BENEFIT: Neil Young's Old Black Guitar Autographed (Reproduction)

Neil Young's Old Black Guitar (Reproduction)
(Click photo to enlarge)
An autographed reproduction of Neil Young's Old Black guitar is up for auction to benefit SLAM - Save Live Australia’s Music .

According to a Noise11 report by Paul Cashmere, the four members of Crazy Horse, Neil Young, Frank Sampedro, Ralph Molina and Billy Talbot, signed the guitar backstage at Melbourne, AUS concert.

On February 23rd 2010, 20,000 protesters marched on Victorian Parliament House to insist that crippling laws that equated “live music” with violence be changed. The SLAM (Save Live Australia’s Music) rally was the largest cultural protest in Australia’s history. Musicians reclaimed the streets of Melbourne and the law was overturned.

More on Neil Young's Old Black Guitar.

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Walk On: Neil Young - From the Buffalo to the Pill

Neil Young
A very major retrospective on Neil Young from the liminal "Walk On: Neil Young - From the Buffalo to the Pill" by Joseph Burnett:

Weirdly, however, Neil Young is these days an even more polarising figure, be it among his fans or music listeners at large, than he was back when he wrote ‘Southern Man’ and ‘Alabama’ to castigate racism in the Deep South.

For many, his decision to seclude himself at his Californian ranch for most of his post-seventies recordings and the increased comfort of his life (marriage, kids, cars, model trains, etc) has led to a dip in songwriting quality and musical standards, with lyrics -usually focusing on war, the environment and eternal love for his wife, Pegi- dashed off as if written on the backs of cigarette packets (which he does a lot, actually). Whilst there’s some truth to this complaint (gone -mostly- are the psychedelically surreal and oddly poetic rambles of ‘Ambulance Blues’ and ‘Cowgirl in the Sand’), it actually seriously misses the point and the bigger picture. Because, even as he becomes more settled into his stable country life (hence all the love songs and ecological concerns), away from the drugs, illness and instability of the sixties and seventies, he still remains rock’s eternal maverick, a constantly contrarian spirit who approaches his life and his music the way he always has, and in the same manner: on his own motherfucking terms. You don’t like a new direction, or some of his new lyrics? Tough shit. Neil Young just keeps on rolling, and in that he is both fascinating and, I swear, as consistent as he’s ever been. The differences between the Neil Young of 2012 and the one of 1966 are of course there, but not as important as they might seem.

It’s where he connects with his eternal muse that Neil Young stands tall, which is handy for me as I sit down to write this tribute.

Thanks Joseph! An excellent career retrospective.

Full article "Walk On: Neil Young - From the Buffalo to the Pill" by Joseph Burnett.

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Broken Arrow Magazine: March 2013 - Win a Free Copy

Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Chicago - 2012
Photo by Francesco Lucarelli
The latest issue of Broken Arrow Magazine, published by the Neil Young Appreciation Society recently hit the streets and we're now finishing up reading the issue. As always a nice read -- especially as we look back while looking ahead.

And -- thanks to the generous support of NYAS and editor Scott Sandie -- we're pleased to be able to offer a free copy of the latest issue of Broken Arrow Magazine to a Thrasher's Wheat reader. Details follow below.

The new issue of Broken Arrow – number 129 – is now out. The 80 pages feature a major 21-page essay on Greendale by Ethan de Seife, a perspective from six days on the road with Crazy Horse in the USA (which amongst other asides includes a fond look back at The Spectrum and a Thrasher led attempt to re-create the cover of Time Fades Away), a report on a legendary concert on Neil’s 1971 solo tour full – ‘Neil Young & The Gate Crashers’ and author Dave Zimmer’s article on his ‘Year of Neil’. The cover is Francesco Lucarelli's glorious shot of Crazy Horse taking a bow onstage in Chicago in 2012. There’s also a full colour centrefold and the usual mixture of fans’ points of views, reports, ramblings and several pages of letter to the editor.

And without tipping our hat too much, there's a special announcement regarding Thrasher's Wheat Radio which we'll have more on very soon. So don’t miss it!

For more information and subscription information visit the Neil Young Appreciation Society or directly contact NYAS editor Scott Sandie at surfer-joe@nyas.org.uk

Don't be denied!

Thanks Scott and everyone who is supporting the NYAS & BA!

Thrasher - NYAS#2476


More on back issues of Broken Arrow magazine.

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HOW TO WIN A COPY OF LATEST ISSUE OF BROKEN ARROW MAGAZINE

One lucky Thrasher's Wheat supporter will win a free copy of the latest Broken Arrow Magazine. We truly appreciate being able to what we do here at TW, and we love being able to give something back in return.

To enter the contest, follow these steps:

#1) Subscribe (or be already subscribed) to one of our blogfeed channels either via Facebook (LIKE us), Twitter (FOLLOW us) and/or subscribe to our email list.

2) Then just email us (thrasher@thrasherswheat.org) with your name, postal mailing address, and which blogfeed channel you signed up for (Facebook, Twitter, email list options noted above in Step #1). *Be sure to identify your complete Facebook ID, Twitter handle, or email address.*

Entries must be emailed with SUBJECT line: Contest - Broken Arrow Magazine: March 2013

Include name, postal mailing address with *country*.

