to Dublin, Liverpool and Australia; from traditional folkies and alternative rockers to gifted guitarists and bluegrass pickers; as well as wonderfully amazing vocalists, from yesterday and today.

~ Dave Zimmer (author of "Crosby, Stills & Nash: The Biography")

"They are one person / They are two alone / They are three together / They are for each other"
CSNY: (from left) Stills, Crosby, Nash and Young on stage in Seattle for their 1974 "reunion" tour. © Bettmann/CORBIS

From the liner notes on our favorite song "Thrasher" covered by Andy Hill & Renée Safier:

"Thrasher" has no chorus, no bridge, no repeating lines, no hook...

Just a mesmerizing lyric, whose images unfold against a simple chord pattern. Timeless images of ancient bending rivers are stacked against credit cards, dinosaurs against heated pools, machinery against spirit and nature. It is a story somehow about the price of independence, with no recommendations; just a personal conclusion that we are in a creative journey both without and within, and one must act with courage.

~~Andy & Renée

CD 1
01. For What It's Worth (Ron LaSalle) 02. Triad (Steve Wynn) 03. Helplessly Hoping (Judy Collins) 04. Lady Of The Island (Liam Ó Maonlaí) 05. Bluebird (Sugarcane Jane) 06. Birds (Elliott Murphy) 07. Guinnevere (Bonoff, Cowan, Szcześniak & Waldman) 08. You Don't Have To Cry (Sonny Mone) 09. Down By The River (Bocephus King) 10. Love The One You're With (Jennifer Stills) 11. After The Gold Rush (Venice) 12. Teach Your Children (Sadie Jemmett) 13. Fallen Eagle (The Coal Porters)

CD 2
01. Rockin' In The Free World (Willie Nile) 02. It Doesn't Matter (Cindy Lee Berryhill) 03. Out On The Weekend (Clarence Bucaro) 04. Hey You (Looking At The Moon) (Neal Casal) 05. Cortez The Killer (Carrie Rodriguez) 06. Bittersweet (Marcus Eaton) 07. Just A Song Before I Go (Eileen Rose & The Legendary Rich Gilbert) 08. Long May You Run (Nick Barker) 09. Southern Cross (Michael McDermott & Heather Horton) 10. Thrasher (Andy Hill & Renée Safier) 11. Wasted On The Way (Louis Ledford) 12. Tracks In The Dust (Mary Lee's Corvette) 13. I'll Be There For You (Jenai Huff) 14. Music Is Love (Ian McNabb)



As Mike Davies on Net Rhythms puts it: "If music is love, this album is an affair to remember."

Indeed.

Preview tracks and more details at Music is Love - A Singer-Songwriters' Tribute to the Music of Crosby Stills Nash & Young.

Note to US/Canada CSNY fans, Village Records will save you on postage on VARIOUS-MUSIC IS LOVE: TRIBUTE TO CSNY SONGS (2CD) @ Village Records.

Venerdì 18: "MUSIC IS LOVE" tributo a CSN&Y al Crossroads Live Club

Nice job Francesco!

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