Deadline: April 30, 2013

We'll then randomly select Thrasher's Wheat readers as winners.

Don't Be Denied!

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Paul Williams: 1948 - 2013

Paul Williams: 1948 - 2013
(Click photo to enlarge)
Paul Williams, the pioneering music journalist, has passed away.

Founder of the legendary and seminal Crawdaddy! magazine in 1966, Williams essentially launched pop music criticism as a legitimate and serious endeavor. And he was a huge Neil Young fan and author of a definitive biography Neil Young: Love to Burn : Thirty Years of Speaking Out, 1966-1996.

Mr. Williams once wrote:

“In writing about rock music, my intention was not to judge the records (like a critic) or report on the scene (like a journalist) but to explore, as an essayist, the experience of listening to certain records and feeling the whole world through them.

“My form has always been the essay, talking on paper,” he added. “My subject matter has always been transcendence.”

From correspondence with Williams on his book Neil Young: Love to Burn : Thirty Years of Speaking Out, 1966-1996.:

The intention of my book was to document the kind of very personal response that we listeners and fans have to Neil's extraordinary performances, and maybe to entertain readers like you who might wonder what somebody else would say about Ordinary People or Love and Only Love... I haven't had many letters from readers of this book (as compared to many from readers of my Dylan books), so it's good to get the feedback.

Don't be denied....
Paul

In 2009, we wrote that Paul Williams Needs Our Help due to serious illness and helped raised funds for his health care.

From Remembering Paul Williams, The First Rock Critic | Rolling Stone by David Fricke:

"He wrote with judgment but not superiority or lazy censure; he worked to find paths and connections, through committed, often repeated listening, and presented the results as if you were a fellow traveler, not just a reader.

He was the first of my breed, and he set fundamental standards for integrity and dedication. As a writer, Paul Williams never stopped listening. As a listener, he never stopped seeking. As a colleague, he expected the same."

In 1996, Williams called "The Complex Sessions: Neil Young & Crazy Horse", directed by Jonathan Demme, Neil Young's - and Rock n' Roll's - finest moment. Williams wrote:

"The Complex Sessions seems to me to represent a pivotal moment in rock history (as, say, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" did), not only because it's so good but also because it is a breakthrough in the creative use of a medium (the long-form rock video as a work of art) that has defeated most supplicants, including Neil as often as not.

As a fellow Neil Young fan and music blogger, we can say that Paul will truly be missed.

Don't be denied....

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PHOTO GALLERY: Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Vector Arena March 21, 2013 | The 13th Floor

Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Vector Arena March 21, 2013
Photo Gallery by Michael Flynn | The 13th Floor
(Click photo to enlarge)
A very nice photo gallery of Neil Young & Crazy Horse at Vector Arena, AUS on March 21, 2013 by Michael Flynn | The 13th Floor.

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SNEAK PREVIEW: Possible Europe Setlist for Neil Young and Crazy Horse?

Neil Young & Crazy Horse Setlist
Aborted Version for 2013 Australia/New Zealand Tour
(Click photo to enlarge)
As you may recall, after the Australia/New Zealand Tour tour opener in Perth, many, many concert goers reacted in bewilderment to the setlist of Neil Young and Crazy Horse.

"A self indulgent racket of loud grungy guitar instead of playing the true classics I came to hear" was -- sadly -- an all too typical comment.


Poncho Confronting Upset Fans
A Day On The Green, March 9th 2013
Photo by Gary "Old Man Emu"
(Click photo to enlarge)
This led to the notorious "White Zinfandel Riot" when wine infused fans nearly stormed the stage demanding familiar songs. The whole scene at "A Day On The Green" Festival in Hunter Valley, Geelong, AUS was vividly captured and will go down as an almost Tonight's The Night/"Judas" type of Neil Young concert experience with an audience in near revolt.

Exhilarating stuff of the highest magnitude.

In an exclusive Thrashers Wheat investigation, we have learned that in reaction to the early Australia concerts, that Neil seriously considered dumping the standard Alchemy tour setlist and substituting a setlist of all classic songs, in an effort to appease "middle-of-the-road" type fans. The setlist pictured above is one of several versions which were contemplated but ultimately abandoned. Thank god.

As we know, Neil Young and Crazy Horse's Australia/New Zealand Tour eventually continued on with nearly universal enthusiastic, positive reviews.

So what can we expect of the upcoming summer tour of Europe?

As always, only time will tell, but we've learned that based upon the reaction of some of the more "fair weather fans", that Neil is considering a radical setlist for Europe. In typical willfully perverse fashion, Neil is considering doing the opposite of giving audiences the classics. Instead, setlists are being rumored to contain nothing but total, complete obscurities.

How obscure you ask? Basically, as rare and unperformed as possible based on one of the Europe rehearsal setlists that we here at TW have seen.


Neil Young & Crazy Horse Setlist
Rehearsal Version for 2013 Summer Tour of Europe
(Click photo to enlarge)
Now how obscure is that? Based on quick analysis of setlist statistics from Sugar Mountain, it would seem that Neil is considering playing songs which have only been performed once or twice live?!

Now if that doesn't get you booking plans for a summer in Europe, we don't know what possibly could?

p.s. - Happy ARC Day!

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